Category Archives: Columns

Published pieces I’ve written, primarily in The Recorder, Greenfield, Mass.

Backyard Bliss

A couple of wildlife incidents to report from the home front, one involving a bear related to a bigger story, the other an otherwise insignificant little skunk. First the bear, which appeared out of nowhere in my back yard on the gray evening of Aug. 16, just before 8:30, me in the shower, my wife […]

To Each His Own

The Magnolia sisters, Star and Saucer, white and pink, have opened their furry fists to reach for the warm April sun, mimicked by cousins Daffodil and Forsythia, who introduce radiant yellows to brighten the days. Never appears a surer sign that spring turkey season is here. I happened upon a boss gobbler and four deer […]

Something’s Gotta Go

I enjoyed a brief visit Tuesday from reader Edward M. Wells, an ardent defender of wild brook trout and critic of the Connecticut River Atlantic salmon program who’s been once featured and occasionally mentioned in this space. The retired educator, enjoying tranquil retirement on a gentle Leyden hillside, brought me a reading assignment in the […]

Walking the Dogs

As you look southeast over a sea of tall green grass funneling down to a stately hardwood frame, the Mt. Toby range protrudes from afar with distinction, like a giant molar dwarfing lesser teeth on the lower gum of a worn mouth. Between Toby and me is downtown Greenfield, then the Pocumtuck Range, which rises […]

Hunting Buddies Never Die

I wish I had known, been able to reach out. But now he’s gone, too late to say goodbye. I remember the last time we spoke. It was brief, on my way into the Green River Festival a couple of years ago. His welcoming smile and warm brown eyes, same mischievous glint, were unchanged since […]

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