Archive for ‘Opinion’

  • Earth Notes: A new bird for a New Year

    By Mary Jewett Guest Columnist My last Earth Notes column, back in October, explored the difference between birdwatching and “twitching.” In the spring, my birdwatching hobby sees me up at dawn, traveling locally to see my favorite migrants on their northward journey. I also spent a very pleasant day on Dec. 28 participating in the Christmas […]

  • Earth Notes: Searching for Birds

    By Mary Jewett Guest Columnist In 2014, I was excited for a trip to Nebraska, for the sole purpose of experiencing the epic sandhill crane migration. Each year, about 500,000 sandhill cranes gather to rest and fuel up along the Platte River and cornfields outside of Omaha. A friend and I paid to stay in […]

  • Earth Notes

    By Megan-Mack Nicholson Guest Columnist I’m the director for a wilderness school that mainly serves high school students as they navigate that precarious and tender time of one’s life. It’s a full-on type of gig and I often leave after a long stint in the woods to visit our family camp.  “Camp” is located on […]

  • Earth Notes: Can trees save us?

    By Cynthia Stancioff Guest Columnist I might have been a Druid in a previous life. Trees are to me, as they reportedly were to the Druids, sacred. I swear I can feel a life force when I am near a tree, and that antique trees (those over a hundred or so years old) have a […]

  • Earth Notes

    By Rev. Robert Plaisted Guest Columnist “Gonna take a sentimental journey, gonna set my heart at ease. Gonna make a sentimental journey, to renew old memories.” That song, featuring Doris Day with Les Brown’s band, was a huge hit when I was a kid growing up on our family farm in Jay. Several weeks ago, […]

  • Earth Notes

    By Mary Jewett BN Columnist Halfway through high school, I took a field trip that changed the way I look at the world. My most influential teacher, K Bolduc, teamed up with a local environmental school to bring a group of teenagers to the Everglades. The goal of the trip was to learn as much […]

  • Earth Notes: A cash-back solution to carbon pollution

    By Cynthia Stancioff Guest Columnist The climate crisis is a uniquely challenging problem — larger and ultimately more threatening than any problem ever faced by humanity. Many feel powerless and helpless to discern a priority for action, so they stick to recycling and await affordable electric vehicles. But imagine an opportunity to engage in a group […]

  • The practice of Land & Labor Acknowledgement

    By Samantha Zawistowski Guest Columnist In the past year, I have made several commitments to myself and my continuing education. I have sought to develop my understanding of how to be accountable and how to hold complex history in my mind and body. As part of a class to help guide me in expanding my […]

  • Earth Notes: Keeping tabs on a new neighbor

    By Alice Rose Guest Columnist Mid-morning one day late summer, I am on a break from weeding a flower bed and walking one of my dogs down the private dirt road on which we live. I am in the act of reigning in Dane’s exuberance when some movement in the swampy pond catches my attention. […]

  • A shameful display

    By Mike Davis Guest Columnist Hello neighbors. I wanted to write in today, to speak to you and comment on the late riots at our nation’s Capitol.  I felt it appropriate to do this given my daily work and study of our history, and also the fact that, following my bid in our recent local election, […]