by Willem Lange EAST MONTPELIER – During the 1960s I taught high school English in a riverside village on the west side of Lake Champlain. Looking back, I can see that the situation for our small family was idyllic. But in my early thirties, I wasn’t quite ready for idyls;[Read More…]
A Yankee Notebook
What Could Possibly go Wrong?
by Willem Lange EAST MONTPELIER – Wednesday, 7/30, 10 p.m. Cold, rainy, windy. Still wind-bound. Blew hard all day. Fished up and down the canyon with Baird, slept, read. Can’t move till the wind dies. Bob’s barometer still dropping. Half the fuel is gone, and we’ve seen barely a pencil[Read More…]
Mostly, Though, They’ve Just Stewed
by Willem Lange EAST MONTPELIER – “They’re a pretty sorry lot.” – Barbara Bush Mrs. Bush was talking in 2000 about the Democratic contenders for the presidential nomination. But her appraisal would fit the 19 alleged miscreants who’ve been showing up this week for booking at the Fulton County Jail.[Read More…]
This Can’t be a Good Sign
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…]
The Reason Should be Fairly Obvious
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…]
Like a Chimpanzee with an AK-47
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…]
If I Were to Name Her Now
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…]
Nothing Else More Than Soap Opera
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…]
A Perfect Ending
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…]
Yep, it’s coming
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…]
My Six Falls this Year Have Taken a Toll
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…]
