The holiday spirit is upon us! Mahoosuc Mills is getting ready for the Down Home Holiday Festival next weekend, and they just put up the tree down to Town Hall, the one with stars on it. On each star is a request for a present from a kid in town. You know, a kid whose family needs a little help. Some of them will just break your heart: a Barbie doll, Play Dough, a new winter hat and mittens. I mean, these kids have nothing. Anyone can go down there, take a star, buy the present, wrap it and drop it back to the Town Hall. If there are any stars left over, the Knights …

Me and the Women Who Run With the Moose not only survived Black Friday, we had a heck of a good time to boot. Nothing new there. Though, to be honest, my right arm is still feeling a little wonky. Must’ve strained it carrying all those shopping bags. And my purse, of course, which my sister Irene calls “the overnight bag.” Even though I try to remember to switch off, I always tend to carry the heaviest stuff with my right arm. Gotta say, smart phones and texting have made things so much easier. For a casual shopping trip, me and the girls tend to stick together. But all bets are off on Black Friday …

Charlie and me buzzed over to the Agway, Saturday. He was picking up his snow blower, which was in for a tune up, and I wanted to get some more bulbs to sneak into the ground. You know, before it’s too late. I got some assorted tulips and daffodils. Come spring, you can’t have enough of them, in my opinion. Those hopeful, green shoots pokin’ their way up out of the remaining patches of snow. Then, gorgeous flowers: red, yellow, pink, orange! It perks my spirit up, no end.  I also got three amaryllis, the kind that come in a box, you grow from scratch. Boy, when they bloom, they look so pretty on our …

I learned about integrity early on by observing life in Mahoosuc Mills. Back then, people made deals with a handshake. You gave your word, and that was good enough. Some folks still do business that way. See, when you live in a small town, it’s important to protect your reputation ’cause people have long memories. My Grampy Gilbert taught me the value of giving my word when I was a young whippersnapper. I was reminded of this last weekend when I was straightening out our storage shed, and I come upon his old fishing creel tucked way in back. Beautiful thing. I opened the lid, and inside was a blood oath he made me sign …

Wow! What a week! The election is finally over and we’ll be in the midst of the holiday season in no time. Let’s savor this pause and take some time to do something nice for ourselves. You know, nourish our inner spirit, as my niece Caitlin would say. One of the best ways I know to nourish my inner spirit is to give back. You don’t have to write some big check to a charity, but you could buy some Girl Scout cookies or put a dollar in the Salvation Army bucket. You can volunteer on a weekly basis or for a special event. Or bake some brownies and take ’em down to the Senior …

When was the last time you screamed? I mean really let loose? I think mine must be riding the roller coaster down to the Skowhegan Fair eons ago. That was until the Halloween Spook-tacular at the Buchard’s Farm. See, last Thursday morning, I says to Charlie, “Why don’t we check out that haunted tour thingy over to the Buchards tonight?” “We already did that.” “Years ago. Come on. It’ll be fun.” Famous last words. First off, it was warm, like 70 degrees. You’d think that would be great, right? But it felt kinda unnatural and only served to heighten the spooky factor. Everything starts off kinda cozy at the farm stand. We’re put in a …

Caitlin got back from a yoga retreat this week, and like the good niece she is, she brought a little present. “Aunt Ida,” she says. “I saw this in the gift shop at the retreat center, and I thought of you. Couldn’t resist.” What a sweetie! It wasn’t a crystal guaranteed to balance my chakras or a singing bowl or bookmark with words of wisdom that guy Rumi (is it just me, but I never seem to get what he’s driving at). No, Caitlin brought me a candy bar, one of those extra-large ones with a pretty picture on the wrapper. But this wasn’t just any candy bar. No siree Bob. It was (wait for …

When I see folks splitting and stacking wood this time of year, it always makes me think of my dad. Back when he was a kid, they did all their cooking and heating with wood, and he spent most of his childhood splitting, stacking and hauling wood, to hear him tell it. He swore he’d never do it again, so we didn’t have wood stove growing up. And Charlie and me don’t either, though we have a generator, in case the power goes out. Even into his eighties, Dad still had recurring dreams of stacking wood with his dad, my grandfather, George. Now, there was a true, old school woodsman. George meticulously split wood into …

Settling into fall here in Mahoosuc Mills: pumpkins and apple cider, polar fleece on my morning walk. I’ve kind of lost interest in watering my mums. And when the sun shines, doesn’t everything seem to pop with color? Yellow and orange leaves against blue sky, dry leaves scattered on the ground, smelling of fall. Seems like this time of year all the little flying and crawly creatures want to come inside. Every time I turn around, there’s another spider in the corner, lady bugs and the dreaded stink bugs on the walls. Where do they all come from? And wasps! For some reason, we have more than our fair share of these buggers in our …

Holy guacamole! It’s October! People are buy pumpkins and soon they’ll be carving them. Can turkey with all the fixin’s and the fat guy in the red suit be far away? This year, Charlie and me are hoping to go the Topsfield Fair, down in Massachusetts, and check out their Giant Pumpkin Contest. We’ve never been, and I think it’s high time we do. I’ll keep you posted. Our neighbor Gretchen made us aware of this contest a few years ago, when she followed her passion and grew a giant pumpkin. That baby was something to behold. Godzilla, they called it, and it topped out at just under four hundred pounds. Gretchen says that’s small …