Ways of Seeing: My way of keeping ‘Kosher’

My parents grew up in kosher homes, but didn’t continue that when I was growing up. I thought the kosher rules were silly, though I would never have said that to my grandparents or favorite uncle. They were traditional Jews who believed in the power of mitzvot, defined as both commandments and good deeds.

My goal for this column was to not write about election outcomes. Yet, I’m experiencing the pink elephant paradox: No matter how hard I try not to think about the results, they permeate my thoughts.

I call Buster Rick’s therapy cat. At the end of a busy day or even a stressful election season, he’ll curl onto Rick’s lap and take a nap. It’s better than meditation or even a massage. Buster’s warm, purring body puts them both into a trance, and the pro … (read more)

Have you heard of the Thin Veneer Theory? This is the idea that underneath a thin layer of civility, inside we are all selfish brutes. Veneer Theory holds that in times of crisis, such as a natural disaster, people will be violent and harmful in order to … (read more)

This month the Middlebury New Filmmakers Film Festival held a friendly cocktail hour at Middlebury Inn to thank the hosts who had given housing to this year’s filmmakers and guests.

When I was young, my parents insisted that I take piano lessons at Westminster Choir College, a training program for aspiring musicians and music teachers. The students there were learning to teach young children, and we mostly stomped around the room, le … (read more)

I pull up to the stoplight, and there she is, standing with her cardboard sign — HOMELESS. ANYTHING HELPS – looking hopefully to each driver. It’s morning. By afternoon will she still be hopeful? Her eyes are tired, her hair unkempt, her coat too thick fo … (read more)

This past summer I had the amazing opportunity to visit Greece. It was a family event with eleven people participating, and as a group we stayed on two islands.

It’s such a strange experience to be far from home or traveling in an unfamiliar place, and suddenly come across someone familiar. Or to meet someone, start talking, and it turns out they are also from Vermont, or went to the same college as your sister, … (read more)

Since Harris’s candidacy became a reality, I have marveled at how beautifully and brilliantly she has navigated and executed countless challenging situations in such a short time.

A few weeks ago, I attended All Souls Interfaith Gathering in Shelburne because I was intrigued by the focus of the service, “Jubilee for the Earth.”

Sometimes our good intentions have unfortunate consequences.

It’s a rainy Monday afternoon in Ripton, and outside I hear crickets chirping. Tonight is the beginning of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, and my heart is with the protesters calling for Kamala Harris to end all arms sales to Israel.

On the television is a vast landscape. The camera moves over brown spaciousness that reminds me of the Gobi Desert. I wait until the narrator identifies it as … Mars!

Insects have a bad reputation, but so much of summer is bound up in them: crickets chorusing in the hayfields, cicadas droning in the heat, jeweled dragonflies gleaming against the reeds, butterflies fluttering between flowerbeds.