Don't Leave your dishes in the sinkhole & other shots about town.

As I mentioned in the last ICD entry, the giant sinkhole that took out a fifty foot wide swath of the Manhan Rail Trail last year has been fixed. As you probably noticed, yesterday was a pretty sweet day. Nearly 70 in November, can't complain about that. Perfect day for a bike ride on the again fully intact trail. Above is a shot of what was until recently, the biggest sinkhole Easthampton's ever seen. Here are a couple more of the fix. I'm guessing if the rail trail is again attacked by a giant sinkhole, this would probably be the safest place on the 4.2 mile stretch to be.




A few more random shots from my ride...


The Ferry Street haunted house could use a little stimulus money...


Maybe someday I'll be able to dig back through my inventory of local shots and be able to use this one as a 'before shot'...



Or is it the Manhan Cat Trail?...


The old factory footbridge, now just an interesting photo opp on Lower Mill Pond...



There are still a few reminders of the trail's original use to be found along the trail...


I had a bit more daylight and couldn't resist the temptation to wander around the edge of the Nashawannuck mud flats...

A few interesting bits to be seen...

Apologies to those who live, or have lived, in Millwaukee. I'm fairly certain this isn't their best...

I opted not to dig underneath this brick and risk the chance of actually finding out what died on that date. Intriguing though...

Soas to not end on such a down note, here's another curious discovery...

Hope you're enjoying this balmy little indian summer, leaves be darned.

Manhan Rail Trail is whole once again.

You may remember the scene above from just over a year ago. Our shiny, almost new railtrail was shortened by about a mile when a giant sinkhole swallowed up a fifty foot across stretch near the Rt. 5 end of the Manhan Rail trail. This happened back in September of 2008 (seems like only yesterday), and the Friends of the Manhan Rail Trail are happy to announce the hole has been filled, and all is well with the trail once again. As the article says, it wasn't cheap, but it was still a lot less costly than some of the early numbers that were thrown around..

You can read the story here.

To commemorate the 'made all better' trail, the Friends of the Manhan Rail Trail have announced a little ceremony to commemorate the fix. Here's the info:

Sinkhole Repair Ribbon Cutting Celebration

A ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate the repair of the washed out rail trail will be held at the site of the former sinkhole on Sunday, November 8 at 1:00 PM. Access to the site off East St. is available through the Pascommuck Trust roadside property (between Fort Hill Road and Route 5). From the Pascommuck Trust area, walk down the short hiking trail to the ceremony.

I don't have a shot of the finished job, so instead I thought I'd include another favorite from my rail trail collection...

Congrats and thanks to all the hardworking volunteers over at the Friends of the Manhan Rail Trail and key city hall folks for securing the funds and making it happen. The Manhan Rail Trail is a shiny feather in Easthampton's cap, and it's great that it's back in full operation. Nicely done.

Butter Pecan? You must be a Gemini.

As I usually preface when I actually talk about ice cream here in the Diary of Ice Cream, I'm actually going to mention something about ice cream here. At barely 46 degrees, it may not feel like perfect ice cream weather, but it's at least warm enough to talk about it.

Came across this story I thought all you ice cream enthusiasts might enjoy. Check it out to see if your own favorite ice cream flavor fits what the zodiac is predicting.

I scream. You Scream. All signs scream for ice cream.


Feel free to switch the various ice cream purveyors with (hopefully) your favorite, Mt. Tom's. And if this finds you hankerin' for a fresh scoop, we've got all the fall flavors going in full force right now - Pumpkin Pie, Caramel Pumpkin Cheesecake, Apple Pie, Double-dark Chocolate Chunk (not really a Fall flavor but still a great one), and many more.

Another helpful hint... It's never too early to place your order for those homemade pumpkin ice cream pies your family now expects you to bring to Thanksgiving dinner in a few weeks...

Just Vote.

I learned early in my entrepreneurial career that biz and politics do not make kind bedfellows. Or is it strange bedfellows. Heck, I forget. In any event, I just voted for the person I think is best to lead our little hamlet for the next couple years, and if you haven't already done the same, I highly recommend you make your away to your local polling place and put down your bet for our next mayor and councilors (all the school committee folk are guaranteed a seat unless there's one giant write-in candidate I suppose) before the polls close this evening.

Like I've said, I'm not going to endorse a particular candidate, but I will say it's been an interesting election season this time around, one that no matter who wins, has been good for the city. It should be an interesting day...

Meanwhile, I hope you're enjoying these first few days of November. It seems we are well past peak leaf peeping, but there are still a few bold and colorful trees to be had...

And it's also interesting to see the subtle collision of Fall and Winter holidays that starts to take place around this time. I happened to notice this yesterday. If there was a set of indian corn hanging on the door or a paper turkey in the window, we'd have all the end of year holidays covered...

No need to spend too much time here this morning. I'll leave you to your Tuesday morning TPR reports and perhaps a quick break to visit your local polling place of choice.

Just Vote!

Sharpening the Ice Cream Saw.

If you're a long-time Ice Cream Diaries reader, you may remember that late October is usually the time I add a rant about my annual trek to the New England Ice Cream Retailers Association (NEICRA) conference. It's basically a couple days of hobknobbing with ice cream shopkeeps, ice cream ingredient and equipment suppliers, and other frozen dairy dessert industry folk, swapping secrets and ideas, enjoying a nice dinner, and unlimited free sweet samples. What's not to like about that?

And another great thing about this ice cream gathering is it's always held at a different location. Last year was Providence, Rhode Island. I went to Cape Cod for it once. This year, Stowe, Vermont. At the Trapp Family Lodge. Since it's just after peak leaf peeper time and before ski season, I think we doubled the population of Stowe, and certainly filled the Lodge.



If my ride was any indication, Vermont is pretty empty this time of year.

I won't bore you with all the cool tips and tricks of the trade I picked up during the conference, except to mention the great recipe for a banana flambe ice cream I learned from the person sitting next to me at dinner, but I thought I would share a few shots from the roadtrip.


I must say Stowe is a very cool small New England town. It looked a little different without snow, but no less beautiful, even post Fall colors...


I always look for the old country store. There's just something so timeless in the datedness of these old places...


Guess this is why they called the place I stayed 'The Riverside Inn'. This was the back window view. Nothing wrong with that...


And wouldn't you know, next to the Inn was a big old fiberglass cow, I'm guessing from a CowFest public art display somewhere in Vermont...


I even stopped at the Ben & Jerry's factory on the way home. I figured it'd be worth a little inspiration, a giftshop ice cream trinket, and perhaps a flash of insight for the mere cost of an hour and three bucks.




They wouldn't let me take photos of the factory floor so we'll have to settle for their famous flavor graveyard. Had to wander up to see that one...



By the way, I did try the free sample at the end of the tour, and throwing all modesty aside, I think my mint chocolate chip would give theirs a run for their money. But that's just one ice cream guy's opinion.

Gotta get me one of these...

Of course with a giant Mt. Tom's logo and some bears on the side. And the Ben & Jerry's crossed out.

Speaking of bears, guess who just started a Fall internship here at Mt. Tom's...

Thanks to Peter Gunn, winner of Chrome Bear II, for graciously offering up Chromey for all to enjoy. He's a little tacky still, but we hope to include him in upcoming holiday window displays.

And finally, a shot of the post Labor Day crew, compliments of Mimi and a couple days with the cat away...

Must go warm up the throwing arm for the Rag Shag parade coming up here soon...

Happy Halloween to you & yours, and feel free to stop by anytime (except Monday)for a scoop of your favorite pumpkin pie ice cream or perhaps try my latest, banana flambe.

Photo of the Day.

He who gawks, er hesitates, as they say. Great sunset at the end of a beautiful New England autumn day. I admired it from my backyard parking lot just a little too long before my camera and I decided to wander down to my usual photo spot at the corner of Williston and Cottage. Still managed to salvage a bit of the great pink sky.

Interesting how the pond filled up from all that rain yesterday. I thought they said it would take a few months for it to refill when they're done. Looks like just a big rain or two will do the trick.

Never one to miss an opportunity to shoot during the 'golden hours', here are a few more, from my wander back from the pond...


Ah, the memories...

I like how this one shows all the stages of leaves in one place...

Colors...

Hope you enjoyed this rain then shine weekend.

Monday Off Photo Excursion & Moment of Zen.

As I mentioned in the last installment of the ICD, I have reclaimed Mondays as my own, and with that, have resumed the pursuit of dairy-free passions. This past Monday, I pointed my trusty Tacoma west, and headed out to the 'country'. First stop, Open View Farm in Conway. I was invited by Mt. Tom's alum turned farmer Kyla Allon (truth be told, I invited myself after having to turn down an invite to help pick garlic a few weekends ago), to catch up and get a tour of the farm she now calls her second home. Above is the sweet old farmhouse which sits comfortably on 200 acres of pristine New England landscape.

Here's Kyla with mate and fellow gardener Dan...

A single llama watches over the flock. When I asked Kyla why people actually raise llamas, she gave an interesting answer. It seems llamas aren't afraid of predators (e.g. coyotes, foxes, bears), unlike sheep who will literally cower together when threatened. Llamas will actually lunge after these predators, and usually scare them away, thus protecting the flock. I'm not sure how a llama would fare against a really hungry fox, but an interesting piece of livestock trivia nonetheless.

I wandered around the grounds, trusty Canon DSLR and me, for a while. Here are a few shots from the visit..

Come to think of it, tomorrow is Garlic Planting Day at Open View Farm, so if you've got 10-2pm free tomorrow (although I'm not sure if they'll be out there in the rain) I'm sure they could use the extra hands.

Thanks to Kyla for the tour, and the farm-fresh parting gifts (pumpkin, garlic cloves,tomatoes).

A shot from a quick drive through downtown Ashfield...

My next stop, Chapel Brook Falls in Ashfield, MA. A beautiful spot somewhere on the backroads between Conway and Williamsburg. One of my favorite photo spots in western MA...

And one more for good measure, from just up the road at the Union Street cross of the Manhan Rail Trail...

There you have it, a little taste of New England during the best season of all here. Hope you enjoyed, especially if you looking out your window at that same old palm tree or a fresh coat of snow on your driveway.

I leave you with a brief moment of zen from the Chapel Brook Falls...

And one more in case you've had a particularly stressful week, with a touch of fall foliage...




Namaste & Happy Autumn to you & yours.