Professor J. Drew Lanham, Alumni Distinguished Professor of Wildlife Ecology, Master Teacher, and Certified Wildlife Biologist at Clemson University, is a renowned ornithologist, an accomplished author, poet, and scientist. He is also the keynote speaker at this year’s Thoreau Society Gathering in Concord. It’s not a surprising link. Henry David Thoreau was a careful observer of nature, as well as an eloquent writer and a social justice warrior. All these traits drew the attention of Prof. Lanham, as we discussed in a recent interview.
Concord is well known for its rich history and stunning natural beauty. As the warm days of summer arrive, residents and visitors alike deeply appreciate having access to national and state parks which provide a great way to get outside and enjoy nature. Here, we present the key features of two of our most popular destinations.
Every backyard has a unique variety of flowers, trees, and the occasional persistent weed. The importance of our yard vegetation often falls under the radar, especially in grass lawn-dominated suburbia and a society that prizes outdoor aesthetics with little thought to the ecological value a landscape can provide.
Concord’s summer is lovely and comforting. Life slows down after the energetic buzz of spring. Relax with photographer Dave Witherbee's stunning photo essay.
Remember when mother said, “Want to go outside?” and we ran for the door with a big grin? Well, it is your time again; run for it! Hurry to and get out there and soak it in. Celebrate nature with this stunning photo essay!
One April morning in 1872, William Brewster (1851-1919) took the train from Cambridge to Concord to go birdwatching with a friend. Making their way to a nearby farm, a local resident expressed surprise at their coming all the way from Boston to hear a Woodcock sing.
There is so much to see in our natural world; colors, birds, flowers, critters, lovely patterns, and even pretty and interesting insects. To help you see as much as possible on your outdoor adventures, bring a camera, a nature app like iNaturalist, and a guide book such as the Audubon New England Field Guide, the creation of which happens to have been led by Concord resident, Peter Alden. The more we see and the more we learn, the more we want to know. When we are outside there are intriguing sights, even in our own yards.
Outdoor exploration is a fabulous means to slowly emerge from our strange, long year of hibernation. What better way to enliven ourselves than to view art in nature. Both have an extreme impact on our happiness index.
The Go Out Doors project was initiated by The Umbrella Arts Center in 2020 with the goal of bringing art to public spaces and answering the questions: What happens if you open the door and step outside? What happens if the opportunity to engage presents itself? What might we discover if, on foot or wheel, we find ourselves on a path through the woods – hidden from the roads we travel daily?
Henry David Thoreau called White Pond the “gem of the woods”, and with good reason. This beautiful and fragile ecosystem suffered from neglect and over-use for decades. Today, White Pond is recovering thanks to the vision and commitment of the Town of Concord, the White Pond Advisory Committee, and legions of volunteers.
White Pond provides a stunning place for swimming, fishing, and walking the clearly marked trails. This is a delicately balanced environment, though, and visitors are encouraged to follow the list of rules posted at each main entry point. While the rules may seem to limit use, they are vitally important to restoring the ecology of the area.
In the wild places of Concord linger old Puritan superstitions and Transcendental possibilities. We begin in the year 1620 when, bearing sea-weary Puritan separatists, the Mayflower arrived off Cape Cod’s coast revealing what Pilgrim leader William Bradford noted as “a hideous and desolate wilderness, full of wild beasts.”
To the Puritans, the Wilderness was the devil’s territory. Satan would not linger in the exposed coastal regions where the Puritans first settled and kept him at bay with devout prayer, but he was always there, in the wild forests, the swamps, the unexplored places, tempting them to leave the seaside settlements of early Massachusetts and stray from righteousness.
