North Country Reflections

Oh… the difference a day makes! Last Monday, just four days ago now, the old snow on the trails around here was thoroughly pock-marked by humans. But on my daily walk with our three-legged dog Bruno around the little mountain behind our house, in addition to the human footprints, I would also note the tracks [...]

The holly family…Ilex… is a large and familiar genus—over 400 species of trees and shrubs that inhabit woodlands in many parts of the world. The holly of my youth was the ‘Christmas card’ holly— spiny, evergreen leaves and fat red berries.  I can still remember the huge holly bushes in my parent’s garden—presumably they were [...]