It’s almost time for Halloween and sometimes adults have as much fun as kids on this holiday. Looking back to the 1950s when I went “trick-or-treating” the costumes were pretty simple. Most kids dressed as witches, ghosts, hobos or vampires. Celebrity or movie related costumes were not popular like they are today. Many of…

No matter the time of day, I love laying on my blanket in the middle of a field and staring up at the sky. While you are the one that walks through the forest to create movement, the sky appears the exact opposite. Only when you lie perfectly still can you track the movements of…

On an October day years ago, my husband and I were canoeing on a pond in the Green Mountain National Forest. We heard crashing in the bushes along the shoreline just before a magnificent bull moose with large antlers appeared. He plunged into the water and swam across the pond, only 50 feet from where…

    When I was a kid, my mother stored all our holiday decorations in an attic room just off her bedroom. It was a small, cramped spot that was difficult to move around in due to the slanted ceiling, but perfect for storing items that weren’t accessed regularly.  I never liked this room. There…

  The raindrops hit my face, Slowly, Showing me nature. I open my eyes, Taking it all in, The beauty of the world, The beauty of nature, The leaves, All golden yellow, And fiery orange and red, A bird comes into view, Singing its beautiful little song. I take in the nature, The nature takes…

As is usual during the time in between eclipses, there’s an eerie reduction of planetary movement. That being said, the sky isn’t completely devoid of consideration. A big part of this week is contemplating all that you’ve been taught and told. Is it true? Is it false? Is it even real? What is truth when…

  A few steps beyond my front door and I am engulfed in a swarm of leaves. The wind lifts their lifeless yet multicolored selves off of the cold ground and they swirl around me. My hair flies all around me, caught up on the energy of the wind. I am part of the experience,…

My nephew came over this past weekend to visit. He’s a great kid with a solid head on his shoulders who’s trying to figure out his next steps in life. With football playing on my TV in the background, the two of us had an engaging hour-long talk that touched on a variety of subjects.   …

  In May of this year, when a cottonwood measuring nearly 3 ½ feet in diameter and more than 100 feet tall fell across a trail in the Saint Michael’s College Natural Area, I saw the event less as a tragedy, and more as a circle of life opportunity. As the saying goes, “Nothing in…

  We have embarked on a magical journey with the hearts and minds of animal spirits. I can’t explain its how and why, but believe it is based on our natural connections. Many things we can’t see are real. Western society and the scientific way have taken much of what is magical away. Modern day…

A total Solar Eclipse in Libra this week will backlight the eerie yet obvious imbalances of truth, justice and beauty in our personal lives as well as the collective landscape. As a New Moon, this eclipse holds the promise of bright new beginnings. Attached to the South Node, there is a purging or purifying component…

By Sandra Dee Owens  You get good at what you practice A few years ago, I took a solo trip while my book was at the printer. The trip was purposeful with a specific agenda; I was putting into practice what I shared in the book.  As a happy, busy, grandmother, I had not traveled…

By Mary Ellen Shaw It seems like our street had more bicycle riders this summer than I have ever seen here. The adults seem to outnumber the children and teens. For most of us our connection to biking begins with a tricycle. When I was a child back in the ‘50s there were about a…

Oh man, do I wish autumn lasted longer. Or that the days were longer within the season. I cannot get enough of this absolutely perfect fall weather that we’ve been having. I mean, driving to work every morning I think this must be peak and then the next day is even brighter and more full…

As autumn begins and insect populations dwindle, many waterfowl species rely increasingly on seeds as a food source. Common buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis), with its spherical bouquets of seeds now ripening, provides food for an array of ducks, geese, and other wetland denizens.  Buttonbush’s range spans southern Canada to Florida and from the Atlantic coast to…