Over much of the world this year, desperate people have decided that their living conditions — poverty, hunger, violence, corruption — are insupportable, that almost anyplace else has got to be better than where they are, and have begun migrating toward what they hope will be better lives. T…

I once lived in a cottage perched atop a sloping field in Western Massachusetts. It was the lone structure at the edge of undeveloped forest and sat far from the road. The cottage had a large front deck with an expansive view, and a smaller one in back that faced the forest. It was under the…

The biggest threat to the health of children older than 1 year is not disease, it’s accidental injury. According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, each year thousands of children suffer injuries from toys severe enough to be treated in a hospital emergency room.

Parents have been stressed out asking me how to make the holiday season less stressful for children and for themselves. Let me see if I can ease some holiday anxiety and provide some information on this topic.

Well, Christmas is only 17 days away. What a great time to offer our readers an array of gifts, straight from the Camp Swampy Catalog. But this year, we are going out of our way to offer some must-have presents for the older folks who still have the mustard to get out there and hunt.

The late Marshall Dodge, I think it was, used to tell a story about an old-timer: a bachelor farmer who attended church every Sunday, sat by himself and always appeared to pay rapt attention to the sermon, whatever the subject.

Rodney Strong Chardonnay

It’s the time of year when the landscape is laid bare, the ground is impenetrable with frost and flying insects have faded into memory. As fall slides into winter, resident songbirds like robins and waxwings must switch from their warm weather diets of earthworms and arthropods to the best o…

It might seem like an irony to head into the wilderness for adventure and a break from society, only to bring your phone with you. But some apps are designed to help us get outside.

Parents have been asking me some eye-opening questions about eye injuries in their children and what to do about them. Let me see if I can go eye to eye with them and provide some information on this topic.

During the cold winter months, you are at an increased risk of slipping and falling while going about everyday activities like walking from your car to your front door. Building and maintaining your muscles — especially when you have to travel on slippery ice and snow — is critically importa…

More teens try alcohol for the first time in June, July and December than during the rest of the year. That makes December a great time to talk to your teen not just about the dangers of drinking, but also the dangers of riding in a car when the driver has been drinking. This month may be th…

Parents ask me a lot of questions about how to talk to their children about puberty. Let me see if I can develop some information on this topic.

The sound of a gray jay (Perisoreus canadensis) evokes an image of the North Woods: dark green spruce trees, spire-like balsam fir, and bare-branched tamaracks silhouetted against a raw, slate-colored sky; the smell of wood smoke in the air and a dusting of fresh snow on the ground. I see th…

This year, given the plethora of squirrels in the universe, I feel that I should just buy a dump truck-load of black oil sunflower seeds and drop it on the lawn in front of the deck. Then maybe the squirrels would let my timid titmice get to the feeder. Maybe not. But there are other ways to…

Mermaids and mermen have been “seen” and pictured since the Babylonian era. In past centuries, Greece, Japan, Ireland, Russia and Scotland have believed in local mermaids. There have been exhibits of mermaid skeletons; the 1837 Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale, “The Little Mermaid”; the 19…

Postcards are among the most popular inexpensive collectibles today, perhaps because they are easy to find. But they require time and searching to create a special collection. Postcards are wanted for the postmark, the stamp, the message or the picture on the front, and they can be framed an…

Postcards are among the most popular inexpensive collectibles today, perhaps because they are easy to find. But they require time and searching to create a special collection. Postcards are wanted for the postmark, the stamp, the message or the picture on the front, and they can be framed an…

It’s a well-known fact that the nursing profession currently suffers from a significant and growing worldwide shortage. Hospitals, including Rutland Regional Medical Center, are putting forth extra effort to ensure they are impacted as little as possible. They have implemented a number of in…

Deer hunters, like professional athletes, are always looking for an edge — it’s the nature of the pursuit. And so we’re susceptible to superstition, alluring gadgets and marketing campaigns. A classic genre that combines all three of those elements is the moon table, a chart that tells you w…

Meditate your stress away

With fall almost over and winter on the way, many parents comment how time simply flew by. Speaking of flu, ‘tis the sneezin’, which means it’s time to remind parents about flu shots for their children. And, of course, what the flu is and is “snot.”

Diana Moore and Larry Detweiler are members of Central Vermont Home Health & Hospice’s hospice team. Diana is the bereavement coordinator and Larry is the chaplain. Hospice offers interdisciplinary care, including pain management, personal care and social work, along with grief and berea…

“I bought a wooden whistle, but it wouldn’t whistle” is part of an old children’s song that goes on to joke about buying a metal whistle. But a modern metal whistle used by a policeman looks very different from the wooden whistle made centuries ago. And today, if a whistle is wood, it usuall…

“It started with ducks,” said Missy Gilbert, standing in her garden surrounded by vegetable beds that had been put to sleep for winter. Two goats rambled around nibbling at old greenery, while an enormous flock of ducks waddled and clacked beyond the fence. One sat beside a kiddie pool clean…

If you have cut back your perennials, cleaned up the vegetable garden and raked the leaves, you have good reason to be a tad smug. You’re ahead of me. But don’t be too proud — there is still plenty to do outside. It’s time for some fall pruning.

Nov. 15, the Thursday before Thanksgiving, is Great American Smoke Out Day. This day encourages and challenges people to quit smoking or vaping for a 24-hour period. Abstaining from using cigarettes or e-cigarettes for the day can boost one’s confidence and inspire a long-term quit attempt.

All the violence children see on the news is stressing out their parents. Whether it be a shooting or a natural disaster, parents want some insight into what to say to their children. Let me see if I can help.

As if the emerald ash borer’s incursion into northern New England wasn’t enough, now there’s another potentially devastating forest pest marching this way: the southern pine beetle.

To call 1918, just 100 years ago, “dramatic” would be a conspicuous understatement. Not only had the so-called Great War just ended, after claiming an estimated 40 million casualties, but as the surviving doughboys began returning home from Europe, the most lethal epidemic in human history s…

So you’ve found a scrape line a week before the buck season opened. You know a buck, possibly a big buck, has traveled through that place in the woods and — judging by the size of the scrapes — you vowed to hunt there come opening day.

Every autumn, when the air tastes of apples and leaves crunch underfoot, my thoughts turn to tiny owls — northern saw-whet owls (Aegolius acadicus) to be exact. Just 8 inches in length with a round head and bright yellow eyes, the saw-whet is arguably New England’s most endearing owl. Deer m…

Halloween is over and parents have been gobbling up my tips on how to get children snacking on healthy foods. So this week, let me help you digest some information on the subject of snacking.

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States. The biggest cause of lung cancer is smoking, followed by radon and radiation exposure, and environmental pollution.

If skiing uphill two miles to a rustic lodge in the Green Mountains sounds like a good time to you, you’ll want to reserve a stay in Vermont’s newest backcountry hut. Chittenden Brook Hut, located in the Chittenden Brook Campground area of the Green Mountain National Forest in Rochester, is …