“When you are afraid, do the thing you are afraid of and soon you will lose your fear of it,” Norman Vincent Peale (author of The Power of Positive Thinking) famously said. Around in circle my feet go, through the phases of the pedal stroke. I pull the pedal backward and upward, my sticky…

  When I was a child, I was always contemplating what I might do if I had one (or several) wishes bestowed upon me. My desires for these wishes changed over time, but they all had a thread of consistency about achieving some level of renown in the disciplines I was interested in. For the…

  Here come real stars to fill the upper skies,  And here on earth come emulating flies,  That though they never equal stars in size, (And they were never really stars at heart Achieve at times a very star-like start...  —Robert Frost, “Fireflies in the Garden” It happens on a warm June evening: in the…

  In a column written back in May by fellow Mountain Times columnist, Dom Cioffi, he told about the various friends throughout his life. That got me thinking about the friends I have made over the years. Some remain in my life but most do not. The word “friend” is used rather loosely by many…

  With the beginning of summer and anglers fishing from shore, the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department reminds people that open fires and swimming are prohibited at all Vermont state fishing access areas.  Open fires and their remnants, create unsafe areas for other anglers and boaters to use and enjoy.  The remnants of these fires…

By George Fjeld Editor’s note: Dr. George Fjeld is a retired physician. Summer’s almost here and it’s time to get outside! Fun things like walking the dog, going for a hike, swimming, and paddling in the lake or playing a round of golf are a few of my favorite options.  However, nothing ruins an outdoor…

It’s the earliest day of the season (for my family anyway). We were in line an hour before the lifts started, with Bloody Marias and breakfast sandwiches in hand, way earlier than we would get there for any powder day. We won’t even wait on line on opening day, choosing instead to start the season…

  Evelyn Adams loved playing the lottery and dreaming about the day she might finally win big. Initially she spent $25 a week on tickets, but over the years her growing passion to play drove her spending to over $100 a week, hinting at the first signs of a burgeoning gambling problem.  Adams was in…

  On a foggy morning walk, it may seem as if the spider webs on your path have turned into jeweled wonders, every thread a string of gems as smooth as pearls and as sparkling as diamonds. Each of these “jewels” is a drop of water the web has collected from the misty air. As…

  Jordan Lee Allard, Merrimack College, Marketing and Communications Emma Halpin Allegretti, Villanova University, Environmental Studies & Communication Meghan Jennifer Bailey, Gap Year Cody Edward Bartlett, Army National Guard Austin Robert Bloch, Plymouth State University, Business Administration Christopher Morrill Bradley, Gap Year Jacob Jonathan Carey, College, Exercise Science Nicholas William Champine, Carpentry Jared Lewis Clark,…

For several months now, there has been a bright shining star in the Western horizon in the evening. That star is Venus and she’s the star to keep an eye on now. Reason being, she’s going to be taking a longer than usual journey through the sign of Leo. Instead of her usual month-long visit,…

  A classmate recently told me that she didn’t remember any sports for girls during our high school years at Mount St. Joseph Academy in the early 1960s. I didn’t recall any either so I checked the yearbooks online to see if we were correct.  The ski team was the only sports related activity showing…

  You could hear the screaming from our house as the truck rolled into town. No matter what day it was, kids would come running out of their homes in all directions in a mass frenzy, making their way to the safe spot, a non-verbally agreed to location where our parents felt we would be…

  As a child, my parents were against excessive television watching, so, consequently, I had to find something else to do when the outdoor option was unavailable. Because of this, I became enamored with board and card games. I started with Chutes and Ladders, Candy Land, checkers, and a variety of card games. Once I…

  I mowed the lawn today. The mower choked its way slowly through the chest-high grass, hidden saplings, and lush wildflowers.  If left unattended for an entire summer, our lawn’s perimeter would disappear. Within five summers, our homemade house would be camouflaged by the surrounding forest. Mother nature is always busy filling in the holes.…