New Community Park Coming to the Riverfront
March 1, 2024Moments after we stepped out of our car and began to take in the 61 acres of open space sweeping down to the Connecticut River, we spied a coyote skirting the tree line....
Estuary for Young Readers #13
March 1, 2024“So, how?” Lieutenant Dunbar said, arms folded, eyes squinted, staring out across the Rappahannock River. “The cavalry could just charge across the river at Kelly’s Ford, but they’d get blown out of the water by those three cannons....
Celebrating Microcultures
March 1, 2024On a tributary a mile west of the Connecticut River, above an old milldam in Centerbrook, Connecticut, a small former auger bit factory breathes the 21st century air...
What’s For Dinner? Spring Asparagus Two Ways
March 1, 2024Welcome to spring! It’s such a delicious time of the year....
Estuary for Young Readers #12
December 1, 2023At the same instant the tree limb went crashing to the ground, the hot-air balloon broke loose and shot up so fast that in seconds I found myself clinging for dear life to the safe end of the limb and looking up at the bottom of the basket....
A Story of Restoration: Of a Car, Not Fish
December 1, 2023This is a love story. An unusual one, perhaps. Nonetheless a tale of steadfast devotion and affection that has endured through good times and bad for many, many decades....
What’s for Dinner? Apple Cider Braised Chicken
December 1, 2023Bone-chilling days call for bone-in chicken....
Ribs and Roots
September 1, 2023Now we turn our attention to the colors and flavors below the ground—the roots—such as potatoes, carrots, parsnips, beets, celery root, sweet potatoes, turnips, and ginger, to name a few....
Estuary for Young Readers #11
September 1, 2023My battalion of three-month Connecticut Union Army volunteers, along with a cavalry unit and a couple of drummer boys, sailed out of New Haven on board a double paddle-wheel ferry headed for Camp Glenwood, a mile or two north of Washington, DC....
Currents of Culture
June 1, 2023Just at the southern bend of the Farmington River, high on a hill above Miss Porter’s School and the grave of William Gillette, poets are gathering....
Estuary for Young Readers #10
June 1, 2023While Mum cleared the supper dishes from the table, Cap starts talking about me taking over responsibility of the ferry right away, saying nice things like I’m so much better at ferrying than he ever was when he was my age, and how I know so much more now because I’ve made a study of the river, the tides, the currents, and such, and how my whole approach to ferrying is more modern than his....
Lawn Care We Can Live With
March 4, 2023Ah, spring. For the gardeners among us it is the long-awaited return to being outside, smelling the soil, welcoming the sun. And regardless of how you spent your winter month —planning or just anticipating—the gardening season is now upon us. And suddenly there’s oh so much to do....
Book Announcement- If Only Houses Could Talk
March 1, 2023A bright side of COVID gave Portland, Connecticut, architect Alain Munkittrick time to produce his book depicting 160 restored and historic houses in the Connecticut River Valley, all of which have stories to tell....
The Spirit of The Kate
March 1, 2023The Katharine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center, affectionately and officially known as “The Kate,” is first and foremost a performance space....
Gardening for Good- Lawn Care We Can Live With
March 1, 2023Ah, spring. For the gardeners among us it is the long-awaited return to being outside, smelling the soil, welcoming the sun. And regardless of how you spent your winter month —planning or just anticipating—the gardening season is now upon us. And suddenly there’s oh so much to do....
What’s For Dinner?
March 1, 2023For centuries it had been thought that one should only eat shellfish in a month with an R in it—the “R factor”—and for good reason....
Estuary for Young Readers #9
March 1, 2023Here in Saybrook, we’re still adjusting to the idea that our new President, Abraham Lincoln, is calling up an army so he can preserve the Union and abolish slavery....
Estuary for Young Readers
December 1, 2022I put my hand out in front of me like I’m offering to shake and say: “How do you do, sir. I’m called JJ, just like my father, and his father, and his father before him. We’re all ferrymen here in Old Saybrook, and we’re all called JJ.”...
Made You Look
December 1, 2022These sorts of outdoor spaces often serve as both installations and galleries for the sculptors....
Lying in Wait
December 1, 2022Those familiar cinnamon plumes, waving in unison from their towering vantage point above our marshes and sand dunes, were not always so abundant, or robust....