Ski for Heat is the kind of non-profit that thrives in Vermont. It started fifteen years ago when Martha Robertson wanted to direct her Christmas giving to help neighbors heat their homes. But she was too broke, so she asked family and friends to help her: Would they sponsor her to ski at Wild Wings […]
Living in Place
Vermonters By Choice
Peter Shumlin is the first native-born governor of Vermont in over thirty years, and Senator Patrick Leahy is the only member of our current congressional delegation born in the state. The truth of the matter is that a lot of people who were born out of state call themselves Vermonters – and justifiably so. Anyone […]
Living With Weather
Despite the media hype last week about the Big Blizzard, we had only five inches of snow in southern Vermont. But this week, in the ordinary course of winter events, we had a foot of new snow. Whether it was because this snowfall didn’t threaten the major metropolitan areas along the eastern seaboard, or because […]
January in Vermont
It’s January in Vermont. My retired neighbors have driven south for the discomforts of perpetual summer, while my more affluent contemporaries are packing for their Caribbean vacations. I’ll miss their companionship, but I won’t miss their complaints, and if they really hate winter, they might as well leave. I’m staying home. I love the winter […]
My Year of the Dog
2014 was my year of the dog. We’d lost Bonnie, our canine companion, in August of 2013, and adopted Leo in January of 2014. During the five months we were without a dog, we also lost our bees to a bear, our flock to a fox, and our garden to deer. We needed a dog. […]