Almanack Contributor James Valastro

James Valastro is a wildlife tracker, videographer and cartoonist living with his wife and assorted pets in the wilds of Vermont.


Friday, March 11, 2022

Three Reasons You Are Alive Today 

gladys with gun

A WWII Tale of Close Calls and Near Misses

Everyone I know has a story or two that goes something like this: “I might not even be here today if it weren’t for…” We all have close calls, dodge accidents, or do crazy things in our youth and most of us live to tell the tale. But those near misses are the reason our children and grandchildren are here too. This is one such collection of WWII tales from my family, now passed down to my two grown daughters.

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Friday, February 4, 2022

Deer Jackers, Drunkards and Loggers: The Hunt family’s Adirondack Legacy

Some brief history and lore, fact and possibly fiction, of the Hunt branch of my Adirondack gene pool. This story spans the vast rolling wilderness of Connecticut 300 years ago, the tall virgin wilderness forests of Vermont, and then the rugged wilderness of the Adirondacks of New York, and a tiny wooden roof of the 121-year-old Hunt family home in Indian Lake, New York.

hunt house indian lake

Our Indian Lake farmhouse has 121-year-old cedar shakes that are beautifully weathered and dark brown.

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