Black racer

I came across a serpent in an Edenic setting last weekend, stretched out in the sun on a pile of brush just over an embankment. It was a black racer, Coluber constrictor, with its large eyes and a white area under the chin, and though they are not uncommon in our region I had not seen one for many years. This is a very fast snake, and it turned tail and vanished as soon as it caught sight of my movement as I was pointing it out to my son, Elias. I do not have the fear of snakes that for many of us seems to be innate, and neither does Elias. I respect them and their personal space, having lived in regions with many more venomous species than our rather docile timber rattlesnake and rarely encountered copperhead. There is still a visceral almost hardwired response when I first sight a snake, one of immediate attentiveness and focus. Coming upon a long, sleek muscular snake certainly concentrates the mind, but that is all.Elias is fascinated by the natural world. He loves animals without sentimentality. Awareness of “Nature, red in tooth and claw” makes him a sharp observer, interested in the half-fledged robin that falls unexpectedly to the lawn from the tree, even if he realizes that it is now far more vulnerable than if it had remained in the nest. He reads the stories in dried bones, the raptor’s plunge and the new life that comes from one seed out of many. He sees patterns in the ebb and flow around him, and I encourage this curiosity.So often we find teaching moments in what nature reveals. If we had gone looking for a black racer, we probably would not have discovered one. We might have come across something else that would engage and amaze us, but mostly it is a matter of being in the moment, of recognizing the opportunities that present themselves. A basking snake, or an owl pellet, or the cries of a hawk on the wind, draw us out of ourselves and into the environment we share with so many other creatures who are far more aware of us than we aer of them.It is too easy to think of our species as somehow apart from the natural world, and indeed modernity has insulated us from the environment in ways our ancestors could hardly have imagined in the days when we drew our subsistence from our surroundings. I have no wish to eke out my existence so near the margin of survival as was once commonplace, but I do need to maintain awareness and connection to land and water and the creatures they sustain. I look forward to new discoveries, perhaps those that Elias brings to my attention, as the season advances. Tim Abbott is program director of Housatonic Valley Association’s Litchfield Hills Greenprint. His blog is at greensleeves.typepad.com.

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Club baseball at Fuessenich Park

Travel league baseball came to Torrington Thursday, June 26, when the Berkshire Bears Select Team played the Connecticut Moose 18U squad. The Moose won 6-4 in a back-and-forth game. Two players on the Bears play varsity ball at Housatonic Valley Regional High School: shortstop Anthony Foley and first baseman Wes Allyn. Foley went 1-for-3 at bat with an RBI in the game at Fuessenich Park.

 

  Anthony Foley, rising senior at Housatonic Valley Regional High School, went 1-for-3 at bat for the Bears June 26.Photo by Riley Klein 

 
Siglio Press: Uncommon books at the intersection of art and literature

Uncommon books at the intersection of art and literature.

Richard Kraft

Siglio Press is a small, independent publishing house based in Egremont, Massachusetts, known for producing “uncommon books at the intersection of art and literature.” Founded and run by editor and publisher Lisa Pearson, Siglio has, since 2008, designed books that challenge conventions of both form and content.

A visit to Pearson’s airy studio suggests uncommon work, to be sure. Each of four very large tables were covered with what looked to be thousands of miniature squares of inkjet-printed, kaleidoscopically colored pieces of paper. Another table was covered with dozens of book/illustration-size, abstracted images of deer, made up of colored dots. For the enchanted and the mystified, Pearson kindly explained that these pieces were to be collaged together as artworks by the artist Richard Kraft (a frequent contributor to the Siglio Press and Pearson’s husband). The works would be accompanied by writings by two poets, Elizabeth Zuba and Monica Torre, in an as-yet-to-be-named book, inspired by a found copy of a worn French children’s book from the 1930s called “Robin de Bois” (Robin Hood).

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Cycling season: A roundup of our region’s rentals and where to ride them

Cyclists head south on the rail trail from Copake Falls.

Alec Linden

After a shaky start, summer has well and truly descended upon the Litchfield, Berkshire and Taconic hills, and there is no better way to get out and enjoy long-awaited good weather than on two wheels. Below, find a brief guide for those who feel the pull of the rail trail, but have yet to purchase their own ten-speed. Temporary rides are available in the tri-corner region, and their purveyors are eager to get residents of all ages, abilities and inclinations out into the open road (or bike path).

For those lucky enough to already possess their own bike, perhaps the routes described will inspire a new way to spend a Sunday afternoon. For more, visit lakevillejournal.com/tag/bike-route to check out two ride-guides from local cyclists that will appeal to enthusiasts of many levels looking for a varied trip through the region’s stunning summer scenery.

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