Merrimack Valley Magazine

Outdoor And Nature Adventures

July 19, 2021 by Kristin Cole

You don’t need the folks here at MVM to tell you the benefits of getting outside and experiencing the natural world. During the pandemic, the popularity of outdoor activities increased tremendously — to the point where we faced a bicycle shortage. Fortunately, sneakers remain in good supply, and if you’re looking to lace up and find new places to explore, you’ll find plenty to do this summer. Here are some great places in the Merrimack Valley. As a bonus, we’ve added off-the-beaten-path destinations within driving distance. From picnics to whaling voyages, luna moths to kayaks, hot air balloons to movie nights at the beach, it’s time to get out and explore.

Brooksby Farm
If you’re looking for a good place to go fruit picking, Brooksby Farm is the place for you. Their hearty supply of apples, raspberries, blueberries and peaches ensures that you’ll walk away with a heavy basket, full of fresh fruits. Don’t forget to visit the local farm animals and market too.
Peabody, Mass. / BrooksbyFarm.org

Bruce Freeman Rail Trail
Spanning over 25 miles, through the towns of Lowell, Chelmsford, Westford, Carlisle, Acton, Concord, Sudbury and Framingham, the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail provides plenty for those looking for a scenic trail to frequent. Enjoy the sunny weather and take a casual stroll down the path, or participate in one of the trail’s many fundraising walks and cycling events.
BruceFreemanRailTrail.org

The Butterfly Place
Walk along The Butterfly Place’s winding path and witness the elegance of various butterflies, birds and fish. Staff members are always present and ready to answer any question you may have. Before you leave, take home a butterfly hatching kit so that you can hatch and release your own butterfly or moth.
Westford, Mass. / ButterflyPlace-MA.com

Eastman’s Docks
Take part in one of Eastman’s Docks’ many boating tours for a day of excitement and relaxation on the water. Their deep-sea fishing tours, offered as half or full day trips, are perfect for the whole family, and die-hard fishermen will love the 12-hour Marathon Fishing tour. After enjoying a day at sea, rest and replenish yourself at Eastman’s Tuna Strike Pub.
Seabrook, N.H. / EastmansDocks.com

Field of Dreams
The Field of Dreams is a nature-rich community park and playground located in Salem, N.H. Families with children will enjoy the fitness trail, hiking trails, picnic areas and a diverse playground for toddlers. There is also a newly reconstructed volleyball court open to the public.
Salem, N.H. / FieldOfDreamsNH.org

Foote Brothers Canoe & Kayak Rental
Foote Brothers Canoe Rentals offers a canoeing experience for anybody looking to have a good time. Trips can be slow and relaxing, or fast-paced and strenuous; it’s all up to you. For those who like camping, try the Foote Brothers overnight camping trip on Colt Island.
Ipswich, Mass. / FooteBrothersCanoes.com

Granite State Whale Watch
Witness the beauty and power of the ocean’s largest mammals at Granite State Wale Watch. On these whale-watching tours, you are not just simply sight-seeing, you’re on an expedition to seek out some of the Atlantic’s most magnificent creatures. Whale-watchers will be led by expert naturalists who are always excited to share their passions with others.
Rye, N.H. / GraniteStateWhaleWatch.com

Great Brook Farm
With over 1000 acres of land, Great Brook Farm provides plenty of opportunities for nature-lovers and history-lovers alike. The farm has over 20 miles of trails that are perfect for a relaxing walk, bike ride or hiking adventure. Witness notable Native American sites, and explore 17th-century cellar holes that were left by English settlers. There’s also an active dairy farm that offers free tours on weekends.
Carlisle, Mass. / Mass.gov

Great Freedom Adventures
Great Freedom Adventures offers cycling tours that allow participants to immerse themselves in New England’s natural beauty and rich history. If cycling isn’t your forte, the Vermont walking and hiking tours provide nature-lovers the same scenic experience on-foot.
Sherborn, Mass. / Woodstock, Vt. / GreatFreedomAdventures.com

Hampton Beach
Toss a Frisbee. Build a sandcastle. Screen movies. The possibilities abound at the Merrimack Valley’s busiest beach. Don’t sit inside to watch a movie when you can see free Monday-night films on the beach beginning at dusk. Your kids especially won’t want to miss children’s week on Aug. 16-20.
Hampton Beach, N.H. / HamptonBeach.org

High 5 Ballooning
Take flight in one of High 5 Ballooning’s towering hot air balloons and embark on a journey over the White Mountains, Atlantic Ocean, Boston’s skyline and the Merrimack River Valley. The scenic ride will provide a new perspective of New England’s northern landscapes, and the complimentary picnic afterwards, equipped with Champagne mimosas, will be the perfect way to end your adventure.
Derry, N.H. / High5Ballooning.com

Joppa Flats Education Center
Overlooking the Merrimack River, the Joppa Flats Education Center offers unique educational opportunities for people of all ages. You can explore the salt marshes, mudflats, rivers, bays and coastal waters of the region’s wildlife-rich habitats. Take part in their guided tours, marine touch tanks, art exhibits and interpretive displays to learn more about these delicate and intriguing ecosystems.
Newburyport, Mass. / MassAudubon.org

Merrimack River Rowing Association
A nonprofit affiliate of the US Rowing Association, MRRA is dedicated to promoting the amateur sport of rowing, both in its competitive and recreational forms. MRRA memberships are open to the public, and the organization hosts a series of beginner classes, races and other boating events throughout the spring and summer seasons.
Lowell, Mass. / MerrimackRowing.org

Newburyport Whale Watch
Climb aboard the spacious, 106-foot Captains Lady III to witness a vast array of marine wildlife including humpback, finback, and minke whales as well as porpoise, seals, sharks and an array of sea birds. The tour begins by navigating the Merrimack River and will eventually lead into the Gulf of Maine, a prime hub for wildlife activity.
Newburyport, Mass. / NewburyportWhaleWatch.com

Ninth Wave Sailing Charters
Passengers can expect to take an active part in these 2 1/2-hour-long boating trips. Raise the main, trim the sails and take the helm, all under the tutelage of one of their experienced captains. Boats leave through the mouth of the Merrimack River and can either follow the coast or set straight out to sea, depending on weather conditions.
Newburyport, Mass. / 9thWave.net

Plum Island Kayak
Whether you’re a first-time kayaker or a veteran at the sport, Plum Island Kayak has something for you. Their Isle of Shoals tour is an all-day kayaking experience where participants can enjoy bird-watching and seal-sighting as they explore several islands off Newburyport’s coast. For those who prefer evening boating, Plum Island Kayak’s Full Moon tour is for you. And make sure to inquire about their new Haverhill location.
Haverhill and Newburyport, Mass. / PlumIslandKayak.com

Living Madly – Six Reasons to Love January

January 4, 2021 by Emilie-Noelle Provost

Many people find January to be a rather gloomy month. The festivities of the holidays have ended. It’s cold. Often, it snows a lot. And there are at least three months to kill before anything resembling springlike weather can be expected.

While all of this is true, I’ve always felt that January gets a bad rap. It’s one of my favorite times of the year. So, in honor of 2021 and all the possibilities that have arrived along with it, here are a few of the reasons I think January is a special.

No More Christmas Decorations — In a day and age when many people begin putting up their Christmas trees and outdoor lights right after Halloween (something that drives me nuts), the arrival of January usually means all these adornments will finally be taken down. Even in my house (where no holiday decorations are allowed until the calendar says it’s December), I am always relieved when the wreath is removed from the front door and everything is back in its rightful place.

Longer Days — On the winter solstice in late December, New England only gets about nine hours and four minutes of daylight. By Jan. 1, just a couple of weeks later, the length of the day has already increased by more than five minutes. By Jan. 31, we have almost 55 more minutes of daylight than we did on the solstice. The increasing daylight always brightens my mood and makes me feel optimistic about the year ahead.

New Beginnings — For most of the year, I’m somewhat hesitant to abandon tasks I’ve been working on, especially creative writing projects. Even if they don’t seem to be working out the way I wanted, and even if I don’t really like them anymore, I keep telling myself that I will get to them eventually. Once January rolls around, though, I seem able to give myself permission to abandon some of these duds. It’s so motivating to have a clean slate that sometimes I even go back and finish a project or two.

Time to Myself — The holiday season tends to be busy. It’s all about spending time with family and friends, and doing things like shopping, cooking and sending out holiday cards. Even though I enjoy these things, they all have a sense of obligation about them, which I don’t always like.

January, by contrast, usually brings a return to “normal” life, something a lot of people find depressing. But January’s relative calm and quiet is something I always look forward to. After the holidays, I really enjoy having time do things I want to do, including resting, organizing my home and office, thinking about my goals, reading books I’ve been meaning to get to, and planning some of the things I want to do in the year ahead.

Everything Is Cheaper — Once the holidays are over, retailers are looking to get rid of their winter stock and start selling items for spring. In recent years, I’ve gotten some great deals on winter clothing, coats and boots, outdoor equipment, small appliances, cookware and dishes at January sales. Prices at restaurants and hotel rates also seem to be lower this time of year. Even services that almost everyone needs, like oil changes and haircuts, seem to cost a bit less. As an added bonus, crowds seem to virtually disappear from stores and other public places after the new year begins, making going out safer and more pleasant.

Nature — My husband, Rob, and I spend a lot of time outdoors, usually hiking or snowshoeing in the White Mountains or locally in one of our state parks. While we enjoy these activities year-round, there’s something especially magical about spending time in a snow-covered forest. There are few settings as peaceful or beautiful, and we often have these places to ourselves, especially in January, when temperatures tend to be coldest. Considering the hordes of inexperienced hikers who flocked to trails and conservation areas for most of 2020, many of them making a lot of noise and leaving behind piles of trash, this January I’m looking forward — perhaps most of all — to enjoying some peace and quiet outdoors.

Contact Emilie at eprovost@mvmag.net

Scipio’s Dream

January 1, 2021 by Doug Sparks

I can’t be the only one who felt a personality shift during the pandemic. In times of uncertainty, you hope that what remains is the essential you: the true self beyond the surface of tastes and fashions. That’s the optimist’s viewpoint, and one worth adopting. A pessimist, however, might say that through difficulty we may be merely broken. Limping through the final squares of the 2020 calendar, my cynical side began to feel as though my guts were hanging out while I crawled forward like a dying samurai in an old art house movie.

One of the most curious changes was my taste in music. So much sounded intolerably unpleasant to me. There was one major exception: early music, or music before the Classical period (think everything through Bach in the Western European tradition — medieval, Renaissance and Baroque). Like the world’s most curmudgeonly curmudgeon, even Classical sounded too new, too clangy, too pompous. I wondered why.

And why did this arcane, dusty music sound so rapturous to my ears? Why did a few galliards from John Dowland or a madrigal from Monteverdi make all my troubles disappear like wine made from glaciers, as glorious vistas flared across my closed eyelids? I lay, buds against the drums, hands folded, fleetingly blissful, night after night.

Really, I had had it up to here with 2020 and had set the controls of my internal time machine to “elsewhere.” It wasn’t until I was reading Shakespeare that the answer came to me. In his plays were numerous mentions and references to the music of the spheres, something I vaguely recalled from grad school.

Here’s a refresher. There was once a time when many people believed that celestial bodies produced through their orbits “a harmony.” Later poets and artists would see this as metaphorical, but it’s important to remember that those who believed in the “musica universalis” thought that the celestial spheres, which included the sun, the moon, the planets and heaven, were so perfect in their movements around Earth that they produced a literal sound.

This concept is central to “Scipio’s Dream,” a book written by the Roman orator Cicero between 54 and 51 B.C. It tells the story of a Roman general who dreams of standing above Carthage one night. Feeling small under the innumerable stars of the Milky Way, the general begins to perceive the sweet music of the spheres. It is a sound that is “the mystic bond of all things in the universe,” and we humans have grown deaf to it. Scipio stands in amazement. From those heavenly sounds he realizes the untapped potential of the human spirit. And this was what I heard glimmers of in the works of those long-dead composers.

The music was giving me something lacking in the world: harmony, proportion, balance. It was everything that stood in opposition to a chaotic, divisive, noisy world. I, too, wanted to stand under an infinite sky and hear again the sounds we have grown too numb to notice.

Contact Doug at editor@mvmag.net

Wellness Wednesday: New Year’s Edition – 12/30/20

December 30, 2020 by Kristin Cole

WELLNESS AROUND THE WEB

At the beginning of 2020, I read an editorial by my now-boss, Doug Sparks. He went on about our tendency to group things into tens, and that as we approach the not-so-roarin’ 20s, “we need to begin again. There is work to be done.” When it came to work, he was not far off. It’s baffling to try to consider our mindsets back at the turn of this decade. I had so much planned for myself, so much to look forward to, including an internship with this very magazine. Then the pandemic hit, bolstered by a slew of other obstacles that we have endured this year. As we turn to a new year, many of us are propelling ourselves headfirst into 2021 with numerous hopes: for the vaccine to do its job, for normal life, for social gatherings, for less “mask-ne.”

We are all very much looking forward, not backwards at the tumult that was 2020. So this week, we’ve got helpful tips for starting the new year right. From resolutions to safe ways to celebrate, we’re helping you move into 2021 with ease and optimism. It can’t get any worse, right?

Resolutions Made Easy

Each year we make goals for ourselves. Some achievable, some are mere pipe dreams that still might help us discover some newfound passions. Good Housekeeping is helping you set some easy goals by offering over 55 ideas for achievable New Year’s resolutions. Some of my favorites include cooking one new thing each week, creating a cleaning schedule, becoming a plant owner, doing yoga with your partner and turning chaotic zones of your household into calm spaces.

For more timely ideas, InStyle provides ten resolutions that help you move forward while staying mindful of the ongoing global issues. From hiding the “self” view on Zoom to curating your social media feeds and decluttering your household, these quarantine-friendly resolutions are perfect to start right as the new year starts as we await vaccinations.

Having trouble making, and sticking to, your New Year’s resolutions? Harvard Medical School and The New York Times offer a variety of tips to making your resolutions stick until they become a part of your daily routine. Make sure that all the goals you set are for you, and based on societal standards or the opinions of others. If your heart is not truly in it, then it won’t stick!

Oh, What to do?

This holiday season will be no exception to the limits of the coronavirus this year, and as with every other holiday that preceded it, many of us are still trying to figure out ways to safely ring in the new year.

New Year’s Eve may not be rockin’ as it has in years past, but you can still have fun and celebrate with loved ones. This article from Delish offers 11 creative ways to celebrate New Years Eve from the safety and comfort of your own home. Some unique ideas from this that I plan on trying are dressing up, trying new cocktails and having an appetizer cook-off with my family. If you normally celebrate the evening by watching Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve special, fret not: it’s still on! More details on how the show will go on this year here.

For the day of, Country Living has provided 15 ideas for starting off the new year right. From organizing your pantry and hosting a movie marathon to going on a road trip or enjoying a hike, there are ideas for either the ones who are content indoors or those itching to escape their house.

Good Reads (& Watches)

Whether you make resolutions or not, everyone should intend on moving into this new year with a positive perspective. If goals aren’t for you, let these stories and videos cheer you up enough to consider bringing some optimism with you into the new year.

Exciting Science – A recent study published Dec. 1 in the online journal eLife found that a new drug called ISRIB has showcased a rapid ability to reverse age-related mental decline. Furthermore, researchers have not yet found any side effects of this drug. Read more here.

New Year, More Words — For motivation, inspiration or simply quick reads to give you hope, this article from Parade.com provides 100 of the best New Year’s quotes.

If you lose track on your new year’s resolution, don’t fret. We’ve all been there. Distract yourself by watching Friends’ Chandler hilariously struggle to maintain his own new years resolution here. And try to be nice to your friends.

Waiting For Janus

November 27, 2020 by Emilie-Noelle Provost

It’s been years since I celebrated New Year’s Eve. When Rob and I were younger, friends often threw elaborate parties. We’d get dressed up, drop off Madelaine at my mom’s house, and dance the night away until well after the ball dropped in Times Square.

As our friends had kids, got married, divorced, or discovered less hangover-inducing ways to celebrate the arrival of the New Year, the parties eventually stopped, and Rob and I began spending the night at home. I’ve never really minded it. Although I sometimes miss going to parties, there’s a lot to be said for sipping Champagne in your pajamas.

Last New Year’s Eve, I spent most of the night helping Madelaine edit the essay she wrote for her graduate school application, which was due the next day. We went to bed hours before the clock struck midnight.

Although it started off pretty well, 2020 turned out to be the worst year in most people’s memory. And while there have been occasional bright spots, I count myself among them.

In addition to being isolated from our loved ones for months on end, being furloughed from my job for more than half the year, and Madelaine having to forgo her college graduation, all three of us came down with COVID-19 in June. In August, Madelaine’s graduate program adopted an online-only format, preventing her from getting the in-person student teaching experience she needs. Then, in September, my mother died. Perhaps worst of all, the COVID-19 pandemic prevented us from seeing her for most of the last five months of her life.

Even though no one can host a party this year, I’ve already decided that I’m celebrating New Year’s Eve. Hoping to solidify my bet that 2021 will be an improvement over 2020, I did some research to find out what people from different cultures have done on New Year’s to ensure good fortune.

In Brazil, it’s bad luck to eat chicken on New Year’s Eve because chickens scratch backward, and going backward is, of course, not what anyone wants to do in a new year, especially not now. Instead, Brazilians eat foods that move forward, like fish, hoping that doing so will help them move forward as well.

In Turkey, red is the color of health, so it’s traditional to wear red underwear on New Year’s Eve, or give red underwear as a gift to someone you care about. It’s also a good idea in Turkey to wear new clothes on New Year’s Eve, preferably items you haven’t worn before, as this will help to ensure new beginnings in the year to come.

One of the most satisfying-sounding New Year’s Eve traditions I found comes from Armenia. At the stroke of midnight, Armenians throw a pomegranate onto the floor as hard as they can to open it. The more pieces the fruit breaks into and the farther the seeds spread across the room, the better luck the new year will bring.

The Roman god Janus, for whom the month of January is named, has two faces, one looking forward into the future and the other facing backward, its eyes on the past. Janus is the god of gates and doors, the guardian of time who presides over every beginning, ending and transition. He rules the gray areas between darkness and light, life and death, good fortune and bad. Janus was especially important to the Romans at weddings, births, funerals and at times of hoped-for change, such as during war, outbreaks of disease, and on New Year’s Day.

The Romans believed the beginning of anything had the potential to be a harbinger of its future, making the first day of the first month of the year especially critical. On New Year’s Day, it was imperative to be helpful and friendly to your neighbors, especially those you might have had disagreements with in the past year. People exchanged treats made with honey to ensure sweetness in the months to come, as well as coins bearing Janus’ two faces. The latter was a reminder, I think, that no matter what we do, it’s he who will always have the last word.

I’ve got our salmon dinner planned, a new outfit (complete with red knickers) washed and ironed, and I’m ready to throw the biggest pomegranate I could find. All I need to do now is wait for Janus. I’m counting down the days.