Author Archives: floegel

The Second Spring

9/6/2012 – 3:05 pm

Some gardeners refer to September as “the second spring.”  The heat and dry dust of summer has passed, rain returns and fast-growing plants like lettuce can be sown and brought to table before the first frost does them in.  Or so we’re led to believe.  A phrase from Grace Paley, “green as green September” returns […]

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Shakespearean Outlines

8/30/2012 – 2:45 pm

First, let me admit I was wrong.  Last week I predicted that incumbent Vermont Attorney General Bill Sorrell would defeat challenger TJ Donovan by five percentage points in the Democratic primary.  Actually, Mr. Sorrell won by fewer than two points.  I was right about Mr. Donovan winning the city of Burlington (home to both men) […]

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Undignified, Discourteous

8/23/2012 – 7:58 pm

Two months ago I wrote about the only political race of interest in Vermont – the Democratic primary for attorney general.  Primary day is Tuesday and a race I described as “dignified and courteous” eight weeks ago is now anything but. Fifteen-year incumbent Attorney General Bill Sorrell, 65 and Chittenden County State’s Attorney TJ Donovan, […]

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Keep Language Meaningful

8/16/2012 – 9:31 pm

Car owners in Vermont are required to have license plates on the front of their car(s).  There are exceptions.  In 2009, drivers could display a Lake Champlain 400th anniversary plate.  (The lake is actually much older, but it’s been 403 years since the white folks showed up and we tend only to celebrate ourselves.) Now […]

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Cops Gone Wild

8/9/2012 – 1:04 pm

There are police departments, I’m sad to say, that you just don’t want to associate with.  I travel around a good bit and I really want nothing to do with the NYPD, Metro DC, LAPD, San Francisco PD (don’t be gulled by the city’s peace and love reputation) and NOPD (which officially stands for New […]

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Be Cool

8/2/2012 – 5:05 pm

Ha, ha, ha, how stupidly prescient I am.   Three weeks ago in this space, I wrote that bicycling is easy on the joints (until I crash).  Friday, I crashed.  Broke my right wrist.  It’s my seventh (I think), most minor (I’m sure) broken bone and my third broken wrist from bike crashes (the first two […]

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Rest in Peace

7/26/2012 – 12:59 pm

I was reading a story about the Romney campaign in the Los Angeles Times yesterday when a headline on the side of the screen caught my eye: “Chad Everett, star of ‘Medical Center,’ dies.”  I immediately forgot about Mr. Romney’s problems and clicked on the obituary. Not that I’m a Chad Everett fan, but it […]

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