The Orange County Arboretum’s 35 acres in Montgomery, NY are open to the public during daylight hours year-round. ( Amara Byrnes (age 10)) A microcosmic amble The Orange County Arboretum in Montgomery, NY is a great place to refresh and refine your appreciation of how and why humans... Thin Places 22 May 2023 | 01:58
Plänterwald, a park in Berlin, Germany, where people can find and add branches to the structures. ( Everett Cox) A brush pile of opportunity Fallen branches, sticks, trimmings offer unique opportunities to the backyard naturalist. They can help deepen our experience... Thin Places 06 Feb 2023 | 11:45
Hessian Lake, pictured in an old postcard, was known for a time as Bloody Pond. Zeitgeist time! Winter is such a good time to visit what you can’t see. A time to revisit, remember and explore what’s covered over, beyond... Thin Places 07 Dec 2022 | 03:33
Seligmann’s book, The History of Magic and the Occult, originally published in 1948, at the artist’s grave in Sugar Loaf, NY. ( Daniel Mack) Odd but potent comforts Where to go in these times of war, pandemics and deep political confusion, for a moment of reflection, relief, perhaps a... Thin Places 01 Sep 2022 | 03:30
Bob sells old clocks and other vintage bric-a-brac he’s collected roadside in Milford, PA. ( Becca Tucker) That age-old yard sale magic Though I don’t need as many things now as I once thought I did, I have not stopped going to yard sales. In this ever more... Thin Places 08 Jun 2022 | 11:04
Finding a better backyard balance A group of us in the neighborhood are talking about doing something simple, and unusual, in the month of May. For years I’ve... Thin Places 03 Feb 2022 | 11:55
Pleiades in a dark night sky. Elements of this image furnished by NASA. Winter relief: the naked eye stars It’s time to look up. There’s a dreamy ancient getaway waiting in the winter sky. The news, Covid, the climate all dampen... Thin Places 09 Feb 2022 | 12:20
The next full moon comes out around 8 p.m. on April 26. It’s the “egg moon,” ripe and fertile with change and life. It’s also the first of this year’s supermoons, which look extra big and bright. ( Daniel Mack) Moonbeam vision We may be emerging from this collective trauma, or not. We’re still adjusting to the bald, painful fact that some old forms... Thin Places 01 Feb 2021 | 01:31
You may see some bluebirds overwintering here. For the Lenape, they were the sign of the spirit that drives off the gods of winter. ( Daniel Mack) Second Wave walking What place could I possibly recommend you visit that could be any more interesting than your own head, and heart, in this... Thin Places 24 Dec 2020 | 12:16
This red-tail hawk adds an enchanted layer to the quiet beauty of the Warwick Cemetery. ( David Horton) Cemeteries feel just right Extraordinary times call for imaginative responses. Forget the AT, the Preserves, the Parks. Go to the cemeteries, for better... Thin Places 14 Jul 2020 | 03:23
The kaleidoscope summer As our old ways continue to get altered, new ways do seem to get revealed. It reminds me of nothing so much as looking through... Thin Places 11 May 2020 | 01:17
Visiting wounded places Places, like people, get wounded. Vandalism, neglect, insensitivity, overuse and the forces of nature all have their way... Thin Places 04 Mar 2020 | 05:00
Winter blues does likely involve vitamin D, but a change of attitude may help, too. ( Daniel Mack) Appreciating shadows Winter is marked for many in the United States (estimates are 10 million) by the “winter blues” or its clinical cousin, seasonal... Thin Places 14 Nov 2019 | 03:45
