A trail passes through a grove of hemlock trees at Nelson Memorial Forest in Marshfield. I used to love to walk alone in the woods. Several days a week I’d […]
Wondering Where The Water Goes
A narrow section of Second Herring Brook, far upstream from where it flows into the North River in Norwell. Melting snow, falling rain. Puddles form; water runs over and into […]
A Family Vacation in Mexico
A rainy day on Isla Mujeres, Mexico. It was a vacation we’d looked forward to all year. Seven days on a small, peaceful island in the Mexican Caribbean, seven days […]
Take A Walk
Already it’s November. The nights grow longer, the weather grows cooler. I am reluctant to pull out my winter coat, but I know that these crisp days will soon yield […]
The Winter Solstice: Bringing Light To The Darkness
Bare winter trees. It’s 4 p.m., and as I look into the trees outside my office window, I see nothing but darkness. The sun has not yet set, but heavy […]
A New View From The Mountaintop
Mount Norwottuck Five and a half years ago, my friend Ted led me on a hike up Norwottuck, a small mountain in Massachusetts’s Holyoke Range. I had climbed Norwottuck many […]
Good Friends Save The Day
The North River at Couch Beach. Our canoe trip on the North River began smoothly enough: it was a sunny, unseasonably warm October day, with fall foliage at its peak. […]
Musings of a Creek Paddler
It’s early October, a Sunday morning, and I am paddling my kayak in a narrow creek near the mouth of the North River. The tide is high, buoying me up […]
Thoughts from Fourth Cliff
The view from Fourth Cliff. It’s 7:30 AM, and I am standing on a second floor balcony at the top of Humarock’s Fourth Cliff. The beach is a hundred foot […]
Looking Down at the Stars
Imagine this. You are outdoors on a late summer night, well past twelve. For the first time all season, the breeze is crisp, offering the first indication of autumn’s steady […]