As I prepare for the new year I have been thinking about the importance of conservation, about preserving the best of what we have for the benefit of the next generations. Today I am posting a piece I wrote three years ago after talking to an inspiring conservationist and speaker. My inspiration is a gaggle of grandchildren, two of whom love to play in the old apple tree in our field, home and pantry to birds - and…
“The Creator may be seen in all the works of his hands; but in few more directly than in the wise economy of the Honey-Bee.” Lorenzo L. Langstroth 1853 Lorenzo L. Langstroth was Pastor of the Second Congregational Church in Greenfield between 1843 and 1848. His memorial on Bank Row, placed in 1948, includes an image of the hive with moveable frames that he invented. For the first time beekeepers, who had been gathering honey since…
Our Frog Pond is beautiful. And useful. When our dilapidated barn was struck by lightning in the middle of the night, July 5, 1990, the volunteer fire department was able to pump water to help put out the fire. In fact, the previous owners had enlarged the pond which is stream and spring fed to make it a fire pond. The frogs like it, and so do the grandchildren. So do we. It's good for swimming and catching…
This Columbus Day weekend the dawns were beautiful, if only briefly, but it was a nice change after a cold, dreary, damp week. This is the view from our bedroom window. The long weekend means a short but intense Bake Sale Season. There were bake sales everywhere. Henry took my apple pie down to the Shelburne Falls Area Women's Club Pie Sale, and dodged 6th graders in the parking lot at Avery's. They weren't quite ready to sell, but…
“We live where there is so much possibility in the landscape,” Marie Stella said to me as we stood on the deck of Beaver Lodge, her house in Ashfield, looking through the woods down to the beaver pond. Stella has entered into most of those possibilities, using native plants, planting vegetables and fruits where a lawn might be expected, harvesting rainwater, using stone from the house site to…
The North Quabbin Garlic and Arts Festival in Orange, MA, has to be one of the best organized, most fun, most educational, most artistic, most inspiring festivals I have ever attended. It all began with a conversation under a tree, and now, 11 years later 12,000 people find their way to this small town to enjoy a fabulous day in the autumn sun. Or autumn showers as the case may be. The solar powered main stage provides music…
No, we didn't have an ice storm here yesterday, but many residents of Heath did form a Flash Mob! We were photographed on the steps of Sawyer Hall waving signs and cell phones (which don't actually work here) and looking mad as part of the Wake Up Call we were sending our President and legislators. We want them to Do Something in Copenhagen in December. We were only one of about 2500 groups around the world telling our…
Pulling Together was the theme for this year’s Heath Fair. After such a cool, wet summer when it was hard to get a good hay crop in and Late Blight hit local farmers, as well as local gardeners who mourned over lost tomato and potato crops, it felt like we were all doing some heavy hauling. It takes a lot of people pulling together to prepare the for the Fair, from the vision and energy…
Snoopy asked the question, “Is there any reason why mealtime should not be a joyous occasion?” In our family we have always welcomed the chance for joy three times a day, but in recently mealtime has been an anxious time for many people across the country. There have been a number of local responses to the plight of families who have been affected by the economic downturn. The Belly Bus showed up on the Greenfield Common last week…
Paul Tukey of Safe Lawns sent this moving letter: "In the midst of planning movie premieres and national anti-chemical campaigns, our life as we knew it stopped suddenly when my wife went into labor at precisely 12:55 a.m. last Thursday. For the next several hours, I was either glued to a stopwatch or being gripped fiercely by my wife as her contractions grew closer and more powerful in succession. Incredibly important questions came at us from all directions…