Follow the Trail with Bill Reid,
The Last Green Valley's Chief Ranger

“Each pine is like a great green feather stuck in the ground. Myriad white pine boughs extend themselves horizontally, one above and behind another, each bearing its burden of silvery sunlight…” — from Henry David Thoreau’s journal, Nov. 30, 1851 Today’s column is the third in […]

There are many seasonal and holiday foods that appear on supermarket shelves throughout the year. Halloween and Valentine’s Day bring out candy. There is lamb for Easter and corn beef and cabbage for Saint Patrick’s Day. Thanksgiving is all about turkey, and I know folks […]

No matter the time of year I always discover something fascinating when on a woods walk. Every month of each season the forest gives up its secrets for us to encounter and admire. On Nov. 3 (following an early morning visit to the polls) I […]

I was very fortunate to grow up on a three-acre wooded hill. Beyond our lot were acres of woods and suburban forest. The neighborhood kids knew all the secret paths and shortcuts leading us to small streams and ponds, deeper woods and a myriad of […]

“Now the hours of daylight are shortening noticeably. Dusk and dark advance minute by minute as these November nights close down.” – Edwin Way Teale, from “Circle of the Seasons, November 7, The Darker Days” Today’s column is the second in a series about finding […]

“Farewell vain world and friends that weep for me Dust and a shadow these I leave with thee” From the epitaph of Joshua Manning, the great Windham carver, cut by his own hand. One might think the reason for this column is that Halloween is […]

“A jellyfish, if you watch it long enough, begins to look like a heart beating. It’s their pulse, the way they contract swiftly, then release. Like a ghost heart — a heart you can see right through, right into some other world where everything you […]

It was early October last year when our back yard was visited by a large flock of birds that at first I didn’t recognize. They looked to be a bit larger than robins and were busy gleaning sunflower seed drops from under the feeder and […]

October is here and with it comes a full month of opportunities to get out and enjoy the glorious fall season. For 30 years The Last Green Valley has been offering up a foliage season of walks, hikes, paddles, events and experiences. This year Walktober […]

“October is the month for painted leaves. Their rich glow now flashes around the world. As fruits and leaves and the day itself acquire a bright tint just before they fall, to the year near its setting. October is its sunset sky; November the later […]

“Across acres of old pastures, where the goldenrod are taking over, late August and early September turn the land into a tumbling sea of the richest yellow. The fields are awash with waves of goldenrod that flow across the slopes and break against the stone […]

September 22 is the Autumnal Equinox – the official end of summer and start of the fall season. Already the mornings are cooler and soon we’ll begin to see a bit of color on the leaves. The first trees to show fall foliage color are […]