The Place where People get Swallowed by the Woods - Per Tonn

There is this place in the middle of Montpelier, Vermont where people seem to get swallowed by the woods. There are really only two main intersections in town, and I'm talking about what's at the south-west corner of one of them. It's the intersection of Routes 2 and 12, or where Main Street/Northfield Street (up the hill to National Life) meets US-2.

While waiting at the light I have seen people sort of disappearing into the woods on what looks like a set of stairs made of rocks. Today I decided to go and find…

Healing on the Rowing Machine - Sylvia Fagin

As a child, I hated gym class. I was an indoorsy kid: pale, bookish, non-athletic. I didn't play on any sports teams or win the President's Physical Fitness Award. When it came time to pick sides, I cringed; I knew I was no one's first choice – why should I be?

So as an adult, physical activity didn't exactly come naturally. I joined a gym for a while in my 20's, mostly for the benefit of looking good in my jeans. But I'm older now, married, and a little less concerned with…

Adaptation - Jane Lazorchak

In nature, plants and animals must adapt to survive. This year, with the mild winter and early arrival of spring, this seems evident all around us with the sounds of spring peepers around my house earlier than I can ever remember, woodcocks calling in the night in March, and the red maples turning the hillsides red with flowers when they are usually still white with snow. Plants and animals adapt or else they go extinct. As humans, we adapt too, and over the past year I have learned that firsthand.Every spring I eagerly check the weather forecast to…

The Perfect Day to End Ski Training - Julie Hendrickson

Since January, I've been meeting with a group of amazing women every Wednesday morning at Morse Farm Ski Area in East Montpelier, Vermont. We spend between one and two hours together starting at 9:30 a.m.

Mary Stone has been our coach. For the last five years she has taken a clinic with former Olympian Trina Hosmer in Stowe, Vermont. While Mary is not a "trained" coach, she is an excellent instructor, and she has been sharing with us what she's learned from Trina. Each week, we work on drills for about 45 minutes, then…

How Sick Kids Give You Perspective: Traveling with Family - Jenny Muilenburg

The day before we were scheduled to take our six kids on an 18-day backpacking trip around Europe, my 3-year-old threw up. Repeatedly. At night. Each time, he woke my husband and me with a very cute voice saying, “I puked again.”

This wasn’t a complete surprise. About ten days earlier, my 7- and 10-year-olds had spent a night vomiting. It was a short virus: just a few hours of stomach illness, followed by a low-energy day. Since it had been so many days since they’d been sick, I figured we…