EAST MONTPELIER – In recent months, I’ve been taken aback by things I’ve seen online that referred to empathy as both a sin and a weakness, an idea that has gained traction in some parts of the church. This is astonishing and deeply disturbing to me, as I have always[Read More…]
Columns
Turtlehead Tests Bumblebees’ Mettle
NEW ENGLAND – Among the blooming perennials of late summer is one that guards its secrets closely. The lockbox blossoms of white turtlehead (Chelone glabra), a native plant in the plantain family, are an ideal match for the powerhouses of the pollinator world: Bombus (bumblebee) species. Turtlehead is found along[Read More…]
Prepare garden beds now for spring
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. – It won’t be long before gardening season draws to a close, but fall is a great time to do the prep work. Select the location now, while trees are still fully leafed out, to judge how much sun the area receives. Be sure to consider the[Read More…]
Cool, dry conditions persist for another week
EAST HARDWICK – Some rain appeared in our neck of the woods over the weekend, thanks to an upper-level disturbance that brought a round of showers and thunderstorms midday Saturday and followed through with some sporadic showers on Sunday afternoon. Total rainfall in East Hardwick amounted to 1.11”, with nearby[Read More…]
Not old enough to remember
EAST MONTPELIER – For millions of Americans these days, the mantra du jour is, and has been for a while, “MAGA, Make America Great Again.” Putting aside for at least the moment many of the problems of the “good old days” that this slogan refers to, like racial segregation, disempowerment[Read More…]
Weeks Gone By
The Hardwick Gazette, September 10, 1925 Immigration Largely Reduced Immigration Statistics are always of more or less interest, and according to figures given out for the year ending June 30th, last, the net number of immigrants admitted to the county was 69 per cent. Less than for the same period[Read More…]
Blessings In Backpacks
SHELBURNE – The Sunday before school started, the Greensboro United Church of Christ service was longer than usual as pre-K through grad school students were invited to come forward with their backpacks. Ed, our pastor, placed his hand over his heart and then put his hand with love and blessings[Read More…]
Reflecting on Loss and Grief
GREENSBORO – Grief is a funny thing. You just never know when it will pop up, taking over your day and your mood. It can be broody and sad; it can be violent and enraging. Honestly, there is also some relief in there. Mostly it is just, for me, an[Read More…]
Exploring Shrub Swamps
RANDOLPH – A yellowthroat warbler sang, “witchety, witchety, witch,” as I carefully made my way through the tangle of an alder swamp one afternoon not long ago. I looked about, hoping to catch a glimpse of its yellow breast and black mask. I could hear the twangs of green frogs[Read More…]
Prepare fall gardens now
CORNISH FLAT, N.H. – I’ve seen the big yellow buses meandering down the road, lines of impatient drivers behind them, noisy kids inside. That tells me, temperatures notwithstanding, that fall has arrived, or will soon. The most common question I am fielding is about lilacs: why have so many had[Read More…]
Periods of showers in the forecast; turning colder
EAST HARDWICK – Conditions are partly sunny looking outside this Tuesday morning, following a Labor Day that featured some clouds from an approaching disturbance to our south. Overnights have been cool with low temperatures falling into the 40s, and highs reaching up to 80 degrees on Labor Day, following several days[Read More…]
The weak link was the ferry across the lake
EAST MONTPELIER – Labor Day weekend was scheduled to be a high-mileage event. Rather than my usual three hour-plus run from mid-Vermont to my friend Bea’s place on the ocean Friday afternoon, and then back on Monday noonish before my evening deadline, I committed to a high school class reunion[Read More…]
