Welcome to My Green Vermont
I was born in Barcelona, where I went to a school run by German nuns, studied solfeggio, and played the violin. When I was ten, my parents and I moved to Ecuador, where I had a number of exotic pets and strange adventures. Four years later, we landed in Birmingham, Alabama. None of us spoke English, and the strange adventures continued. (Many of these appear in My Green Vermont.)
Survived high school. Got B.A. in French and Biology, Ph.D. in Romance Languages (French and Spanish). Gave up the Church and the violin, got married, had two daughters, taught at a liberal arts college in Maryland. Also grew veggies, made bread, kept chickens, milked goats, and wrote for newspapers and magazines. I got bored with teaching, took up running, and went into higher ed administration. I was diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), and learned to live in a totally different way.
I started My Green Vermont when we moved to that state. For ten years I lived with my spouse, three dogs, twelve hens, two goats, and assorted passing wildlife in a house on a hill, surrounded by fields and woods. In 2014, we moved to a cottage in a continuing care residential community near Lake Champlain. Gave up livestock and vegetable gardening in favor of wild birds, honeybees, a little red dog, and a gray cat.
My Green Vermont is a fertile compost pile made up of stories about the weirdness of growing up in three countries and three languages; portraits of beloved animals, both wild and domestic; and reflections on aging, being kind to the earth, and staying as calm as possible. I hope you will visit often, and add your own stories and reactions.
My Green Vermont
Latest Posts
Brrrrr!
It was so cold today, and with such a bitter wind, that even the dogs didn\’t want to be outside. It was a waste of a sunny day, too–bright and
Littermates
Because her brother, \”Bear,\” belongs to a friend of mine, Bisou sees him at least once a week, when we carpool over snowy hills and woods to agility class. You
Please Remove Your Shoes
The first time I was asked to do this, outside of a doctor\’s office, was in the house of a friend I hadn\’t seen in decades. We had played together
January Meltdown
The technical term, I know, is \”January thaw.\” But what\’s happened here today goes beyond that. In less than 24 hours, the landscape has gone from pristine white to horrid
Beauty Secrets Of A Stone Carver
I was in the basement the other evening, carving passionately at my experimental piece of slate. I was going to a party later, and had planned to change my clothes
Nuthatch, Chickadee
Chickadees and nuthatches are the mainstays at our feeder in winter, and I think they kind of \”go\” with the look of the landscape–elegant black and white, with subtle blue
Fear Of Food
\”Americans,\” I remember hearing Julia Child warble, \”are afraid of their food.\” So true–for me at least. My first apprehensions about food were based on a realization that, unless one
Snail Update
Back in December, I wrote here about what I should tell my grandson, when he came for Christmas, about the pet snail that he had left behind on his summer
My Green Vermont
Latest Posts
Brrrrr!
It was so cold today, and with such a bitter wind, that even the dogs didn\’t want to be outside. It was a waste of a sunny day, too–bright and
Littermates
Because her brother, \”Bear,\” belongs to a friend of mine, Bisou sees him at least once a week, when we carpool over snowy hills and woods to agility class. You
Please Remove Your Shoes
The first time I was asked to do this, outside of a doctor\’s office, was in the house of a friend I hadn\’t seen in decades. We had played together
January Meltdown
The technical term, I know, is \”January thaw.\” But what\’s happened here today goes beyond that. In less than 24 hours, the landscape has gone from pristine white to horrid
Beauty Secrets Of A Stone Carver
I was in the basement the other evening, carving passionately at my experimental piece of slate. I was going to a party later, and had planned to change my clothes
Nuthatch, Chickadee
Chickadees and nuthatches are the mainstays at our feeder in winter, and I think they kind of \”go\” with the look of the landscape–elegant black and white, with subtle blue
Fear Of Food
\”Americans,\” I remember hearing Julia Child warble, \”are afraid of their food.\” So true–for me at least. My first apprehensions about food were based on a realization that, unless one
Snail Update
Back in December, I wrote here about what I should tell my grandson, when he came for Christmas, about the pet snail that he had left behind on his summer