Long before I took the huge leap of faith that was moving to Vermont—before my marriage failed and I found myself unemployed at the end of a miserable divorce—I wondered how rural New England life might feel on my bones.  It was just a fantasy.  My life and family and work were deeply rooted in … Continue reading Size matters.

  Let me be very clear about this.  Chickens—the dead kind that await preparation for the table—are just chickens.  They may be tough or tender, free range and organic, or raised in a huge, commercial poultry house, in which case you might say they were fowl.  Get it?  Fowl?  They may be served up as … Continue reading Chickens are not compelling.

I had not lived in Vermont for too many minutes before somebody made me aware of the communication tool known as LISTSERV.  This is actually pretty old technology, but is a dang effective way to find out what is going on in your own community.  LISTSERV is really nothing more than an electronic bulletin board; … Continue reading The Better Part of Valor

Say hello to Mr. Almond Horn.  Chomping into this delectable treat is like biting into the finest, sugary marzipan, coated with those yummy, glazed, sweet, sliced almonds--an amazing collision of crunchy and velvety goodness.  And for those of you who might say, I'm really not a huge fan of marzipan or almonds, I ask the … Continue reading Sweet 2013

We had our first significant snow of winter starting on Christmas Day and for 24 hours or so following.  Winter Storm Euclid (who knew that snowstorms have names?) left us with about a foot of the white stuff when everything was said and done.  After a short, sunny reprieve, Freyr rolled in yesterday morning and … Continue reading Essential Gear

...is not how the story ends. The word gobsmack returns a peremptory “No results found,” when you search dictionary.com for its meaning.  Okay, no problemo.  Here it is, precisely, in my own words.  Gobsmack is what your husband of twenty-three years does to you when you sit down opposite him on a Tuesday morning in … Continue reading This…