Grove Cemetery, Holden MA




Photographs taken with a bridge camera journaling nature and everyday life in Central Massachusetts and beyond.
Category: trees
Dogs (and their humans) immerse themselves in nature at the West Boyston Rail Trail near the Wachusett Reservoir in this peak foliage season.
Princeton, Massachusetts
Lichen, Fog and Vines in my Backwoods.
A combination of ice, sleet and snow created a shimmering yard this morning.
American Goldfinches, Holden, Massachusetts
The Great White Oak at the Wachusett Meadow Audubon Sanctuary stands in a clearing on a popular forest hiking trail. It is considered a “near champion” at over fifteen feet in girth and over 250 years old. The nearby bench lends a quiet place to view it more closely.
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.
This was originally posted in February of 2018.
The Baldwin apple tree in my yard is an old American variety and provides large greenish-red apples every other year.
But that’s only a start. Because it is larger than most apple trees, it is also a center for shade on a hot summer day, a hide for the the birds, an elegant statuesque centerpiece for the yard, and a winter frame to view the yard from a different perspective.
This singular tree overlooking the wetlands at Wachusett Meadow Audubon Sanctuary in Princeton, MA is delightful in any season, but especially distinctive in Winter, when the details of its shape and the complex structure of its branches are on full display. I’m pleased that this photo was chosen as the current cover photo for Wachusett Meadow Facebook page.
It felt like early March today as a warm wind swirled around me. A perfect day for relaxing on the bench under one of my favorite trees.
Inside, my kalanchoe surely looks fired up for Spring!
The first Full Moon of the year is named after the howling of the wolves. January is their mating season, so they can often be heard during this month.