A while back, I noticed a falcon sitting on the fire escape of an empty building in Holyoke that I pass on the way to work. I took a closer look after work, and saw that there was what looked like a nest in the top landing of the fire escape: In that blurry cell … Read more

Over Memorial Day weekend I took my bike for a longer ride.  I headed for the rail trail in Southwick, MA, which I’d been on once before. I began by riding on the usual trails through Northampton and Easthampton.  I came to what used to be the southwestern end of the Manhan trail, and prepared … Read more

On May 20, I participated in the third annual Hotel Bridge bike ride.  I’ve done this every year they’ve held it, and fortunately this year they planned for possible bad weather.  That is, they scheduled a rain date a week later (last year it rained most of the day of the ride, and I rode … Read more

So this year I decided to get a new bike.  Just as 4 years ago I bought a hybrid because I wanted something faster than my old mountain bike, I wanted to upgrade to something lighter and faster than the hybrid (and that I could take on longer rides).  I visited my local bike shop … Read more

In May I participated in the Northampton LGBT Pride parade with a group from work for the third year in a row.  This year the parade route went a different direction than it had previously.  Instead of progressing into downtown, with the rally in a parking lot there, the parade started downtown and went out … Read more

Another catch-up post: Back in March we had a spate of very warm weather, and I went out biking on a Saturday.  I headed out to Williamsburg, via the Northampton bike trail.  I stopped for lunch in Williamsburg center at Chef Wayne’s Big Mamou, which I’d been wanting to try for a few years.  I … Read more

Catching up with a few photos from the past few months. Back in January I was flying home from a visit to Michigan.  As I waited in the Detroit airport, I noticed something moving through the air in the concourse.  Then I saw more than one thing.  It turned out that there were birds that … Read more

In February, we celebrated our anniversary by going to visit Magic Wings, a butterfly conservatory in the town of Deerfield, Mass.  I had passed by the place before, but never been there.  After living in this area for more than 6 years, it was about time to check it out. Once you pay admission and … Read more

Last week I walked into the bedroom to find the following:   Usually the cats are more discreet when they go undercover.  

Sentence I uttered at breakfast this morning: “Perhaps my patronus is a plectranthus.”