Site Discussions

To the Stewarts: the Vigilant 1977 is a fine stove, and yes, assuming it’s in good operating condition, it’s perfectly safe to install and use. The EPA approval relates to emissions—that stove won’t burn as cleanly as a newer stove. But as long as you burn good, dry hardwood, you’ll be fine on that front, too. My girlfriend has a Vigilant for her primary heat and she loves it.

That you tried to find the deer is what matters, having been in the same situation with friends and not finding the deer does bother me, but not half as bad as people I know who, after a few minutes,  give up and don’t bother. And to think he kept going at 71 -  good for him, a great example of a real hunter.

Could have been a she.  I shot a rabbit when I was hunting with my dad when I was 12, that was 55 years ago.  There was blood.  I’m glad to have had the experience, but don’t need to do it again.

Dave,
Yes, the story is blunt and unvarnished, but it is also well told. Thanks.
Ed

This is sad and beautiful. Like the column you wrote about taking a young friend fishing for the first time, I have to say thank you for writing such a powerful, honest piece.

Wouldn’t it take the same amount of time to get back up north as it does to get down south?  Can we determine when they leave their wintering grounds that way?

Our environment with or without our human filter is fascinating.  Do other insects lack lungs as well?  What other kinds of natural scuba divers are there?

We just purchased a used vc vigilant 1977 stove with glass doors, someone informed us its not epa approved! We were so excited to install it, is it going to be unsafe? Thanks.

This was truly a article, I ran across it by accident, I was searching for The Sugar Hill Craftsmen of Lisbon, N.H., in the process I couldn’t help but read and enjoy the workmanship it takes to make a simple windsor-chair, thanks for the information.

From my grandfather I inherited what was said to be a maul. It has a four inch wooden handle,  and is attached to a heavy piece of wood that is about six inches in width and is circular - about six inches across the base.  I’ve been wondering what it was used for - and you can see that it was used in a fairly brutal fashion. It is well worn, and looks as tho’ it had been used to hit something or to pound with. Any answers?

In response to John’s question, all our (north eastern) snakes can swim and are sometimes seen in water, but watersnakes are master swimmers that can dive, hide under submerged rocks, chase fish underwater, or swim with only their heads out. The size and coloring of the snake would help to determine the species.  A large adult watersnake could be 3-4 feet long and as large around as your wrist.

In response to Joe, I have never had that experience, but watersnakes are very curious.  I have had them come right up to me to see if I was food.  Once they checked me out they left.

Hi Michael, Would you be willing to be interviewed by me for my weekly gardening column? I’m in several Vermont papers including the Herald, Times-Argus, Reformer and Caledonian-Record. I am keenly interested in knowing more about root growth, particularly in the fall.

Would you please send me your phone number and a good time for me to call? I’m at 603-543-1307, but am often not there.

Thanks, Henry

It is raining and windy here this morning, October 10th, and while looking out the window at my poplar, maple and pecan, I noticed that the pecan still looks like it’s spring with full healthy green leaves blowing beautifully in the wind, but my poplar and maples are turning colors and have dropped leaves.  Marcescence, trees that retain their leaves long after others have dropped, could be a marker left to us by God in certain trees that provide fall and winter food to people and the animal kingdom, in addition to the other reasons you have enumerated.

I have a question. Near my house is a small tree trunk, approx. 12 inches high and 8 inches in diameter. It is covered with a white spreading growth that looks like vanilla frosting. I have never ever seen this before. Does anyone know what it might be? It is beautiful.

I have an unbelievable amount of Praying Mantis around my house! I have been watching them through out the year from the time they were nymphs to grown adults.

I have at least 2 different species, the European and I believe the Carolina mantids. At any given time you can root around the perimeter of my house and find at least 2-6 crawling about. This past weekend I had the pleasure of watching a female lay her egg sac in one of my bushes.

It always takes me an extra hour or so to mow the lawn, because I am always looking out for Mantids and the box turtles that call my yard home.

I heard, a long time ago, that some folks from out of town asked a Vermont State Police officer if he knew why the leaves turned so colorful in the fall.

The officer, with a perfectly straight face, replied that it was simply state law.

My husband just found a 4 toed salamander in our garage. It’s tail broke off as soon as he tried to pick it up and the tail was wiggling furiously while the animal itself lay quietly. We are having a huge rainstorm right now, and perhaps that is how it got into the garage. He released the creature under the Rose of Sharon bush just outside the entrance to the garage and hope it will be okay. This is our first sighting. I Googled NH salamanders and was able to identify it by the description about its tail dropping off. Pretty interesting!

What other snakes might commonly be found in the water in Vermont? I watched an unidentified snake in Chickering Bog (East Montpelier) last summer.

They may not be dangerous, but they are most assuredly aggressive (for their tiny little teeth). I have been chased off of my dock (on an Adirondack pond) more than once. They are common on local ponds, and bask on logs (or docks) along the pond edges. I took a picture this summer of three Northern water snakes basking together in the lower branches of a cedar tree at the water’s edge.

These lines really resonated with me: “It was a nice, simple fall day. No epiphanies. No dramatic action sequences. No game. Just a nice, simple day, the kind where you get to hang out with a buddy and soak in the last of summer’s sun. Take a deep breath before pre-winter chores dominate your domestic life.”

That about describes the better part of life in rural Vermont.