The Suffield Observer (https://thesuffieldobserver.com/author/abby-wolcott/)
Our weekly pilgrimage on the trails around town helps us to lead a wide awake life. Earlier this fall, I had launched into one of my endless narratives while climbing the hills; my friends may or may have not had their hands clapped over their ears, but their peace on the trail was short-lived, as my faithful pup uttered a strange bark and bounded off after two woodland creatures.
A little while back I was on a ferry off the coast of Cape Cod. The seas were a bit rough and I was glad not to be upchucking when I caught sight of two men making their way on deck.
Over a century ago, the ladies of West Suffield Congregational Church gathered, thimble and needle in hand, to sew an autograph bed quilt to raise money to expand their meeting house.
Around this time of year I can’t help but think of times spent in lecture halls back in those college days. One of my favorite professors was a tall drink of water, had Clark Kent glasses, a bald head and wrote in all capital letters on the board.
This is how the repartee unfolds as we get ready to hit the trails each week. There is a flurry of text messages, emails, and phone calls regarding all the wonderful places in town to stretch our legs.
Our eyes met on the trail where many great relationships ignite. I had just headed down the hill and came face to face with a pretty rare reptile in these parts, a wood turtle.
The way I see it, there were many advantages to growing up with a whole slew of brothers. We spent most of our days crawling around in the dirt or rerouting streams using mud and sticks.
Like any decent anglophile, I’m pretty attached to all things British. What’s not to love about their polite queuing, scones and clotted cream, the royals, the BBC, a good block of Stilton and, of course, the Beatles.
I’ll come clean that I spend a lot of time fantasizing when I am in the woods. But, rest assured these fantasies are mostly g-rated and they go back in time to the days of the Bering land bridge between Asia and North America and lots of cool animals sauntered over to our neck of the woods.
By this time of year, birders around town have had plenty of time to amp up their feeding stations.