Just spent the good part of a week at the Craftsbury Outdoor Center, one of the premier training centers in New England, to brush up on my cross-country skiing skills, and came away feeling More Competent and certainly with Increased Confidence. Many thanks to the incredible teachers on staff there — especially to Katie, Bill, Liz and Sy — who definitely made me a into a Less Bad Skier, and to Linda who introduced me to the joys of skate skiing. Added bonus: three hot meals a day freshly made from primarily local ingredients. Because, as I happily discovered, Craftsbury, with its proximity to Hardwick, is also smack dab in the middle of one of the model local food centers of New England, something I hope to explore more on my next visit.