EAST HARDWICK – Temperatures plummeted Friday night and Saturday night under strong radiational cooling, with low temperatures at this station reaching 28 degrees Saturday morning and 25 degrees Sunday morning. Effectively, this was a killing freeze in this local hollow. Hardwick came in with 32 degrees and Craftsbury Common reported[Read More…]
Columns
Probably think I’m losing it upstairs
EAST MONTPELIER – The back lot outside my office window is waist-high in a sea of goldenrod with little sprigs of purple asters peeping out here and there, a last feast for the bumbling bumblebees. Little flocklets of tiny birds, warblers, I’m guessing; they flit too fast for me, flow[Read More…]
Ladd estate is library angel
HARDWICK – Lisa Sammet, Jeudevine’s librarian from 1993 through 2022, recalls that day in January 2018 as “one of the best days of my life.” Her spirits were at a low ebb, as a bond vote to approve her long-hoped-for expansion project had been voted down. The Jeudevine board chair[Read More…]
Despair does not have the final word
GREENSBORO – Danish priest Henry Nouwen once said, “the resurrection is God’s way of saying that despair is never the final word.” That is a comforting, even empowering thought, if you believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Christians profess to believe in it. Their worship on Easter Sunday is[Read More…]
Finding the Pink Star Caterpillar
DUXBURY – When I imagine scientists discovering new animals, I picture them traveling to far-off jungles or remote mountaintops, not investigating local roadsides, utility cuts or other edge spaces of human habitation. Yet late last summer, naturalists with The Caterpillar Lab in Swanzey, N.H., found an unknown caterpillar on an[Read More…]
Sumac galls have ancient association
MILLBROOK, N.Y. – The staghorn sumac (Rhus typhina) is a ubiquitous shrub of human-impacted northeastern habitats. Sumac stands occur along most highways and county roads, as well as in disturbed areas and abandoned fields transitioning to shrubland. With the onset of late summer’s cooler nighttime temperatures and shorter days, staghorn[Read More…]
Fall is time to divide perennials
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. – Perennial plants return to our gardens each growing season, but after several years, they may outgrow their original space. Dividing perennials in the fall or early spring can help keep these plants healthy while building an ornamental beds over time. Overcrowding may cause a lack of[Read More…]
Kent exhibit illuminates mementos, memories, shared humanity
CALAIS – Almost two dozen terra cotta and stoneware clay faces emerge from the surface, top to bottom, starting small and gradually increasing to full heads, creating the illusion they are coming into the room from the past. These are the faces of struggling people. Life’s hard for so many[Read More…]
No Substantial Precipitation In Sight; Progressing From Mild To Cool
EAST HARDWICK – Remember the days of noting how often it rained during the weekends as the weather warmed up and spring was underway? Rarely are we complaining that is the case now, but we still see a shower every now and then on a weekend day. That was the[Read More…]
Vermont officials ask residents to report drought impacts
VERMONT – As drought conditions worsen in Vermont, state officials are asking residents to report the impacts. On Thursday, the Agency of Natural Resources encouraged Vermonters to communicate information on dry wells and water supplies, farm losses, crop damage, low water levels in rivers, lakes and recreational areas, and other[Read More…]
There’s no crying need for anything additional from me
EAST MONTPELIER – Saturday morning, in bright sunshine and warming temperatures, a young man sat on the concrete railing of the Rialto bridge in downtown Montpelier. He bore two signs, one in each hand. I confess I can’t remember one of them, I think it had something to do with[Read More…]
Weeks Gone By
September 17, 1925 South Woodbury John Bushey, 75, began his 64th year of work with the Winooski woolen mill on August 19th. When he began work at the age of 11 years, the pay was $7.00 a month and a day consisted of 14 working hours. Local Lumps The heavy[Read More…]
