EAST MONTPELIER – The sky has always been a source of wonder for us earthbound folks. For some of us who are – shall we say – more earthbound, it’s a source of portents, omens, and myths. What we call thunderstorms and explain as electrically charged clouds used to be[Read More…]
A Yankee Notebook
We Saw Things We’d Never Seen Before
EAST MONTPELIER – “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.” — Samuel Clemens If anyone[Read More…]
Aha! A cane-user
EAST MONTPELIER – Our cab arrived at 4:40 a.m. on the dot and deposited us at the entrance to United Airlines about 5:30. Check-in was amazingly easy, and the trek to our gate likewise. We took off from Logan also on the dot – it seems to be true that[Read More…]
It Sucks You in and Spits You Out
EAST MONTPELIER – This coming Saturday morning, a Boeing 737 Max 8 bound for Denver will be taking off (or at least is scheduled to be taking off) from Logan Airport at 7:19 a.m. This means that my intrepid traveling companion, Bea, and I need to be at the United[Read More…]
I Do Object to Ageism
EAST MONTPELIER – It’s likely the unavoidable fate of both teenagers and golden-agers that most news reporters and writers are aspiring twenty-somethings eager to make splashes. Thus, if a young person with a newly minted driver’s license loses control of their vehicle on a slippery night, the headline will include[Read More…]
I Needn‘t Have Worried so Much
EAST MONTPELIER – Owing to the recent development of a relationship with a much younger lady (of only 76), I’ve been traveling every so often to Nahant, Mass., a few miles north of Boston, for visits. Being a bit of a country rube, I’ve been quite aware of the increasing[Read More…]
To me, it was the Mother Lode
EAST MONTPELIER – If you gad about enough and try to do at least one new thing a week, you’re bound to encounter interesting people, educational experiences, and exciting situations. A perfect proof of that came up for me last summer, when I trundled across New England to join my[Read More…]
CCV Announces Fall Dean’s List
MONTPELIER – The following students at the Community College of Vermont (CCV) were named to the fall 2023 Dean’s List. This honor recognizes full-time students with a grade point average between 3.5 and 3.99. They are Abigail Scribner of Cabot, Lillian Soutar of Calais, Emma McAllister of Hardwick and Kayla Mulligan[Read More…]
Many a Toast Over the Years
EAST MONTPELIER – This past week, during the excitement of Valentine’s Day and the nocturnal activities of the characters who covered the windows of downtown Montpelier with hundreds of red hearts, a significant birthday passed almost unnoticed. While here in the north country of New England a mediocre winter defies[Read More…]
It’s Hard Not to Feel Lucky
EAST MONTPELIER – Change, we have been told, is the only constant. In recent years, we’ve come to believe, change is accelerating at a dizzy pace. And how many times have we heard the phrase, “the good old days”? The good old days, I always muse, before antibiotics and novocaine[Read More…]
Midwinter Has Fared Much Better
by Willem Lange EAST MONTPELIER – Our culture is pretty thoroughly saddled with rituals and celebrations that originated in our distant, non-scientific past, when we explained phenomena to be the result of supernatural prompting. I guess maybe they seem cute or quirky, and are thus charming. So we continue to[Read More…]
The Unmistakable Aroma of Low Tide
EAST MONTPELIER – Hagar and I drove into the big rotary at the foot of the Nahant Causeway, trying to judge the volume of traffic on a Sunday noon. The friendly voice of Siri spoke to me in her Irish accent from the dashboard: “At the roundabout, take the first[Read More…]
