There’s a lot of history lurking in plain sight. Take Calf Pasture Beach in Norwalk, Connecticut. on the surface it’s a pretty municipal beach on Long Island Sound. I suppose that might be enough. But there’s a significant link to the Revolutionary War on this beach. As an eager participant in maximizing the potential of…
Today I’ve driven all over the state of Connecticut, and I’ll be honest, I look at the woods and see the ghosts of the Pequot who conceded this land to English settlers. I also think of Benedict Arnold, a native son of Connecticut, betraying his own neighbors in battle after he defected. These woods could…
“The sea isn’t a place but a fact, and a mystery”– Mary Oliver, The Waves It’s been less than two weeks since I’ve visited the ocean, and it feels like forever. We’re deep into the holidays now, and the end of the quarter, the end of the year and the end of…
Here we are again, at a point where the days and numbers on the calendar align and give us another Friday the 13th. In general good things have come my way on a day many people associate with bad luck. My son was born on a Friday the 13th, making it a very lucky day…
There are many ways to get from Boston to New York City. Driving or taking a bus are viable options that offer advantages in flexibility and economy. Flying used to be the fastest way until security requirements stretched the time commitment to be roughly the same as driving. And then there’s the train, the oldest…
PT Barnum was born in Bethel, Connecticut on July 5, 1810. He is buried in Bridgeport, Connecticut, where he once served as Mayor. So he’s as much a son of Connecticut as anyone, but is mostly known for being that circus thing. He demanded attention, and is known still as the greatest showman. I have…
Everything has changed. Well almost everything. New sounds; I’ve never heard that dog bark before. The rumble and back-up beeping of construction equipment is new too. Seems to be road work happening at the top of the hill. A young squirrel is working the oak tree in the neighbors’ yard and there’s a constant drip…
I love random events that introduce me to people from the past. It’s a dance with a ghost, a handshake with history. This is one of those stories… I’d driven by this monument several times over the last few years whenever I went to Foxwoods Casino for meetings. Shaped like a pawn on a chessboard,…
There’s Something About Connecticut For the life of me I haven’t fully figured out Connecticut. It’s a part of New England, but it’s also a big part of New York as well. Nothing illustrates that more than the Red Sox-Yankees Mason-Dixon line that runs through the state. Connecticut exhibits some of the characteristics of New…
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…