Ways of Seeing: Small towns are Vermont’s backbone

Looking out an airplane window, people who are flying over the Midwest often say the earth looks like a patchwork quilt, all the many squares of fields spread out across the flattened plains. My grandparents farmed in western Illinois, and I suppose that was how their farm would have looked, although I never saw it from the air. These days, those squares have gotten larger. Much of the land, while still farmed, is owned by huge agri-business corporations. The remaining houses are rarely occupied by those wh … (read more)

On its website, the Vermont League of Cities and Towns describes town meeting as “direct democracy practiced in its purest form. It is the key to town government, as voters assemble to discuss issues, debate budgets, air grievances, elect officers, and de … (read more)

When I was a kid, we would play with the cardboard tubes from wrapping paper. Putting one up to your eye, you could get a focused view of something in the room or in the distance, while everything else around you disappeared. The tubes would evolve into s … (read more)

This late summer there have been so many nights when the sky was filled with stars. They are always there, of course, but not always so visible. We sat outside this August, looking up with hopes of seeing shooting stars but really just reveling in the fir … (read more)

So many of my childhood memories are weather related. I grew up in Seattle, so you’re probably thinking “rain”, but that actually rarely figures in. I remember hot summer days when we would get to turn on the sprinkler, running through it, jumping over th … (read more)