Amy and I hiked from our house all the way south on the Regicides Trail to New Haven.
Some of the way we went on Baldwin Drive because we weren't making good enough time on the trail. But since I'm no longer a purist, I was okay with that.
Saw the Judge's Cave again...
A baseball game at the base of West Rock cliff...
And collapsing on the porch of the Austin Street Inn, where we spent the night.
After a good night's sleep we headed out through the blooming mountain laurel (below).
We saw ravens (!), toads, numerous birds of all sorts, what may have been a coyote, and this little box turtle.
Made it to Lake Wintergreen in epic time...which of course gave me blisters later.
All in all, I would say we hiked 17 miles. These sorts of overnight hikes are possible all over Connecticut, but so few take advantage of our 'small size' to do it.
We get a number of nonpoisonous snakes in our yard (black racers, garters, milk snakes), and while we enjoy them keeping the mouse and frog populations down, they unfortunately breed. And the babies are small enough to slip through some weird underneath our porch cracks and occasionally get into the house. Our cat Django takes care of them at that point, or at least alerts me so that I can grab them and carry them out of the house, sometimes in the middle of the night. Those snakes are so small I doubt they could even bite through my skin. However, the ones outside can.
So, because of this issue, I now remove snakes from the yard whenever I see them sunning themselves on a rock. So far I have removed three large snakes, and the smaller one pictured here. One of the large snakes was a fat garter snake that emitted a foul odor when I grabbed him and put him in the bucket. Another was a milk snake that was in the process of killing a baby bird (I let him have it, but removed him and the dead bird). Another was full of three phoebe eggs he had just eaten a couple days earlier (we had been watching the nest). Those snakes were big enough to really hurt me. This guy's bite would probably just hurt a little bit, like a bee sting. But my wife got photos of me removing him properly, so I have posted him here.
The device I am using is a poker/rake that I recently forged in a blacksmithing class out of a piece of rebar. Turns out it is close to the shape of a genuine 'snake stick' and works great, at least for a snake this small. I used a rake for one of the big ones.
I take the snakes about a 1/2 mile up into the woods, where hopefully they will stay. Of course it is possible that they crawl all the way back, across a stream, etc. So, it may be a fool's errand. But since I removed two garters now this spring, I am hoping that this is one year they will miss breeding underneath my porch in the old chipmunk holes. If you try this yourself - be safe!
I'll be appearing at the annual Simsbury Land Trust meeting on April 9 at The Riverview in Simsbury.
There will be great company, delicious food and drinks, and a presentation by yours truly on my book Afoot in Connecticut, and what we can do to make our state even better for walkers.
$50.00 per person includes open bar, hors d’oeuvres, dinner, dessert and coffee. Hope to see you there!
After reading my memoir, Afoot in Connecticut, Peter Everett of the Housatonic Community College library invited me to be this semester's visiting writer. I gave an open lecture about fiction and nonfiction writing for about fifty people, and enjoyed it immensely. I hope some of the students and teachers who attended did, too. You can read more about it in the article here.
Check me out on this episode of Radio Arts and Leisure, a program on Hersam Acorn's Radio. I'm at about 20 minutes into the ep, discussing my book Afoot in Connecticut. Enjoy!
A few questions for Eric D. Lehman, author of Afoot in Connecticut.
1. What books are on your nightstand?
At this moment – Gustave Flaubert’s Madame Bovary and Lionel Casson’s Travel in the Ancient World.
2. What book are you an evangelist for—what book do you feel that everyone needs to read?
Kenneth Grahame’s The Wind in the Willows. I didn’t read it until I was an adult and fell in love with it then. So I make sure to nudge adults into reading it, and of course give copies to all my nieces and nephews.
A wonderful book review of Afoot in Connecticut by Chris Vola is up at the Small Press Book Review blog. It reads, in part:
"Lehman has succeeded in crafting a moving, intricate ode to the inextricable bonds that bind person and place, a book that is, at its heart, a call to those who have not yet forsaken the sterility of the indoors for the soul-quenching of a good walking stick and a nearby trail, and a reminder for those who have already traveled to find a greater journey."
Read the rest of the review here.
Leslie: As author of Insider’s Guide to
Connecticut, A History of Connecticut Food, A History of Connecticut Wine
and two other books about Connecticut, what makes Afoot in Connecticut
different from your previous works?
Eric: I love food and wine, and I enjoy writing
history, but I came to love Connecticut first through walking the trails and
discovering the natural world. So this book is much closer to my heart.
I hope it inspires other people to get out of
their cars and take to the trails, because that is the best way, some would say
the only way, to know a place. And I think that knowing and understanding where
you live is an important part of knowing yourself.
Leslie: If you had to choose a favorite moment
or a favorite hideaway in Connecticut what/where would it be?
Eric: Oh boy, there are so many—I’ve included
many of those moments and hideaways in the book, of course. If you like to camp
then I’d have to say Macedonia Brook State Park outside of Kent is possibly the
most beautiful place I’ve spent a night. And if you’re not the sort who likes to
sleep on the ground, then the Old Riverton Inn; it will always be close to my
heart, because that’s where I was married, in a small ceremony with friends and
family in front of a roaring fire on an autumn evening. I guess that’s probably
my favorite moment, too.
Leslie: In the book there are many wonderful
stories to be savored but there are, of course, those rock-bottom moments. One
particular trip that comes to mind is when you and a friend trekked across
Connecticut. That trip was grueling; you two ran into many obstacles, everything
from bad weather to massive blisters. Did you regret setting out on the
trip?
Eric: Absolutely not. As I say in the book, the
struggle makes us not only stronger but better people, and I’m much better for
going on that walk. That one day, though, when we hiked close to 25 miles,
through that rainstorm… That was probably the hardest single day of hiking I’ve
ever done, and I’ve hiked the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. I’ve never
hallucinated because of fatigue like that before or since.
Leslie: You are a professor of Creative
Writing at Bridgeport University. At one point in the book, you tell stories of
taking students out into the field to learn about the natural history of the
Connecticut countryside. During these excursions you did several interesting
things with them, everything from pointing out rock formations to rappelling.
When reading that section, all I could think was how much I would love to take
such a hands-on course. Were you ever able to build a class around that
idea?
Eric: Unfortunately not. Apparently there are
insurance issues, etc. I was doing all that on the “down low,” as the kids said
gleefully. I actually did far more of it than I described in the book, with
students at Quinnipiac University, Southern Connecticut State University, and
the University of Bridgeport. One of my favorite things to do is take students
on what seems to be an ordinary hike in the woods, but with a secret
destination—a ruined house foundation, a frog pond, or an abandoned
lighthouse.
Leslie: What was the most interesting thing
you have discovered about the natural history of Connecticut during your
treks?
Eric: I think it was when I saw coyotes here in
Connecticut, and realized that they were much larger than the ones I had seen
out West. I looked into this phenomenon, and found that some scientists believe
that they bred with wolves in Ontario before coming here, and that’s how they
got so large. When you’re hiking alone and you happen upon a pack of coyotes
that size…suddenly you are no longer in the safe, modern suburban world, even if
you are only a couple miles from your house.
Leslie: Two of your most well-known books,
A History of Connecticut Food and A History of Connecticut Wine,
you co-authored with your wife Amy Nawrocki. In Afoot in Connecticut you
tell the story of how you two met. What was it like telling this part of your
story? How did she feel about your decision to share this story?
Eric: I had already started writing the book when
I met her, and it really became the perfect ending to the story. I had spent
seven years on my own in Connecticut before I met her, and had already fallen in
love with the state. So, it was great to find someone to share that with,
someone who had lived in Connecticut all her life, but had not really paid much
attention to the natural history of it. Now she loves Connecticut in the same
ways I do.
She has published a number of poems in which I
feature prominently, so she can’t complain about appearing in Afoot in
Connecticut! Despite a mild embarrassment, she loves the book, especially
the themes of discovery and nature.
Leslie: In the book you describe on one of
your first dates together with Amy, during which you took her on a hike as a way
to share your passion for the wilderness with her. The date ends with her
stepping on a bee’s nest. While she seemed to tough her way through, has that
deterred you from taking hikes together or is she still your trail
companion?
Eric: She is still most definitely my trail
companion: we hiked the White Mountains shortly after that experience. She
claims that the bees were just doing their duty, and had no problem going out
again…after a few days with antihistamines and calamine lotion.
Leslie: Glad to hear she didn’t let the
experience sour the outdoors for her. Finally, to close things out, what is next
for you?
Since I’m very quickly destroying my knees
hiking, I think I’ll bike around New England next. Amy and I rode from New Haven
to Massachusetts last summer, so that’s a good start.
Check out volume 2, issue 1 of The Wayfarer for a preview of my upcoming book, Afoot in Connecticut, two poems by my lovely wife, Amy Nawrocki, and a great story about Pleasure Beach by my buddy David Leff.
It's not every day a magazine is so beautifully made, and chock full of all the things that make me want to read it!
