“If the doors of perception were cleansed everything would appear to man as it is...For man has closed himself up, till he sees all things thro' narrow chinks of his cavern.” - William…

Standing in a supermarket amidst frozen dinners, bakery items, and cereals, it’s easy to forget the work involved in preparing food. While it is wonderful to be relieved of so much work, this…

The word mast is of Anglo-Saxon origin, and originally described an abundance of acorns on the forest floor, eagerly devoured by domestic swine. The Old German root meant “to be fat,” and…

We slid our canoe over the beaver dam and paddled into the upper, smaller pond. A breeze rippled the water and rustled the reeds lining the shore. Suddenly I spied four long, sleek brown figures…

People who fish tend to be poetically inclined – it probably has something to do with the hours spent in silent contemplation. And of all their piscatorial muses, the brook trout reigns supreme.…

This October 17-19th, on the shores of Lake Morey, authors, editors, educators and nature enthusiasts will gather for a weekend conference focused on writing about the nature of our region, and the…

You’ve discovered a tiny evergreen forest of what look like diminutive hemlock or cedar trees barely taller than a chipmunk. They’re spread across the cool shade cast by a canopy of…

From his perch high on a balsam fir near a bog in northern Vermont, far from suburbia and barnyards, an American robin sings as if he owns the place. And, in many ways, he does. Although hardly an…

Leaves are turning beautiful colors this time of year, but these spots aren’t so pretty. What are they? Bonus points for identifying the tree.

Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom recently adopted a new advertising slogan that urges visitors to “Embrace a Change of Pace.” If I were the ad exec I would have shortened it to…

“It should be right up here ahead of us,” promised Kevin Martin, his focus alternating between his handheld GPS and the knee-deep water that surrounded us. He was looking for the best (and…

This has always been my perception of bird migration in the fall: the days grow short and cool and then, one day, I notice a v-shaped caravan of Canada geese flying southward. Then another and…

If John Griffin had a theme song to describe his life, it might very well be Willie Nelson’s “On the Road Again.” Griffin’s business, Old Standard Wood, is headquartered in…

Living this far north, we’re attuned to signs of a waning summer: shorter days, cooler nights, red maples in low-lying areas turning their trademark color. But when the asters bloom, I know the…

This photo was taken just this morning. What is it?

There’s this recurring debate every election cycle about whether we need more or less government in our lives. And it’s never going to end because most of us are conflicted on the matter.…

We were inspired to learn more about red spruce from an instrument-making perspective, so we visited luthier Don Wilson in Arlington, Vermont, and asked him a few questions. Why use spruce in guitar…

It rained heavily the first time I had planned to go on a hawk watch, and the trip to Mt. Tom in western Massachusetts was cancelled. But the rain brought with it a weather front the next day that…

On the morning of September 6, 2013, 275 canoes and nearly 700 paddlers converged at Old Forge Beach in New York’s Adirondack Park. Eager anticipation lingered in the air as canoers snacked and…

Photographer Frank Kaczmarek captured this impressionistic photograph at a small pond in northern New Hampshire. “Including the lily pads in the frame, in a small way, reminded me of Claude…