Recent Stories
The Harbinger of Spring
By Kymberly Breckenridge Asparagus is forever linked in my memory of spring; foggy mornings with my mother scavenging in the asparagus patch for slender green stalks that rarely made it to the front door before greedily inhaled. Similar in taste to peas with a hint of broccoli, it’s a continual source of amusement for all […]
Swimming in Style
By Holly J. Coley It started with a tiny embroidered bag that Sarah-Maria Vischer, clothing designer and owner of The Tailored Mermaid, made in third grade. “I still use it today!” she says. With the encouragement of a “great sewing teacher” and her mother, also a designer, Sarah-Maria found herself infected with the fashion bug […]
Modern Problems, Ancient Remedies Looking at Conflict Resolution through a Yogic Lens
By Sarah Willis They say the Universe holds up a mirror for us to learn through example. In other words, we will project certain qualities outwardly, and then we will attract and be more apt to recognize those qualities radiating back from other sources. If we feel healthy, positive, profitable, effective, then we will see […]
Overlook Mountain
By Cliff Hart I have often admired Overlook Mountain located in Woodstock from afar, as a kid in the backseat of a skiladen car hurtling up the New York State Thruway. Because of its great height relative to its immediate surroundings, I always imagined Overlook would be quite a challenge to climb. So one early […]
Keeping Farms Off the Endangered List
By Kimberly Breckenridge My daughter is obsessed with the endangered animals list, carefully monitoring when one species is dangerously close to the brink. She once held a series of lemonade stands to raise enough money to save two tigers. While drinking from her “save endangered animals” cup, it dawned on me that Hudson Valley farms […]
Sprout Creek Farm
By Karen Fredrickson Sprout Creek Farm has roots in education that go back to its inception in 1982, when it was founded on the campus of a school. Since then, it has changed its location to one with more land and the opportunity for increased programs, including a summer camp that is run every year […]
Clay for the People Hudson Valley Pottery
By Karen Fredrickson Judi Esmond has loved art ever since she was a child. She was introduced to her rst pottery wheel by her father at the age of six and expanded her knowledge while at college. “I always loved it,” Esmond said. “It reminded me of being relaxed, which I needed, even as […]
Changing the World for All: Abilities First
By Jeffery Fox In the late 1800s the French government made childhood education mandatory, thus requiring children of all abilities to attend school. This mandate gave rise to the development of the very first intelligence test (i.e., the Binet-Simon Scale), used to separate children who were developing normally from those who needed special classrooms. Thus, […]
Creating Family Memories
By Josie Bahr Memories are what make up the basis of who we are. Our memories can be good or bad, happy or sad, uplifting or crushing—but it is what we do with them that makes us who we are. This applies to us individually and to our families as a whole. Our memories are […]
Smart Home For America’s Bravest
By Karen Fredrickson John Ponte got involved with the Tunnels to Towers Foundation after reading an article in a local newspaper about Brendan Marrocco, who, like Ponte, is from Staten Island. Marrocco was the first surviving quadruple amputee from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, meaning he has lost all or part of all four […]
Getting Your Garden Started Full Speed Ahead
By Jay Levine May’s the month your vegetable garden gets going. Assuming we had an ordinary thaw, meaning the ground could be worked by mid to late-March, then by now you’ll be harvesting any number of different lettuces, baby beets and radishes. In late May come the sugar-snap peas, one of the two vegetables I […]
Confessions of a Holistic Orthodontist
By Rhoney Stanley I am Rhoney Stanley and I am a holistic orthodontist. What does this mean? First, I am a dentist; I attended Columbia University Dental School—a unique experience, as dental, medical and PhD students take the first two years of basic science together. Of course most of them had been studying science all […]
In With the Air
By Elaine Ewing May is the month of memories…the sweet, crisp spring breeze has a way of filling our bodies with the beauty of the present moment. At the same time it draws out thoughts and feelings that we forgot all about during the long winter…of springs long gone. Easy days of laying in the […]
The Cary Institute Leads the Way to Ecology Understanding
By Pamela Freeman Tucked away on a bucolic 2,000-acre campus in New York’s Hudson Valley is one of the nation’s leading environmental research centers. For more than thirty years, sixteen PhD scientists at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies have been “investigating the complex interactions that govern the natural world. Their objective findings lead to […]
Reviving Lost Skills Hudson Valley Residents Find Joy in Old-World Practices
By Rachel Ephraim As a young girl I went on field trip to a “living museum,” the sort of place where women and men dress in period garb and everyone pretends to live the simple life. Being around farm animals and people who talked about land in sacred ways was not commonplace in my early […]
Summer Travel Tips for Parents
By Kristen S. Bourgault After The seemingly endless days of packing lunches, rushing out of the house at the crack of dawn and keeping track of paperwork and homework, the summer spans before us with open and unplanned days of bliss. This is our opportunity to relieve the daily stress that makes up our days. […]
Children and Our Living Rooms Can They Peacefully Coexist?
By Kerry Lee Zeff There are many different approaches regarding how to navigate children’s play in your home. Some people delegate one room in their house for playtime, while others give their whole house up to play. Many of us were not allowed in the living or dining room. My mother visited the other day […]
The Paradigm Shift to Social Responsibility – The Era of Paying It Forward
By Vicki L. Haak, CFP How do you define wealth? Webster’s dictionary defines wealth as an abundance of valuable possessions or money. In a broader, more holistic interpretation, wealth may include the abundance of friends and family, good fortune and even spirituality. For some the focus of wealth as a goal is accruing money and […]
Backyard Gardener: The Green Thumb of Jay Levine
By Dave Aderson Since his early childhood, Rhinebeck resident Jay Levine has sported a green thumb—one which may soon pop up in a garden near you. Levine is the owner and Chief Farmer of The Hudson Valley Backyard Farm Company, which specializes in the creation and maintenance of organic vegetable gardens for local residents, restaurants […]
The Choice for Compassion
By Serena Kenna Every living being deserves a guardian angel. Few of us have one, but for some very lucky felines roaming the Hudson Valley, things are quite different. Meet Bobbi Jo Forte, who, along with her successful business in Red Hook called Living Eden, “a place for humane beings,” is an angel of mercy […]
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