By Colby Galliher It’s deep in winter, and a nor’easter is dumping snow outside. In between the howling winds you hear a boom! Maybe a heap of snow fell from the roof, you think, or a giant icicle crashed from the eaves. A few minutes later, another boom pounds through the blizzard’s gales. It’s closer…

Mountain Meditation Marguerite Jill Dye   A dear friend of mine keeps a gratitude journal to write down the good things that transpire—like a heart-to-heart talk with a friendly neighbor, a courteous driver, a fall she avoided. Gratitude grows blessings. It’s a high vibration that attracts the same back to it like a magnet. When…

Happy Gregorian New Year! A change in the calendar year is always so much more than an old year ending. It offers the chance, the hope, the possibility of what you want to bring into your sphere being closer than it was before.  Even if you awaken from slumber on Jan. 1, having seen better…

By Marguerite Jill Dye We were elated to spend several days with our grandchildren just before Christmas. I am always in awe of how young ones, unencumbered, mold the world to their liking. Our grandson Silas’ enthusiasm is so far reaching he engages total strangers in collaborative activities. He also initiates grown up conversations that leave adults…

Submitted The sustainability of maple syrup will be studied  from 2026 to 2036 with the help of a grant.    UVM researchers embark on long-term study of the signature Vermont product’s future outlook Maple syrup conveys an image of healthy forests and a sustainable product made by farmers stewarding the land. Yet, there is little…

  Everything I need to know about life, I learned from skiing. Right? Well, I have at least learned enough things from skiing that I should be able to translate those into my everyday life. Skiing teaches us so many things, like respect gets respect, body awareness and how (hopefully) to anticipate the reactions of…

  Well, it’s that time of year again. Another 12 months have passed, and we are now faced with that year-end tradition of reflecting on what’s transpired. Are you a better person on Dec. 31 than you were on Jan. 1 of this past year? Did you improve your health? Did you break a bad…

One winter day, while teaching a winter ecology class, I pulled on waders and rubber gloves, grabbed a catch net, and led my “Minibeasts of the Stream” program, discovering a rich variety of insects in the frigid waters of Kedron Brook in South Woodstock, Vermont. Insects are abundant in winter streams because they are able…

If you were a kid in Rutland back in the 50s, how did you spend your winter? I will guarantee you that it wasn’t spent inside looking at a digital device! We were outside for the majority of the day even if was snowing. There is an expression that goes “There is no such thing…

It all begins with a twinkle, The sun starts to rise, Painting its colorful picture of new year. The shining sun rises, The glowing moon falls, The sky sparkles. The snow glitters, All sparkly and white, The sky paints its picture, For all to see. The beautiful new year begins, With a glistening sky, The…

It’s the week between Christmas and New Year, where you don’t know what day of the week it is nor what you should be doing.  On the one hand, the astrology of this week supports taking it easy and letting the atmosphere of the season take a hold.  On the other hand, you may be…

  Getting the lights all untangled and the ornaments hung one by one never bothered me. We usually had family gatherings where everyone would take part so you could always hide in the bathroom if it got too intense. My grandmothers (both the Methodist and the Jewish one) would each spend meticulous hours opening the…

By Dom Cioffi  Frank Loesser was thrown out of high school and college — both times for the same reason: he failed almost every subject. Oddly, the one class he excelled in was English, which would prove prophetic as his career trajectory unfolded. Given this track record of failing, Loesser had to be resourceful, especially…

By Rebecca Perkins Hanissiant Of all life’s synergies, I appreciate most the one between my propensity for domestic procrastination and my love of moving through the outdoors — countless adventures are born of it. During a late November weekend, when faced with a day spent winterizing our home, my husband and I instead packed up…

  By Marguerite Jill Dye Extending a helping hand to a neighbor is a longstanding Vermont tradition in an environment with harsh winters, snow and rain storms with increasing potency. That is how our forebears survived. Sharing kindness and passing on blessings is a great way to live our lives. Christian charity is a concept…