Estuary for Young Readers #21

Dear Son, Your father and I were glad to receive word that you and Raymond have been given charge of a riverboat ferry.

Creating a Nature Center for the Estuary

On the marshy banks of the Lieutenant River in Old Lyme, Connecticut, a quiet revolution in environmental education and research has been unfolding for over a decade.

Nipmuc Mishoon

When Andre Strongbearheart Gaines-Roberson, Jr., came to the phone, he couldn’t help sounding a bit tired, having worked around the clock over the previous ten days, catching an hour or two of sleep in his tent at various times while supervising the “burn” of a mishoon, or canoe, hollowed out from a tree, in the Nipmuc tradition.

Estuary for Young Readers #20

Me and Ray are expert ferrymen, it’s true, but we’re experts with small ferries that shuttle people, animals, and the mail across the Connecticut River between Saybrook and Lyme.

Estuary for Young Readers #19

The Union camp and our ferry assignment—a steamboat on the Rappahannock River—was just a few hundred yards from where Ray and I jumped off the train.

What’s for Dinner: Veal and Mushroom Stew

Fall is the perfect time to forage for mushrooms in New England as many species thrive in the cooler, wetter weather. Forage if you must, but beware as many mushrooms are inedible or poisonous!

What’s for Dinner: Cherry Cobbler Completes the Meal

The slump, the dump, the Betty, the crisp, the crumble, or the cobbler! What’s the difference? These are all versions of a cooked fruit dessert with a crumble, biscuit, or pie crust on top and/or bottom, and baked in the oven or cooked on the stovetop.

Estuary for Young Readers #18

Saybrook station. The conductor pushed the car door aside and, leaning out of the train, looked up and down the length of the platform for passengers, then called out, “Board!”

What’s for Dinner: Duck Confit and Wild Rice

Ducks and wild rice are as comfortable together on your dinner plate as they are in the wild! The wild rice, a semi-aquatic grass, is mostly found along riverbanks where the water is shallow and the currents slow.

Estuary for Young Readers #16

Two months ago, I’d say early fall, a handyman named Wayne found a room in the local boarding house, and since then has pretty much settled into life here in Saybrook taking odd jobs for folks all over town.

Estuary for Young Readers #15

President Lincoln’s 1862 call for 300,000 fresh volunteers to serve in the Union Army for three years was met with less enthusiasm than the original call for three months of service that JJ and so many other Connecticut men answered with enthusiasm.

What’s For Dinner? Oyster Fritters

Oysters—one of nature’s many gifts, and so many choices! Oyster lovers have their favorites, each with its own distinctive characteristics derived from its species and its environment

The Vessel and the Painting

On the afternoon of Essex’s Groundhog Day parade, figures walk through the misty streets, past clapboard houses and American flags, and gather in The Griswold Inn’s Wine Bar.

Estuary for Young Readers #14

My little cousin, Ben, broadcast the news as he left my side and ran into his house, “JJ’s home! JJ’s home!”