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

“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…

“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…

“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…

“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…

“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…

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.…

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…

The Last Green Valley is still 84 percent forest and farms, undeveloped land with most of our natural habitat in woodlands. Our region is home to an abundance of wildlife and today we’ll examine the fisher, one of our most energetic and unique forest dwellers.…

“Now the hours of daylight are shortening noticeably. Dusk and dark advance minute by minute as these November nights close down. By midafternoon today it is beginning to resemble sundown under a heavily veiled sky,” — Edwin Way Teale from the chapter “Darker Days” in…

Tomorrow is Halloween, a favorite celebration for kids of all ages. Halloween is not just about candy and costumes. Its roots are in the festival of Samhain, a tradition of the Celts of ancient Britain and Ireland. Here is an interesting description of the origins…

By all accounts October has been a spectacular year for foliage. At this writing the trees appear to be in peak color, with most of our large sugar maples sporting bright yellow and orange coats with splashes of red. The red maples are shimmering scarlet,…