Gifts while staying home
This morning my husband and I were remembering winter, how we waited and worried for something to change, to improve during the long months of Covid isolation.
Thanksgiving in COVID times
Thanksgiving! Just think of it! Relatives pouring through the doors, heaping piles of food, loads of family tradition! But this year’s different. Here’s an interview with Charlotter Charlie Moore and Charlotte pod teacher Sarah Attig on how all that might have to change due to COVID-19.
Grateful for life in Vermont
For the first time in years, I won’t be gathering for a Thanksgiving dinner with friends or family, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have plenty to be grateful for. An early November trip to New York City to visit my almost 96-year-old mother—my first visit in over a year, thanks to the pandemic—reminded me of how much I love my adopted state.
The essence of the sacred hunt, passed down to the next generation
Occasionally, in a hunter’s life there presents an opportunity to share the outdoor knowledge accumulated over the years with a young mind willing to learn about the natural world and our place in it. It is the highest honor for another adult to entrust the young would-be hunter to the safety and experience.
Now what should we talk about?
This pandemic has separated us physically from the ones we love…except the ones we love the most, the people we chose to spend the rest of our lives with, who are now really, really, really present.
The family that quarantines together, stays together. Really together.
Just a month ago, Paige and John Reynolds were settling into life with no kids at home; six months before that, their last child had left for college. One college student abroad, one in another state, and one coronavirus later, not only are the chickens coming back to the nest, but there’s a self-imposed quarantine and two family members are moving into the barn. This is the reality of life with college kids during a pandemic.
My own Front Porch Forum
Last week was our annual family gathering on Martha’s Vineyard—family being four generations between ages six and 92. My wife’s family has owned a cottage in Oak Bluffs for 50 years, and once my father-in-law gave up farming and work for the State of Connecticut, he and my mother-in-law spent most summers there with visits from the rest of us and ultimately weeklong reunions of the clan. (My Scots relatives and Mel Gibson would have been proud.)
Farming for four generations: Charlotte’s Titus family
It was Bob Titus’s grandfather who came to Vermont from upstate New York to farm. “He brought all of his cattle over on the ferry … he had a kind of wanderlust,” is the way Bob’s wife, Bernice, tells the story.
Does death have a bright side?
Charlotte, like any community, has seen its share of rough losses. In a small town like ours, premature death hits us hard, whether we knew the individual or not. These last few months have been no exception.
An eating adventure in Lake Tahoe
Recently I was fortunate enough to travel to Lake Tahoe, Nevada, to surprise my brother Sam for his 23rd birthday. When we arrived we found him in the library making a spreadsheet for one of his classes. We walked up to him, tapped him on his shoulder, and he turned around. He was stunned. Smiling from ear to ear, I gave him the biggest hug, and I just couldn’t believe I was with him once again.
Science, magic and an English grandfather – Part 1 & 2
My Grandfather Hooker loomed like a giant at 6 feet 6 inches tall with size 15 black shoes that laced to the ankles. Even his walrus mustache and beard seemed unusual, accompanied by his commanding manner. He was born in Brenchley, Kent, England, in 1864 and hoped to become a professional magician. A frayed poster announced his performance at age 16 in a local establishment called the Lime Tree Coffee House.
Charlotters open new restaurant in beloved old location
Johnny Helzer took the circuitous route to Peg and Ter’s, the restaurant he and his wife, Tina, recently opened in Shelburne. “I grew up in Charlotte, went to CVU and UVM, spent some time working in the medical field in California, then lived in
Happy summer
It’s funny how we always think that summer is going to be a nice, slow time of year and then the season is upon us and everyone is running in ten directions and even though the days are really long it feels like there’s never enough time to do everything. Through the long, cold winter we yearn for the reprieve of summer days and then it arrives and we’re running ourselves ragged doing so much.
Duke, the English Bulldog who took taxis
Finally, our family was getting a dog! Father scoured the papers for weeks and spotted an ad: “Greatly loved English bulldog needs a good home due to the arrival of a third child. Trained and housebroken, one year old, gentle temperament. Championship papers.”
A Posture of Peace
I am composing for you my bi-weekly missive from the eastern end of Long Island. My daughter Coco and I traveled out here with my former brother- and sister-in-law, Mark and Margaret, to visit with members of the family to which I belonged when I was married the first time.
Fresh Air thinks spring
Fresh Air summers are filled with children running through the sprinklers in the grass, gazing at star-filled skies and swimming for the first time. This summer, join volunteer host families in Champlain Valley North and open your heart and home to a Fresh Air child.
The Clemmons Family Farm Moves Onward and Upward
With the receipt of a prestigious $350,000 grant from ArtPlace America’s National Placemaking Fund, the Clemmons Family Farm makes a huge leap forward toward the family’s goal of creating a multicultural center in Charlotte devoted to celebrating African American history, art and culture. Funds for the project, titled “A Sense of Place,” will be used to host
Charlotte Family Health merges with Evergreen Family Health in Williston
Whether it’s a nasty zebra mussel gash or a sudden acute illness, same-day appointments for urgent care are always available for patients at the Charlotte Family Health Center. Dr. Andrea Regan is taking measures to ensure they always will be as she and her partner, Dr. Gordon Gieg, merge their small independent community practice with the Evergreen Family Health, a larger independent practice in Williston.