March of the Giants: Roadside Paul Bunyan Statues An interesting phenomenon that I’ve seen in my travels around the northeast is a crop of Paul Bunyan statues sprinkled around the region. I’ve seen them in Cheshire, Connecticut, Georgetown, Massachusetts, and Elmsford, New York. I’ve seen pictures of one in Bangor, Maine. Some of these, like…
Peggy’s Cove Standing watch over the rocky coast of Halifax’s Peggy’s Point is a small lighthouse built in 1915. The lighthouse, modest in comparison to other in the region, grows more famous yearly as tourists flock to Peggy’s Cove, make their way out to the point and post pictures in front of this iconic backdrop….
Monday Jump Start My week started at 6 AM with a quick walk around the garden to take stock of things, let Bodhi out and then a dive into writing before I shift gears towards work. It was clear that the first cup of coffee hadn’t shaken the cobwebs off yet, so I indulged in…
Summer Solstice The 4th of July is the big bang of summer, but late June is when the longest day of the year happens. Summer solstice was June 21 and we’ve started the slow tilt away from the sun. It’s hard to imagine because summer’s just begun, but it’s literally the beginning of the end….
Feta Cheese Lady People tend to fall into one of two buckets. Either you’re looking for what you have in common with someone or you’re looking for how you’re different from someone. I’ve had a few conversations over the last month with people who I have a lot in common with who are completely different…
A Quick Hike Along the Niagara River Niagara Falls rightly gets most of the attention from visitors to this corner of New York. The Niagara Falls State Park is the oldest state park in the United States and looking around I’m grateful for those who preserved this area from souvenir shops, off track betting,…
Rust in the Water In general we take the supply of water for granted in the northeast corner of North America. There’s usually enough precipitation in rain and snow coming through this region to refill the aquifers, rivers and reservoirs that supply our drinking water. This month we’re running a bit dry, according to the…
Connecticut Capital Building If Hartford, Connecticut is a mix of gritty neighborhoods and gleaming insurance headquarters today, in the late 1800’s it was considered a model city. Mansions popped up in the Nook Farm area, which rivaled Concord, Massachusetts with the number of artists and writers who clustered in that area. Insurance companies were also…
Winning the Lottery In 1933 an influenza outbreak spread across the world. While it wasn’t considered a pandemic, it represented a significant spike in influenza-related deaths that hasn’t been equalled since. The 1933 outbreak hits home for me; I’m told that my grandfather’s first wife, father-in-law and infant daughter Paula all died in this influenza…
Experience with Emerson “Life is not intellectual or critical, but sturdy. Its chief good is for well-mixed people who can enjoy what they find, without question… To fill the hour, – that is happiness, to fill the hour and leave no crevice for a repentance or an approval. We live on surfaces, and the true…