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I'm going out to clean the pasture spring;
I'll only stop to rake the leaves away
(And wait to watch the water clear, I may):
I shan't be gone long. - You come too.
Robert Frost
Hester and Sally
When we look across the valley one farm north we see the beautiful old barns of the Phelps farm which they called Valley Ridge. For the...
Ted Russell
Dec 5, 202110 min read
Coming Home One - Lemon Fair
First post in a four-part narrative. On a crisp November morning in 2005 I drove over Brandon Gap, the mountain pass that leads from our...
Ted Russell
Jun 25, 20216 min read
Barber Ledge
More than you probably want to know about Adverse Possession and Prescriptive Easements, but with some human interest at the end. ––"In...
Ted Russell
Jun 20, 20218 min read
I Bequeath Myself to the Dirt to Grow From the Grass I Love
When Sister Debby was battling cancer and it wasn’t going well she called me to her room one morning. She handed me a book open to a page...
Ted Russell
Jun 13, 20212 min read
Tobacco Tins, Summer Snoozes
When I remember Kenneth Ketcham, I remember his horses. But for some reason, I always remember his cigarette tobacco in a can. I remember...
Ted Russell
Jun 6, 20216 min read
Letter to Steve
In which I try to explain what it was like facing the draft in 1970. You might want your music streaming service handy. “ Fate leads the...
Ted Russell
May 16, 20219 min read
Coming Home 2 - Reservoir Walk
Second post in a four-part narrative. When I drove into the dooryard, I was immediately faced with another example of neighbors looking...
Ted Russell
May 1, 202110 min read
Coming Home Three - Black Pete
Third post of a four-part narrative. Now I am back on the trail that leads to my cabin., I rode my first draft horse home on a late...
Ted Russell
Apr 30, 20213 min read
Coming Home Four - Marge Thaws the Water
Fourth post of a four-part narrative. The memory is still strong as I retrace that long ago ride on Black Pete. The trail brings me near...
Ted Russell
Apr 29, 20216 min read
Hyde Manor
This is adapted from a talk I gave at the Sudbury meeting house. I was asked because our resident Hyde Manor historian, Steve Sgorbati,...
Ted Russell
Dec 18, 202010 min read
Two Walking Plow Stories
I asked a teenage boy showing a pair of young steers at the oxen show at the Tunbridge World’s Fair why he chose to work with Jerseys....
Ted Russell
Dec 18, 20202 min read
My First Wild Ride
I'm not sure when I caught the horse bug but this was first grade and my mother knit the sweater and I picked the pattern. Not long after...
Ted Russell
Dec 18, 20204 min read
Letter to My Niece Lianne
With a few stories about the ancestors. Clyde on the lines. Chauncey sitting at the back. Whoever is reading this probably knows “the...
Ted Russell
Dec 18, 20205 min read
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