Stories in a Maple Board
By Hans M. Carlson I’m thinking about the beauty of wood this morning—about the revelation that comes when a seasoned board comes out of the planer and shows itself truly for the first time. This is the moment when wood gives advice. When it hints at what shape it would like to take, as […]
Through the Garden Gate
September, Life En Plein Air By Leslie Watkins Until recent history, human animals have lived mostly out of doors. In the current age of runaway consumerism and modern convenience, we have shifted from spending most of our daylight hours outside to an average of just 90 minutes a day, and that’s in summer! We […]
Norfolk’s July 2016 Weather
Sunny and Warm By Russell Russ July is typically the warmest month of the year for Norfolk, and this year was no exception. With a majority of warm and sunny days it was a very nice summer month. The downside of that is our increasing rainfall deficit. We are getting just enough rain to […]
Norfolk’s June 2016 Weather
A Growing Rainfall Deficit By Russell Russ June was a dry month. In fact, it was tied with 1984 as Norfolk’s seventh driest June over the past 85 years. Last year’s June, in contrast, was the fifth wettest June on record and was the wettest month in 2015. This year, the June rainfall amount […]
The Berkshire Rambler
Crane Paper Company: Seven Generations of Making Money By Michael Kelly High quality paper has been an intrinsic part of the lives of the Crane family of Dalton, Mass. for almost 250 years. Stephen Crane started the business, making 100 percent cotton paper at the Liberty Mill in Milton, Mass., which Paul Revere printed […]
Through The Garden Gate
August, When Water Retention is a Good Thing By Leslie Watkins In hot, dry weather and prolonged periods of insufficient rainfall, plants and trees can really suffer. There are measures we can take to protect the valuable investments we’ve made in our gardens. The goal is to get water to the plants and keep […]
Torrington Yarn Bomb Brings Color, Art and Whimsy to the City
By Julie Scharnberg I read an article about yarn bombing that appeared in Yankee Magazine about four years ago and passed it around to some knitters, thinking, Who wouldn’t want to do this? How fun! Yarn bombing is a form of temporary street art where brightly colored yarn in any form—knitted, crocheted, woven, […]
It’s Only Natural—July 2016
Old Field Pines on the Norfolk Downs By Hans M. Carlson Many people have a perception of the precolonial New England forest as dominated by white pine. This is in part due to many early chroniclers using the name “pine” as a catchall for conifers—hemlock, fir, spruce. It also has to do with the […]
