By Dom Cioffi My health itinerary said I was meeting with a counselor of some sort. At this point in the process I do not question the appointments that the Mayo Clinic sets up for me. They have been a marvel of efficiency and expertise throughout my cancer journey so I’ve reached the stage where…

By Madeline Bodin Scenes from the West’s five-year drought are striking – the cracked mud at the bottom of a dry reservoir, forests in flames. Wonder what a drought would look like in Vermont and New Hampshire? Look out the window. This is the first time that any part of New Hampshire has been in…

By Marguerite Jill Dye After hiking my favorite section of the Appalachian Trail, I walked along the water’s edge at Kent Pond. Six young men were playing ball on the road, enjoying a sunny day in the fall. After sketching Kent Pond I walked over to them. One was clad in Muslim robes. I pointed…

By Kyle Finneron As I was writing my list of reasons people are frustrated at the gym and not losing weight I noticed something. Most of the reasons I was writing about share a common root: stress. It should come as no surprise that Americans are stressed out- always trying to do more and be…

So it turns out that chiropractors pretty much instantly cure vertigo when they adjust your neck. Remember that if you ever get it, because uncured, I would frankly choose kidney stones if I could. I have been easing back, not doing much, riding the stationary trainer a few times a day to keep my legs…

Sometime last year I came across a used hardcover copy of “The Top of the Hill” by Irwin Shaw in Now & Then Books in Bennington. Swayed by the dust jacket image (a pair of skis and poles planted upright in the snow) and a recollection that the author had been a guilty-pleasure favorite of…

Cal Garrison (a.k.a Mother of the Skye) writes weekly horoscopes for The Mountain Times. If you would like an emailed notification sent to you weekly, sign up for the newsletter, below. Want to hear more from Mother of the Skye? Check out Mother's Celestial Inspirations for a deeper look into this weeks horoscopes Horoscopes for…

By Dom Cioffi In the waiting room outside the lab where I receive my daily radiation treatments for cancer, hangs a nondescript gold bell about the size of a large grapefruit. It is mounted on the wall via a small wooden plaque with a loose hanging rope attached to it. Above the bell is an…

By Michael J. Caduto We like to think that everything in nature has its own particular time and place. But nature is fond of throwing us curves. As a naturalist, a common question I’m asked during foliage season is, “Why are spring peepers calling in my woods at this time of year?” Even ardent students…

What is the best part of fall? Is it the vibrant sylvan sunsets of changing leaves that adorn our hillsides, the crisp nights illuminated by communal bonfire, the cinnamon-spiced prepackaged snack foods falsely claiming to contain the flavor of pumpkin, or the symbolic destruction of youth enacted as sport on the hallowed fluorescent gridirons of…

So I decided to go for it. I re-entered the Spartan Ultra. Why not, right? I was in better shape than I was the year before, I was better trained and better rested. As of two days before the race, my hip and back felt better than they had in a year, my ankle felt…

By Marguerite Jill Dye I’d originally planned to write “Where are my bears?” because I couldn’t understand why the blackberries I left on the bushes for baby, mama, and daddy bear were still there. Then my friend and neighbor Kay said, “Early hunting season.” I panicked. “Not our bears,” I whispered, horrified, having heard a…

Back in the 1950s and 1960s people came to our homes to provide services that are handled very differently today. I remember when the milkman came to our house to deliver milk in a glass bottle. His name was Mr. Adams and he always arrived about the same time of day. He greeted me with…

By Cal Garrison, a.k.a. Mother of the Skye This week’s Horoscopes are coming out under the light of a Leo Moon. The big news for the day is that Pluto, having been in a Retrograde pattern since April 18, 2016, will be turning Direct at 11:01 a.m. on Monday morning. God knows what will arise…

By: Kyle Finneron I don’t think everyone should be a fitness model or has to look like people in Hollywood or in the magazines. (In real life, they don’t even look like those published pictures). However, excess weight can cut a life short and can make life a whole lot more difficult than it needs…