Ways of Seeing: Books can be life changers

As you enter the Vermont Book Shop in Middlebury, moving past the display of newly published books, you will encounter another collection of titles the staff has assembled. These titles relate to a rotating monthly theme — Women’s History, Horror Stories, Biographies of Scientists, etc. I always find this collection intriguing, but the July theme was especially engaging. Staff members had chosen books under this banner: This Book Changed How I See the World.

I think this bit of wisdom has come to me to guide the final third of my life.

It’s a common misconception that unhoused people are not working. The truth is quite the opposite; 85% of the families served by John Graham Housing and Services have one or more working parents.

The little saucer landed gently in my side yard and the little green creature hopped out onto the lawn. 

A wise friend recently asked a question which I’ve been pondering ever since. “How do you cope,” he asked, “with the times we are living in?” 

Sometimes I need only to stand wherever I am to be blessed.  

I traveled to Washington, D.C., last year. When I arrived with my little vacation suitcase and emerged from the Metro, I encountered a sight which took my breath away.

It’s not that Mr. Fossil Fuels hasn’t provided me with a comfortable and delightful life; he has.

We first noticed the house while driving back and forth from work in Middlebury to our rented apartment in Sudbury. Red brick, out in the country, with lots of windows facing Route 30. For sale by owner. “What a nice house,” I would say to my husband Bill … (read more)