Massachusetts You're My Home

The Turners Falls Bridge over the Connecticut River

I grew up in Massachusetts, still have family and friends there and love the atmosphere there especially in the western part of the state. This trip made me realize that I need to spend allot more time there in the future. Anyone who has been there during foliage season knows the sheer magnificence of the October maple trees . When I was a teenager I had a close friend whose family owned and operated a "sugar house". Nothing in the whole world smells as good as sap being boiled down into maple syrup and nothing tastes as wonderful as the hot syrup scooped directly from the wood fired evaporator.
Each spring while the snow was still on the ground and nights were cold and days were warm my job was to collect the sap that dripped into buckets from the tapped trees as well as from the "pipe lines" that carried the sap to holding tanks at the bottom of the run. Good memories of a truly great time racing through back roads in our green chevy pick-up loaded with sap headed for the sugar house.

Many of the old manufacturing plants that used to produce paper and tools have been abandoned or turned into things like this education center in Turners Falls.

 This is below the Turners Falls dam which was flowing quite nicely.

This is Main Street downtown Greenfield where I graduated from high school in 1967. It really has changed very little in all those years. The real difference is that the cars are much newer but not nicer and I didn't recognize a single soul. When I was a young boy my parents would drive to Main Street on friday night and park the desoto and we would watch the town roll by just like everyone else did. We thought it was quite the fun thing to do.

It's hard to believe but the "Bridge of Flowers" was under water just a few short weeks before the picture. It's literally 30 feet to the water in this shot. During the recent flooding in the Shelburne Falls area houses and businesses were destroyed and entire roads washed away.

 This is one of my favorite shots from the Bridge of Flowers which is a must see if you are ever in the area.

                                                        On the Bridge

The falls across the street from the Bridge of Flowers.

 The serene Deerfield River runs along sections of the Mohawk Trail which is one of the prettiest autumn drives anywhere. Unfortunately this years foliage was just beginning as we were getting ready to head back to Tucson.

This house reminded me of my home in Sheepscot Maine which also sat on the banks of a river.

 I spent a fair amount of time in the early AM at the Connecticut River photographing the wildlife and the foliage. I have to say I could not get enough of being near the water. Water is everywhere in New England unlike here in Tucson which has very little water.

There were dozens of Canada Geese at the river and it was really nice to see them again flying overhead in a v formation. These particular geese have been banded but I was not able to see any information on the bands.

The above picture was taken at the Cove in Gill Massachusetts across the river from Turners Falls. There were about 14 swans in the area and I was able to get one of my favorite shots of the trip.

This is the pond across the street from my brother Tom's house in Greenfield and as you can see the foliage was just starting to pop as we came to  the end of our trip but we didn't let it stop the sheer fun of the reunion with family and friends.

Farm stands are everywhere and fall is a great time for mums and pumpkins. This one caught my eye in Montague Mass. which is a great little town close to the university of Massachusetts.

These are shots of a waterfall near the Connecticut River in Montague.

I wish I could have been there for the entire season but it was not to be this year but there is always next year!