Archive - 2009 - Editorial
December 17th
One might fairly ask what a dead camcorder and standing in Keene, N.H., for hours in pouring rain and 35-degree temperatures has to do with getting a daughter into college.
The answer lies somewhere in a Bermuda Triangle of a philosophical discussion on the role of athletics and recruiting in NCAA Division III even at the finest academic institutions, the difficulty of quantifying defense, and a lack of parental foresight and understanding of the process of all of the above.
Last Saturday morning, I woke up feeling downright peaceful. Here it was, less than two weeks before Christmas and, because I had shopped early and planned carefully, I was coasting into a low-stress holiday.
The presents were purchased and wrapped. The tree was decorated. The cookies were baked. I had nothing left to do but relax and bask in this unfamiliar sense of calm.
So I decided to paint the living room.
Here we are as in olden days
Happy golden days of yore
Faithful friends who are dear to us
Gather near to us once more
Does Christmas ever go that way these days, I wonder — as it does in “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” and all the old holiday standards?
Our world is so fractionated, our faithful friends so far away. If those golden days of yore ever did exist, it often seems they won’t come again.
December 14th
As these 11 days before Christmas loom before us — family is getting together, there are meals to prepare and presents yet to buy — remember to relax and enjoy the rich traditions of this holiday season that make it so worthwhile.
The holiday focus in Middlebury — as in Brandon, Bristol and Vergennes — is about community festivals, contributing to several wonderful community causes through special events, listening to chorus groups ring in the season, and for many it is a season for worship and reflection.
December 10th
Vermont’s Sen. Bernie Sanders efforts to block Ben Bernanke’s nomination for a second term as chairman of the Federal Reserve make a point, but in doing so he omits more than half of the story.
Sanders suggests that Bernanke should not be confirmed for a second term based on the premise that “the American people voted last year for a change in our national priorities to put the interests of ordinary people head of the greed of Wall Street and the wealthy few. What the American people did not bargain for was another four years for one of the key architects of the Bush economy.”
That Greg’s Meat Market will still be Greg’s even without Greg Wry walking the grocery aisles is testament to the strength of a good business and of the loyal following he created.
My childhood friend Toby Huss is an actor. He lives in Los Angeles and actually makes a living playing characters on TV and in the movies. Google him, you’ll be surprised how far a boy from a small town in Iowa can go when he heads to the bright lights of New York City, and the brighter lights of Tinseltown, with dreams, drive and a natural affinity for outrageous behavior.
A “perfect storm” of forces is making Vermont school boards’ task of preparing budgets for the 2010-11 school year more difficult than at any time in recent memory. The contributors to this storm are declines in the education grand list, the strain on the state’s General Fund, and the fall in the number of students age 5 to 18.
