The wind has been blowing hard enough to bring the outdoor cat in. And while it is not truly cold, the wind makes it feel like winter, which is nice for a change. The developing trend is late autumn warmth, heat that makes it risky to store potatoes much earlier than mid- to late October. The storage barns are cinder block hallways built into or banked by earth. They are improved mid-century root cellars, designed to the specs of a regional growing season that once seemed permanent and perpetual. If your occupation does not put you in regular contact with ...
20 Nov 2025 by Marilee Foster
Election 2025 is now in the history books. What happened? Why did it happen? What does it mean for 2026? As we look across the nation in this off-year election, there is overwhelming consensus that the 2025 election was a big victory for Democrats. Democrats won gubernatorial elections with moderate candidates in New Jersey and Virginia. Zohran Mamdani, a Democratic Socialist, was elected mayor of New York City as a Democrat, with a majority of the vote in a three-way race. In California, Governor Gavin Newsom’s redistricting proposal was approved by more than 60 percent of the vote. Democrats also ...
by Fred Thiele Jr.
There’s a highly threatening and new reality for hurricanes. Unusually, the East Coast of the United States was not struck this year by any hurricanes. And thus, luckily, we were not hit by one of these extreme hurricanes that first meanders as a minor storm and then, in just a day or so after feeding from waters made ever-hotter by climate change, rise to the worst hurricane level, Category 5 on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale. But it’s just a matter of time. The National Weather Service of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency defines online Category 5 as: “Winds 157 ...
19 Nov 2025 by Karl Grossman
There is no setting on binoculars that works in the fog — everything in the distance remains indistinct, and that is fine. Here, the low place, called Sagg Swamp, begins a nearly uninterrupted corridor of unbuilt-upon land: wetlands, ponds and kettleholes; the Long Pond Greenbelt runs for miles to the old harbor. Today, contained, the only fog is there. It rises up from the dark muck to smudge the damp foliage with its dreamy, silver light. So, above, as the crow flies, the air is tinted between gold and pink. Fog is a reoccurring theme, because it reveals a sense ...
13 Nov 2025 by Marilee Foster
Gaudy October is gone. The November landscape is muted colors, falling leaves and skeletal branches. The month opens with reminders of death. In the Catholic Church, November first is All Saints’ Day. On November 2, All Souls Day is dedicated to praying for the souls of the departed. The Mexican tradition of the Day of the Dead is celebrated on the same days but has a more festive air. It’s also observed across the United States. The All-Souls Procession has been an annual event since 1990 in Tucson, Arizona. San Antonio, Texas, is known for its Muertos Fest and river ...
by Denise Gray Meehan
There were strong Democratic victories nationally in last week’s election, led by Mikie Sherrill winning the governorship of New Jersey, and Abigail Spanberger winning the governorship of Virginia, and other Democratic wins seen as involving clear anti-President Donald Trump viewpoints. In Suffolk County, we were in the viewing area in which a torrent of TV commercials were broadcast in the race between Sherrill and Republican Jack Ciattarelli, who in most of them stressed his staunch support for Trump. Although the race was predicted to be tight, Sherrill won by a large margin. This and other successful Democratic contests are being ...
by Karl Grossman
For a common vegetable, the cauliflower is high maintenance. It asks a lot — first, a long growing season that resists direct seeding, so it must be transplanted. Cauliflower does not like it hot; it wants plenty of moisture and nutrition. If the farmer can arrange a splash of boron, so much the better. Each cauliflower wants plenty of room and requires dedicated weed control. Finally, when the crop is a field of deep green hues, anchored so firmly in the rich earth, its broad leaves have been satisfied. Down deep within, the desired “fruit” takes shape: The cauliflower forms. ...
4 Nov 2025 by Marilee Foster
Staff Writer on Oct 21, 2024