Follow the Trail with Bill Reid,
The Last Green Valley's Chief Ranger
Exploring March and International Forest Day
I believe every month holds its beauty and wonders, but if we are honest March can be a greater challenge when searching for those bright spots. It is considered one of the dreariest months on the calendar. As we inch towards spring, the winter of…
How to Catch a Snowflake
“Silently, like thoughts that come and go, the snowflakes fall, each one a gem.” William Hamilton Gibson Wintertime tends to bring out the kid in me, or rather brings back so many snowy winter memories from long ago that remind me of when I was…
Exploring February: A Snow Moon, Black History Month & A Winter Walk Among Bare Trees
Today we’ll experience the full moon of February, called the Snow Moon since February is typically our snowiest month of the year. After a relatively snowless January, I am hopeful the Snow Moon brings a bit more of the white stuff. I enjoy tracking animals…
Outdoor Adventures with Ranger Bill – Old Furnace State Park
A beautiful 2.5 mile loop hike One of my favorite locations for a quick hike is Old Furnace State Park in Killingly. I have organized hikes there for TLGV and family outings and for good reason. With a location close to I-395 it’s easily accessible…
An Outdoor Adventure with Ranger Bill – Pixie Falls January 2023
If you’re looking for a nice winter hike to a unique location let me suggest the Blue-Blazed Nipmuck Trail in Ashford to Pixie Falls. The falls are created by Boston Hollow Road Brook as it drops about 40 feet in elevation, tumbling around rocks and…
Exploring January: Bald Eagle Month in The Last Green Valley
“The solstice past, the year tends toward Spring. But you would never know it. The old saying, ‘days lengthen, cold strengthens,’ is proved in January,” writes Hal Borland in “Beyond Your Doorstep: A Handbook to the Country.” Happy New Year The solstice Dec. 21 was…
Christmas Traditions in New England
“Most Americans observed Christmas – their modern descendants’ most lavish and commercialized holiday season – on a smaller scale, or not at all. Presbyterians, Baptists and Congregationalists, whose Calvinist heritage remained strong, traditionally ignored Christmas completely. It was a day when farmers slaughtered hogs and…
Snow Tracks and Woodsy Christmas Colors
“Darkness comes swiftly in the Long Night Moon of December. At the end of this twenty-first day of the month, this shortest day of the year, this time when, in other ages, men lit bonfires to strengthen the expiring sun, the Silver Strand faded rapidly…
Long Term Hope for Control of the Emerald Ash Borer
“It is a kind of all-American tree, growing everywhere east of the Rocky Mountains. It is used by most Americans, for sports equipment – baseball bats, tennis racket frames, hockey sticks, bowling alley floors, oars, polo mallets – as well as for tool handles and…
Exploring December While Shopping Local For The Holiday Season
“It has been a glorious winter day, its elements so simple, the sharp clear air, the white snow everywhere covering the earth, and the polished ice. Cold as it is, the sun seems warmer on my back even than in summer, as if its rays…
Building a Better Mousetrap Without Rodenticides
Every autumn at my house is also, secretly, called “mice-murdering season” when we do battle with families of pesky, albeit cute, white footed mice trying take up residence for the winter. Some years we only have a few, but other years it’s a major incursion.…
Roosting (not Roasting) Turkeys Take Flight
On a cool evening recently, I stepped outside to enjoy twilight. The fireplace was lit, dinner eaten, and I took a moment to enjoy the slow descent of nightfall in autumn. As I stood taking in the beautiful evening, I heard the unmistakable short gobble…