Learning to be a bunny Fields and fields of flowers, An amazing sight to see,                   Bunnies hopping through them, Gnawing on the leaves, So much more to learn, So much more to see, So the bunnies must keep hopping, And sprinting through the trees, A nearby forest awaits them, More flowers to be seen, More…

  You know the saying, “it’s always darkest before dawn?” Well, it’s dawn now and there is a light and her name is Venus. If you’re one to get up with the roosters, you’ll see her rise before the Sun. For thousands of years, a star reappearing in the East after a period of being…

  Usually for this article I interview musical artists, but I’m pleased to say this week I interviewed an actual artist. This article is about local Bridgewater artist Alice Michele. She is native to Quechee but currently calls Bridgewater home. You can find her on Instagram @alicemichele.art or if you want to reach out and…

  A Spirit Animal may appear to bring a message to help guide you through difficulties and challenging times. Whatever animal calls or shows up has insights and gifts to share through its strengths. The rarest sighting I have experienced during my 65 years in Vermont was the Canada lynx kitten who hid in our…

  I took my family on a vacation to the North Carolina shore this past week. We rented a house on a quiet street a short distance from the beach. The house conveniently came with a golf cart, which made the back-and-forth trips to the ocean bearable. The temperatures were astounding. I don’t think I’ve…

  The doodlebug waits. It is patient. It is silent. And it is hidden under a fine layer of dry, loose, sandy soil at the bottom of a small conical pit. Soon, a wandering ant will slip down the side of the pit, where the sickle-shaped mandibles of the doodlebug will rise from the bottom…

  I used to dismiss this tweeny season. The weeks of muted, russet yellows, browns and purples, that comes between the green of summer and fiery colors of fall.  I used to lament the passing of summer, and pine for fall, and the winter ahead. And in that wishing and waiting, I overlooked this beautiful,…

They blaze across the sky, Leaving a stream of wonder behind, A stream in the sky, Wanting to be heard, They dive through space, Their stream full of stars, Trying to tell stories, Stories of whooshing through space, With a great ball of fire, Leading it all, But the secret to its beauty, Is all…

  The more things change, the more they stay the same. And while things may have had a stable or stagnant quality to them, believe me, they are indeed changing. When we think about change, we tend to look for the big events. Strange though, isn’t it? So few of us actually enjoy being on…

  What makes the trails in Brandon unique to the area?  Brandon’s situation is interesting.  We are exactly at the hub of all the greatest trails in the region.  We are almost the exact geographical center point between Rutland’s Pine Hill Park, Middlebury’s TAM and connected systems, Rochester’s top notch network, Slate Valley’s Fairgrounds, and…

  Dad first saw the land we now live on under 6 feet of snow. He and Orin Bates climbed up the hill wearing snowshoes to get through the snow drifts. Dad gazed at Pico through the trees when Killington had barely begun. As he considered the commitment and cost, a ruffled grouse rose up…

  I cannot see much, just the white and yellow lines of the freeway swaying here and there around the mountains. “Coyote,” by Joni Mitchell, is stuck in my head on repeat as I watch those lines, matching the lean of our bike to the rhythm of the road. I ride 2UP (pronounced: two up), which means…

  With all the rain and terrible flooding that we have had, it seems that August just might be the best of summer 2023. Many of our fellow Vermonters need our help and our prayers. If we all do what we can, it will certainly ease the burden of those suffering. I recently experienced a…

For most of the year, it’s hard to find a pond without at least a few mallards swimming around. These ducks, with their green-headed drakes and streaky brown hens, are among the most common water birds throughout the Northeast. In spring and fall, mallard flocks are ubiquitous, gobbling up grasses and aquatic plants. In winter,…

While listening to a radio conversation between two people hosting a show I heard one of them ask the other what decade he expected to hear songs from when he is told that an “oldie” is coming up. The two hosts were not close in age so one said the ’70s and the other said…