Join TLGV for a Winter Solstice Hike – A Day Early
Winter Solstice Sunset Hike: 2:30 pm, Sunday Dec. 20, Mansfield Hollow State Park, Mansfield, CT Join The Last Green Valley on the day before the Solstice as we welcome in winter. We will hike a 3.5-mile loop with about 100 ft. of elevation gain; the…
A late fall invasion of blackbirds: the common grackle
Two years ago my wife Julie and I were driving through Hartford on the way to visit our daughter in West Hartford. We had crossed the Connecticut River and were through the city when suddenly the sky was full, and I mean full as in…
Exploring the Last Green Valley: Beauty found in December evergreens
“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…
The Amazing Cranberry: More Than a Thanksgiving Side Dish
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…
TLGV’s Offers Walktober Redux – A new Thanksgiving Weekend Tradition for the whole family
The Last Green Valley, Inc. is taking the #OptOutside movement to the next level Thanksgiving Weekend with Walktober Redux – a mini version of our hugely popular autumnal event. With the 2020 holidays looking different for many in the region, TLGV staff and volunteer…
The Princess Pine of the Forest
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…
Nature Writers to Inspire the Backyard Naturalist
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…
Finding Beauty in November
“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…
Exploring Burial Grounds in The Last Green Valley
“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…