Life in New England

The Conservative Greenfielder’s Lament

Mar 6th, 2010 | By Wilfried F. Voss
The Conservative Greenfielder’s Lament

I just discussed an article printed in the local newspaper, The Recorder, with my wife. She had kept it for me to read and was interested in my opinion about it. Before I share my – utterly unimportant – opinion, let me quote from the article (March 3, 2010) titled A Conservative’s Lament by Ben Clarke.



The Traditional New England Family Sport: Snow Shoveling

Feb 28th, 2010 | By Wilfried F. Voss
The Traditional New England Family Sport: Snow Shoveling

We have had snow falling for the last three days, and at the moment there is no end in sight. The 150 feet long driveway had already been plowed, but the guy who does that for us had to plow around the big branch that broke from one of our huge oak trees. That tree made it now to the top of our to-be-cut list for the summer.



Say what you need to say: No more snow, please!

Feb 24th, 2010 | By Wilfried F. Voss
Say what you need to say: No more snow, please!

This morning I turned the radio off due to the happy snow report from the Vermont ski resorts (Our house is about 15 miles South of Vermont). We are in the middle of a major snow storm with several towns in the neighborhood declaring an emergency due to loss of electrical power and severe road conditions. After all, this is New England, and harsh winter conditions don’t come as a surprise. Ergo, if somebody declares an emergency here, it must be severe.



There’s Someone In My Head But It’s Not Me

Nov 5th, 2009 | By Wilfried F. Voss
There’s Someone In My Head But It’s Not Me

Imagine roughly one acre of land covered with oak leaves and pine tree needles. Imagine a crazy man in the middle of it, raking the leaves, wobbling his head, and singing “There’s someone in my head but it’s not me.”
Well, the crazy man is yours truly, and the line is from Pink Floyd’s Dark Side
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Heroic Goldfish Heads Home

Oct 28th, 2009 | By Wilfried F. Voss
Heroic Goldfish Heads Home

The little goldfish that could is back home and safely swimming with his tank mate. “Poopsie,” the 3-inch goldfish who took a swim through Buckland’s sewer system earlier this week, was reunited with his family on Wednesday.



The Big Bucks Will Come, When They Go Into Prime Rut

Oct 15th, 2009 | By Wilfried F. Voss
The Big Bucks Will Come, When They Go Into Prime Rut

This morning my wife reminded me that as of last Monday the archery deer season had opened. She read the entry from the Sports section of our local newspaper (Yes, killing deer is considered a sport over here).
“And, yes, those camouflaged critters you’ve see entering and exiting the woods this week are indeed bowhunters coming
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Dance, Dance In Your Smarty Pants

Oct 13th, 2009 | By Wilfried F. Voss
Dance, Dance In Your Smarty Pants

This last Saturday my family and I visited the wonderful fair in downtown Ashfield, Massachusetts. The Ashfiled fair is basically a gathering of local farmers and artists. There are no carousels, ferris wheels, or roller coasters. You just walk from tent to tent, table to table, from building to building on the roughly half mile
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Life In New England Includes The Red Sox

Oct 12th, 2009 | By Wilfried F. Voss
Life In New England Includes The Red Sox

Baseball has the great advantage over cricket of being sooner ended.
– George Bernard Shaw
Today’s headline in the sports section of our local newspaper said, Angels close out Papelbon, Sox. I knew that already. I saw the game. Amazingly enough, I understood the word game. Jonathan Papelbon’s job was to close out the Angels (not
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Have Dunkin’ Donuts, Will Travel

Oct 9th, 2009 | By Wilfried F. Voss
Have Dunkin’ Donuts, Will Travel

This last night at about 2:00 am in the morning I woke up, because I thought I had heard my two year old son calling, “Daddy! Daddy!” Sometimes it’s Daddy and sometimes it’s Mommy he is calling.
However, last night was a dream, because I woke up in a hotel room about eighty miles away from
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A Species Of Its Own: The Greenfielder

Sep 28th, 2009 | By Wilfried F. Voss
A Species Of Its Own: The Greenfielder

The leaves fall, the wind blows, and the farm country slowly changes from the summer cottons into its winter wools.
- Henry Beston
This morning I told my wife about my plan to go into the backyard and split wood for use inĀ our new wood stove. It is fall, not only in New England, and the nights
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