Mack with a group from Strawtown Nature Arts at Plum Point in New Windsor, NY. ( Joanna Dickey) Kinship in an ‘us or them’ world For those of us tipped towards the natural world, this is a challenging time. How do we make sense? What do we do? For years,... Thin Places 03 Mar 2025 | 09:35
Dan Mack and some of his maker buddies in Warwick, NY. ( Katherine Edgar) Less talking, more being For those of us interested and experienced in Thin Places – those places of wonder and disorder — this may be our moment.... Thin Places 21 Nov 2024 | 12:39
Condemned: the 70s era house was inundated with water, mud and then dreaded black mold. ( Daniel Mack) Meadow-Mind: a negotiated truce I’ve spent the last three months living very near a “condemned” property on the rugged Olympic Peninsula in Washington. Thin Places 27 Aug 2024 | 04:27
Frederick Franck sculpture at Pacem in Terris in Warwick, NY. ( Daniel Mack) ‘No snack bar?!’: Staycationing 101 For one reason or another, some of us might be on Staycation this summer. Though there might be disappointment or a tinge... Thin Places 16 May 2024 | 11:59
Ceramic Greenman by Florida potter Rick Weber ( Photo by Daniel Mack) TreeSits This Leafing Out time is great for encounters with trees. All trees are portals to elsewhere. Those roots, branches, bark,... Thin Places 20 Feb 2024 | 12:50
These German prisoners were held near the Widmer Wine vineyards in Naples, NY, where they harvested grapes. Source: Warfare History Network ( Historical photo) Winter ghosts Winter is a time for remembering what we cannot see. Like the ghosts of young German prisoners of war in our onion fields.... Thin Places 13 Nov 2023 | 01:32
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
