I was watching the news coverage tonight from Watertown, Massachusetts, as the events unfolded and new information was revealed. The news fascinated me in so many ways. For one thing, the two suspects were not nameless and faceless people. Tamerlan and Dzhokhar were young men who were integrated into our society and lived the life, to some extent, of Americans. We were shown their faces, met their relations, heard from classmates and friends, and given some information about their backgrounds.

For the past 15 years I enjoyed dining out in Vermont.  Not just for the wide variety of fresh foods available at the local restaurants, but because of the educational conversations that went on around me. Now, I wouldn’t exactly call myself an “eavesdropper,” but this is the type of thing that happens in Vermont. One day I found myself dining with friends at a popular Montpelier eatery. The group of three at the table next to ours was rapt in a fascinating conversation that started with natio

This is a short story I wrote earlier this year, and submitted to Three Minute Fiction. There is a small plate in the house where I live. It happens to be my favorite. Simple, off-white, with two dark green stripes following the curve around and around. I can’t tell if it was originally a creamy white, or if it became a bit off-color over the years from use. Maybe it was someone’s favorite plate. Or maybe it was a forgotten one, a mismatch from the start. And the reason it’s still here today is

Today was a rather interesting day. The weather started out heavy, grey and soggy, coaxing all of the green things out of their buds and shoots and into their bold spring attire. I drove from Montpelier to Barnet this evening just after a rainstorm, which revealed a crystal blue sky complete with a spectacular rainbow. My path home followed it for almost an hour. It was a beautiful, albeit treacherous ride as I followed it along swollen rivers and through small villages, stealing glances at the

Parsnips are one of those friends we welcome as it is one of the first freshly harvested vegetables after the snow melts. In case you’re not aware, parsnips look like white carrots with wide tops and pointy ends.  They are often left in the garden over the winter, which makes them sweeter, and dug up for a fresh treat.  They taste quite earthy, which is another reason why we savor them early in the year – we haven’t had a connection with the soil since the ground froze up months before.