There are few times of the year when visiting New England is a bad decision in my book. Even in “stick season” of November or “mud season” of early April, the region I call home tends to be full of surprises. But returning to New England is perhaps best when its climate and communities enhances…
Best of December & January
Winter: an exhilarating oscillation between simplicity and complexity, and all too often, frustratingly fickle. Simple in the way of a dark subject image defined against a white backdrop; complex in the logistical challenge of being prepared for cold and unpredictable weather; fickle in the sense of temperature fluctuations and the inability for snow to stay…
An Ice Storm
Last weekend I left the city just hours before Winter Storm Harper began to envelop the northeast. It was dark when we arrived in Pawling, and snow began to fall shortly thereafter. The weather forecast all but guaranteed significant snow totals to our north, but the outcome for the Hudson Valley was less certain. We…
Where Have You Gone, 2018?
Preface I wrote the following blog post last week, but with the holidays fast approaching, I never got around to publishing it. As you will surely see, I was sorely in need of a break. I still stand by all of the thoughts and feelings conveyed in the 2018 wrap-up below, but I have also…
Best of October & November
The past two months have been a whirlwind, which has contributed to a decline in frequency of both my writing and photography. But amidst the bustle of the fall season, the highlights of October and November were as bright and vibrant as this year’s foliage — which, compared to what I remember from last year,…
First Snow
I am one of the lucky ones with a collection of vivid snapshots of first snows in my mind — one who marks the turn of the seasons not by a calendar date but by the transformation of my surroundings from brown to white; that is to say, I have lived in places where snowflakes…
Thoughts Before Game 1
It’s been fourteen years since the Red Sox broke the curse and captured their first World Series in eighty-six years. I was nine, just old enough to have tasted the bitterness of failure in its full intensity the prior year, when Aaron Boone dashed the dreams of Red Sox nation in Game 7 of the…
Best of August & September
Summer has slipped into fall, imperceptibly at first but then in an acceleration of darkness’s onset each evening. Somewhere along the line life got busy again, and the mellowness of August yielded to the post-summer vacation frenzy of September. The cooler temperatures are energizing, although I’m still holding out for the arrival of sunny days…
A Trail Diary: SRT Race, Part IV (Race Recap)
September 18th This post is the last installment of my trail diary, and I’ve earned the right to bring this four-part series to a close. On Saturday, I toed the starting line of the SRT 30-Mile Race, and just over seven hours later, I reached the finish. When I originally pictured myself running in this…
A Trail Diary: SRT Race, Part III
September 6th The Labor Day holiday weekend brought me home to Williamstown for my dad’s birthday and a family get-together. I saw my all of my grandparents, ate lobster and sweet corn, and enjoyed a few craft beers that my mom brought back from Maine when she dropped my sister off for her senior year…
A Trail Diary: SRT Race, Part II
August 16th Just like that, I’m a month out from the race. I returned to the city with tired legs following my most active and enjoyable week of the summer — vacation will do that. As referenced in my more curated piece of travel writing about last week titled “Adirondacks, Done Right”, I utilized easy…
ADKs, Done Right
The Adirondack Park is vast and wondrous — its scenic expanses and rugged hamlets a world removed from the blocks of New York City, to where I’ve returned following a week of vacation in the North Country. I don’t profess to know the Adirondacks through and through, but twenty-two summers on the shores of Lake…
THOMAS C DILS 