FEATURES COLUMNS
Hiking at Donald J. Trump State Park
The 436-acre public recreation area, laid out in two sections near the Taconic State Parkway, has attracted more controversy than visitors since the former president — then a prominent real estate mogul — donated it to New York in 2006, after local authorities rejected his plan to...
The dangers of threatening an Italian mother's family
This is an age-old tale. A tale about man (or in this case, a woman (and not any woman but a mother (and not any mother but an Italian mother))) versus nature. You see, when you threaten an Italian mother’s family, Inferno hath no Fury by comparison. And so my tale begins that I was...
Hiking to the Massachusetts border on the Shenipsit Trail (Part II)
A blazing sun beat down on asphalt the other afternoon while cars and trucks roared past fast food restaurants, gas stations and other businesses lining Route 30, just beyond the I-84 interchange in Vernon. "Wonderful day for a hike," I muttered, but none of my four companions heard me...
Signs of spring
I, like many of us, was unaware that some robins winter over and that other species appear well before the robins on the lawn.
A hike celebrating George Dudley Seymour’s vision and philanthropy
Some rich people are only devoted to acquiring more wealth and keeping a safe distance from those they consider lower-class. Well-to-do patent lawyer George Dudley Seymour was not that type of tycoon. True, his friends included President William Howard Taft, Pennsylvania Gov. Gifford...
Dear Diary
Several years ago, I transcribed the diary of Sadie Margaret Avery, who chronicled her life on a New England farm in 1919.
MORE FEATURES COLUMNS
Hiking to the Massachusetts border on the Shenipsit Trail (Part I)
Our hiking group had been approaching a series of steep ledges on the Shenipsit Trail in Glastonbury that is famous, or infamous, for being home to the state’s largest known population of timber rattlers.
Island-hopping by kayak off Norwalk
Shallow channels, shoals, sandbars, reefs, rocks and hummocks that surround the Norwalk Islands make for tricky navigation via powerboat, but popular among paddlers.
More power to bicyclists!
Bike Stonington, a local advocacy group that promotes bicycle access, safety and awareness, is organizing a Bike2Work Challenge.
All history is local
"All history is local,” a friend texted me recently. He had been musing about the Revolutionary War and how the British, retreating from the Battle of Lexington and Concord under heavy fire for 15 miles to Boston, “passed...
If you like rocks, Chatfield Hollow is really gneiss
We snaked through tight fissures, scrambled among jumbled heaps of boulders and ducked beneath horizontal overhangs.
Bigger waves? More wind? Yes, please
Gerry Polinsky’s annual Polar Paddle Practicum class encourages kayakers to “push their comfort zones” while honing rough-water skills.