Halloween is long past, but you may notice devilish figures hanging out in scrubby fields and open areas this winter: horned larks. These birds are North America’s only true lark species. They reside year-round in parts of the Northeast, such as Vermont’s Champlain Valley, but disperse across the region more widely in winter, when the…

The rhythms of nature are completely cyclic. Nothing operates in a linear fashion. This is something to keep in mind if you’re holding your breath until 2025. While you might be excited to bring in the New Year and its stellar configurations, it would be worth your while to reflect on the year that’s been…

As 2024 draws to a close, it would seem fitting to offer up a top-ten best-film list and maybe throw in a worst-of-the-year list, too. However, I live in Vermont, which is not a large market for the film industry, and we hardly have any theaters in the state where new films can be seen,…

In keeping with the spirit of the holiday season, I found it only fitting to review some current holiday film offerings. The biggest holiday movie offering of the season, at least in terms of cast and Hollywood budget expenditures, is the Rock vehicle “Red One.” It’s streaming now on Amazon Prime after a less-than-stellar box…

We were skiing everything the weeks around World Cup. Over 5 feet of snow fell in Killington on top of no real base, and man, did we ski it all—Hot laps in the Canyon on 100% natural snow with no end to the greatness in sight. It was a glorious few weeks that will go…

Several years ago, while on a work trip to Denmark, I took a stroll into downtown Copenhagen to take in the sights. I enjoy roaming the cities I visit, hoping to catch a glimpse of something new and interesting or find some delicacy I’ve never tasted.  Denmark is notoriously rainy, but the sun was shining…

Nowhere on Earth is free from plastic pollution these days, from the highest mountaintops to the deepest ocean canyons. The problem gets worse each year and seems to peak during the holiday season when household trash rates in the U.S. increase by 25% or more. Much of that trash is plastic waste that will be…

Tromping through our woods in December in search of a Christmas tree, I often notice an evergreen fern, one of the few green plants on the forest floor this time of year, other than young conifers. An easy fern to identify, it grows in fountain-like clumps and has glossy, dark green leaflets or pinnae. This…

The turning of the Sun marks a significant turning point of light. In the Northern Hemisphere, the light of the Sun will embark upon its ascent of increased light that will peak in June’s Summer Solstice. While in the South, the Sun’s arrival in Capricorn sees the slow descent into shorter days and longer nights.…

Each generation has its own memories associated with Christmas. When I was growing up back in the 50s, there were certain trends from that period that are unlike those of today. I think it’s safe to say that there were more “real” trees than “fake” trees in people’s homes back then. Those looking for a…

I’ve been to World Series Games in Yankee Stadium during the 1990s, with Pettitte on the mound and 56,000 cheering, the entire structure shaking violently. But I’ve never experienced anything quite like the moment when 39,000 people felt our hearts drop into our stomachs as we went from cheering beyond ourselves, ready to burst into…

With the holiday season upon us and many of us traveling to visit family, we must take time to consider gratitude. Where does it come from? How is it sustained? How do you show it when you are feeling it? What can you do to find more gratitude? How does it affect us and others…

Sports were my greatest concern growing up, to the detriment of almost every other activity. I never considered choir or band or scouting or anything else. I was all-in with my sporting interests, which varied in degree between basketball, football, baseball, and track.  My personality was completely defined and characterized by my involvement in athletics.…

The first extreme skiing The ski school constructed an upward-sloping ramp in front of the Snowshed Lodge observation deck. We blew snow on it to maintain the right amount of surface needed to create a perfect ski jump. Two daredevils, Herman Goellner and Tom LeRoy, figured out that they could get enough speed to hit…

In the cold October air, my classmates and I gathered around the square oak board placed on the ground more than a year earlier. Carefully, we lifted it and peered underneath. Against the dark brown soil, two shiny lines caught our attention: salamanders. Both were Eastern red-backed salamanders (Plethodon cinereus), the most abundant salamander species…