My father was a farmer. He awoke at 3:00 a.m., went down to the barn and did an enormous amount of physical chores before the sun came up. After school, I would help with the second milking of the day. It did not matter if it was 80 degrees out or 20 below. The chores…
I was very excited about planting kale for a winter harvest in my sun room. It was with great glee that I lovingly planted several seeds in each of my starter pots and laid them out on a baking sheet. They started coming up after only a few days, and I was giddy thinking about…
Despite Vermont’s reputation as being “green”, we have a record of recycling only half of what could be recycled here in the state. The problem: we have one small landfill that was getting landFULL! And that landfill has now been closed due to noxious odor problems. All around the country, people send plastic bags full…
A morning where I can get dirt under my fingernails is a good morning, and this was a good morning. I followed some online advice about getting rid of the gnats I mentioned in my previous post, and it seemed to have worked. I mixed a tablespoon of neem oil, a tablespoon of non-toxic dish…
While living in Florida, I discovered that I love coffee shops. They were a great place for meeting clients or friends, and I always ran into people I knew. If I can be within bicycling or walking distance to a coffee shop for the rest of my life, I can be happy. Today, my office…
I am so excited right now! I just saw the first busker I have ever seen in Rutland. He was on Center Street outside my office window, and he didn’t sound half bad. Having traveled in Europe quite a bit, I have an affinity for buskers. A lot of times, people have their hands out…
No one moves to Vermont for the cheap living. No one comes here for the low taxes or the great job opportunities. People move to Vermont because they are in love with something here… the mountains, the quietude, the fresh air, the people. They move here knowing that their life will probably be harder, but…
I have several times extolled the greatness of St. Petersburg, Florida, and I found yet another reason to love this little city. I am a big fan of composting. I don’t believe in throwing vegetable scraps filled with nutrients in the garbage to end up in a landfill. For one thing, they would contribute to…
Your level of hotness, much like the attractiveness of artwork, is completely subjective to the viewer. Some guys like lots of make-up and fashion on a woman, others prefer a more natural look, and some want the geekiest of geek girls. And there are some women who, not being so painfully hot as to make…
I am taking back my time by putting myself on a Facebook diet. This is especially difficult in my current situation: snowed in in the middle of the woods of Vermont. It’s lonely here in the woods, and the friends I have in Vermont live miles and miles away. There is no coffee shop or…