Curations from the Human Jungle
['Tis the season to put the bird feeders out. The problem is, that the black bears are waiting until later and later in the season to take to their dens, and they are desperate to gain every possible ounce of fat before calling it a night. Like many Vermonters, we learned our lesson the hard... Continue Reading →
[Fiddleheads rank with maple syrup and the oft-misspelled creemee as Vermont seasonal treats. One spring a neighbor bestowed his surplus bounty on me. I thanked him profusely, and made myself an enormous salad for dinner. Delicious. Then, around 2 am I sat bolt upright in bed, ran to the bathroom, and proceeded to be as... Continue Reading →
[We're entering THAT time of year. Vermonters know what I'm talking about. Conversation, for a few weeks anyway, switches from endless speculation about the weather to endless speculation about the state of the foliage. Is this a good year, or not? The final scorecard isn't in until later October, but the early signs are there... Continue Reading →
[It's summertime. Dangle the tootsies, roast a marshmallow, stare into a campfire ... but don't talk about how road salt is ruining our waterways. Sorry, gorillas, shingles doesn't care, and neither does sodium chloride. You need to be aware of these things 24/7/365 in order to protect The Jungle. SB SM] The Outside Story By... Continue Reading →
[It's Mud Season in Vermont. It has come early and with a vengeance. Town Meeting Day (first Tuesday in March) has come and gone. A lot of school budgets got voted down around the state.) Vermont became the first and only state to choose Haley over Trump, but all the local talk is of sap... Continue Reading →
[It's barely past February and the snow pack has largely disappeared, the sap is running (before town meeting day!), and the daffodils are beginning their reach towards the sun. Of course, we've been fooled before, but from this vantage and at this moment, it's looking like the worst of winter is behind us. Is this... Continue Reading →
[Glimmer Day is the first time after the Solstice when you first notice the days getting longer. Winter light is so important because it is so precious. Otherwise winter is a symphony of nothing ... zip, zilch, nada, goose egg, nil, cipher, naught, and nineteen (my favorite ... it's the only impossible score in cribbage).... Continue Reading →