EAST MONTPELIER – It’s difficult to complain about the length of a flight to Europe when you consider what our ancestors went through to get here. Their tears at the sight of the Statue of Liberty weren’t just from inspiration; they were overjoyed to get off that boat. Still, the[Read More…]
Willem Lange
Many of the Travel Problems Solved
EAST MONTPELIER – My oldest child, Virginia, turned 65 this past week. This sort of thing usually evokes, on social media, the comment, “Goodness! Where did the time go?” I shall avoid that; I know perfectly well where the time has gone since that sunny spring day in Keene Valley,[Read More…]
If Anything but Friendly, Butt Out
EAST MONTPELIER – Of all the numskull, hammer-headed, misguided, ham-handed, tin-eared ideas floated by our current president (and there have been many, by my count), the one about annexing Canada as a fifty-first state has got to rank in the top 10 world-wide. His supporters claim he was just joking.[Read More…]
My Love Affair with Small Boats
EAST MONTPELIER – The tips of my tamaracks are starting to turn green, the coltsfoot is in bloom, and a phoebe is singing in the brook bed below the kitchen. The sun is out, and if the thermometer goes up another five degrees, I’ll fire up old Helga (she’s 27[Read More…]
There’s Plenty to Talk About
EAST MONTPELIER — Both my friend Bea and I have functioning automobiles, which is fortunate, because we live (when you factor in stops for coffee, washroom, or gasoline) about four hours apart. We pretty much trade weekends for travel, and get together about twice a month. She’s still teaching, so[Read More…]
Instead, Their Brilliance was Spent on Us
EAST MONTPELIER – “THESE are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not[Read More…]
There’ve Got to be Brigades
MONTPELIER — Keeping up with the shenanigans of the Trump administration is like the old kids’ game of setting three frogs on a table and trying to stop them from jumping. As soon as you think you’ve got one outrage pegged, another pops up in a spot you didn’t expect.[Read More…]
Visiting Territories Beyond Their Control
EAST MONTPELIER — Some years ago my wife, my younger daughter, Martha, and I stopped for the night in the ancient town of Nettuno, on the west coast of Italy. It happened to be the feast day of La Madonna delle Grazie, a major festival featuring carnival rides, various team competitions, and[Read More…]
Ripping and Tearing
EAST MONTPELIER — Years ago, during my days as a remodeling contractor, we often had to demolish an existing structure, a wall, or plaster and lath in order to begin to work our magic. I asked my guys to list such labor on their time cards as “R&T” – Ripping[Read More…]
There’s Excitement in the Offing
EAST MONTPELIER — The week started off Friday night at midnight with a full lunar eclipse. A thick, rain-filled warm front followed right behind, and the snow began receding from my yard. Sugar-makers began posting steam-filled photographs of their operations, which will be followed shortly by more photos of two-wheel[Read More…]
We Never Saw the Like Again
EAST MONTPELIER — The year 1985 has often moved me to invoke Shakespeare: “So fair and foul a year I have not seen.” But let’s focus on just the fair for the next few minutes. In the middle of an Alaskan February night, Dudley and I were skiing on a[Read More…]
He’d Have Known
EAST MONTPELIER – The events of this past weekend in the Mad River Valley of Vermont highlighted a well-known, but rarely discussed, feature of Washington, D.C., politics: the tin ear. I like to call it the imperial ear. It listens, but doesn’t hear. Instead, it assumes. And last weekend, it[Read More…]
