Hello again Maple People, God was surely in a light mood when he created the valley that descends from the granite hills of Washington down into Chelsea and Tunbridge. It's like no other place on earth as you wind along the rolling meadows and maple-clad dumplings down Route 110 and its accompanying brook. There's a […]
Hello again Maple People, A few days ago Wilson Ring an Associated Press reporter came up to the farm to see me. After a hurried salutation, he asked if I'd "seen the headline". Quicker'n I could say "Syria", he shoved his smart phone in my face and there the ugly headline glared: "Autumn in Arizona […]
Hello again Maple People, Although I'm a "farm boy" right down to my slow lane image , everyone needs a hobby. And, no, my someday obituary will not include the words hunting, fishing, bowling, or golf. I simply don't have time for those "normal" pastimes nor will I even in retirement…don't know how, never learned. […]
Hello again Maple People, Summer made its official entrance on June 21 this year. To many, that milestone means boating on the lake and baseball hotdogs but to me, it just brings back memories of my oft-painful early days as a vegetable farmer and peddler. Back in "the day", my parents and I spent every […]
Hello again Maple People, My brother Elliott and I stand looking at the prostrate stone of Joel Robinson up at the Robinson Cemetery in Calais, Vermont. Elliott has recently glued its two halves back together after nature took its toll years ago and our mission today is to get the stone back upright. We stand […]
Hello again Maple People, Memorial Day weekend is always special, not only for its original purpose to honor those who have sacrificed to keep us free, but also because it's really the first holiday when Vermont weather speaks "cookouts, get-togethers, and declarations of winter's end"…that is except this year. This year we all shared the […]
Hello again Maple People, The words "we need rain" have been used more times lately than you could shake a stick at and if it doesn't rain soon, we all may be out there "shakin'" sticks…that is ones of the crotched willow variety. Dowsing's what I'm talking about. The other day, my brother and I […]
Hello again Maple People, You've heard me say before that I was born with a chainsaw in my hands. I'm using that "third appendage" right now out in our post-sugarin', pre-bug woods workin' up a few yellow birch trees into next year's firewood. That's just a "warmup" for things to come though: a new […]
It was just a routine stop at Tractor Supply the other day for a few nuts, bolts, and a jug of oil when for some strange reason, I strayed from my direct path. Following stacks and racks of "impulse" stuff and ranching apparel, things that I neither wanted or could afford, I strangely headed, […]
Hello again Maple People, My first heart strings got pulled way back in 1951 up on our Robinson Hill family farm in Maple Corner. Back then, of course, the only electronic medium was radio and over our scratchy parlor model I, round-faced three-year-old, fell in love with the voice behind Tennessee Waltz. And I'm […]
