Christmas 1916.

Hanging among my bookshelves, I have an unusual letter.  It was written one hundred years ago, Christmas Day 1916.  The author Continue reading →

My Old Friend.

Tonight marks three years that my dog Hank died.  Though it’s strange to admit, there hasn’t been one day that I Continue reading →

A Terrifying Tale of Halloween & History.

Halloween must qualify as our strangest holiday: children don outrageous costumes, plead for candy, and threaten mischief if denied.  On Continue reading →

The Splitting Maul & The Black Locust.

We name tools for their function: the hammer hammers, the saw saws, and the drill drills.  By custom, then, the Continue reading →

Flight to Jupiter.

Near midnight tonight, the spacecraft Juno arrives in orbit around Jupiter.  Juno left Earth in August 2011, flew a two-year Continue reading →

The Elusive Hickory Chicken.

I roamed the yard this weekend, in search of weeds to exterminate.  Mostly the house is surrounded by hordes of dandelions. Continue reading →

Fireside Chat.

Mid-April in northern Vermont, dusk falls, the sky turns grey.  My house glows a little against the dark.  The thermometer Continue reading →

Winter Arrives.

Following an unusually warm December, winter seems to have arrived.  Burlington’s high yesterday was eight degrees.  Today was similarly cold, then Continue reading →