By Debbie Boyce Three years ago Tropical Storm Irene presented many Vermonters with a challenge not many had ever experienced. Irene and other damaging storms show us the importance of being ready for anything. Vermont is susceptible to a number of disasters: floods, blizzards, chemical spills, cyber-attack, pandemic, and other events. The best way to…

by Cindy Phillips I remember life before the internet. It was those days of yesteryear, before Al Gore invented it. Research was done at the library. Communication was on a rotary telephone or via handwritten notes. You needed a stamp to send a letter and you had to walk to the corner to put it…

By Carolyn Lorié This has always been my perception of bird migration in the fall: the days grow short and cool and then, one day, I notice a v-shaped caravan of Canada geese flying southward. Then another and another. Within a few weeks of that first sighting, I hear their melancholy call one final time…

Putting my son to bed at night has been a test of my patience since the day he was born. When he was  an infant, I would change and swaddle him and then place him in his crib, careful that he couldn’t slide though any bars or injury himself in any way. When I was…

By Brett Yates As I write this, the Phoenix Mercury are going head-to-head with the Chicago Sky in the WNBA Finals, which seems as good a time as any to reflect upon the tendency of the Women’s National Basketball Association and other relatively new pro sports leagues to employ singular nouns as team names, instead…

By Gerrie Russell KILLINGTON—The Killington Arts Guild hosted an opening reception for its new show “Vermont and Me” on Saturday, Aug. 30, at the Gallery on Route 4 in Killington. Family, friends and visitors in the area enjoyed refreshments and the work of many talented artists. Maurie Harrington, a Vermont watercolorist and the featured artist…

By Joe Rankin Living this far north, we’re attuned to signs of a waning summer: shorter days, cooler nights, red maples in low-lying areas turning their trademark color. But when the asters bloom, I know the curtain is coming down on summer. The asters are some of the latest blooming flower species in our region.…

By Kate Robitello Skin is quite amazing; it stretches, comes in all different colors and textures, and protects our bodies from environmental damage. Over the years advancements in technology, chemically created lotions and serums, and of course, the marketing efforts of major skincare companies have created the belief that it is necessary to spend a…

By Todd McLeish It rained heavily the first time I had planned to go on a hawk watch, and the trip to Mt. Tom in western Massachusetts was cancelled. But the rain brought with it a weather front the next day that created the perfect conditions for fall hawk migration in New England. And migrate…

By Cindy Phillips I love making new discoveries. If I learn something new, I feel I have had a productive day. Of course sometimes I feel like a total idiot because I learn something that apparently the rest of the world has known about for years. Last week, a co-worker pointed out that we can…

By Dom Cioffi About a week ago, a notice arrived in our mailbox explaining that a 5K charity road race would be run through our neighborhood over the holiday weekend. The organizers apologized for the hour-or-so traffic inconvenience that would occur, but hoped everyone would take a minute to stand outside to cheer the runners…

By Dom Cioffi Traveling with children can be distressing. I’m not talking about the meltdowns at grandma’s house or the sugar-infused chaos of being at the amusement park. I’m talking about those precarious moments in between leaving your home and arriving at a destination. Now obviously there’s not much involved or very distressing about a…

By Rachel Sargent Imagine you’re an insect cruising through the air. Suddenly, you realize you’re heading straight for a spider web. You’re doomed. But wait – you can still escape by slipping through one of the gaps. Spider webs are, after all, more gaps than web. You aim between the sticky threads – it’s going…

By Kate Robitello Did you know that some of the most he spices in the world are already in most kitchen cabinets? That’s right, there’s no need to trek through the Sri Lankan forests to obtain the healthiest baking spice. Instead, just look for them sitting modestly next to your nutmeg and allspice. Many cooks,…

By Brett Yates I don’t know whether the gifted actor and comedian Robin Williams was himself especially attracted to schmaltzy, uplifting films, or whether his irrepressible stage persona simply conveyed to movie producers such a powerful joie de vivre as to make them insist that he – and only he – could show a bunch…