We are besieged daily with reminders in the news that progress has a downside. But simply reading this, in the comfort of your home is proof that it has an upside. Progress is a two-edged sword. It is a sword that many of us might like to put down. How do we weigh the pros and cons? Or is the question really that we need to at least consider the weighing?

Kevin Geiger has worked in regional planning in Vermont for 30 years. He also spent a few years with the National Park Service as a wildland firefighter. He is the town moderator for Pomfret, where he lives, and is a sporadic member of the North Universalist Chapel Society in Woodstock. He is a decent cook, devoted gardener, chatty apple pruner, ex soccer coach turned referee, good husband, proud father of two, and is half dog. He thinks a lot.