Country living Snail Salad It is entertaining to imagine myself at the table with my grandchildren, bargaining with them to finish their snail salad.
Country living February The rhododendron leaves are folded up very tight this morning. I could pluck one and slide it into a cigar tube. It is forecasted to be twelve degrees tonight, and the temperature is headed down for the weekend.
Country living Ice A couple of people went through the ice last week on a nearby lake. They were rescued, thankfully, but it always sends a shock and a reminder.
Jarvis Coffin Happy New Year and a Half New Year feels more like the middle of the year to me. The feeling derives from measuring time in school years and the passing of summer vacations.
Christmas Eve, Christmas No More Work Tonight At around three o’clock on Christmas Eve afternoon, my father would lead my brothers and me into the living room, motion us onto the sofa or a place on the floor, pour himself a glass of wine, settle into the armchair next to the fireplace and start reading Charles
Country living All Bluster. No Snow. The sun is weak against the dark and cold right now. It is powerless to rescue young sprouts out when they shouldn't be.
Country living Happy Thanksgiving -- and whereas both Houses of Congress have by their joint Committee requested me to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer
Jarvis Coffin Election Notes I made mistakes over many years. I go back to that meeting with the headmaster as the one where I was, in addition to all else, on the wrong side of history.
Country living Wine Country and Other Places We were on the road this month, attending class reunions and memorial services. It was a catch-up across the board.
Country living Pot Roast This story is about pot roast, and any story about food is also about the weather.
Jarvis Coffin A King's Highway Runs Through It Stripped of its power over centuries, and derided as a circus act, the British monarchy draws us to it. Why?
Country living The Meeting House These places can seem less and less important as life trickles out of them while life carries on around, just fine. Until it is not, just fine.
Country living Old Home Days "I wish that in the ear of every son and daughter of New Hampshire, in the summer days, might be heard whispered the persuasive words: Come back, come back.
New england cooking Corn on the Cob I serve corn on the cob as a separate course between the main meal and dessert, with a budget of three ears per person, minimum.
Monadnock Seasonal Returns This year, two seasonal delights returned to us after absences caused by the COVID pandemic.
Postcard Sexy Woods Ask me to choose between autumn colors and stonewalls, and I will choose the walls. They tell stories.
Postcard The Incredible Revelation Could it have been an error in the supernatural? A loophole in the atmosphere? I knew that no one had told me but that I had seen it - it was true.
