The beach was almost empty, so we didn’t have to look hard to find the perfect spot — far enough back that the sand was soft, yet close enough that we could feel the breeze. A couple was playing Frisbee, and a teenager was skim-boarding near the ocean’s edge. My daughter shucked her clothes and […]
Peter Ralston is telling me about a boy he once knew. In 1957, when the boy is seven years old, he moves to an old gray stone house in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania.
In the frozen grips of a fierce storm on Mt. Katahdin, each man’s choice was his own. On Thursday evening, January 31, 1974, a fierce winter storm cut a swath of destruction across northern New England. It tore roofs off of mobile homes and tossed them into nearby trees, and sent tree limbs crashing into […]
Yankee classic from January 1981 People who live along inland waters in northern New England know there are really only two seasons: ice-in and ice-out. All else is but prelude and aftermath. A frozen lake draws us: we dare it early and we dare it late, probing the limits of a most delicate balance — […]
During my childhood summers in Chester County, Pennsylvania I did many things: played baseball, rode my bike, caught fireflies, waited for the twilight jingle of the ice cream truck — but swimming in clear fresh water was not one of them. My town was too far south for the ice age glaciers to have reached […]
Yankee classic from August 1993 Plan a weekend visit to Wethersfield today. In those days, you could smell Wethersfield before you could see it. Outsiders dubbed the Connecticut village “Oniontown,” with a crosshatch of affection and derision, for this was home of the world-famous Wethersfield red onion, and its pungent scent stung the air. Wethersfield […]
Even attention-span-challenged teenagers admit to having a good time camping at these sites. Here are our picks for the best camping in New England. Boston Minuteman Campground Littleton, Massachusetts Even attention-span-challenged teenagers admit to having a good time camping close by the historic sites of Lexington and Concord — plus, the campground is big enough […]
Icelandic photographer Smari is preparing a book of photography of Walden Pond, capturing a place and mood that Thoreau would recognize. Click here for a slide show of Smari’s Walden Pond photos. Click here for Jim Collins’ article on Thoreau’s Sacred Place.
Yankee classic from March 1999 On May 1, 1992, Larry Davis climbed Mount Monadnock. He liked it so much that he did it the next day, too. And the next. And the next. And every day after that. In fact, barring any mischance between the day of this writing and March 1, 1999, Larry Davis […]
On hot mornings like this one, I start early when it’s still (relatively) cool. Last weekend, I planted the vegetable garden, and later, morning glories on the porch posts. I need to keep these well watered, at least for their first week, and more if the heat continues. I only have one faucet, which is […]
Walden Pond State Reservation Open year-round 8 a.m.-sunset; day use only. $5/vehicle parking fee. Route 126 South, Concord and Lincoln, MA. Visitors’ Center, 915 Walden St., Concord, MA. 978-369-3254; mass.gov/dcr/parks/walden
View a slide show from photographer Smari’s book on Walden: A Year. If you come early enough on a summer morning to Walden Pond in Concord, Massachusetts, you get a sense of where Henry David Thoreau lived, and what he lived for. Light slants through the towering pines on the southeastern shore, glittering on the […]
