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
December 1, 2008 “Dog Drug”
I have in my garage the dog equivalent of crack cocaine. My dog drug is in the form of a basketball-size red ball made of hard, heavy plastic, and I
November 30, 2008 “Grrrr…”
That\’s me growling, not my dogs. But I\’m growling at my dogs, or rather at the mysteries and ironies of training dogs, living with dogs, trying to figure out dogs.
November 28, 2008 “Stick Season”
Good friends invited us to celebrate Thanksgiving with them. Our contribution, aside from our irrepressible charm, was limited to a few bottles of wine. It was my easiest Thanksgiving ever,
November 26, 2008 “First Thanksgiving”
The time: the late 1950s The place: Birmingham, Alabama My mother, my father and I are driving home after Thanksgiving dinner with an American family. “What a meal!” my mother
November 24, 2008, “Dog Food Confessions”
Those of you who read my October 25 and October 30 posts know that I\’ve been cooking my dogs\’ food for almost a month. And I\’ve come to the conclusion
November 23, 2008 “Five Pumpkins”
This fall, one of the strategies I invented against the economic crisis was to scavenge pumpkins. The week after Halloween, people were as glad to get rid of them as
November 22, 2008 “Requiem For A Red Hen”
I knew it was coming. When I found her two days ago, hunched over and pecking listlessly at the wall, I knew her sickness was upon her again, her lower
November 21, 2008 “Going Out, Staying In”
Spent the evening out yesterday: our book group met at a friend\’s house. Before leaving the house I had to make sure that dogs and husband were fed, and the
My Green Vermont
Latest Posts
December 1, 2008 “Dog Drug”
I have in my garage the dog equivalent of crack cocaine. My dog drug is in the form of a basketball-size red ball made of hard, heavy plastic, and I
November 30, 2008 “Grrrr…”
That\’s me growling, not my dogs. But I\’m growling at my dogs, or rather at the mysteries and ironies of training dogs, living with dogs, trying to figure out dogs.
November 28, 2008 “Stick Season”
Good friends invited us to celebrate Thanksgiving with them. Our contribution, aside from our irrepressible charm, was limited to a few bottles of wine. It was my easiest Thanksgiving ever,
November 26, 2008 “First Thanksgiving”
The time: the late 1950s The place: Birmingham, Alabama My mother, my father and I are driving home after Thanksgiving dinner with an American family. “What a meal!” my mother
November 24, 2008, “Dog Food Confessions”
Those of you who read my October 25 and October 30 posts know that I\’ve been cooking my dogs\’ food for almost a month. And I\’ve come to the conclusion
November 23, 2008 “Five Pumpkins”
This fall, one of the strategies I invented against the economic crisis was to scavenge pumpkins. The week after Halloween, people were as glad to get rid of them as
November 22, 2008 “Requiem For A Red Hen”
I knew it was coming. When I found her two days ago, hunched over and pecking listlessly at the wall, I knew her sickness was upon her again, her lower
November 21, 2008 “Going Out, Staying In”
Spent the evening out yesterday: our book group met at a friend\’s house. Before leaving the house I had to make sure that dogs and husband were fed, and the