The many parks along the Blackstone River are friendly places. While we don’t form firm friendships there, we do meet people. We chat about our dogs, life in the valley, the cameras we are carrying, how low the water level… Read More ›
Blackstone Valley
A GOLDEN DAY IN AUTUMN
Autumn came weeks early because of the long summer drought that is not over yet. We had a normal spring, but then the rain stopped falling. We’ve had a bit of rain and too much wind and autumn flew away…. Read More ›
STRANGE OUTCOMES FROM THIS STRANGEST YEAR
Who knew that 2020 would be a wretched excuse for a year? The climate is collapsing. Half of the U.S. is burning down, another quarter is flooded … and we up here in the northeast are 10 inches low on… Read More ›
BIG WHITE HORSES IN THE VALLEY
We grow a lot of horses in the valley. Many are saddle horses. Quarter horses. Morgans and Tennessee Walkers. But mostly, we grow big horses. Belgian Draft horses and Percherons. They don’t do anything much. No circuses for these horses…. Read More ›
LIVING THROUGH A DROUGHT
It hasn’t rained in weeks and it has been very hot. The trees are dropping green leaves which is a very unhealthy sign for the trees. It means that the roots are dying and many of these trees will die… Read More ›
A MOUNTAINSIDE SUMMER BY EMILY DICKINSON
New England has a pretty big collection of native poets, of which Emily Dickenson was one. This poem so reminded me of this valley, with its hill and valleys and the mist over of the river. A good poem for… Read More ›
A BRIEF AND BROKEN MINI-HISTORY OF AMERICA – MARILYN ARMSTRONG
America was born bankrupt. We won a war we shouldn’t have won and created a country without any funding or industry. That’s the good part. The rest of it, not so much. The United States is named that because we… Read More ›
CHURCH – Marilyn Armstrong
When we came to this Valley, I had no experience with churches, except for having been married in one. Garry had enough to make up for both of us. We chose a church because a very serious Christian friend of… Read More ›
A GAZE OF RACCOONS – Marilyn Armstrong
Groups of animals have collective names that are often archaic and unique. Raccoons are a gaze. Whales are a pod. Crows are a murder. Squirrels are a dray or a scurry. I haven’t found out what a bunch of flying… Read More ›
A FLOCK OF BRIGHT YELLOW BIRDS – Marilyn Armstrong
Try not to let your shock show, but in the morning we had a flock of red House Finches, but by afternoon, an awful lot of Goldfinch had found their way home again. Between one thing and another, I managed… Read More ›
OH, TO BE BACK IN OCTOBER AGAIN – Marilyn Armstrong
Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Autumn Scenes Autumn is our season, though for the past two years, it has been abruptly shortened by unusually warm weather and far too much rain. Still, we did get at least a week or two, which… Read More ›
THE TRAIN THROUGH WORCESTER – OWEN KRAUS
Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge: Public transportation (bus, planes, trains, etc. One day, Owen met a guy who turned out to be a conductor on a train that runs through Worcester. It’s a very old narrow-gauge train and its… Read More ›
