Photographs taken with a bridge camera journaling nature and everyday life in Central Massachusetts and beyond.
Category: Local Attractions
In these troubled times, moments of laughter and seasonal festivity can provide relief from the never ending news cycle. Here are some photos from a spring visit to my local vintage shop, which both adults and children can enjoy.
Thanks to Punsnet for their joke listings.
The Beneski Museum of Natural History at Amherst College, Massachusetts houses the world’s most extensive collection of fossil dinosaur tracks, primarily from the Connecticut River Valley, where I grew up. 
 These tracks from the Jurassic period are around 190 million years old. In addition to dinosaur tracks, it showcases actual dinosaur body fossils, casts from a variety of historical periods, and an exhibit of stones from all over the world.
Although this Tyrannosaurus rex (T.Rex) cast is not from the Jurassic Period, it inspires visitors to touch, measure and experience the cast close up, and immerse themselves in the world of dinosaurs.
Edward Hitchcock began his study of dinosaurs when the existence of dinosaurs- even the word, “dinosaur” -was unknown. A deeply religious man, he did not believe in evolution at first, but he did believe in the scientific method. By the end of his life, he was a supporter of evolution. The Hitchcock Ichnology Collection contains more than 1,100 slabs of fossil tracks and traces from the Connecticut River Valley. They provided the first evidence of dinosaurs in North America.
Many footprints are displayed along the wall for easy viewing, as if in an art gallery. The collection of tracks is known as “the stone book”.
These tracks were made by small to medium-sized dinosaurs. Hitchcock originally thought they were bird tracks.
A track close up.
Not only are fossils on the walls, but here you can see actual dinosaur prints placed at waist level on the museum’s fossilized dinosaur trackway. The large flat sandstone slabs display various footprints and impressions left by dinosaurs that once roamed the Connecticut River Valley during the Triassic and Jurassic eras.
Truly a hands-on exhibit,
and a chance to walk with the dinosaurs.
Jurassic Morning is a diorama created by artist Will Sillin. This artwork depicts the Connecticut River Valley as it appeared 190 million years ago during the Jurassic period.
The Connecticut River at Northfield, MA today.
Diverse and energetic birds welcome visitors to Wachusett Meadow Wildlife Sanctuary. Feeders are placed just steps from the parking lot, allowing everyone to experience nature up close, no matter their mobility level.
Purple Finches and a Goldfinch
Male Purple Finch
Red-bellied Woodpecker
Grackle
Evening Grosbeak
Northern Cardinal
There’s a clock for every taste at our local clock shop.
North Brookfield, MA
Christmas-Themed Cuckoo Clock
Ice Cream Retro Kitchen Clock
The Valencias Sunflower Clock features a reproduction of a 1910s antique fruit crate label.
Internet Clock
The Melting Salvador Dali Clock of the 1970s was meant to hang from a shelf.
Although this Bottle Cap Clock looks handmade, it was mass produced.
Ansonia Style Mantle Clock.
Victorian Style Clock
It is a bit of a climb to the top of the Ridge.
A stone marker leads the way to Emerson’s grave.
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The Gale Free Library of Holden, Massachusetts exemplifies adaptive reuse architecture, where old buildings are updated for modern uses while still preserving their historic character.
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Several months ago, I joined a ukulele group. We strum together each week, sharing songs from long ago right up to the present day. We also perform at local nursing homes, senior centers and town events. Our performances last summer included a Christmas in July celebration, a luau and a local town fair. It’s fun to see the smiles that ukulele music brings to the faces of our audiences. We also enjoy being part of the global resurgence of the ukulele’s popularity in the 21st century.
This affordable and portable instrument is capable of a wide range of styles and uses. Here, the ukulelist Cynthia Lin leads a simple Hawaiian rendition of Somewhere Over the Rainbow while hundreds play along. Here, virtuoso Jake Shimabukuro demonstrates the full capabilities of the ukulele with his rendition of of Bohemian Rhapsody.
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A lightly edited version of a previous post.
Moore State Park, Paxton, Massachusetts
Third Generation farmers from Nicaragua roast and sell coffee from around the world in this delightful Holden, Massachusetts coffee shop.
A recent trip to Bemis Farms Nursery in Spencer, Massachusetts proves that you can never have too much of a good thing!
The 1,300-acre Carter & Stevens Farm in Barre, Massachusetts is a 5th-generation family dairy farm that has been milking cows and producing raw milk everyday since 1938.
Chaffins Millpond, Holden, Massachusetts
Bemis Farms Nursery, Spencer, MA
My small local state park offers a variety of ways to relax and experience nature in any season.
It’s apple time in Central Massachusetts. There are over 40 orchards in this area to visit!
Bolton Orchards, Bolton, Massachusetts
Before…
Photo edits including lower contrasts and higher exposures lend a more ethereal, painterly feeling to this “meadow ramble”.
Wachusett Meadow Wildlife Sanctuary, Princeton, Masachusetts
North Brookfield and New Braintree, Massachusetts
Relaxed seaside eating on Cape Cod.
The town of Rutland is situated in the exact center of Massachusetts. Rutland State Park is a few miles from where I live. This 300-acre recreation area has facilities for fresh water swimming, picnicking, fishing, hiking and non-motorized boating.
Happy Solstice Day!
Rutland State Park, Rutland MA
On display at the Museum of Russian Icons In Clinton MA.
“As far back as the Stone Age, parts of the birch tree have been used across Northern Europe and Russia. Craftspeople and homemakers learned to use the tree for wallpaper, lumber, medicine, tea, shoes, writing paper, and other creative applications. Birch wood and bark quickly became a common material for more decorative forms of folk art as well. Woodcarving adorned buildings across Russia, and even the homes of peasants were decorated with spectacular birch carvings.”
Siberian artist Vladimir Tulyak created highly detailed and delicately hued icons from layers of birch bark.
The Bird Store and More in Sturbridge MA offers hundreds of bird-related items to catch a bird lover’s fancy. The adjoining courtyard features a whimsical crooked house called the Sherwood Forest Stables, which stores birds seed and attracts a host of well-fed creatures.
Alta Vista Farm, Rutland, Massachusetts
The Ware-Hardwick Covered Bridge is one of eight covered bridges in Massachusetts. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
A winter walk along the winding road to St. Joseph’s Abbey during the Omicron upsurge.
The main road at the Moore State Park offers a golden canopy above with an edging of dry leaves below to enhance an afternoon walk.
The clever combination of pumpkins and corn perplexes and delights in this inventive architectural seasonal “home” design.
Photographs from a visit to the grounds of the Barre Center For Buddhist Studies in Barre, Massachusetts.
Visitors are startled by the vibrant and spectacular leaves in the Orangerie at Tower Hill Botanic Garden in Boylston, MA .
In New England, mid to late February is the start of the maple syrup making season.
Up until the Civil War, using maple sugar was an act of political protest for many northern abolitionists, who refused to use cane sugar produced by slave colonies in the Caribbean. New England forests had been over logged to build ships for the slave trade of the era. Abolitionists attempted to reseed decimated areas with maple trees, and use maple sugar rather than cane for their needs.
The “Sap Castle” in Rutland, MA welcomes visitors to view the sugaring process and learn about its history during February and March.
Local artisans and antique dealers combined forces to re-purpose an old mill. The result is an inviting atmosphere to shop for handmade and one-of-a -kind items while supporting talented neighbors. A relaxing atmosphere helps shoppers explore numerous rooms chock full of unique items not found in standard shopping venues.
Shop local!
The Fruitlands Museum in Harvard, MA is situated on Prospect Hill, the site where Bronson Alcott and Charles Lane founded a short-lived experimental utopian community in 1843. The view from the hill is still beautiful today.
The Fruitlands Museum relates that:
“Fruitlands has been host to some of the most famous people in America. Thoreau walked Prospect Hill and admired its view; Ralph Waldo Emerson, a supporter of Alcott’s, visited here; and Louisa May (then 10) would relate her experiences at Fruitlands in her books Transcendental Wild Oats and Little Women.”
December brought snow, ice and temperature fluctuations, lending itself to a variety of seasonal photo opportunities.
Happy New Year from New England!
Looking for a way to involve kids in holiday decorations? How about having them create a richly colored, imaginative holiday fairy garden?
Tower Hill Botanical Garden used natural items such as greens, berries, seeds, nuts, stones and wood to create this child friendly garden. A train set runs through a grapevine tunnel and past mossy greens and birch bark houses.
“Quabbin Reservoir is one of the largest man-made public water supplies in the United States. Created in the 1930s by the construction of two huge earthen dams, the reservoir is fed by the three branches of the Swift River, and seasonally by the Ware River. Quabbin’s water covers 39 square miles, is 18 miles long and has 181 miles of shoreline. When full, Quabbin holds 412 billion gallons of water.
The New Salem and Enfield lookouts offer magnificent views of the reservoir. In order to flood the vast area of the Swift River Valley in the 1930s, the entire population of four towns had to be relocated. Hundreds of homes, businesses, a state highway, a railroad line, and 34 cemeteries were also moved or dismantled. Over 6,000 graves were relocated from the Valley to Quabbin Park Cemetery.”
