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
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,
A Fantasy
I have a recurring fantasy that usually hits around this time of year. Sure enough, with the cold snap last week it showed up again, and has been doing so
Putting The Garden To Bed
I\’m glad I live in a place with four distinct seasons. It suits my temperament, which thrives on change and variety. Here in Vermont, no sooner do I fall prey
The Milkmaid\’s Report
After the milk-dumping episode, I couldn\’t stop thinking about ways to fix the situation with Blossom. I decided to milk her three times a day to get her used to
Slippery Slope?
Saturday afternoon, we will clean out the goat shed. Since I only keep a couple of goats, I use the “bedding pack” method of stall maintenance. That means that I
My Green Vermont
Latest Posts
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,
A Fantasy
I have a recurring fantasy that usually hits around this time of year. Sure enough, with the cold snap last week it showed up again, and has been doing so
Putting The Garden To Bed
I\’m glad I live in a place with four distinct seasons. It suits my temperament, which thrives on change and variety. Here in Vermont, no sooner do I fall prey
The Milkmaid\’s Report
After the milk-dumping episode, I couldn\’t stop thinking about ways to fix the situation with Blossom. I decided to milk her three times a day to get her used to
Slippery Slope?
Saturday afternoon, we will clean out the goat shed. Since I only keep a couple of goats, I use the “bedding pack” method of stall maintenance. That means that I