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
Vermont Footwear
I remember when we were house hunting in Vermont being amazed at the piles of boots in people\’s mud rooms and closets: tall boots, short boots, rubber boots and leather
An Egg, An Egg!
It is a perfect oval (what else?), tinted the lightest pinkish beige. I brought it in the house tonight and put it reverentially in the fridge. And heaved a sigh
Puppy Sleeps Through Night. Owner\’s Worldview Drastically Improved
Would you call midnight to 5:55 a.m. “sleeping through the night”? You would if, like me, you\’d been getting no more than three or four hours of sleep at a
Puppy Play Date
Bisou\’s littermate, Bear, came over for a play date yesterday. In preparation, I removed the rug from the downstairs bedroom, moved the electric cords out of the way, and put
Hail The Halloween Bugs
Right on schedule, they have made their appearance, clustering on window screens and on corners of ceilings, falling into food and making a nuisance of themselves. The only thing I
Bedtime Stories
For many years, I slept in my parents\’ bedroom. I don\’t know whether this was because I was an only child, or whether I was an only child because of
Bisou At Three Months
She\’s red, and getting redder, and she\’s feisty. Dog people say “Well, she\’s a red-head,” and give me knowing looks. She\’s the biggest, though perhaps not the heaviest, of her
Pumpkin Season, Deer-Hunting Season
I\’m not sure when deer hunting season begins, but people around here are starting to talk about it. Pumpkin season, on the other hand, is at its height. This year,
My Green Vermont
Latest Posts
Vermont Footwear
I remember when we were house hunting in Vermont being amazed at the piles of boots in people\’s mud rooms and closets: tall boots, short boots, rubber boots and leather
An Egg, An Egg!
It is a perfect oval (what else?), tinted the lightest pinkish beige. I brought it in the house tonight and put it reverentially in the fridge. And heaved a sigh
Puppy Sleeps Through Night. Owner\’s Worldview Drastically Improved
Would you call midnight to 5:55 a.m. “sleeping through the night”? You would if, like me, you\’d been getting no more than three or four hours of sleep at a
Puppy Play Date
Bisou\’s littermate, Bear, came over for a play date yesterday. In preparation, I removed the rug from the downstairs bedroom, moved the electric cords out of the way, and put
Hail The Halloween Bugs
Right on schedule, they have made their appearance, clustering on window screens and on corners of ceilings, falling into food and making a nuisance of themselves. The only thing I
Bedtime Stories
For many years, I slept in my parents\’ bedroom. I don\’t know whether this was because I was an only child, or whether I was an only child because of
Bisou At Three Months
She\’s red, and getting redder, and she\’s feisty. Dog people say “Well, she\’s a red-head,” and give me knowing looks. She\’s the biggest, though perhaps not the heaviest, of her
Pumpkin Season, Deer-Hunting Season
I\’m not sure when deer hunting season begins, but people around here are starting to talk about it. Pumpkin season, on the other hand, is at its height. This year,