Pretend you're a tree—young, growing proud rings of bone and muscle. Life is good, and everything likes you—birds, squirrels, even this small, supple plant at your ankles, waving its little tentacle cheerily. Soon it's loving on your leg, then wrapping multiple arms...

Fifty years ago we bought 280+- acres of Vermont woodland and became instant Tree Farmers. After all, hadn't we just read a library book on the subject? We bought two bow saws and quickly realized that cutting even one tree with them might consume a lifetime. Note:...

Last Sunday we went to the Deerfield Fair in New Hampshire. I love fairs, but that's not why we went. We wanted to see how daughter Rachel's crocheted bedspread stood up against other handcrafted items. How would it be judged? We finally located the proper building...

Did you ever watch the movie Fantasia, either in the 1940s or the rerun in 2000? One of the segments that Disney set to classical music was, "The Sorcerer's Apprentice," starring Mickey Mouse as the beleaguered magician's helper. Here's the story, based on a poem by...

A funny thing happened on our way home. . . . In my last post, "Three Weeks on the Road," I told you abut our trip this summer. When we got home, however, a slight glitch came to light. Here's the saga: Setting: Don and Ruth's kitchen (their old home, not the new) on...