Yesterday perfectly illustrated what people must mean when they say there’s a “damp chill” in the air—July in Vermont can feel distinctly like October elsewhere, when rain has elbowed its way in and made itself at home right on top of you for a few days. (Shorts? What was I thinking—hand me my sweater.) It … Continue reading Robert Frost House: Rainy Vermont Summer Saturday
Vermont
Making Sense out of the Senseless: Love is the Answer
Annie Lennox urged me to pick up my feet and pick up the pace through sweaty ear buds, her lyrics suffused with emotions: love, loss, loneliness, joy, she knows each of them intimately, she sings. A perfect Vermont Saturday morning was the only other motivation I needed to run: success is measured in hot cheeks, … Continue reading Making Sense out of the Senseless: Love is the Answer
Home is where Your Heart Is: I Heart Vermont, Kinda
It just doesn’t always heart me back. The man rapping his knuckles against my car window had no teeth. He wore unbuttoned flannel over a filthy shirt and baggy trousers, which were held aloft over his pot belly by a pair of suspenders; his scruffy beard betrayed a recent snack. It was broad daylight in … Continue reading Home is where Your Heart Is: I Heart Vermont, Kinda
Agricultural Reflections: Cycling on the Battenkill
People here in Vermont are much closer to the land than they are in other states where I've lived. The state as a whole is sparsely populated, sparsely developed, and most of us live within spitting distance of at least one working farm. The road where I ride my bicycle is dotted with them, and an … Continue reading Agricultural Reflections: Cycling on the Battenkill
Self-Stewardship: Healthful Habits, Happy Body
Updates: I am pretty dang pleased to report my foot issues have not yet derailed this latest big effort to resurrect my beloved running habit. I told somebody yesterday I've learned to view every glorious, temperate day in Vermont as a gift; last week there were several of them, and the temperature once even climbed into the … Continue reading Self-Stewardship: Healthful Habits, Happy Body
New Running Shoes, Perilous Decisions
Not many weeks ago I took the first uncertain steps to resume running after an injury interrupted a many-years-long stint; I wrote about it here. I have a new pair of running shoes to prove it, hard-won shoes begat by the sweat of my own brow and a little research, and a long drive to … Continue reading New Running Shoes, Perilous Decisions
Emotional Habits: Putting Sadness in a Box
In her book The Creative Habit renowned choreographer Twyla Tharp writes about her work process. She starts a new box for each new project; anything that serves as inspiration goes into the box, along with every other object that has some meaningful connection to the work. When the project ends she puts a lid on the box … Continue reading Emotional Habits: Putting Sadness in a Box
Running on the Battenkill: Easter Sunday
Your body is a temple. I'm an adherent but lately have not behaved in a way to reflect this heartfelt conviction owing to circumstances and such. I started running about fifteen years ago for several reasons, chiefly to energize myself in the early morning hours ahead of a long day dealing with a difficult child. By 2011 … Continue reading Running on the Battenkill: Easter Sunday
Garden State Highway: Beauty in Unexpected Places
If driving were a metaphor for the rancor which seems to characterize the tenor of American politics these days, it is playing out on the Garden State Parkway in New Jersey. Any remnant of human decency that real, face-to-face interaction demands is lost once you're behind the wheel of a car. And on this particular stretch of … Continue reading Garden State Highway: Beauty in Unexpected Places
Warm Days & Cold Nights: Sugaring Time in Vermont
Yesterday Handsome Chef Boyfriend and I drove past three sap buckets hanging on roadside telephone poles in Upstate New York; somebody's got a sense of humor. HCB's brother would enjoy that, I am sure; there is a longstanding dispute in this family about who makes the best syrup—New York (where brother S lives) or Vermont. Though I … Continue reading Warm Days & Cold Nights: Sugaring Time in Vermont
Sycamore Stories 