No Politics Here.

How about a little virtual Fall stroll through Easthampton. Since a picture is worth a whole bunch of words, I'll just leave you to the images (click to enlarge)...

Enjoy your day. Feeling like Fall now, but then again, it is November after all..

See you soon.

Sights of Easthampton.

Had to lead with this one..

Took a little hike up to the top of Mt. Tom recently..

Just after I took the shot, a kite flyer (is that what they call them?) came floating into the frame..

Pretty cool. Can't say I'd ever do it, but it does look like fun..

A collection of shots from the 225th anniversary parade Saturday morning. Great fun had by all..

The Hot Buttered Elves float was definitely a crowd favorite..

This band definitely came to play. An extremely rare summer performance..

Union Street never looked so festive..

The Lloyd Cole Trio playing at the all-day concert event on Saturday. The Friday night concerts are nice, but it was awesome to hear some great local indie rock at the new bandshell by the Lower Mill Pond..

Among the many fun and family-friendly activities on Sunday was a 'vintage baseball' game. Here they are explaining the rules..

It was a great weekend of fun to commemorate Easthampton's 225th. Perfect weather, big crowds, few incidents. Congrats and thanks to the planning team, sponsors, and volunteers that made it all happen. BearFest last year, 225th this year, what can we do next year?...

Green Returns.

Thought I'd share a few images from my monday hike and bike...

The Manhan Rail Trail, heading toward Southampton. Much less traveled but no less cool.

The Park Street overpass, or is it underpass...

Caught a quick inning over at Nonotuck Park...

Old concrete stairs just below the Goat Peak firetower...

The aformentioned Goat Peak firetower...

The sweet view from atop the tower. Had gotten a little hazy, but spectacular nonetheless. Here's looking toward the 'Seven Sisters', the river, and even Umass in the far distance...

The peak of Mt. Tom...

Hope you're muddling through this more familiar Spring weather ok. Rumor has it, the good stuff returns tomorrow.

Easthampton Then & Now.

I've been working on a little photo project these past few weeks (in my 'spare' time). I got my hands on a big stack of old Easthampton postcards from my friend and biz neighbor Marlies to go with a bunch I already had and have been about town trying to recapture the images from the exact same spot. I'm planning to put them together for a month-long show on the walls of the Easthampton Chamber of Commerce starting next week (will let you know when it's up).

It's been fun, although a bit tougher then I expected. Challenges like traffic and trees that have grown in front of things during the hundred years since the original image was shot are just a couple that come to mind.

I figured it would be a show that might go along nicely with the upcoming Easthampton 225th celebration in June. If it comes out well, I hope to also hang it in the shop during the month of July.

I'm still trying to figure out the best way to display the before and now images. While I work through those artistic challenges, I thought I'd wet your appetite with one...

Then...


And now...


Stay tuned, many more where that came from...

Feels Like Spring.

Starting to look like Spring.


Let's just flash foward to Saturday.

And call it Spring.

It's spring fever. That is what the name of it is. And when you've got it, you want - oh, you don't quite know what it is you do want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so! ~Mark Twain

Hope you get out to enjoy.

Hello Spring, are you sure you can't stay?

Took a little morning hike up to the top of Mt. Tom on my day off yesterday. The light wasn't perfect, because I didn't get a very early start, but it was my day off, and that just wouldn't be right. In any event, thought I'd share a few shots from the top.

The plains...

One More...
You may have already noticed, unless you were the one person in town who wasn't outside during this beautiful weekend, our friend the Nashawannuck Pond is back from her extended vacation and makeover. Can't say for sure when the fish will return (or will be returned), but we'll keep you posted.



The town beach side of the pond got most of the dredging. It'll be interesting to see what it's like this summer, when that side is usually chock full o' weeds. I promise to provide a kayak-view report on that sometime in late July.



In the meantime, here's the 'town beach', which is looking a bit muddy at this point. It seems like it'll need a few truckloads of sand to actually look like a beach. But that seems weird, the thought of actually putting sand into a newly dredged pond, sorta like driving your car through the mud right after you took it to the car wash.

Hope you're enjoying the fine weather. The pace in the shop has certainly picked up. And I just happen to be well stocked with interesting flavors... Strawberry cheesecake, Guinness, Mocha chip, Leprechaun Tracks (mint with chocolate fudge, rainbow sprinkles, & colored mini marshmallows), Girl Scout Mint, and, wait for it, maple bacon.

I know you're curious...

Winter's Fashionably Late Arrival.

Well, I guess it was nearly inevitable that our luck would eventually run out (or our luck would return, depending on how you feel about snow), and a snowstorm would finally wander north enough to force us to fire up that under-appreciated snowblower in the back of the garage.

A few ticks up on the thermometer, and this morning's winter wonderland has quickly become a winter slush puppy, but I'm happy to report I was able to wander out with my camera this morning before the changeover. Thanks mostly to an early morning wake-up call that came in the form of an avalanche-like crash of snow falling off the slate room of my house.


Whoever borrowed Mt. Tom this morning, please return it. No questions asked.

Drive safe. Or nap safe. Looks like we're in for a good stretch of winter's wrath, enjoy.