Living

Living story sections

3-mile Loop Trail on Wantastiquet Rediscovered

by DanAxtell | Recreation & Sports

There’s a beautiful, unknown 3-mile loop trail on Wantastiquet. I discovered it a few years ago. I’ve pushed fallen branches to the side, so now it’s sort of possible to follow it. I’ve posted a GPS track “kmz” file here that can be used on a smartphone to help stay on the trail, www.danaxtell.com/Wantastiquet_Flank_Loop.kmz . Google Earth will show this track as an overlay.

The trail goes nowhere near the summit, but does visit the best panoramic lookouts on the mountain—the ones that photographers have been using for 170 years. The loop is possible only because there is a carefully graded trail and retaining wall through the rockslides on the steepest section. I have never seen a mention of this stretch of trail. I found it while exploring the various lookout points in the area. It’s a mystery.

Brattleboro Area Hospice Virtual Advance Care Planning/Advance Directive Session

by Not Signed In | Health

Brattleboro, Vermont.  May 13, 2020 10 -11 am Brattleboro Area Hospice’s Taking Steps Brattleboro (TSB) program will host a zoom Advance Care Planning/Advance Directive Question and answer Information session. If you are interested in attending, please contact Don Freeman by email: don.freeman@brattleborohospice.org  or calling 802.257.0775 ext 101 and leave your contact information so that you can receive the emailed zoom invitation and/or telephone call-in number.  

Interested people are encouraged to attend this informational session to ask questions about how to complete or update an Advance Directive for healthcare including where do I find the forms, who should be named as an healthcare agent, who do I give the completed form to, and how do I talk with my family about my healthcare wishes if I am unable to speak for myself? Anyone over 18 years old should have a completed Advance Directive. This is the second weekly zoom informational session, which will be held each Wednesday from 10-11 am through June 24, 2020.

Happy Walpurgisnacht Everybody!

by tomaidh | Health

Walpurgisnacht or Walpurgis Night is the eve of the Christian feast day of Saint Walpurga, an 8th-century abbess and is celebrated on the night of April 30 and the day of May 1.

Saint Walpurga is revered by Christians for battling rabies and whooping cough. Miracle cures are reported from ailing people who anoint themselves with a fluid known as Walpurga’s oil that drains from a rock at her shrine in Eichstatt, Germany.

How To Wear A Mask

by RDavis | Health

Over the past few weeks I have been tempted to create a squad of the mask police. I have seen too many people who either don’t seem to understand how a facemask is supposed to work or they think half a job is better than none.

When I see people who do not cover their nose with a mask my blood pressure rises a little, but I have refrained from telling them how to use it correctly. Forty years as a nurse in a variety of settings has given me some credibility in this area, having probably spent hundreds of hours in close proximity to communicable disease while wearing a mask and other protective gear.

This isn’t rocket science. It’s actually pretty simple if you just put a little bit of thought into why you are wearing a mask. Although some masks are more effective than others they all have the same purpose: to stop the spread of disease.

Vermont COVID-19 Cases – May 2020

by cgrotke | Health

We’ll continue our daily dashboard number roundup, with numbers from the Vermont Department of Health and Brattleboro Memorial Hospital with looks at nearby counties in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.

You can find the April dashboard reporting here.

Friday Fun – Fifteen Minutes of Family of Four Furry Fox Kittens (video)

by cgrotke | Nature

We had a real treat last week. I was looking out the back door as I often do and noticed a few little heads peeking out from under one of our outbuildings. One, two, three… oh my… four baby foxes!

From last Friday through Wednesday we got to watch them come out for the first time to explore the world. Mom came back at regular intervals to check on them, but she’d leave them for extended periods while she went off hunting.

Brattleboro Tree Warden Wins Hamilton Award

by oakgeorgia | Home & Garden

Brattleboro Tree Warden Dan Adams is the 2020 recipient of the Vermont Urban & Community Forestry Program’s Hamilton Award, which honors a Tree Warden “who has significantly advanced the goals of urban and community forestry through successful forestry practices, effective conservation planning, increased citizen engagement, and active public education.” The award is named for Dr. Larry Hamilton, the former Tree Warden in Charlotte, VT.

A private consulting forester, with over 35 years in the forestry business, Dan was nominated by Brattleboro Director of Public Works Steve Barrett.

The Next Phase

by RDavis | Activism

We are now entering a new phase of pandemic adjustment. The first few months were a novelty and, although many people had a hard time adjusting, it seemed that most people were able to cope while holding out hope for temporary change.

Now that it is clear that we are going to have to change our lives for the long term and that there is no exact time frame for society to re-open, people are losing patience. Early on, people were almost too friendly, trying to be respectful of each other in supermarkets and other places that have been able to remain open. But that friendliness is wearing thin and some people are taking out their frustrations on others.

Then there are the mostly brain-dead yahoos who think their personal liberty is more important than the lives of others as they protest around the country. Thankfully, they are a minority, but they are being supported by Trump. Some governors have decided that reinvigorating commerce is more important than protecting lives. That puts all of us in jeopardy.

Dosa Kitchen Contactless Curbside Pickup

by Dosa Kitchen | Food

Hello Dosa Lovers,

We are now offering CONTACTLESS CURBSIDE PICKUP AT DOSA KITCHEN with an abbreviated menu plus an opportunity to purchase prepared food and grocery items from dosa batter and sambar to ghee, fermentation crocks, and Dosa Kitchen T-shirts from our store.  

When: SATURDAYS + SUNDAYS 12-5

Where: Dosa Kitchen at 34 Elliot Street in downtown Brattleboro

Brattleboro Floral Arts & Garden Club Offers New Format

by JillStahlTyler | Home & Garden

Gardens provide continuity and hope every year, and the Brattleboro Floral Arts & Garden Club shines as a happy reminder that natural beauty continues in our community.

New president (and local mystery writer) Lynne Kennedy is the club’s new president.   As the annual April meeting was cancelled this year, and in response to social distancing requirements, outgoing Co-Presidents Lynn Kuralt and Melissa Kuralt passed the keys “on a ten-foot pole”.  Other new officers include Vice President Shelia Kinnare, Recording Secretary Frankie Knibb, Corresponding Secretary Judith Wagenbach, Treasurer Libby Lafland and Librarian Carlene McCarty.

Food Security

by spoon | Food

Let’s get concrete. One aspect. Food security. There was a suggestion, a well worn mantra but nonetheless very true, to buy local. We’ll keep that narrowed to food. The presumption is that the more local food we buy the more local growers will be inclined to raise. Each additional pound of food gets us one pound closer to security. But there is another factor. The food has to be affordable.

Small farms, especially the organic farms and it would be ideal if all were organic, can’t get food to the market at the same price as agribiz. Agribiz doesn’t care about or thus factor in the external costs of pollution (and resulting health issues) from chemicals or gmo’s or any such thing. On top of that they get huge subsidies. The subsidies are added to everyone else’s tax bill.

Vermont Covid-19 Real Estate Guidance

by SK-B | Health

Stay Home Stay Safe Sector Specific Guidance

New Rules effective April 20 for various occupations:
https://accd.vermont.gov/covid-19/business/stay-home-stay-safe-sector-specific-guidance

Guidance specifically for Real Estate

Blind Men and An Elephant

by RDavis | Health

There is a lot of solid science to help us understand how to deal with COVID 19, the disease caused by SARS-Cov 2. Keep in mind that this disease is related to the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) that occurred in 2002-2003, but experts believe that COVID 19 has somehow become more pathogenic.

We want to trust the experts such as Dr. Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, because he has become a prominent spokesman for delivering news that seems based in science and not politics.

But even Fauci and many other equally reputable scientists admit they wish they knew more about this new disease outbreak to provide guidance about the safest way for societies to proceed. Politics is clouding the picture and erring on the side of caution is the best advice for now. We need to move slowly while using the best available scientific information.

Food Delivery For Those In Need

by LisaL | Food

The Brattleboro VFW Post #1034 and the Brattleboro Elks #1499 is banding together with the guidance of the Brattleboro Fire Department to buy groceries and other essential items for those who cannot and should not venture out. Volunteers will be purchasing items, bagging or boxing them, and delivering them to homes where needed in the Brattleboro area.

Brattleboro Senior Meals

by KathrynT | Food

Brattleboro Senior Meals Menu April 20 to April 24
IMPORTANT INFORMATION AT THE BOTTOM OF THE MENU

Apr. 20 Quiche Lorranie
Roasted Potatoes
Brussel Sprouts
Roll

Vermont Primary Voting?

by RobertOeser | Activism

There will be an election – the State Primary – in August (!) this year in Vermont (!). . . and it’s not too early to be prepared.

How do you do that, you ask?

Visit your My Voter Page, update your registration address, including your physical and mailing addresses, and request absentee ballots.