by Willem Lange EAST MONTPELIER – For decades I’ve preached the virtue of experiencing one new thing each week. This has resulted in an occasionally exciting life so far. But the one this past week was a bit more than I’d planned for or even thought about. After a series[Read More…]

by Willem Lange EAST MONTPELIER – Increasingly, as time goes on, I find myself less and less interested in the Facebook pages that purport to tell “the startling truth” of the breakup of celebrities: Was it his devotion to Scientology or hers to a wanderlust? Who cares? Just as frequently,[Read More…]

by Willem Lange EAST MONTPELIER – At some point in the trip – maybe while plowing through rush-hour traffic on old Route 1 south of Portland; maybe dining on fettuccine and meatballs in an Italian restaurant in teeming Windham; maybe approaching my fourth toll booth on the Maine Turnpike –[Read More…]

by Willem Lange “I have a little shadow that goes in and out with me…” Robert Louis Stevenson EAST MONTPELIER – We passed Stevenson’s row house a couple of years ago in Edinburgh, prompting my mind to dig up “My Shadow,” which we learned as kids. (A bit farther on,[Read More…]

by Willem Lange “Super Suds, Super Suds! Lots more suds with Super Suds. Richer, longer lastin’, too! They’re the suds with super-doo-oo-oo.” EAST MONTPELIER – I have no idea why that jingle has remained quiescent, but vital, in my brain all these years (probably eighty), like a desert seed waiting[Read More…]

by Willem Lange EAST MONTPELIER – This one kind of fell into our laps. And we made the most of it. On the last day of June I was scheduled to give a talk to the Montgomery Historical Society. Story-telling gigs pretty much petered out during the COVID pandemic and[Read More…]

by Willem Lange EAST MONTPELIER – It doesn’t take a genius to spot the irresistible threat headed our way from the southwestern United States. Serious changes (along with smoke from forest fires) are in the air. I’m predicting a second wave of immigration and real estate inflation, now that the[Read More…]

by Willem Lange EAST MONTPELIER – I discovered the links among strength, body weight, and balance during the winter of 1959-60. Working at the Lake Placid bobsled run introduced me to a whole new gang of men, most of them from “the other side of the mountain.” They ranged in[Read More…]

by Willem Lange EAST MONTPELIER – I’ve lived a great percentage of my life in towns or places that people go to for vacations or getaways. This means that I’ve lived in some lovely places, and also that when it’s been the occasion for a getaway of my own, the[Read More…]

by Willem Lange EAST MONTPELIER – I gave Kiki her Kong with a healthy dab of peanut butter inside, promised her I’d be back as soon as possible (the next day; my daughter Martha would pick her up in a couple of hours), tossed my gym bag and rain parka[Read More…]

by Willem Lange EAST MONTPELIER – It’s an old New England tradition, when you’ve been invited to visit someone, to adjure them not to fuss. I’ve just spent the weekend at a class reunion at my old school, and I can tell you: They fussed! It’s hard to imagine how[Read More…]

by Willem Lange EAST MONTPELIER – This will be the week of my 70th high school reunion, a joyous occasion, though diminished a great deal by the absence of deceased classmates and others who for one reason or another won’t make it. Increasingly, as Time’s wingéd chariot draws near, reunions[Read More…]