I got out of work on Saturday around 11 p.m. and like so many of my compatriots in the restaurant industry, I am always too restless to go home. To go from the mad dash of bartending to the stillness of my house is always an eerie feeling and some nights I just can’t handle…

By Dom Cioffi I was 10 years old in 1976, a little kid who loved sports and playing with his friends. I also loved going to the movies. Early on, my mother used to take me to see animated films and the occasional musical. Later, I became enamored with the “Herbie the Love Bug” series…

By Merisa Sherman The crowd gathered slowly, but you could feel the energy was there, just under the surface and waiting for the excitement that was to come. It was a subdued kind of energy, with people quietly chatting while they ate their lunches, sipping on local draft beer and catching up with friends they…

By Lee Emmons The brown thrasher (Toxostoma rufum) lives out its days in relative seclusion. Like the gray catbird, which has a similar fondness for thickets and shrubby areas, brown thrashers haunt areas of dense cover, although discerning eyes may be able to spot these birds within that habitat. Even when they’re out of sight,…

For the last half century, turning 65 stamped the time when you would leave your job, file for Social Security, begin your pension and enroll in Medicare. But is that the case anymore? The retirement environment has changed. Full retirement age is now 66 or 67, corporate pensions have been replaced by 401(k) plans, and…

By Tim Traver This spring, we went the no-mow route on about a quarter-acre of our lawn, the last remaining groomed piece we hadn’t turned into vegetable garden or permanent meadow. What a relief! During the hottest, driest spells over the summer, the grass wasn’t growing anyway. The lawn we did mow during the drought…

By Mary Ellen Shaw When I read that Seward’s Restaurant is closing my mind went to memories that began in childhood. When you have been around for more than of a century it’s rare to have an existing business that has shared that same time span with you. I was 3 years old when the…

By Mary Ellen Shaw Well, how did your garden grow this summer? Did you try anything new? Experimenting with new plants is one of my favorite things to do. When the calendar tells me that Labor Day has arrived I know that the gardening season is coming to an end. Summer goes by way too…

By Kevin Theissen You may have heard that the Biden administration announced it was forgiving five-figure loan amounts to as many as 43 million federal college loan borrowers. Also noteworthy was the announcement that it would be extending its loan repayment pause one more time through Dec. 31. This will be the seventh extension since the pause…

By Merisa Sherman My big plastic boots feel heavy this early in the season, as I continue to pass one foot in front of the other. I meander my plastics around roots and rocks, careful not to teeter totter on the pointy ones. They might look brutal to hike in, but over these years these beloved…

I know it was January because it was after the holidays and I was returning a gift to a local sporting goods store. That was nine months ago; that’s how long this mystery has lasted. I had received a golf shirt for Christmas but it was too small so I figured I’d bring it back…

By Sandra Dee Owens What is your birth language? I asked my husband if he wanted to get divorced and return to being boyfriend and girlfriend like we were 40 years ago. My words sent him scrambling outside to the timber frame he was cutting for our new garage. I have to admit I took…

By Liz DiMarco Weinmann My recent Mountain Times feature, "For Your Own Good, Have a Plan," prompted a bemused request from friends over 70 who are socially active, engaged in community causes, and grateful to be traveling again: “So, what’s your advice for us? As a boomer who just celebrated a milestone birthday, I too…

By Merisa Sherman The fog came across the summit of the mountain in waves, wisps of clouds making their way across the sky. There had been no clouds down below, but here, sitting at the top of the mountain, the fog was so think you would think you could step right off the rocks and…

The unexpected chemistry of lightning By Kenrick Vezina To say that lightning “splits” the sky is no mere poetry. A single stroke contains about one billion joules of energy, roughly 280 kilowatt-hours of electricity, and could power a modern American household for more than nine days. What’s more, it’s enough to blast apart the very…