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By Credit search: For the Gazette

By BILL DANIELSON

It has been a long, wet, raw month of May and my outdoor time has been curtailed by rotten weather on the weekends. So, it was with the utmost enthusiasm that I capitalized on a rare rain-free Saturday morning to get down to the Thinking Chair and commune with Nature just a bit. The chickadees (at least one of them) were ready to resume the practice of landing on my hat for some treats and I was very happy about that. I was also keen to see what was going on deeper in the forest, so after an hour of quiet observation time I got up out of my chair and headed into the woods.

By CHINANU OKOLI

Some local farmers hope bills to mitigate PFAS contamination in Massachusetts could safeguard their work and protect their lives.

By JACOB NELSON

“It’s usually around April 20 when I plant things in the field that can handle light frost,” says farmer Dan Greene of Good Bunch Farm. “Then there’s about a longer wait until the next big planting date in late May. By then the threat of frost is gone and you can finally plant all the warm-loving crops. After that, you really don’t have any time except for weeding and harvesting.”

By AMY NEWSHORE

What do you think is the No. 1 issue couples bring to therapists and relationship coaches? If you guessed communication, you’re right.

By CHRISTINE HATCH

If a tree falls in the forest, and nobody is around to hear it, does it make a sound? Well, it most certainly can. 

By BILL DANIELSON

Last Saturday was a bit of a milestone for me. It might easily have come and gone without me realizing it, but thanks to my obsessive record keeping I happened to see a notation in the pages of my 2025 field diary and avoided an embarrassing oversight. Last Saturday marked the 28th anniversary of Speaking of Nature, an event that I don’t think I could have ever imagined back in 1997 when I sent in my first column.

By JIM BRIDGMAN

Cubmaster Walter Dembek was taken by surprise at a meeting of Cub Scout Pack 119 last week at which Carol Paciorek narrated a tribute to the scouting leader entitled, “This is Your Life.” Dembek was given a photo album and plaque commemorating his service to Pack 119.

By LISA GOODRICH

The spring planting season is upon us, and home gardeners are out in full force on weekends, visiting farm stands and garden centers hunting for just the right elements for their gardens and outdoor spaces. The season celebrates the return of the sun and warmer overnight temperatures, with many sun-loving species taking center stage on magazine covers, websites, and in newsletters.

By JOAN AXELROD-CONTRADA

It started, like so many profound revelations do, in the car, with a canine companion and the radio tuned to my favorite oldies station.

By BILL DANIELSON

The great spring migration is in full swing and millions upon millions of birds are flying northward across our entire continent every night. The weather will always play a big role in the exact timing of the movements of the birds, but every morning offers up the opportunity to detect the presence of yet another new arrival. Birds often “surf” on waves of air associated with storms, so the first clear morning after a couple days of rain can be particularly exciting.

By HANNAH BEVIS

The floor of Interskate 91 South is often filled with young skaters teetering around the track, but the athletes on it now are sure on their skates, focused and ready to battle. Two jammers sit poised, their bodies coiled in anticipation; in front of them, two bunches of blockers gaze at them intently, trying to determine the best strategy for locking them down. For a second, there’s quiet. Then a sharp whistle slices through it and the two skaters explode forward, trying to duck and weave between a mass of bodies to escape the pack and rack up points for their team. Their teammates and fans yell and cheer from the sidelines, their voices echoing around the rink, but skater Lilith of the Valley (government name: Lisa Andras) doesn’t hear any of it.

By MICKEY RATHBUN

In the Orchard Arboretum, a little-known public garden in South Amherst, a living work of art is making its debut this spring. “I call it a daffodil ribbon,” explained Richard Waldman, a retired landscape architect from New York City who conceived of the project two years ago and has finally brought it to fruition.

By RICHARD MCCARTHY

I’ve come to believe there can be a profound and potent human connection in laughter. Shared humor and hatefulness toward someone don’t mix very well. The poet Alan Ginsberg used the phrase “real holy laughter” in his epic poem “Howl,” and I can identify with that wording.

By AALIANNA MARIETTA

LEVERETT — Roughly 100 residents voted to approve Leverett’s share of the Amherst-Pelham Regional School District budget, accept a 146.3-acre property gift and appropriate funds for a series of community preservation projects during Saturday’s annual Town Meeting.

By LISA GOODRICH

For Kimberly Longey, farmer-florist at Wild Life Flowers in Plainfield, the idea of the slow flower movement began with an appreciation for local food. “As a lover of flowers, I have purchased out-of-season blooms at the grocery store because they brightened my mood in the dead of winter. Even though I was conscious of where my food came from, I wasn’t really thinking about where my flowers came from,” says Longey.

By BILL DANIELSON

Last week I started telling the story of a particular expedition into the woods and I ended up writing a column on the basics of fern biology. I covered the evolution of ferns, their place in the general evolution of terrestrial plants, and the curious nature of their reproductive cycle. To put it plainly, things got away from me and I didn’t notice until it was too late. The beauty of time, however, is the fact that there is always next week. So, without further adieu, I transport you back to a morning in early April…

By ADITI THUBE

Mike Kennealy didn’t grow up dreaming of politics. He grew up in a middle-class family in Reading. His father was a steelworker, and his mother was a homemaker. From them, he inherited hard work and a deep belief in fairness.

By JIM BRIDGMAN

A liberal and enterprising spirit on the subject of the Hampshire and Hampden canal prevails in this and other towns through which the canal is expected to pass. Measures have been taken to procure a skillful engineer, and an accurate survey will soon be made.

By MOLLY PARR

Have you ever sauteed a radish? Ever roasted one? The application of heat to this particular spring vegetable is transformational. Its peppery bite disappears and an entirely new flavor appears in its place. Its snap softens into something almost buttery.

By JIM BRIDGMAN

Martha R. Fowlkes, a city resident and a graduate student in sociology at the University of Massachusetts, has been awarded one of 25 Woodrow Wilson Doctoral Dissertation Fellowships in Women’s Studies for 1975-76. She will use the fellowship to work on her Ph.D. dissertation at UMass.