December 24, 2008
Stories from our year:
Char - I spent the warm season hiking the Appalachian Trail with single-minded determination - had some wonderful times, occasionally with company, often solo or with faithful dog Oscar. Maine is very rugged compared with the rest of the Trail! I hope to finish the last 100 miles next spring. Now I'm volunteering at the CT Trust for Historic Preservation on a project to document historic barn structures statewide, which is useful work, from the point of view of preservationists anyway. And trying to stay fit as I turned 60.
Bob - still presiding over NEPEC and standing up to the drug companies - he hiked briefly with me in Maine in August, and then we went to Alaska in September with long-time friends Mike and Phoebe. As the pictures illustrate we had some beautiful fall weather, though yes, it was chilly.
Abby continues gardening in SF (urbansprouts.org)
She and Dennis visit wine country when they need a vacation.
Louisa works on the children's web programming at WGBH in Boston, does a lot of crafts (animalicules.blogspot.com). 
She is off this holiday with Li Zhuang to visit his folks in China.
Mabel just moved to Austin, Texas to study tv, film, and video criticism - we're going to visit her over the holidays. Earlier she and John just "had" to take a visit back to Philadelphia for the World Series to share the excitement and joy.
Holiday 2008
Artifacts of West Rock Ridge
Artifact: something made or modified by humans, especially an object remaining from another time or culture.
December 1, 2008
Now that I'm home in New Haven for the winter, West Rock is one of my regular haunts - Oscar and I have several favorite hikes: the Regicides Trail to Judges Cave (Oscar is showing off the so-called cave), Lake Wintergreen loop over the ridge, High Rock, Mt. Sanford, and more.
During the 19th century, quarrying, wagon roads, and mill dams put their marks on the Rock.
Here the West River in flood runs past an old dam site.
Stone walls remain as evidence of long-gone agricultural uses; this one is in the Mt. Sanford section north of Roaring Brook Falls.
Ballfields at the south end and mountain-bike trails in the woods are current uses (official or stealth).
Recently, we noticed a series of "stone age" monuments erected in different areas along the trails near the ridge top.
Only a few weeks later, one set was gone (vandalism? a purposeful temporary work?). Here are some photos of this installation art.
