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
Calling Lexi
It\’s 8:30 in the evening, and Bisou, who knows that she will get a treat when she comes in from her last outing of the day, starts agitating to go
Soup Of The Evening
My freezer is full of jars containing the liquid essence of long-gone hens. There are also many plastic tubs full of the pureed prolific members of the cucurbit family–pumpkin and
Needlepoint For The Soul
Last week I suffered one of my periodic attacks of \”I\’ve got to do something with my hands!\” I\’ve been doing quite a bit of writing lately (not here, I
When My Mind Is Elsewhere, Where Am I?
It\’s been happening a lot lately. I\’ll have fifteen minutes before I have to leave the house to go somewhere and I think, \”I\’ll just write a couple of sentences
On Dog Drool
Those dog books you read–if you are the kind of responsible person who reads books about responsible dog ownership before rushing out to get a dog–warn that dealing with dog
Of A Midnight Ambulance Ride, A Skid Off The Road In A Blizzard, And A Trek To Safety With Three Dogs
There\’s a limit to the amount of narrative suspense I\’m willing to inflict on my readers, so I\’ll say right now that we\’re fine: spouse, self, and the three dogs.
Forgiving Our Mothers
Went to a meeting of women of a certain age yesterday to talk about mothers and daughters. The room was crowded, and I couldn\’t help wondering what an equivalent meeting
Violette\’s Violin
In these days when violins small enough to fit into a diaper bag are thrust into the hands of toddlers, my granddaughter Violette started taking lessons at the relatively late
My Green Vermont
Latest Posts
Calling Lexi
It\’s 8:30 in the evening, and Bisou, who knows that she will get a treat when she comes in from her last outing of the day, starts agitating to go
Soup Of The Evening
My freezer is full of jars containing the liquid essence of long-gone hens. There are also many plastic tubs full of the pureed prolific members of the cucurbit family–pumpkin and
Needlepoint For The Soul
Last week I suffered one of my periodic attacks of \”I\’ve got to do something with my hands!\” I\’ve been doing quite a bit of writing lately (not here, I
When My Mind Is Elsewhere, Where Am I?
It\’s been happening a lot lately. I\’ll have fifteen minutes before I have to leave the house to go somewhere and I think, \”I\’ll just write a couple of sentences
On Dog Drool
Those dog books you read–if you are the kind of responsible person who reads books about responsible dog ownership before rushing out to get a dog–warn that dealing with dog
Of A Midnight Ambulance Ride, A Skid Off The Road In A Blizzard, And A Trek To Safety With Three Dogs
There\’s a limit to the amount of narrative suspense I\’m willing to inflict on my readers, so I\’ll say right now that we\’re fine: spouse, self, and the three dogs.
Forgiving Our Mothers
Went to a meeting of women of a certain age yesterday to talk about mothers and daughters. The room was crowded, and I couldn\’t help wondering what an equivalent meeting
Violette\’s Violin
In these days when violins small enough to fit into a diaper bag are thrust into the hands of toddlers, my granddaughter Violette started taking lessons at the relatively late