karina coombs photograph

The Woodchuck Trail and Garrison Loop

Yesterday called for a short hike on the Woodchuck trail and Garrison loop in Great Brook Farm State Park. Even with the light rain, it was a beautiful and easy hike. We parked near the canoe launch and walked across the road to the  Woodchuck trailhead to find some historical spots for my daughter’s school project located along the trail. After passing the site of an old dam, our first historic stop was the remains of some kind of Colonial stone garrison. Fairly close by was an Indian grinding stone,  that appears to have been intentionally destroyed. Looking at the stone you can see that holes were drilled down its length and at a depth almost reaching its bottom, splitting it in half and to its base. Finally we ended up at the site of the old grist mill. Not a bad 60 minutes.

Fruit Bearing Trees

We are going on our second year in the antique rental house.  And I can feel the familiar calling of fall now that the hard little pears are starting to fall to the ground with a distinctive thud.  I wish I knew what kind of pears they are or what to do with them.  We have two trees of the same mysterious variety.  They get to be slightly smaller than a baseball and stay rock hard throughout the growing season. Last year I left a number of them on the counter for weeks at a time and they just got harder, not softer.  It doesn’t matter if I pick them off the tree or wait until they fall; they are impenetrable to both tooth and knife.  Most of them take on the physical characteristics of a potato with weird knobs and divots rather than the classic pear shape (though the photo does not show this) so I’m wondering if I

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Pilgrim’s Progress

Some out of state friends came to stay with us for five days and we became unofficial tour guides of Massachusetts, visiting the Freedom Trail and its nearby attractions, Harvard, MIT, the New England Aquarium, Crane Beach in Ipswich, taking a Duck Tour, and a trip to Plymouth to see Plimoth Plantation and the Mayflower II. Having grown up in Plymouth, it was weirdly delightful to show it off.  The most troubling part of being a tour guide in a very historic place?  Realizing I knew more about how to deep fry Coke (having lived in Texas for a bit) than the history of my state. Oh the shame. Related articles Mayflower II returns to Plymouth after extensive repairs (wcvb.com)