Saturday, July 4, 2009

Nature in Northampton

One of the things I like most about the Northampton area is how quickly you can move from the busy center of town to quiet, beautiful natural areas... such as this one:



I shot the photos which make up this panoramic view on a small road called Old Springfield Road, which runs past the Oxbow on the Connecticut River. It's part of one of my favorite short bicycle rides -- favored mostly because it is so quiet (very few cars) and lovely. And it's just a tad over a mile away from the exact center of downtown Northampton. (Lloyd Goldfine and I went this way on bicycles when he came up to visit a few days ago.) Parts of this route take you through some shady woods alternating with broad, sunny fields on a dirt road. Lately, I've been seeing quite a few little rabbits along this way. -- PL

12 comments:

InfiniteStudent said...

I am jealous. Your blog has been giving me an interest to leave the 101 freeway behind an take a trip.

Newton Gimmick said...

Beautiful shot.

David McBride said...

I agree with InfiniteStudent these landscapes you post are beautiful. I'd imagine you have a good time sketching some of the scenery.

~ tOkKa said...

-->> Hope ya had a good Holiday weekend , Pete .. Guys ..

☻ ☺

Matt said...

Peter,

What kind of camera do you use? an SLR or a point and shoot?

Bookgal said...

Went letterboxing on friday and found a graveyard in enfield with a beautiful view that made me think of your fondness for these kind of shots.

On an unrealated note, I just found out I'll be doing my "History of the TMNT" fan panel at Connecticon this year, as well as a bunch of my other fan presentations! I'm very excited, its the first time I've done this particular powerpoint presentation! WOOT!

PL said...

"Matt said...
Peter,

What kind of camera do you use? an SLR or a point and shoot?"

My current "pocketcam" -- the one I carry with me everywhere -- is a miniature version of a larger Casio Exilim EX-F10, the EX-FS10. It's a great little camera, with some nice video capability as well (really cool slow-mo) and a useful burst mode for stills. My only complaint is that some of its generally quite useful buttons allow it to turn itself on in my pocket (I carry it in the lower right pocket of my four-pocket shirt, so it's near my waist) when I'm bending over or moving in a particular way, resulting in some very silly videos of the inside of my pocket... and occasionally a drained battery. Other than that, it's a great camera. -- PL

~ tOkKa said...

-->> .. where in a grave yard would there be letter boxes , Sarah ?!

Andrew NDB said...

Beautiful. I'm envious.

Matt said...

Good to know, Thanks Pete!

Bookgal said...

Hey tOkKa!

Depends on the letterbox, but generally I have found graveyard boxes hidden in the treelines and woods that tend to be around graveyards. Sometimes they are hidden around a single tree/bush.

Letterboxers dont ever put letterboxes on or around graves, as we have a code that says you never do a letterbox where it might damage property, or be disruptive to people (and someones grave would be both disruptive, and disrespectful!) Its the same reason we dont hide them in the old new england stone walls...people moving stones would wreck the wall over time.

~ tOkKa said...

-->> o my god woe!! o_o