Today (or tonight actually, at 11:09) we in the west mark the Autumnal Equinox, when the length of night and day are exactly equal. Since it is the sun that determines the length of the day we could consider this a solar 'festival'. The solstices and equinoxes occur at about the same day every year. In China festivals are calculated by a lunar calendar, which means they are movable feasts, as is the Christian Easter. The most important date in…
All last week I watched the leaves turn, more brilliant, more gold, every day. But this Monday Record is late, not only because my husband and I returned to Vermont to the scenes of my youth, and to help my aunt and uncle celebrate his 85th birthday and their 30th wedding anniversary, but because I had to return to Bellows Falls again today. I left my purse with my camera at Fat Franks, The Wurst Place in Bellows…
Lots of sowing was done in the last two years to bring about the harvest of a strong renovated Roundhouse at our wonderful Franklin County Fair. I was glad to be present for the re-dedication - during which many people were thanked, too many to list here, but I was glad that one of my colleagues at The Recoder, Irmarie Jones was thanked for all her help promoting the renovation and fundraising. While the Fair is 162 years…
The Heath Fair begins for me on Thursday when a loyal crew sets up the Friends of the Heath Library tent, after which we bring in our exhibits. This year I was in charge of bringing in exhibits for Anthony and Drew, and Tynan, as well as my own. Talk about hectic. When we arrived at the Fair on a sunny Saturday morning we found we had lots of winners. All the boys had won ribbons and Rory's…
August 13 3-5 pm The Belly Bus will be at the Town Common in Greenfield. You can bring non-perishable foods to the Common which will then be distributed to area food pantries. Unfortunately, more and more families are suffering from food insecurity, not knowing if their own pantry will last out the week, or the next day. Please help. August 14 & 15 9 am-2 pm Mary Kay Hoffman of E. Hawley MA is offering a dig in her large…
Weddings are important occasions. It is not surprising that the wedding of Chelsea Clinton, daughter of a former President, to Marc Mezvinsky should get a lot of attention and press. I did not expect debate and controversy about the menu of the nuptial dinner. Perhaps I should not have been surprised. The foods we eat, or do not eat, are significant elements of our culture and community, so the food served at a wedding takes on extra meaning.…
Magical things happen at family reunions. The youngest set seems to bond almost instantly with their cousins two or three times removed (I don’t really know how that works) and even the oldest generation gets to hear stories about their parents that they never heard before. My Aunt Doris, the only representative of her generation at this reunion, said she never knew that as a 15th birthday present my grandparents arranged for me to accompany my grandfather on…
This is the season for sunflowers - and for a sunflower contest. The Recorder and the Greenfield Garden Club will hold their Annual Sunflower Contest on Saturday, August 21 at the Energy Park in Greenfield. There will be ribbons and prizes for the tallest, the largest blossom and the heaviest seedhead, as well as the most blossoms on a single plant AND the most beautiful arrangement. That arrangement must consist mostly of sunflowers. Entries will be accepted in…
It seems like I have been celebrating my 70th birthday for weeks - what with visiting grandchildren and a big cake at the Family Reunion for all the Zero babies, but yesterday was my actual birthday, which I share with several friends, making it a joyous day indeed. All day long I collected email birthday wishes - a virtual birthday party - arranged by my friend Peter. He always has something up his sleeve! A delightful gift! Our…
This past weekend I was in Gilford, New Hampshire at a reunion of my mother's side of the family. Larsons everywhere. One of our projects for the past few years has been videotaping each family branch. Getting all the members of each branch together is never easy - like herding cats. We barely get nearly everyone together and they begin to disappear again. We are trying to get my cousin Jennie's family together here - and almost succeeding.…