A curve drawn in one movement becomes a pathway on a hillside. Walk slowly on a spring morning. The cherry trees are blooming. A woodpecker drums in the wood over the hill. The path turns with each step, toward the lake in the valley, toward the wooded slope above it. […]
Read articleThom Smith searches for spring wildflowers
Ever wish that you were first name friends with the wildflowers that begin coming up in April and fill the woods with color in May? This short stretch of spring is a season of its own — in these short weeks while the spring sun warms the soil, and light reaches […]
Read articleRare butterflies thrive at Lime Kiln Farm sanctuary in Sheffield
Berkshire Naturalist Thom Smith takes a walk through a Mass Audubon property in Sheffield. From beginning to end, a visitor to Lime Kiln Farm Wildlife Sanctuary would be hard pressed to find a more beautiful walk that includes vistas of the Taconic Mountains beyond open hayfields and history with glimpses […]
Read articleThom Smith explores Bartholomew’s Cobble in wildflower season
Berkshire naturalist Thom Smith recalls a walk through Bartholomew’s Cobble, a Trustees of reservations Property in Sheffield along the Housatonic River.
Read articleBartholomew’s Cobble guides explore the woods in the bare season
A week ago, I watched Carrianne Petrik-Huff take the temperature of a skunk cabbage. The thermometer, held inside the curl of the young plant, read 36 degrees — almost 20 degrees warmer than the outside air.
Read articleWildflowers run wild at Bartholomew’s Cobble
Trillium cover a hillside with wide three-corner flowers and the pungent odor of … old socks. "Remind you of your locker room days?" said Carrieanne Petrik-Huff, laughing, after a wildflower walk at Bartholomew’s Cobble.
Read articleBerkshire writers travel in time with Berkshire Theatre Group
“Harriet Beecher Stowe had a manic depressive husband, and the roof leaked, and she had seven children, and she wrote ‘Uncle Tom’s Cabin,’” said Berkshire playwright Barbara Sims. “She inspired me. I’ve raised children; I’m in a marriage; but how do you make your own identity?” She read Stowe’s journal […]
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