There are many Pioneer Valley traditions that I’ve never observed. The Big E, for instance, for some people is a ‘not miss’ but I’ve only been a few times over the past ten years. Other events I always seem to end up hearing about after they’ve over, like the Garlic […]
Spending time up in the village of Wendell offers a new perspective on life in the Valley. As soon as you traverse Rte 63 on the way up North Leverett Road, the phone begins to weaken and then for the rest of the way, it’s no bars at all. I’ve […]
When I was very young, every Friday there was a familiar and comforting ritual. My dad would come home from work, wearing his tie, carrying his briefcase, and as he crossed the threshold of our New Jersey house he’d ask: “What night is tonight?” We kids would all answer in […]
The class is called Entrepreneurs in Journalism. The requirement of the class at UMass is that everyone in the room has to have a dream. An idea that they want to turn into something big. They meet on the 7th floor of the big UMass library at an early hour. […]
Dan Morrison’s The Black Nile tells the story of a man who takes an epic journey. He begins in Uganda and follows the route of the mighty Nile river all the way up, through Sudan and finally to its end, in Alexandria Egypt. The book delves into the politics that […]
I’ve spent a wonderful weekend in the 978 area code, a land called Wendell where cell phones do not function and so, I’m detached from the details of the people in my life. I casually emailed my son, asking him if he’d like to join me at the gym, a […]
Twelve hardy souls began the contest, but after only four cloves, most dropped to the side. That left only the hardest of the hard-core garlic eaters left in the annual contest at the North Quabbin Garlic and Arts Festival in rainy Orange today. Eyes tearing, up, they chomped down clove […]
Driving along a country road near a large shimmering reservoir, Daniel Butler suddenly slows down. He jumps out of the driver’s seat and whips out a special knife. In seconds he’s dug up a beautiful specimen, a four-inch cepe. He’s a mushroom forager, par excellence, and yesterday he took us […]
Wow. Wales is a place I never thought would be so wonderful, so pretty, so green and so…inviting! It’s not on most American’s radar, the place just doesn’t pop up on most traveler’s ‘places to go’ lists. But now that I’ve spent time driving the length of the place and […]
Shaun Krijnen was wearing rubber boots and rubber overalls when we met him. Still, he had that tossled look of a movie star millionaire, and even though was worried about how he looked in front of the visiting journalists, he struck quite a pose in that late afternoon light in […]
Ferran Adrià of elbulli, once known as the world’s most famous restaurant, uses a tiny flake of a certain salt to dab on his oysters. The Queen of England and her son William have been known to also use this special salt at events as important at May’s royal wedding. […]
After a flight made much more pleasant by a serendipitous upgrade to business class, which gave me a night’s sleep on a flat bed, I’ve spent the day here in Wales. I have given up trying to actually pronounce the names of the places I’ve seen. We are staying in […]