Melville, the Mountain and Moby Dick
By Michael Kelly Only a writer with Herman Melville’s phantasmagorical imagination could look out his window in the Berkshire Hills of Western Massachusetts at Mount Greylock, 16 miles due north, and envision a great white whale surfacing for air in the remote seas of the South Pacific. Yet this is precisely what Melville did […]
Tobey Bog: The Centrality of Marginal Places
By Hans M. Carlson Many of the articles I’ve written for Norfolk Now have concerned the interconnectedness of the natural world and human communities. By highlighting stone walls, collier’s hearths and the remnants of early conservation work, I’ve tried to show that even the deepest woods here in the northwest corner of Conn. are […]
Norfolk’s Weather—March 2016
Record Low Winter-Season Snowfall By Russell Russ This winter’s unusual and relatively snowless pattern continued through March. Temperatures were well above normal for most of the month. Record warmth on March 9 and 10 cleared the remaining ice from most local lakes and ponds, which was over five weeks earlier than last winter. For […]
Through The Garden Gate—May 2016
Getting Your Garden Back Into Shape By Leslie Watkins Here in The Icebox of Connecticut, tradition holds that our last possible frost date is Memorial Day. Global Weirding may fool us into planting out earlier, but it is better to hold off for the tender annuals like tomatoes, basil, peppers, begonias and impatiens. There […]
Norfolk’s February 2016 Weather
A One Month Winter Season? By Russell Russ Winter finally arrived this month, bringing with it a near-average amount of snowfall and briefly some very cold temperatures. Unlike last year’s snowy deep freeze of a month, this year gave us just a taste of what normal February weather should be. Even with a brief […]
Norfolk’s January 2016 Weather
Winter Weather Still on Hold By Russell Russ Unlike our previous two Januarys, January 2016 came and went without much in the way of winter weather. It was warmer than normal and snowfall was well below normal. It just seemed that winter was on hold. Our last two Januarys had above average snowfall and […]
Through the Garden Gate—March 2016
March, Who Are You Calling Chicken? By Leslie Watkins Permaculture is the conscious design of agricultural systems that behave like natural ecosystems. According to Graham Bell, “It is the harmonious integration of the landscape with people providing their food, energy, shelter and other material and non-material needs in a sustainable way.” One principle of […]
A Playful Presence in the Woods
The North American River Otter By Wiley Wood The tracks look dog-like, big pugmarks in the snow coming up from the lake, crossing the ski trail and climbing the bank on the far side. But the coyote, if it is one, is dragging something heavy in its mouth, making a long, shallow dent in […]
