Serendipity.  Kismet.  Destiny.  Coincidence.  A moment in time that stops you in your tracks and takes your breath away with the wonder of it.  If you believe in deities, you might see the hand of a god or goddess at work in your life. If...

It happens every year.  The light shifts in the evening and suddenly it’s too dark to use the grill for supper.  The sun rises too late for me to safely go for my morning run (at least not for my comfort level), so I have...

Since the advent of social media, many of us have reconnected with people from our pasts: childhood friends, old flames, mentors and teachers we may not have properly thanked when we went charging off to slay the dragons of our youth.  It’s a wonderous thing...

I confess, I am a creature of habit and routine.  While some people feel most alive in an atmosphere of chaos and instability, stimulated by uncertainty, I thrive when I know what’s coming.  I like to plan and organize.  I am the person who, when...

By Jennie Reichman The eagle has landed!  Actually, it’s a crow, and unlike Neil Armstrong’s historic visit to the moon in 1969, this bird has found a permanent nest at the new Experienced Goods location, 80 Flat St. in Brattleboro. After many months of planning, renovations...

Given today’s world, let’s celebrate when something goes right! By Susan Parris You’d be hard-pressed to find another place in our town like Experienced Goods, where a wide variety of people interact daily with such good vibes.  All who enter–customers, donors, volunteers, staff–create a shared experience of...

By Jennie Reichman “Home sings me of sweet things, life there has its own wings to fly over the mountains, though I’m standing still.”  Karla Bonoff, “Home” After a whirlwind week of sales and, at the end, a day of “Everything is FREE!,” on Saturday, May 21, we...

By Jennie Reichman Gratitude. A word I have used many times in this column to describe how I feel about my workplace and co-workers, our donors, our intrepid shoppers, the town and region we live in. It’s a lovely word that I don’t want to overuse...

By Jennie Reichman Do we ever stop learning? I hope not. In the interest of keeping our brains functioning well and our lives engaging, new experiences that challenge our well-worn neural pathways are important. I have been watching my two kittens, now approaching adolescence, learn the...

By Jennie Reichman Something I have always wanted to write in an article: “Breaking News!!” It makes me feel like a real journalist, with eyes and ears open to intriguing stories and exciting, important events. So here goes:  Breaking News!! Experienced Goods, our much loved and long-lived...