We all have that one thing we collect. Maybe it’s coffee mugs with witty quotes on them, ticket stubs from shows we’ve been to, or houseplants that do nothing but wither and die. Sometimes we’re not even sure how we ended up with a collection, as these things have a way of just appearing. Yo…
Somehow I let Valentine’s Day pass without talking about heartworms! This was a big lapse on my part that I will try to make up for now. Those of you who are less veterinary-inclined probably don’t automatically associate the two as I do, but you still have to come on this journey with me! H…
I walk my dog outside most days, but when it is very cold she cannot tolerate it well. What other types of things can I do for exercise?
In honor of St. Valentine, I wanted to do a column on romances. Which would be easier if I read more of them, honestly. And I did a study of them for my library science degree but didn’t find a bunch I could recommend. Fortunately, there’s often a great romance hiding inside the covers of an…
Although the weather doesn’t agree, spring is in the air. I heard bird calls again when I was out last week! As days get (slightly) longer and (slightly) warmer, we start to think of spring. While we often spread vaccines out over the year, spring means pet vaccines to most people. It also m…
It’s not easy to get excited about parsnips. They look like a neglected sibling of the carrot. I like most vegetables, but I’ve been a bit indifferent to parsnips. I’ve never had luck growing them in the garden and they just haven’t popped up on my radar often. They’re just not as common.
Anyone who has owned pets knows that they can convey a lot with their eyes. I can tell if my dog is worried, excited or happy by looking at her eyes. More often we can tell if they are just so, so hungry for our steak or other things. Eyes are very important to our pets, but often unless the…
Some nights it feels like such a hassle to get dinner made at a reasonable time. The only way I seem able to make it happen is by sticking with a meal plan and a schedule. But even that’s not foolproof, as it’s so easy to get delayed with something at work, finding myself having to make an u…
Although he was a disciple of the guru of the atonal, Arnold Schoenberg, Alban Berg’s 1935 Violin Concerto is full of deeply beautiful and haunting Romanticism.
We are right on the brink of kitten season! I love kittens for about a thousand reasons. They’re adorable, feisty, zoom around the house, climb things and make me laugh. Do you know who doesn’t laugh at these shenanigans? Existing older cats. They often view these kittens as troublesome room…
This column tends toward older titles for a variety of reasons — primarily, I like digging through the stacks at the library for hidden gems instead of competing with regular borrowers for hot new books.
Jukebox isn’t quite the Vermont Symphony Orchestra in miniature. Now in its fourth season, this unique program brings audiences into intimate contact with music and musicians, inviting new listeners and veterans to share the joy of concert music.
While the holidays may have come and gone, there’s a long, cold winter ahead, and no reason why we shouldn’t still enjoy ourselves. Yeah, we should definitely cut back on some of the overindulgences. But there are plenty of reasons to celebrate — birthdays, snow days, Fridays. Whatever the r…
My vet hasn’t mentioned that my dog needs to lose weight, but I think she does. How do I know?
No surprise, we’re going to deep dive into resolutions this week. Truth be told, I loved 2019. I’m not trying to jet off and leave it in the past as with some other years here and there. Second truth? I don’t love resolutions. I feel like it puts a lot of pressure on us for a while, then the…
I broke a record with the amount of canning I accomplished this past year. I tackled everything from plum caramel sauce and zesty zucchini relish to sour cherry preserves and roasted lime salsa. Any day now, the shelves of my cabinet that holds both my canning jars and cookbook collection, w…
I am throwing out articles about euthanasia, and now pain in December? What kind of holiday spirit is this? The truth is that talking about pain warms my heart for one reason — I can do a lot to help it. Pain is sorely (see what I did there?) underdiagnosed in our pets because they aren’t wh…
Writing humor is a tricky skill to master. Stand-up comedians get to take the tone of the room. If sophisticated wordplay doesn’t work, they can always try some bathroom humor. With a print title, the author can only put out what they think will make readers laugh. So you might love some tit…
I have great news for all inquiring minds: my tree is up, and so far two dogs, a cat, AND a human baby haven’t conspired to knock it over, eat it or pull the lights down. Let’s not underestimate how happy I am not to have had to cage my tree.
One of the things I like best about this time of year is the scent of a fresh Christmas tree in the house. I was sitting next to our tree the other day, enjoying that woodsy aroma and brainstorming recipe ideas, when I started to wonder if there was a way to capture that tree essence in cooking.
Conductor Chelsea Tipton II’s watchword is excellence. The first time he works with an ensemble, he asks for the programs from the last four or five seasons, to see what they like and what they program. That’s exactly what he did when he was invited to conduct this year’s Vermont Symphony Or…
So, I am going to introduce a topic that isn’t very uplifting, but for some reason always comes up around the holidays — end of life. We often have very specific and concrete memories and traditions around the holidays. In contrast to the very slow changes we see daily, sometimes these tradi…
“Messiah,” George Frederic Handel’s great oratorio, has become a ubiquitous part of Christmas celebrations worldwide — and yet it was written for Easter.
So, right as you were about to start walking seriously to offset the gravy and upcoming cookies, we got a bunch of snow. I know how disappointed you are! Dr. Anna is here to rescue you though, I have lots of winter walking tips to keep you out and about in the dark, cold, deep snow.
Vermont is blessed with a surplus of good writers and great food, so it should come as no surprise that it’s also home to many fine cookbooks. As the holiday cooking & baking season swings into top gear, here’s a selection to help you put on your seasonal feast … whatever form it takes.
No doubt about it, it is dark. My dogs get extra stir crazy when they don’t get long walks in the woods or fields during the week, so when they get room to run they make the most of it. We are now firmly in the middle of hunting season though, so some precautions should be taken.
Since we talked about diabetes last week, what better to talk about now than Thanksgiving?! Yes, we have an entire week left, but we all know it takes a week to prepare for this holiday. I love Thanksgiving. I love baking, eating, walking, and football. Is there anything better than waking u…
Afternoons in an office can feel extra-long some days, especially in the winter months when the daylight is brief and sometimes nearly nonexistent. Once I start to yawn, I know I have to get up, stretch out and walk around. Maybe I’ll take a quick walk out for a coffee or make myself a cup o…
So, we’re stuck in between Veteran’s Day and Thanksgiving, it’s cold, and lots of people are starting to get grumpy about it being dark as soon as our day starts (it feels like.) This is the perfect time to let you know that although vets may be knowledgeable about something, they may not li…
Historical fiction involves building a made-up narrative around real events and characters. Many of the more successful titles revolve around European courts and royalty, but there are many others set in varied locales for the more adventurous reader.
Over the past few weeks, I feel like every time I turn around at work there is a urinalysis for me to look at. Urine issues are on the upswing right now. For reasons we don’t completely understand, urinary issues are more prevalent with drastic weather or light changes, both of which are hap…
One of my favorite things about fall is the variety of squashes. Although they’re called winter squashes, because (sometimes) they can be stored through the winter, we start seeing them as soon as the end of summer. But it’s fall when most people start to think about squash. And with cooler …
As I’m trying to be a better adult, I have been cutting back on my candy consumption. This is never so painfully clear as during this wonderful holiday revolving around candy — Halloween. Thankfully, there are plenty of other activities (pets in costumes) to occupy my time. Like me, pets sho…
It’s right after World War II, and a small theater company is reuniting for the first time at a formal dinner party. And what do they decide to do? William Shakespeare’s romantic comedy “Much Ado About Nothing.”
I typically like a “cozy” mystery, where most of the killing happens just off-stage. But horror and action novels have continuously increased in intensity — and forensic accuracy — over the years.
As the cooler days move in, blankets aren’t the only thing added to our house. Suddenly, almost all new kittens and most pets that weren’t on flea protection started showing us a flea or two (or many more.) While fall makes us load up on firewood, wood pellets or heating fuel; it makes the f…
Eggplant is a love or hate kind of vegetable. For me, it’s love. I think what causes these feelings is the unique texture. The best (and maybe worst) way to describe it is being similar to a dense sponge. Because just like a sponge, eggplant absorbs flavor really well. It reminds me a lot of…
Let’s imagine for a moment that you are a dog. Don’t feel weird about it, I try to take this perspective almost daily! And while that might not reassure you much, it is actually very helpful to think of training and behavior from a dog’s world. So, there is this same darn truck that drives u…
So today we are going to get personal and talk about your behavior. Just kidding, I mean your dogs’! Though one is often directly related to the other. Recently it was brought to my attention that dogs often get pushed aside when life gets rough, and many new moms don’t like their dogs as mu…
It is now officially autumn — time for leaf-peeping, cider pressing, and of course, the first cold viruses of the season. I have a 4-year-old daughter and a 7-month-old son, and with my daughter’s entrance into preschool this year, the little ones have had two colds already since the start o…
I don’t love eating fresh tomatoes. I know, that’s crazy for a gardener with more than a dozen tomato plants in his garden to admit. But that doesn’t mean I don’t like tomatoes. I would just rather use them for sauce, salsa and crushed tomatoes. I make and can all of these and that way, I ge…
My eyes are itchy, my contacts feel like they are sitting on top of a layer of sand, and I keep sneezing. This may not seem relevant to a pet article, but I know as soon as I start feeling these changes that my appointments will fill up. However, they won’t fill up with sneezing, they will f…
In “Danse Macabre,” Stephen King described his writing as creating terror — the buildup — then horror — when we see the face of the beast — and finally revulsion, which is the big, gory gross-out. Some of us prefer our scary stories to inhabit the first realm, created by internal tension ins…
So, it has been established that I love the fall. I love hiking through the foliage, I love being outside without being hot (this last weekend excluded!), I love almost everything about it. What I hate, however, are fleas and ticks. We have fewer ticks for a while, but they make a resurgence…
Jaime Laredo won’t be stepping down after 20 years as music director of the Vermont Symphony Orchestra until the end of the 2020-21 season, but this will be his last time directing the annual VSO Made in Vermont statewide tour — offering many the last opportunity to hear the legendary musici…
Although the weather is turning cooler much faster than I’d like, I have to say it’s my favorite time of year. Over the past few weeks I’ve picked peaches, plums, pears, raspberries and apples at local orchards and while visiting home in Connecticut. Meanwhile, in my backyard garden, it’s a …
The first week in October marks National Walk Your Dog Week, but since autumn is here a little early, I’m going to talk about fall walking a little early. Anyone who knows me knows that fall is my favorite season. There are a lot of reasons why, but mostly it has to do with temperature. Of c…
“The Magic Flute,” one of the most popular operas of all time, wasn’t actually written for the opera house. In fact, Mozart created his 1791 masterpiece for a public theater, or vaudeville house.
If you’re not concerned about threats to your privacy, it’s likely that you’re not paying attention. If you’re online, your privacy has been compromised, and even if you’re not, simply using a credit card or a cell phone is enough to allow advertisers to reach you through logarithms written …
To list your event in the Reader Bulletins email editor@rutlandreader.com
To list your event in the Reader Bulletins email editor@rutlandreader.com
To list your event in the Reader Bulletins email editor@rutlandreader.com
Previewing upcoming arts and entertainment events throughout the region.
Previewing upcoming arts and entertainment events throughout the region.
Previewing upcoming arts and entertainment events throughout the region.
Previewing upcoming arts and entertainment events throughout the region.
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