Cherocraft - Native American Arts

Rob Leverett of Cherocraft is holding a flint knapping demonstration this Saturday at the
Spring Party at Positronic Design. He will also have some of his artwork on display.
I am looking forward to this years festivities.

Salem Willows Park

We ended up at the Salem Willows Park in Salem, Mass today. The Willows has been a public park since 1858. It has a beach, a public pier and 200 year old Willow trees which I am assuming is where the park gets its name. There is a historic 1866 carousel, kiddie rides, modern video games, vintage pinball machines and classic skeeball. Something for everyone!

There is also a large assortment of food there, including salt water taffy, the famous Willow's chop suey sandwich, pizza, seafood, ice cream and apparently "the best popcorn in America". The Willows also claims to be where America's first ice cream cone was made but after doing some research online I found that there are several places making claim to that title.

We made our way down to the dock where there were plenty of people enjoying the beautiful day. Fishermen, couples, families with their kids but the person that caught our attention was this young man catching crabs. It seems he ties chicken legs and fish heads to the collapsible wire basket and lowers it into the water. The crabs go after the meat and when he pulls the basket up, supper! The one he is pointing to is pregnant so she got thrown back in the water.

This boy was fascinated with the escaping crab,
although he did squeal quite a bit when it got a little to close.

I took a few nice pictures of the opposite shoreline from the dock.

And a picture of the gazebo on the hill surrounded by willow trees.

I don't usually take pictures of people but I have to admit that these pictures are better with the people in them. Anyone who knows me will know just how bizarre that statement is for me.

UMass McGuirk Stadium and Sunwheel

My general plan was to go check out these rocks in the middle of this field.

This is the UMass sunwheel project and it is the first of many planned around the world to promote awareness and understanding of astronomy. Apparently after several false starts a preliminary sunwheel was installed in 1997. It took another three years to raise the funds for the current installation. The public is encouraged to attend sunrise and sunset gathering during the solstice and equinox. Check their website for more info and gathering dates.

Now while all of this is interesting it didn't really hold my attention on this windy overcast day. Spring is merely days away and the willow trees in the field were calling me.

Obviously I love trees. Of the 200 pictures I took over 150 of them were trees. But there were other things to see here. I ended up behind the UMass Warren P. McGuirk Alumni Stadium, with a seating capacity of 17,000. It has been the home of the UMass Minuteman football team since 1965.

I found a beat up football training sled in the middle of the wet field.

Of course I went back to taking pictures of trees (and clouds)!

The History of Everything Timeline

This puts it all in perspective!

THE HISTORY OF EVERYTHING TIMELINE

Mill River Park

So I had an hour and a half to kill in Amherst this afternoon which prompted me to check out a the Mill River Park. This park had the standard things you might find in a neighborhood park, a playscape, ball fields and plenty of parking. But the Schmidtlets know there is more going on here than a standard playground.

I cut between the ballfields and crossed this cool bridge.

I followed the trail for awhile then walked along the river taking pictures. I came across this monument to someone who has passed who was obviously loved by others.

It was a very nice area.

I came upon this structure as I was roaming around the trails. I'm not sure what they were trying to accomplish here but it looked interesting in the sunlight.

The skunk cabbage was thriving.

This entire bank of trees had broken off at some point. It made me think of what may happen to California someday.

Burr Pond

On my trip to Connecticut today I stopped to visit one of my favorite places, Burr Pond. I have walked, run and kayaked Burr Pond more times than I can count, in every season and just about every kind of weather. I have more pictures of Burr Pond than any other location. But I wanted to go again today, to revisit my old haunt and take more pictures for this blog.

Burr Pond was created in the 1800's when Milo Burr dammed a stream of the Still River creating a permanent source of waterpower. This water powered America's first condensed milk factory owned by Gail Borden. The pond measures three quarters of a mile long and is part of an 1800 acre recreational park. The area surrounding the park is strewn with boulders left from the mile high ice sheet that passed through this area long ago.

This is the view from the boat launch at Burr Pond. It is a relatively small pond with an 8 mph speed limit and no water skiing. It is great for canoeing and kayaking as there are usually only a few motor boats and they are usually fishing, not cruising.

View of the water from under a hemlock tree.

One of my favorite places to sit and chill.

Unfortunately there was a lot of tree damage since the last time I was here. I only took a few pictures because it was too heartbreaking to see these magnificent trees snapped in two.

Luckily the damage was confined mainly to one side of the pond. I was soon reminded that even the damaged trees fullfill a purpose. A beam of sun was shining through a break in the clouds, warming this snag and all of its occupants.

Groff Park

So I have driven by this little park many times over the past few months. I even drove in the parking lot and looked around through the truck window one cold winter day. A nice little neighborhood park but nothing special for someone who doesn't have little children, or so I thought. I recently learned there is an interpretive trail here. So I headed back after work today, still not really expecting much. It turned out to be a great little trail full of surprises.

According to the sign at the trailhead at Groff Park the Emily Dickinson Trail was built by the members of the American Society of Civil Engineers. It generally followed the Fort River upstream for 0.9 miles until it hooks up with the Norwottuck Rail Trail.

The trail started out a little rough. There were no guides in the trail box, most of the posts were either missing or their numbers were vandalized and the trail was obviously not being maintained. It was muddy in a few places causing the treadway to widen, the wooden stairs have seen better days and one of the bog bridges was unstable. But there were nice areas with sandy places along the river and sun-dappled hemlocks next to the trail.

There is also evidence of a busy beaver in the area. He has been working hard trying to build a damn across the river and I'm sure he would succeed if not for human interference. Mr. Beaver did leave an interesting pattern on this tree trunk though.

Then the trail opened up into field. The scenery was again surprising. Not what I expected to find behind the swingset. The trail winds through these fields for awhile before joining up with river bank again.

Next the trail followed a rusty barbed wire fence bordering a field on one side and the river on the other. Unfortunately the land owner felt the need to use this area as his dumping ground. The river bank had collapsed and was being shored up with rip rap and bales of hay.

I came across a wooden bench next with one of the largest Oriental Bittersweet vines I have seen in this area. It had wound itself around a tree and literally snapped it in half. The old railroad bridge which is now the Norwottuck Rail Trail came into sight next which is where this trail ends. More information and pictures of this vine in my Oriental Bittersweet Primer post.

Discoveries on the Norwottuck Rail Trail

So I discovered today that right behind the Mountain Farms Mall in Hadley, where Penrapture and I often have lunch, there is an access point to the Norwottuck Rail Trail. It is 11 miles and runs through Northampton, Hadley and Amherst. Norwottuck is a Native American term for the area which translates to mean "in the midst of the river".

Now I wasn't expecting much as I drove around the back of the mall. So far all I have seen of this area is Route 9 from Amherst to Northampton, which is malls, fast food resturants and big box stores. I was surprised to see this scene within minutes of starting down the trail.

And then this scene greeted me as I crossed South Maple Street. Who would of thought such a beautiful landscape was behind the mall.

Walking a little further I spotted this wet area between the bike path and the back of some stores. It was an intriguing spot that invited me to pull up a patch of damp grass and enjoy the warm day and the blue sky. I scared away two ducks in the process.

The water was dark and still as I sat and watched life in this unexpected place. There were tiny red worms squiggling in the shallow water, a beetle coming up for air every few minutes and then burrowing back down in the leaves underwater, birds chattering at me and a little chipmunk scurring around doing his thing. I sat enjoying the peacefulness, taking pictures and rubbing dirt in my journal (that is a story for another post someday).

I think I should start moving to a new area once every decade or so, just so I can discover new wonders. I wish I had time to post all of the places I go and things I see but I would never get any other work done. I am looking forward to all the discoveries I have yet to make here in the Pioneer Valley.

"It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don't keep your feet, there's no knowing where you might be swept off to."
JRR Tolkien