By Bree Sarandrea Magical Reindeer, They dance, They prance, They land on your rooftop, With the softest of sounds. Then they leave in an instant, As fast as they had come. On Dasher, On Dancer, On Prancer, On Vixen, On Comet, On Cupid, On Donner, On Blitzen, And lead the way Rudolph, With your bright…

  Too often, the mistake of regurgitating information is the benchmark by which intelligence is determined. The teacher tells you what you need to learn. You sit a test and repeat the information given and you either pass or fail.  It appears we’ve arrived at a point on the timeline where this method of learning…

  By Brooke Geery Killington Resort donated 25 toy wagons stuffed with goodies for Teddy Arbo’s annual Holiday Toy Party earlier this month.     By Brooke Geery Teddy Arbo’s annual Holiday Toy Party is an ever-growing tradition in the Killington community. What started as a dinner party in 1986 where guests were asked to…

   HomeShare Vermont and Woodstock’s Thompson Senior Center have joined forces to bring more Vermonters access to the homesharing model.  “This partnership will open new doors to folks in our area and we can’t wait to make the connections with HomeShare Vermont,” said Deanna Jones, exec. director at The Thompson Senior Center.  With this partnership,…

By Mary Ellen Shaw It’s almost Christmas and as I look back I realize how the holiday is very different in today’s world. When I was a child in the ‘50s, downtown Rutland was bustling with shoppers who had numerous stores from which to select Christmas gifts. The windows were beautifully decorated for the season…

By Merisa Sherman You can see the stars overhead, twinkling against the shimmering clouds in the night sky. There are moments of clear, but this is Vermont. The clouds move about as they will, blocking different constellations throughout the evening. Almost as if by drawing your focus to different moments in the night sky, they…

  For reasons likely buried deep in my DNA, I have always had an acute sense of smell. While my other senses have been ravaged by time, my olfactory awareness has maintained a high-level status. My mother also had a great sniffer, which posed considerable problems for me and my two brothers as she was…

  In winter, river otters head upstream into the uplands, seeking areas of fast-moving water that remain open—at least open enough for an otter to slip into a stream in pursuit of fish. You might catch a brief glimpse of an otter along one of these smaller streams, as I did years ago with my…

  It’s that time of year once again when we think of our dear family and friends. What would life be without special people who touch our souls and warm our hearts? Gift giving in many cultures is an honored tradition. It certainly is in ours. We live in a materialistic, throw-away society where objects…

There are times in life, when in order to get to an ideal destination, you have to traverse through places you’d rather not endure. Life, at times, can seem like a continual cost-benefit analysis. In order to have X, you must compromise on Y. In order to compromise on Y, the desire for X has…

  By Curt Peterson It shouldn’t have snowed, no, it shouldn’t have snowed While nothing is yet where it is meant to be stowed. The mower? Where the pickup should be put away. And the plow guy will say the pickup’s in the way. The splitter? The runabout? They’re misplaced as well. Their intended destination…

        Christmas and Hanukkah are special to all of us in many ways. Even if we complain about the hustle and bustle we all love the children, the toys, tinsel, parties and  chaos. Charles Dickens said “Oh, would that Christmas lasted the whole year through, as it ought. Would that the spirit…

  Ever get to the mountain and find that you are missing an essential piece of equipment — like your boots — or just don’t have the right goggle lens for the day? Well, I have a bag for that. No seriously, I hate having everything loose in my car, especially when I might be driving…

Growing up, I used to love watching cartoons on Saturday mornings. My mom was pretty good about letting me hang out in my pajamas, eat cereal, and take in the colorful programming, but by late morning, she was usually pushing me out the door to play.  And I was usually ready to join my friends…

       I’ve always loved the idea of watching the sky for shooting stars. But I’m much more likely to be up to watch the sunrise than I am to stay awake past midnight, when most meteor showers happen. Lucky for me, the upcoming Geminid meteor shower will provide an opportunity to wish upon…