Central Vermont Home Health & Hospice has partnered with the American Heart Association of Vermont for American Heart Month, in February, to help you make informed, heart-healthy choices when you go to the grocery store and out to dinner.
I reeled in some really big striped bass, thanks to Randy. I took Steve out for a turkey hunt a long time ago. There was a deep brotherhood, borne from the sky, between Hal and me.
Central Vermont Home Health & Hospice has partnered with the American Heart Association of Vermont for American Heart Month, in February, to help you make informed, heart-healthy choices when you go to the grocery store and out to dinner.
By Lindsay Courcelle
Larry and Helen Whittaker’s house lies just north of the Arctic Circle at 67º49’N, 115º05’W, at the mouth of the Coppermine River. The dining room on the southeast corner of the house features two very unArctic picture windows, one looking east over Coronation Gulf — part of the route of the…
Since ancient times, the heart has been a symbol of our emotions. But scientists have uncovered a physical link between emotions and heart health.
There is much talk these days about global warming. It’s easy to feel hopeless and to think there is nothing we can do. But if we all take a few small steps, it can add up to a big difference.
I have always admired nature’s mutineers: animals and plants that thwart the recognized system and do their own thing. As a child, I was the sole member of my own duck-billed platypus club, endeared to this creature with the bird-like bill, beaver-style tail and shocking ability to lay eggs.…
Since ancient times, the heart has been a symbol of our emotions. But scientists have uncovered a physical link between emotions and heart health.
On a frozen winter morning, the sound of my feet crunching along in squeaky snow is an almost daily occurrence as I trek my food scraps, carefully collected during meal prep the day before, out to my backyard compost bin. I emptied the bin in the fall onto a garden bed and now the bin is fil…
My paternal grandmother, before she married, clerked in an upscale home furnishings store in Albany, and must have scored a very impressive trousseau when she left to wed a struggling young pharmacist. She had a really nice china service, sterling silverware and even a sterling table scraper…
It’s one thing to sponsor an ice fishing derby. It doesn’t hurt, however, if you can get out there, in February temperatures that can easily slip below zero, and have some fun doing it.
Whenever I spy a pileated woodpecker traversing the sky, I pause to watch its weird undulating flight. The jerky rise-and-drop movement of this large woodpecker is endearingly gawky — like a mini pterodactyl visiting from the Cretaceous period. This time of year, the bird’s bold crimson cres…
February is National Heart Awareness Month, with the goal to bring more awareness about the prevalence and severity of heart disease in the United States. I would like to focus this discussion specifically on some key differences women experience regarding cardiovascular health. Cardiovascul…
Groundhog Day has come and gone. The big, fat rodent has made his or her proclamation about the arrival of spring. And of course, I paid no attention. I think the birds are better about announcing spring, but so far, the cardinals are not singing their spring songs, and the red-winged blackb…
It’s unusual for a barred owl to visit a backyard bird feeder, but that’s exactly what was happening last winter at the Vermont Institute of Natural Science’s Center for Wild Bird Rehabilitation in Quechee.
A couple of friends sent me a lovely Christmas gift — a big boiled ham, sausage, pancake flour and maple syrup. You know the kind of gift package I’m talking about. Today, a Sunday morning with a few hours to kill before church, I finally decided to make some pancakes.
Winter’s Delicate SolitudeThis is the closing-in time of year:
We have all been touched by cancer, if not personally, we have seen it affect our friends, family members and neighbors.
In Lewis Carroll’s poem, “The Jabberwocky,” the hero exalts, after killing the ferocious mythical beast, “O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!” That’s the way I feel when I think about the upcoming spring flower shows. Thinking about the shows, I am known to exclaim, “Oh, Boy!” at random moments…
CASTLETON — It is something of a challenge to replace a person who was a legend in his time. Tom Evanoika ran his bait and tackle shop for many years. He had a reputation as a local character who spoke his mind. He was also a fair businessman who honored his customers.
As we leaned over the Colchester Bog boardwalk, a student asked, “What’s that black stuff on the water?” I suggested gently poking it with a twig. This elicited the expected response: as though ejected from James Bond’s Aston Martin, tiny black flecks scattered, landing inches away and on my…
Imagine thousands of tiny life-forms created by computers. Their behavior is programmed by artificial intelligence, but they are made from living cells. They are preloaded with their own food source and have no head, eyes, nor other sense organs. But they are very much alive. They can carry …
Prevention is an important topic as lifespans are getting longer and statistically, quality of life is decreasing all over the globe. Health and wellness in the media can be challenging to navigate, and depending on the source, information can be completely incorrect. It can be easy to want …
For many of us, the dawn of a new year is a time to make changes in our lives to improve our physical and mental health. Some of us vow to eat more fruits and vegetables. Others plan to exercise more or spend less time on Facebook. What about resolving to put your advance care plan in place …
One gorgeous July day, perhaps two or three years ago, out in our back yard, one of my grandsons held a young garter snake in his hands. Proud of his bravery, the boy wore a big smile.
Late one January afternoon, my husband and I stood on the shore of a frozen pond below the summit of Camel’s Hump, admiring the view. Suddenly we heard familiar calls, and a flock of robins flew over. Robins? In winter? In the mountains? I was perplexed.
My mother used to say, “The road to Hades is paved with good intentions.” That is particularly true for gardeners and plant collectors. Most of those nasty invasive plants we struggle to eliminate from our landscape were brought here from abroad by people who didn’t know better. They thought…
Spoiler alert: Everyone dies. The only part you can control is how you choose to live until the end comes. If you’re afraid to face it and avoid planning for it, chances are it will be a rougher journey for you and your family.
Prevention is an important topic as lifespans are getting longer and statistically, quality of life is decreasing all over the globe. Health and wellness in the media can be challenging to navigate, and depending on the source, information can be completely incorrect. It can be easy to want …
In the 1970s, Greg Morrill bought a Super 8 camera to make films of his ski trips. A few years ago, he had the videos digitized, and now he’s sharing them at a “Home Movie Night” at the Vermont Ski and Snowboard Museum in Stowe on Jan. 23 at 7 p.m. Morrill, who is a ski historian and writes …
Snow day! The announcement draws squeals of joy from students throughout the school district and groans from parents who must scramble to provide care for their kids and face a treacherous commute. But fourth-graders with overdue homework and harried parents aren’t the only ones whose fortun…
POULTNEY — One of the first things you might notice when you walk into Mart’s Sporting Goods are three chairs, set just off to the side of the counter. Often, there are outdoorsmen seated in those chairs.
Most of us have parts of our lives we may like to change. This may bring about negative feelings at times, but it’s normal. It’s part of our process of creating happy and healthy lives for ourselves. You may want to become better at managing money, or you may aspire to take real steps to imp…
I can’t wait till spring. Don’t get me wrong: I love winter. But I look forward to trying a recipe I just found for pea, leek and sorrel soup while reading Deborah Madison’s fabulous cookbook, “Vegetable Literacy” (10-Speed Press, 2013, $40). And sorrel, a leafy perennial, is one of my first…
Yeah, it’s cold out there sitting on a bucket with a jig rod in your hand, trying to entice a fat perch to take the bait. Some people think ice fishermen are, you know, a little bit off. I mean, why would a sane person go out on a cold winter’s day on a big lake to try to catch fish? I used …
Two chipmunks vie for seeds on our front lawn. One lives directly underneath the bird feeder. Another hails from the far side of the house, address unknown.
How could I have guessed that, traveling to Arkansas and Texas during the Christmas holidays, I’d come face to face with mammoths? Or having hinted I’d rather not get gifts that would increase the weight of my luggage, I’d in response get a great gift card to my favorite restaurant? Or, in m…
Anyone from babies to senior citizens can be at risk for developing glaucoma. Without initial treatment, glaucoma can cause permanent blindness. The good news is, while glaucoma can’t be cured, early treatment can control it.
Finding things to place in vases now, in winter, is not easy. It takes some imagination, but there really are some nice stems available.
It is no secret. Kids today are getting further and further from the reality that is the outdoors. We are all to blame. Parents are too busy and often because they are trying their hardest to provide for their children. Youngsters are raised on a wide variety of electronic devises, things th…
I’ve always found slender, sharp, yellow-ochre beech leaves alluring, and it’s endearing how they cling onto saplings late into the fall. However, Fagus grandifolia, the American beech, tends to get a lot of flak from foresters. The trees are plagued with beech bark disease which ruins any t…
Happy New Year! Have you thought about quitting smoking and living a tobacco-free life? If so, congratulations, this is the first step toward a healthier you.
It’s cold outside, and nothing is happening in my garden. Well, I guess deep beneath the soil surface there are microbes and worms and moles alive and doing whatever they do in winter. But I am doing nothing in the garden, so this is a time to read about gardening.
Winter Solstice
It’s that eerie period between darkness and light. At this stage, I will have to pass on any deer because, in low light, it is too risky that what looks like a doe could very well be a buck with short, straight spikes emerging from its head and often concealed by its very large ears. You wou…
A couple of decades ago, I spent several winters living in Crested Butte, Colorado, where I learned to peer into the cottonwood trees between Route 135 and the East River on the rare occasion when I needed to travel south to the closest “big” town. There, just downstream from the local fish …
People send and give me books. All are presumed to be “right up my alley.” Some, in fact, are.
This past year was, overall, a good one in the garden. It started off cold and wet in early summer, but then turned hot and dry. Most vegetables and perennial flowers did fine for me. I finally splurged and got an Itoh hybrid peony, one called “garden treasure,” and it bloomed gloriously. It…
Are you pregnant and using tobacco products? As 2019 ends, many of us are making New Year’s resolutions to improve our health. One of the best resolutions you can make for you and your baby is to quit smoking.
