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
Marissa Mayer, What Were You Thinking?
Yahoo employees, I feel your pain, especially if you are parents. Instead of telecommuting you will now have to put in forty hours of desk-time at the office every week.
Sidewalk Nostalgia
This is the season when I yearn for sidewalks. Lovely flat, hard sidewalks that don\’t give way under your foot. Sidewalks on which you can wear regular shoes instead of
Not-So-Noble Savages
I recently read Napoleon Chagnon\’s Noble Savages, an account of his years of anthropological field work among the Yanomamo tribes of Venezuela and Brazil. Blithely summarizing here: Chagnon takes a
“Like”
Originally it meant \”resembling,\” or, as a verb, \”to take pleasure in.\” Then it morphed into a kind of verbal hiccup, a place holder while the mind caught up with
My Mother And The Mediterranean Diet
If my mother, who turned 95 last week, could understand it, she would feel pleased and vindicated by the recent brouhaha about the Mediterranean diet. In case you have been
The Rite Of Socks
Since yesterday\’s post about the citrus trees, I\’ve had Versailles on my mind. I\’ve been thinking about the morning ceremony known as le lever du Roi, when the highest nobles
Shape
When I ordered my lemon tree online, this is what I had in mind… except for the elegant planter, of course, and the palace of Versailles in the background. I
Bisou And B.F. Skinner
I have been avoiding clicker training for years. This is a method, heavily based on the work of behaviorist B.F. Skinner, that gives the trainee–dolphin, horse or dog–immediate positive reinforcement
My Green Vermont
Latest Posts
Marissa Mayer, What Were You Thinking?
Yahoo employees, I feel your pain, especially if you are parents. Instead of telecommuting you will now have to put in forty hours of desk-time at the office every week.
Sidewalk Nostalgia
This is the season when I yearn for sidewalks. Lovely flat, hard sidewalks that don\’t give way under your foot. Sidewalks on which you can wear regular shoes instead of
Not-So-Noble Savages
I recently read Napoleon Chagnon\’s Noble Savages, an account of his years of anthropological field work among the Yanomamo tribes of Venezuela and Brazil. Blithely summarizing here: Chagnon takes a
“Like”
Originally it meant \”resembling,\” or, as a verb, \”to take pleasure in.\” Then it morphed into a kind of verbal hiccup, a place holder while the mind caught up with
My Mother And The Mediterranean Diet
If my mother, who turned 95 last week, could understand it, she would feel pleased and vindicated by the recent brouhaha about the Mediterranean diet. In case you have been
The Rite Of Socks
Since yesterday\’s post about the citrus trees, I\’ve had Versailles on my mind. I\’ve been thinking about the morning ceremony known as le lever du Roi, when the highest nobles
Shape
When I ordered my lemon tree online, this is what I had in mind… except for the elegant planter, of course, and the palace of Versailles in the background. I
Bisou And B.F. Skinner
I have been avoiding clicker training for years. This is a method, heavily based on the work of behaviorist B.F. Skinner, that gives the trainee–dolphin, horse or dog–immediate positive reinforcement