My fingers move of their own accord, tightening the straps while I press the lever open. I pull just a little bit more before letting the strap fall and wrapping a backup knot. I let both straps fall into the car and shut the door, hopefully keeping the straps from flapping around and breaking…

  This past Sunday, my wife and I decided to do some errands together. So, after breakfast we each knocked out a few household chores before finally jumping in my truck to head out.  We were about a mile down the road when I realized that I had forgotten my cellphone. My first instinct was…

  I didn’t want to do it. But I needed to do it. For both of us. Our marriage of 42 years is solid as a rock—and scrappy. We are a great team, achieving a high level of DIY with everything we do. But harmonious, not so much. I’m a scrapper. He’s internal. We argue,…

   A caterpillar eats and eats, becomes a chrysalis, and after a period of metamorphosis emerges as a beautiful butterfly! Except, sometimes… it doesn’t quite work that way. Occasionally, while sitting on my deck, I spot smallish, orange butterflies landing on our hop plants. Their upper wings, about 2 inches across, are bright orange with…

Horses, They gallop around, As free as the breeze, Prancing and dancing, Under the trees, Eating the grass, Smelling the flowers, As free as the leaves, They let their heart guide them, In a world of their own, Their imagination flowing, Helping them along, You know that you too, Can be free, Letting your heart…

  Recently, I wrote about the idea of the more things change, the more they stay the same.  The way this week begins, will be the way September ends. Other than the regular pace of the Sun and the Moon, nothing changes. Don’t be fooled though. Things that have been stirred up, reassessed and rethought,…

  During my annual dermatology visit the doctor and I discussed how the choices that people made in the ’60s have resulted in skin damage as we age. Sunscreen was not promoted back then like it is today. A popular trend among my high school and college friends was to slit the sides of a…

  It’s evening, and you’re in the forest. You close your eyes and inhale the sharp, sweet, turpentine scent of pine. The air is still, yet the branches overhead seem to nod at your presence. You shine a flashlight and catch a glimpse: a fleeting, tiny ball of fur, arms and legs outstretched, tail like…

Learning to be a bunny Fields and fields of flowers, An amazing sight to see,                   Bunnies hopping through them, Gnawing on the leaves, So much more to learn, So much more to see, So the bunnies must keep hopping, And sprinting through the trees, A nearby forest awaits them, More flowers to be seen, More…

  You know the saying, “it’s always darkest before dawn?” Well, it’s dawn now and there is a light and her name is Venus. If you’re one to get up with the roosters, you’ll see her rise before the Sun. For thousands of years, a star reappearing in the East after a period of being…

  Usually for this article I interview musical artists, but I’m pleased to say this week I interviewed an actual artist. This article is about local Bridgewater artist Alice Michele. She is native to Quechee but currently calls Bridgewater home. You can find her on Instagram @alicemichele.art or if you want to reach out and…

  A Spirit Animal may appear to bring a message to help guide you through difficulties and challenging times. Whatever animal calls or shows up has insights and gifts to share through its strengths. The rarest sighting I have experienced during my 65 years in Vermont was the Canada lynx kitten who hid in our…

  I took my family on a vacation to the North Carolina shore this past week. We rented a house on a quiet street a short distance from the beach. The house conveniently came with a golf cart, which made the back-and-forth trips to the ocean bearable. The temperatures were astounding. I don’t think I’ve…

  The doodlebug waits. It is patient. It is silent. And it is hidden under a fine layer of dry, loose, sandy soil at the bottom of a small conical pit. Soon, a wandering ant will slip down the side of the pit, where the sickle-shaped mandibles of the doodlebug will rise from the bottom…

  I used to dismiss this tweeny season. The weeks of muted, russet yellows, browns and purples, that comes between the green of summer and fiery colors of fall.  I used to lament the passing of summer, and pine for fall, and the winter ahead. And in that wishing and waiting, I overlooked this beautiful,…