Amherst Block Party: A Great Way to Bring the Town Together
I’ve made a tradition of attending the downtown Amherst Block party, and last night we kept it going, meeting up with family and friends at those round tables they park in the middle of North Pleasant St. I am very fond of events that involve blocking out cars, since I […]
Inka Spends a Dreamy Afternoon Chasing Almonds in Alfarnatejo
Every day I delve into another place. As I comb through my vast inbox full of travel stories, I go to wherever the story is located. Today I enjoyed a lunch with enough good wine to make me sleepy rural Alfarnatejo Spain, where Inka Piegsa-Quischotte took a food tour. It’s […]
The Tech Tax Baffles Even the Department of Revenue…and Needs to Go
I met with a group of software developers tonight and the topic was the onerous ‘tech tax’ that’s been imposed with a very short lead time on anyone in Massachusetts who uses ‘commercial software’ to provide services to people. The good news is that the consensus from these members of […]
Shedding an Old Couch and Getting a Sticker…Little Things Add Up
I think I’ve discovered a secret to happiness in life. Get those little things done that you keep putting off that ultimately will make you miserable if you don’t deal with them. I had a few of those today, first I brought my car in for inspection and was shocked […]
The Woodstove Warms our House and Warms Our Hearts too.
I’m looking at our wood-stove that we installed in April blaze brightly. It’s a satisfying thing to light the first fire of the year, and this new stove just keeps on burning, no need to fiddle or diddle. My old Franklin stove, which had a historical pedigree, would go out […]
This is the Time of Year to Make Corn Fritters
I love corn. This is the perfect time of year for a corn-lover and last night I made a recipe, for the second time, from a cookbook I heard about and ordered. The book is Sweet Corn Spectacular, by Marie Porter, and it contains 70 recipes for fresh corn. Last […]
Paul Ehrlich Was More Than a Sore Loser in “The Bet”
There is probably no name that struck more terror in me as a kid growing up than Paul Ehrlich. He was the biologist who wrote the book that freaked me out more than any other–The Population Bomb. In a review in the WSJ, a new book details a famous bet […]
How Railroad Tracks are Rehabilitated
I am fascinated by the vast infrastructure that’s required to keep a railroad running. And I’m especially excited by the coming Amtrak service that will blow through South Deerfield while making new station stops in Holyoke, Northampton and Greenfield. The other day I was having a soft-serv at Hillside Creamery, […]