Protecting Land and Preserving Heritage. Forever.
Early rain ends, leaving a still and steamy August morning at the Bernard Church Woods. Once in a while, a weak breeze blows the tree canopy, creating a quick shower of leftover raindrops. This short hike took an effort to begin – I must be starting to absorb the lethargy that this in-between season induces. […]
By John Hankins, August 2023 When I was eight-years old I somehow got in my head that the government had a program that would reimburse land-owners $100 per acre for thinning their forest stands. I don’t know where this idea came from, but my parents didn’t discourage me from believing this odd theory and from […]
I just wanted to see more of the brook. Down my back hill to the west runs one of the numerous Connecticut waterways named Cider Mill Brook (doesn’t every town have one?). To be honest, the valley view is half the reason I bought the property. You’ve been treated to some of my animal neighbors […]
Meadow Wind Sitting on a low, broad stone today, looking at a hodgepodge of a stone wall and, beyond that, meadow, I am taken back to the solace of a childhood meadow in Vermont. My brother, sister, and I crossed a similar wall to get to it. So little was I that I was engulfed […]
Late April still feels empty here in the Dorothy Goodwin Reserve. We are poised on the cusp of spring, tree buds just beginning to pop. No migrant birds have yet arrived to fill the woods with warbler song. (I like these colorful yearly migrants: keep the border open.) Just one Red-bellied Woodpecker follows me, bagpiping […]
First the disclaimer: today’s blog is a product of my own heart and in no way reflects the policy of this conservation organization. Joshua’s Trust is apolitical and non-denominational and is not affiliated with radicals or crazies. Even retired ones. Only the Yippiest among you will remember the exorcism and levitation of the Pentagon from […]
Hilltop view of Orion’s Belt by David Silsbee By Charlotte Pyle I went out the other night to look at the stars. The view of the night sky is fairly obstructed by trees at my house, but fitting perfectly between two pine trees, there was a familiar constellation of the Winter sky. The ancient Greeks […]
“Contrary to what you may have heard, there is no new data predicting a large earthquake in eastern Connecticut,” stated Dawn McKenzie, Regional Coordinator at the United States Geological Survey. “We recommend only the usual awareness at this time.” The 2022 annual report from the Geological Survey does forecast significant seismological activity for eastern Connecticut […]
When we go, we always leave something of ourselves behind.When she closes her eyes to tell a story, she travels through time, back to when she and her twin sister Harriett were little girls on a big farm. From behind her wide smile a clearly remembered, deeply felt tale evolves, slowly spun in that dropped […]
It’s a compulsion, this walking alone. It’s one of my purest pleasures. Today I revisit Iron Mine Valley. Hiking in what remains of Connecticut’s wilderness, my alertness is at a high pitch, right-brained introspection at an equal one. This little JT area is the ‘front porch’ of the Natchaug State Forest, among the thickest, darkest […]