The Christmas tree is a well-known symbol of the holiday, but it wasn’t always so. Decorating with evergreen boughs dates back thousands of years to celebrations during the winter solstice, a reminder that life continued even in the coldest months. Decorating a tree at Christmastime originated in Germany. In[Read More…]
Columns
Spirits are high in German Christmas markets
CORNISH FLAT, N.H. – An impulsive decision in late November by my wife Cindy and I to explore German Christmas markets found us in Berlin visiting with an old friend. We also spent a few days traveling by rental car to Dresden, Leipzig and Naumberg, a walled medieval town that[Read More…]
Cocoon spotting: giant silk moths in winter
NEW ENGLAND – Late fall and early winter are the best times of year to spot giant silk moth cocoons in New England. Perhaps you’ve seen these creatures in the summer, fluttering by a porch light in the evening or resting on a garage wall in the early morning after[Read More…]
God don’t make no junk.
I don’t remember how old I was when I was first introduced to the phrase, “God don’t make no Junk,” but it was early in my life. Maybe it was on a poster in a Sunday School class, or lesson theme at vacation Bible school, I do not remember. I[Read More…]
Warm and windy weather interrupts winter conditions
EAST HARDWICK – Almost every day of the past forecast period featured some form of light snow, with moderate to heavy bursts-and those amounts added up over the week. Snowfall totals ranged from nine inches to a foot, with just under an inch of snow liquid equivalent. Total snowpack depth[Read More…]
Will widows and orphans be left to their own devices?
EAST MONTPELIER – Around 1906, a young Harvard graduate student was browsing a used book store in Cambridge and came across a rare treasure: a prompter’s script used by Charles Dickens in his tour of the United States to perform readings from his work. It was an abbreviated version of “A[Read More…]
Leading together
SHELBURNE – The day before Thanksgiving last year, the new executive director of the Vermont Council on Rural Development (VCRD), Denise Smith, came for a visit. After talking for two hours, we wondered how we had not met before. We imagined convening Vermont women nonprofit executive directors in a way[Read More…]
I paint because I can!
Last year I was shopping in the wonderful Whistle Emporium with my young adult daughter. We browsed among the million wonderful objects there, and she bought the book “Watercolor in Nature” by Rosalie Haizlett. As we were enjoying a lovely lunch at the Village Restaurant, I thumbed through her purchase[Read More…]
65 and 100 years ago in The Hardwick Gazette
100 Years ago in The Hardwick Gazette December 17, 1925 Community Tree. The beautiful Community Christmas tree, already set in place at the Academy campus, in front of the school building, is electrically connected and will be lighted at 6:30 o’clock this evening, at which time exercises commemorative of the[Read More…]
Holiday decorating, naturally
SOUTH BURLINGTON – Those decorating a home this holiday season should consider the bounty of garden elements and other natural options available to brighten up holiday displays. Many of these can be gathered up at no cost and, better still, can be simply tossed in the compost pile during clean-up.[Read More…]
Below-normal temperatures; snowy pattern prevail
EAST HARDWICK – In the first eight days of December, the 2025 month developed a reputation for a cold and snowy pattern, underscored by multiple rounds of light accumulating snow and sub-zero temperatures. Normal highs for this time of year are generally in the mid-30s, with lows in the upper[Read More…]
Holiday travel certainly necessary, no fun
EAST MONTPELIER – In the days leading up to Thanksgiving, the schoolmarmish features of the newsies were on full display. Like old-fashioned country preachers predicting the apocalypse, they warned of unprecedented numbers of holiday travelers. It is, after all, the weekend of our greatest domestic migration, clogging the highways and[Read More…]
