Therapy in the Dirt: Why gardening is a psychological upper

Feeling cooped up? Cabin feverish? Climbing the walls? You are so not alone. The days may be lengthening, but frigid weather still puts the kibosh on romping in the borders; average lows this time of year hover around 32 degrees, and it’s possible that a blizzard could dump a foot or more of the white [...]read moreTherapy in the Dirt: Why gardening is a psychological upper

Flower Power: Gardening as a complete workout–who knew?

Anyone who’s ever greeted the first day of spring by throwing themselves outdoors and vigorously gardening for hours, but without having gone into training in the waning weeks of winter (Wait: did she say, training? Like, for a marathon?), knows what it’s like to wake up the next morning, barely able to walk. Pulled hamstrings, [...]read moreFlower Power: Gardening as a complete workout–who knew?

James Naughton Getting His Groove Back–Healing to Hip-Hop: Pilates Works

When a friend asked me to join her in a hip-hop dance class at Double Up Dance Studio (DUDS), I said “why not?” As a former champion of Just Dance, I thought it might be the ideal exercise plan for me. But halfway through the first class, my hip felt funny, my arm hurt, my back was [...]read moreJames Naughton Getting His Groove Back–Healing to Hip-Hop: Pilates Works

Horror in the Garden – Accidents waiting to happen

If you think gardening is for wimps, ponder  this: Each year, an estimated 400,000 Americans are treated in ERs for injuries sustained in the  garden, 27,000 of them from chain saws, 79,000 from lawn mowers, and, topping the list, a startling 222,000 from ladders. And we haven’t even talked about doctor visits for tendonitis, ocular [...]read moreHorror in the Garden – Accidents waiting to happen

Got Milk, Sheik?

Local Couple Advocate Camel Milk at One Hump Farm

Sheik, the Arabian camel, has become something of a mascot to passersby along North Street. School buses slow down at One Hump Farm so children can wave. Neighbors choose not to move because they like looking out their window and seeing a camel. And Sheik likes looking back from his wooden-fenced corral—an enclosure he regularly [...]read moreGot Milk, Sheik?

Memories of “The Kid”

A Long Friendship and Love of Baseball

One never knows when or where a story may materialize. In this case, it began on a winter morning in the baked-goods aisle at ShopRite on Black Rock Turnpike. A casual conversation between a congenial elderly gentleman wearing a Boston Red Sox cap and a certain Fairfield-based writer led to this revelation: said elderly gentleman, [...]read moreMemories of “The Kid”