By Dom Cioffi My son just purchased his first used vehicle. He was excited and proud and ready to conquer the world when the car finally arrived. However, before I allowed him to drive off into the sunset, I was compelled to have a talk with him about the realities of car ownership. This talk…

To survive the cold of winter, some animals take advantage of protected habitats, such as wooded areas or under a blanket of insulating snow. Ruffed grouse, for example, fly into piles of loose snow and create roosting cavities to rest in when not foraging. Mice and other small mammals remain active in tunnels under the…

It’s not easy to explain the significance of this week in around two hundred words. What will be significant though is the fact that Saturn’s arrival in Pisces is an event not seen since 1993.  Thus, the collective energies are set to shift in a noticeable way as the planet of rules, regulations and boundaries…

By Mary Ellen Shaw The role that paper plays in our lives has changed so much compared to its role “back in the day!” Several years ago I was researching information about WWII and its effect locally. I visited the Rutland Historical Society and found a letter written during that war. It was correspondence between…

By Dom Cioffi Recently, I had a friend tell me that I absolutely had to watch the Paramount series, “Yellowstone.” He raved about the storylines, the acting, and the overarching grandeur of the show. I acknowledged his passion and said I’d check it out. But I won’t. It’s not that I have anything against that…

By Merisa Sherman It’s scary, this new thing. This trail I have never been on before. For so many years of my life, this trail hasn’t changed and now, here it is, with a completely different pitch and angle from what Pres and Joe had created all those many years ago. The idea is the…

By Doug Facey In the midst of winter, the ice-covered lakes of New England seem quiet. It may, however, be a bit noisy below the ice. Winter into early spring is the spawning season for burbot, when males produce sounds to attract mates.  Burbot (Lota lota), also called cusk, lingcod, eelpout, and a few other…

By Sandra Dee Owens Bingy I love foreign detective stories. Staying up each night later than planned, I used to binge-watch oodles of episodes. Cuddling up with my cell phone in bed was my favorite part of the day. Before a series even ended, I hunted for a new one with enough seasons to ensure…

By Mary Ellen Shaw When I heard that Vermont State University plans to remove books from their library shelves and transition to digital books by July 1st it felt like a magic trick about to happen. Just say “Presto” and the paper books will suddenly disappear. Changes of that magnitude usually happen gradually. I have…

By Merisa Sherman Almost despairingly, I lifted my head. I could see the towers sticking up from the summit of Pico and they seemed so very small from so far away. I was worn out and frustrated, my skins sticking to the snow just enough to make each glide forward feel like a battle between…

By Susan Shea A few winters ago, I snowshoed along a trail that led below a series of cliffs with rows of huge, hanging icicles. These icicles were up to 40 feet long, with colors ranging from blue-green to yellowish-brown. In some spots, the icicles extended from clifftop to base, forming thick columns of ice.…

By D0m Cioffi My wife and I have an agreement that when either one of us travels by air, we always let the other one know when we take-off and land. I guess it’s one of those meaningless marital things that develops over the years, but we’ve always done it. Recently, I was about to…

 By Anna Morris Humans often ascribe traits that we admire to other animals. We treasure a dog’s loyalty, revere an eagle’s power, and applaud a dolphin’s intellect. We hold these creatures in high esteem, whether they are spotted rarely in the wild or are daily lounging at our feet, because we value these same attributes…

By Merisa Sherman I hadn’t realized it was spring yet.  Only last week, we were freezing standing in the cold, skiing snow so firm that your entire body shuttered when you maneuvered away from the groomed trails. That was only last week right? Today my face is on fire and I am sweating. The sky…

By Dom Cioffi  Recently, I told my son that I thought he was old enough and mature enough to watch “The Godfather” trilogy (I left out the fact that all three films run nearly 3 hours, which would have dissuaded him). He agreed, mostly because he’d been hearing pop culture references to the films for…