There are few places I’d rather be than deep in a quiet coniferous forest. Hemlocks are my personal favorites, but balsams bring their own pleasures. While you can find both in any old neighborhood, there’s nothing like a stand of native trees out in the forest. I found myself kneeling down under a stand of…
In the town of Montour Falls, New York there is a stunning waterfall that looks like it’s flowing right into the homes that sit at the base. When you drive down West Main Street, as I did, its a shock to look up and see this magnificent waterfall cascading down onto the town. It was…
This morning I woke up and thought I’d tackle one more waterfall before I shut down this grand tour of Ithaca area waterfalls. I drove 7 minutes up the road to Lick Brook Falls at Buttermilk Falls State Park. This is a lovely and quiet spot, especially on a Sunday morning with icy, muddy trails…
I found myself with an afternoon to myself today while in Ithaca, New York. Ithaca is a great college town with plenty of restaurants to choose from and enough shopping to occupy those who are inclined to spend their lives in retail environments. I’m not one of those people. I decided to make the waterfall…
Margaritas and Marketing Today is National Margarita Day. If I didn’t know that on my own, I’d surely have figured it out by the sheer number of social media updates, banners on restaurants and radio banter. I don’t generally drink margaritas. They’re up on the list with orange juice on the acidic no no scale. …
Ulster Scots & Potatoes The Ulster Scots settled in New England in 1718. They weren’t coming here to make their fortune, they were coming for survival. The Ulster Scots were caught between the British and the Irish when forced to out of their homelands in the early 1600’s to the ancestral homelands of the Irish…
Snow Plows People who live in tropical environments rarely if ever experience the sound of the plow. Living in New England, I hear it more often than I’d like to. Sometimes I hear it and think back fondly to snow days in school. Sometimes I hear it and think I’ve got a rough commute ahead…
Learning the Hard Way “Do what you love + low overhead = a good life. Do what you love + I deserve nice things = time bomb.” – Austin Kleon Put another way, don’t live outside your means, for it will eventually catch up with you. That’s a lesson I distinctly remember hearing when I…
New England is covered in forest today, but it’s a different forest than the one that greeted the first settlers to the region. Back then old growth trees dominated the landscape. And the tallest of these trees were the white pines. White pines were tall and straight and thus highly attractive for ship masts. Surveyors…
There are two ponds that flow into the Spicket River that helped supply the Arlington Mills in Lawrence with its water. Each pond has a unique history worthy of a closer look. Arlington Mill Reservoir, or today just Arlington Pond, and Big Island Pond, which borders Derry, Atkinson and Hampstead, New Hampshire. Big Island Pond…