Stepping out the front door and off the steps I balance two heavy metal buckets of water. I feel a deep pull from inside my shoulders, familiar, warm. I take a moment as I walk, to push my breath out from inside the warmth of my body into the frigid air. I watch as it…
New Year
December in Vermont is the true bridge between fall and winter. While we often have cold temperatures and some snow in November, it remains autumn in our minds. December often arrives quietly. A week or two before Christmas, winter weather commences. This can mean icy rain and/or heavy snow. One year the wet snow caused…
By Definition
The twelve days of Christmas in Vermont normally, at some point, include snow. However, one of the more reliable traits of a true Vermonter is that you never, ever assume that the weather, even one week out from Christmas, will determine the forecast for the big day. Even Christmas eve forecasting is dicey. In year’s…
Decorating
We are insistent on keeping Thanksgiving as it’s own holiday. This year, more than any previous, we have seen holiday lights draping people’s walkways, stores fully decked out for Christmas before all Halloween candy has been consumed, and we’ve watched people zoom past us with trees tied to the roof rack of their cars, (finally,…
Continuing To Spread
Yesterday I opened the front door and found three Wyandotte hens looking at me quizzically, none of us where the other expected. It took me a second to believe my eyes as we have a large pen that connects to the sheep paddock where the chickens live, the fence is very high and has an…
Another Chance
October, so full of color. Walking down our road I pull my sunglasses down onto my nose so I can see with a proper filter. Everything looks like a party until the north wind begins to whisper, cold rain riding its back. Suddenly there are only a few tenacious leaves swinging precariously from their branch,…
Honey
End of the growing season finds us like squirrels, rushing in preparation for winter. The sheep are enjoying the last of grazing: soon they will be watching the world from their winter paddock. During the final week or so of grazing, I take down the rotational fencing and let them have access to full pasture….
Melissa Featured in Rent.com Blog
With their home in the heart of the charming fictional town of Stars Hollow, CT, the Gilmore Girls – Lorelai and Rory – have captivated audiences young and old with their quick wit, strong bond, and a lifestyle brimming with cozy charm. From their iconic coffee runs to their love for literature and all things…
Searching
I finished the last bite of sandwich and began picking things up from the small square card table pressed against the window of my mother’s independent living apartment. She put her hand on the table, looked up and said, “I would like to ask you a question.” I set the plates back on the table…
Vacation-Brain
I believe that vacation is a state of mind rather than a destination. For that reason it takes time to achieve that state, wherever you may have landed. When we arrive at the pond there is chaos. Car doors slamming as everyone pulls bags from the hot backseats of cars, bags of groceries hurriedly pile…
Field Of Fireflies
Sunday afternoon, in the quiet of the church, Paul and I work together packing up the remnants of our spring student cello recital. As with most good things in life, we are, simultaneously, exhausted and exhilarated. I fold up the card table that held the graduation/happy recital cake and stack sticky paper cups used for…
And Suddenly……
I fill vases and large Ball jars with fistfuls of lilacs. We can’t see each other across the table for the purple. The moment you open the front door you can smell them, their scent short-lived but powerful. We pull the plastic taut over the green house and anchor it down. I can now see…
The Only Way To Grow
On the corner of the cherry bar in our kitchen is a pile of notebooks. We have a few years of date books, just in case we need to look back for some reason, a six slot wire holder that is stuffed with business cards, pamphlets of places we have been and places we would…