Winter solstice. Our shortest days, long long LONG nights. Less sunlight is thought to produce less serotonin and more melatonin, leading to Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) for a few folks. Many of us will mourn the comfort and beauty of summer, lament the severely shrunken luxuriance of local life. Some may be the opposite: encouraged […]
17 September 2022 A workshop on writing about nature. Perfect…just what the Universe ordered. We meet at Knowlton Hill Preserve, George, Marcia, Emely, and me. Four people from different backgrounds with one important thing in common: a love of nature. After a brief introduction led by George, the workshop facilitator, we separate to ponder and
Essays from our Nature Writing Workshop II Read Post »
By John Hankins My wife Beth and I live in the southern part of Mansfield, directly adjacent to the southern terminus of the Nipmuck Trail. The presence of the trail across the street from our house is not a coincidence. We bought the house nearly 30 years ago because the trail gave us instant access
Sometimes All You Need to do is Ask Read Post »
You rarely know who or what has unseen eyes on you during a casual stroll in the forest. In this case, it’s a half dozen turkeys, more curious than afraid. At least, theirs are the only eyes I’m aware of. I’ve walked the loop at Hemphill Woods before, admired the age-old wall stones carefully crafted
Some Hidden Hemphill History Read Post »
Sometime twelve to twenty thousand years ago, this familiar boulder ceased its laborious inching along under a retreating wall of ice and came to rest on a south-facing cliff between what would become Mohegan and Nipmuc territory. I can’t see our future. I can barely see my own past. And this after seventy-plus years and
