Prescott Farm Trail – Middletown RI

It’d been a hell of a few weeks for me and unfortunately, I think my chaos gremlin followed me to Rhode Island on this particular week because my usual travel companion wasn’t having an easy go of it either. We both needed desperately to get out of the house but lacked the energy to actually do so. A compromise was made – to stay in town and go back to a destination we’d already been to before – a destination I remember taking photos of but for some reason cannot find said photos or blog entry?? Shame because I took very few photos this time around thinking I already had plenty!

Prescott Farm is the site of a historic farmstead and gristmill. It has one of very few surviving windmills in here in the US built in the early 1800s and there are several other historic buildings also on the property you can poke at. And “gardens,” lots of “gardens” which appear to be wildly out of control fenced in weeds… which I guess are mostly native and probably were used at some point by locals but I definitely saw some things in there that clearly blew in from somewhere else. A vegetable garden this was not. Although I did find a patch of choke cherry trees along the perimeter. SOMEDAY. Someday I’ll have land and chokecherry trees of my own with which to make jam with.

The location is known for its little duck pond where a gaggle of them wait to be fed. We however were here to check out the hiking trails first so off we went past the old homestead, the historic markers, and the windmill, into the woods! The woods were a well needed respite from the heat. Despite the fact that today was hotter and muggier than a teenage Shrek’s jock strap (sorry) the woods were cool and refreshing! And pretty! We found a bunch of little fairy houses that someone had left at random trees and then I spotted a really fat deer – the first one I’ve seen on island in all my visits here! And just beyond the deer we came across a weird bird sitting at the edge of the water just chilling, giving no mind to us whatsoever. My companion thought it was a hawk because of its coloration and short stubby shape, I thought it was a blue heron because of its beak. Drawing closer to it I realized it wasn’t nearly big enough to be a heron and its beak definitely wasn’t that of a hawk. We were both bewildered by the animal who still didn’t care we were staring at it like leering predators. We’d only later learn its identity by posting photos on FaceBook – it was a night heron. I have never heard of such a thing and am growing increasingly concerned I might be wandering ever closer to becoming a birder, the horror. This goes doubly for my companion who thought he heard an owl. This resulted in us both stalking a mourning dove to the chimney of the farmhouse. To be fair the “mourning” sound of mourning doves does sound a bit owl-like.

The trails were very short and sweet and at times a little messy but it was cute and I was happy to have seen some wildlife. We were however about to approach the famous duckpond. Ooooooph, it was very choked in out in weeds, I don’t think they were native either. However, the ducks still persisted, as did frogs, baby turtles, pond skimmers, diving beetles, and a fantastic orgy of every kind of dragon fly you could think of just finding their love match. It was kind of funny. The ducks showed interest in us only as long as it took to figure out our sorry asses didn’t have any food for them and then they wandered off crankily quaking at each other.

This was a nice little diversion – just the amount of green and activity I needed to get back onto a path of a well-regulated nervous system. So, if you’re in town maybe check it out. It’s rather cute, child friendly, and has a little history. Also, the windmill is nice to take photos of.

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Round 2 – Grove Street Cemetery – New Haven Connecticut

After going to the Grove Street Cemetery and doing their cradle grave and Civil War tour we had to return to check out all their Amistad related graves and find the monument they left for Glen Miller which we missed the first time. There’s even a tree tour but we didn’t get to that one.

Right at the front where the kiosk is there is also a monument to the captives of the Amistad, many of whom were buried in this cemetery near the lawyers, judges, and other people involved in this historic trial. Most of these individuals were nearby. It was interesting to see what happened to many of these individuals after the trials, it seems a number of the captives became active and successful members of the community which just astounds me considering the trauma they must have all carried with them.

We learned the oldest stones that were leaned against the perimeter of the cemetery were actually from a different cemetery that used to be where the park is now. Though they may have moved the stones they don’t appear to have removed the bodies and as late as 2020 human remains were found entangled in the roots of a downed tree. This is not a unique story as many cemeteries were eventually taken over and transformed into parks over the years.

We were also surprised to find Webster of dictionary fame, Goodyear the guy that pioneered vulcanized rubber, Josiah Willard Gibbs – inventor of calculus and significant contributor to thermodynamics, Eli Whitney inventor of the cotton gin, Walter Camp “father of American Football,” and Othniel Charles Marsh a tireless Yale professor and paleontologist that worked mostly on the evolution of birds publishing an astounding 1,400 scientific papers in his life.

And of course towards the very end of our exploration of this cemetery we found the monument to Glenn Miller – composer of In the Mood and a ton of other songs that are still played today. I say monument because this isn’t his actual grave – he died in a plane crash fighting in World War II and his body was never recovered. I wonder if he was the first of the popular musicians to die in a plane crash, either way what a bad ass way to go – killing Nazis.

Anyway, that was our tour. We learned a lot of history and saw a lot of cool things. This is definitely a cemetery worth checking out and if you’re looking for someone specific the fact the roads have names and the stones have addresses makes it pretty easy to find them.

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Gramwell Trail – Mountain Brook Reservoir – Jaffrey NH

It has come to my attention this entry from last fall was never published so I’ve decided to release it into the world today. Late is better than never! So here we go…

Over the past few years I have had to get more creative in how I find trails, especially ones close to home that no one seems to know about – like this one! Believe it or not I found it while looking at a Redfin map. Whhhy it was on a realtor’s map I couldn’t tell you but I knew I had to swing by and check it out.

I had no idea that I’d be driving down a series of sketchy camp/dirt roads to get here. The Prius LOVES me for these unplanned adventures, especially when fallen leaves obscure the road and make everythign slippery. Nothing like having the fear of God put back into you because you’re driving a Prius.

ANYWAY. This place is near civilization and yet still in the middle of nowhere. It’s odd, but the PERFECT introvert’s trail! Although there was a cute little parking lot which had room for numerous vehicles we were the only ones there on this day and according to reviews online this seems like it is usually the case. Maybe because it’s new? The trail board claimed it was only set up in 2016 and already was faded almost beyond being able to read. A handwritten note to the side pleaded for help to repair the bridges.

The trail itself was a bit wet and slippery under a thick layer of dead leaves but other than that it was an easy trail that ends at a cute little pond view before attaching to a well known snow mobile trail. It made for a really lovely afternoon walk. We didn’t see another soul and it was SO QUIET. A hidden gem indeed.

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Shadow and Soul Emporium & Tea Lounge

Keene is such an adorable city. Walking down the main street is always a joy but I hadn’t done so in a number of years and a lot of the stores have changed. One of these fresh new faces was this absolutely bonkers tea lounge and emporium. It. Was. Wild.

Straight in the door you see a line of fabulous witches hats along with some greenery, a bunch of separate booths with all sorts of witchy and steam punky things, with sitting spots throughout and a tea lounge at the back with a huge wall of every kind of tea you could ever desire. This place had all the vibes! And I was surprised by all the spell bottles – so precise and so many to choose from! And the delightful hats? Come on. You can’t beat a nice hat. Or a good crystal. Or a ton of politically left leaning stickers.

Well, it’s been a rough few days for me and it doesn’t look like it’s going to return to sanity for a long while so I would just like to thank anyone who is reading this for following along my adventures. This summer has seen Catching Marbles really take off and I am SO grateful and thankful for all of you. Keep joy in your heart and go get some tea! Much love, Theophanes.

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Pet’s World – Weymouth Massachusetts

Lately we’ve been trying to come up with new things to check out – when you’re always on the move sometimes you get to the bottom of the barrel when it comes to inspiration. I had however started to resume my exploration of independently owned pet stores after realizing that there are more out there than I gave them credit for and on this day my companion decided it might be time to check one out so we did.

I am not sure what the lure was for this particular one but as usual I was going just to see what they had and maybe get a betta fish or two if they had any girls. This was a small pet store with an even smaller parking lot but the outside was insane – completely glammed up in murals of animals. I was endeared to this alone.

When we went inside we were greeted by a counter full of locally made organic dog biscuits, which if I am to be honest looked like a human cookie counter. I mean the biscuits were frosted and huge! Further in we found a small corner of small animals, today mostly dwarf bunnies, and a room of birds behind a glass partition. Budgies, finches, a grey cockatiel, you know the standard fare. Out loose on a perch however was what I am guessing was the store mascot – a female eclectus. She seemed content. Although I do have a background in birds I never personally had an eclectus so I have no idea if this was an unusually mild bird or not.

The back room was where it was really going on though. There were a few fish, again standard fare, a rack of jarred bettas, some really cool but with no price tag so I didn’t ask. And then there was a number of tubs of juvenile fancy axolotls. Gawd where they cute. The rest of the room was even more impressive with some candy-colored corn snakes, some frogs, a big old tegu, and the most colorful bearded dragon I’ve even seen in my life. He actually had stripes of green and red. I took a picture but my cell phone camera sucks and did not register his full calico glory. And to be honest I wasn’t supposed to be taking photos as there was a sign up asking us not to in the reptile room. I get it, some of these animals are probably worth a lot of money and it’s best not to tempt robbers but still.. that’s an odd rule for a pet shop. I only broke it ever so slightly because 1) I probably won’t be back 2) I am ignorant to what the costliest critters were and 3) By the time anyone sees this blog entry their stock will probably be completely different anyway. I will note all the animals seemed healthy and clean and this place did not smell at all.

So, would I suggest this place? Sure, if you’re out for a unique reptile. As for anything else… ehhhh, maybe if you’re in the area. I honestly wouldn’t say this place was worth driving that far.

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Beautiful Picnic Spot (video) – Ayer Massachusetts

Today I was doing errands and decided to go on a hike afterwards. I found the Ayer Conservation Trails at 73 Groton-Harvard Road Ayer. It was weird, parking was on the opposite side of the road and the kiosk was behind a guard rail and didn’t look like it’d been replaced in yeeeears. I wandered down the trail and when I saw a VERY decrepit sign readin, “pond” with an arrow I followed.

Turned out this was just a series of viewpoints off the main trail but it was GORGEOUS. I took this short video to show you all and then was called home for an emergency so I didn’t get to complete the hike. But I decided to post this anyway because it was still very cool. Video below!

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Mason Brook Plant Nursery – Mason New Hampshire

I was so insistent this year to have a garden that I planted a ton of tomatoes and peppers months ago indoors. But in my typical distracted ADHD way the tomatoes were only cherry tomatoes (as I kept getting distracted before planting the sandwich tomatoes) and I also forgot to plant … well, everything else. So I sewed a bunch of seeds directly into the ground which resulted in one very fat chipmunk who ate all my goddamn seeds.

I know I’m late in getting this all together but I thought there’d be SOMETHING for plants left in shops! No, everywhere I went had tomatoes and hot peppers and literally nothing else. *cries*

That’s how I ended up trying the Mason Brook Plant Nursery. It was an adventure to get to. My GPS decided to be a jerk and bring me to a random residential neighborhood nearby and signs aside the road were less than clear to me. Honestly, when I drove in I thought I was either on my way to a dead end road or maybe someone’s driveway as I didn’t see a nursery but after I passed a couple houses I found it tucked in the woods.

This is not a huge nursery but it had a whole greenhouse dedicated to vegetables and although they too were fairly cleaned out I did manage to get my hands on some cucumbers, pumpkins, and a summer squash. They also had more hot peppers, spaghetti squash, rhubarb, strawberries, and an impressive selection of herbs.

Outside there was a very nice selection of fruit and ornamental trees I tried my best to ignore (as I really want my own orchard!) There was another larger greenhouse full of flowers and a weird mini antique shed?? I looked around for someone to pay halfway expecting to find an honor box but alas there was a sweet old lady wandering around and giving off only the chillest of vibes. She found my choice of sugar pumpkins interesting. I’m not sure why. My hair is orange.. I love pumpkins!

Sadly, I did not find any watermelon, peas, or winter squash but I was thankful for what I did find and paid my $21 in cash before wandering off.

Would I suggest this place? Absolutely! It had lovely rural country vibes and a few unusual options I hadn’t seen at the bigger places like rhubarb. If you happen to live nearby I’d say it’s well worth a poke.

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European Country Antiques – Cambridge Massachusetts

It’ not often we get to check out a new antique store! This one just moved to this quiet location in Cambridge. It doesn’t look like much from the outside but it was very decent.

This is one of the few antique stores that have a consistent vision of what they want to sell. Inside we found almost entirely furniture – all of it farmhouse, country chic, or rustic DIY. I loved it but…. I don’t have a house or the budget for this place. I don’t think I saw anything under a couple grand. Well, except for a giant basket out back marked $18. I pondered if there was a missing zero.

Despite the prices I would absolutely recommend this place for anyone looking for that old farmhouse feel. It’s by far the largest collection of rustic and country chic furniture I’ve ever seen in one place so if that’s your style and you’re blessed with more wealth than myself by all means check this place out!

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Random Sights (and Gargoyles) around New Haven Connecticut

Few things make me happier than finding a gargoyle in the wild. Imagine my pure delight when I noticed the church across the Grove Street Cemetery had several! Even better the whole building was COVERED in faces. Why, I have no idea but I was enamored. I wandered around the perimeter of the whole building learning that this was the Yale law school.

I eventually caught the attention of what I presume was a professor watching me with my camera excitedly pointing out every grotesque. He stopped, stood on his bike and watched, probably trying to figure out what I was up to. Was it something to be concerned about? Was I a student? A robber? A tourist? Hard to say.

There were also several other cool buildings and burials as we wandered. New Haven has a weird European feel to it as it is just so damn pretty! Anyway… for fellow hawkers and photographers I highly suggest giving it a good poke!

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Grey Matter Books – New Haven CT

Although we hadn’t intended on going to a bookstore we happened by this one between where we parked and where were trying to go and being the nerds we are… in we went!

I cannot tell you how long it has been since I have been in a used bookstore. I am SO happy that some still exist in this eBook world! I was initially struck by the title of the place which seemed to be a pun. Grey matter being the areas of brain where we store information. Plus, the front window had some really odd books in it. Just bizarre.

We walked in and I thought being a college, er university, town this was most likely a textbook swap but alas it seemed to have a bit of everything. It wasn’t enormous but it was lovely! Chairs were randomly dispersed, excited university students prattled in the narrow aisles about buying a book in French for a friend learning French. It was sweet! There was a poster on the wall commemorating Edward Gorey, a rare William Burroughs piece behind glass, and even an old hardcover copy of Poe. And the place smelled of old books. A cart at the front had $1 finds.

I sat at the back of the store cooling off for a bit. That’s where I found a whole section dedicated to gender studies and another on black voices. I skimmed the gender books as it’s interesting to me, giggling at Sapphic Slashers; Sex, Violence, and American Modernity. What a title! I may have bought it but it had no tags, neither did the book my companion picked up. I didn’t see any prices labelled anywhere except for the $1 cart up front and being in a wealthy city but with a modest budget none of us really wanted to ask but we did enjoy the place and I would recommend it if you’re in town and looking for a weirdly specific reference book to something on the unusual side!

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