Archive for ‘Opinion’

  • 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, […]

  • Earth Notes — A photo a day project

    By Mary Jewett Guest Columnist Eight years and one week ago, I made a New Year’s resolution to take a photo every day and share it with friends online. At that point, I was a casual photo taker and would rarely share what I was seeing with the world. I determined that some of my […]

  • Earth Notes — Finding wholeness in the forest

    By Megan-Mack DeRaspe Guest Columnist I have been thinking a lot about the concept of “separation” these past few years. Recently moving back to my home state and settling into this new, yet stunningly familiar life, I can’t help but feel the pull of those who used to surround me. Being in nature has given […]

  • Earth Notes: There must be a better way

    By Joyce White Guest Columnist After this obscenely expensive and way too long campaign season, I want to be reminded that at least once in human history, a peaceful, egalitarian, Nature-oriented culture existed. We know about it only through archaeological evidence because it began around 9,000 years ago when there were no written records. So, […]