Faith in Vermont: Through My Children's Eyes
At the beginning of the summer, our entire family attended my 20th college reunion.
I’m not a reunion person; I spent my first 15 years of adulthood moving frequently enough to rid me of whatever nostalgia I might be tempted to nurture...
Faith in Vermont: Work and Play
Our family just returned from our annual vacation in Ogunquit, on the southern coast of Maine. Ever since 2007, when I was pregnant with our first child and living in California, my mother’s side of the family – which includes my...
Addison County Poem
To avoid sounding like poetry
Not Karen practicing her flute. Rather
Dwight, my neighbor beyond her, trying
to start his rototiller again. Pulling
the cord, as if he had more than one
shoulder to give. This poem might...
Faith in Vermont: The Eggs and Us
When our next-door neighbor phoned the other morning to ask if we could spare an egg for the pancakes she was making for breakfast, I laughed out loud. Of COURSE we could spare AN egg! How about a dozen?
Our family’s life over the past...
Rain moves playoff semis to Wednesday
ADDISON COUNTY — The latest batch of rainy weather to strike Vermont postponed three local high school teams’ semifinal playoff games scheduled for Tuesday, and all three were rescheduled for Wednesday.
The top-seeded, 16-0...
Faith in Vermont: Floored by Vacuuming
When I was growing up in Northern Virginia, I had a number of friends whose families were of Asian origin. Whenever I visited these friends at home, the rule was to remove one’s shoes immediately after walking in the door, leaving them in...
Faith in Vermont: Planting Panic
Next year, I tell myself, I’ll know better.
Next year, I will commit to very little between April and June, and I will clear our family’s schedule for an entire month beginning two weeks before Memorial Day. No signing up for...
Faith in Vermont: Three Moments of Community
The playground of my youngest child’s preschool is larger than the school building. It is not a modern playground of shiny metal and brightly-colored plastic; it’s wooden, haphazardly assembled, and contains more grass, dirt, and...
Faith in Vermont: Agway Adventures
I am sitting in Carol’s Hungry Mind Café to write this column, as I do nearly every Saturday afternoon. Usually I crave this time, when my husband takes our daughters so that I can have a handful of silent and solitary hours...
Faith in Vermont: Backyard Birds and Growing Up
I have become a person who watches birds.
For as long I’ve known him – my entire life – my father has been a birdwatcher. Growing up, we always had bird feeders in the yard and birdhouses (which he built himself) on our...