I saw you standing with the wind and the rain in your faceAnd you were thinking ’bout the wisdom of the leaves and their graceWhen the leaves come falling downIn September when the leaves, come falling down— Van Morrison, When the Leaves Come Falling Down The puppy is having her first autumn, and in New…
I once was a boat owner. Nowadays I’m a passenger on other people’s boats, and occasionally crew. I’d like to say I like it this way, not having the expense of maintaining a boat and such talk, but once it’s in your blood you never get over not having one, no matter how often you…
The forest is dead quiet in the early morning hours when you walk out into it. At least until the creatures assess you and, seeing no imminent threat, go back about their business. It’s akin to going to a cocktail party and either working the room as the life of the party or receding back…
“If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need” — Cicero My attention comes back to the garden this time of year. It’s too soon for annuals, too early for most perennials, and my sinuses are reminding me that the cool air is filling up with pollen. We celebrate the great…
There are winters when it seem to snow, relentlessly, mercilessly, every day. The types of winters that wiped out half of the pilgrims on the Mayflower. “Hungry? Eat more snow!” kind of winters. This was not that kind of winter in New England. And now that we’re well into March, when the sun is higher…
Winter is different this year. The ground, frozen for weeks leading up to the New Year, thawed in a warming trend that hit New England in the first few weeks of the year. We sometimes say we’re grateful when it rains instead of snows here, knowing the general equation of one inch of rain equalling…
The Welch-Dickey Loop Trail is one of the most popular trails in New Hampshire. There are many reasons for this, including its relative closeness compared to trails further north and its proximity to popular recreation destination Waterville Valley. But really, people hike this trail because the views are spectacular and you can do the hike…
In the deep falldon’t you imagine the leaves think howcomfortable it will be to touchthe earth instead of thenothingness of air and the endlessfreshets of wind? And don’t you thinkthe trees themselves, especially those with mossy,warm caves, begin to thinkof the birds that will come – six, a dozen – to sleepinside their bodies? And…
“I cannot endure to waste anything so precious as autumnal sunshine by staying in the house.” ― Nathaniel Hawthorne, The American Notebooks I write this knowing what awaits me. Today is the day of reckoning for a lover of trees. For in late October we turn our eyes from the skies to the work at…
Burnt wood has bared witness to many songs sungWarmed up the handsAnd the hearts of the youngAnd the old gather roundTill the flames are all donePassing down their words of wisdom— Caamp, Of Love and Life For all the beauty of October days and the march of amber and crimson southward, it’s the crispness in…