Discover More from This Category: Columns

Poetry Is Power: As Free As A Horse

August 30, 2023
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…

Cosmic Catalogue: Choose your battles

August 30, 2023
  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,…

Looking Back: Dumb ideas

August 23, 2023
  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…

The Outsude Story: When North meets South: Flying squirrel hybrids

August 23, 2023
  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…

Poetry is Power: Learning to be a bunny

August 23, 2023
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…

Cosmic Catalogue: Darkest before dawn

August 23, 2023
  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…

Rockin’ the Region with Alice Michele

August 23, 2023
  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…

Mountain Meditation: Wildlife sightings and signs, part 2: Canada lynx, bellowing moose and Mr. Coyote liven up our woods

August 16, 2023
  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…

Movie Diary: The heat is on

August 16, 2023
  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…

Doodlebug, doodlebug, are you at home?

August 16, 2023
  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…

The Funologist: Russet season: Every day is its own season

August 16, 2023
  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,…

Poetry is Power: The stream in the sky

August 16, 2023
They blaze across the sky, Leaving a stream of wonder behind, A stream in the sky, Wanting to be heard, They dive through space, Their stream full of stars, Trying to tell stories, Stories of whooshing through space, With a great ball of fire, Leading it all, But the secret to its beauty, Is all…

Cosmic Catalogue: Things change

August 16, 2023
  The more things change, the more they stay the same. And while things may have had a stable or stagnant quality to them, believe me, they are indeed changing. When we think about change, we tend to look for the big events. Strange though, isn’t it? So few of us actually enjoy being on…

Q&A with Ethan Bruce Nelson, Brandon Area Bicycle Association   

August 9, 2023
  What makes the trails in Brandon unique to the area?  Brandon’s situation is interesting.  We are exactly at the hub of all the greatest trails in the region.  We are almost the exact geographical center point between Rutland’s Pine Hill Park, Middlebury’s TAM and connected systems, Rochester’s top notch network, Slate Valley’s Fairgrounds, and…

Mountain Meditation: Wildlife sightings and signs, part one: Bears and another little hibernator

August 9, 2023
  Dad first saw the land we now live on under 6 feet of snow. He and Orin Bates climbed up the hill wearing snowshoes to get through the snow drifts. Dad gazed at Pico through the trees when Killington had barely begun. As he considered the commitment and cost, a ruffled grouse rose up…