Around and About with Richard McCarthy: Twilight in a side yard: Imagining a shared moment between two people

By RICHARD MCCARTHY

I was biking in the countryside of Montague one summer day (remember those?), and I pedaled past a house with a substantial side yard furnished only with a small table and two simple chairs. Later, when I was home, I watched the sunset from my back...

Speaking of Nature: Last year in bird watching: A review of 2024, a record-breaking year for bird sightings and photos

By BILL DANIELSON

Happy New Year everybody! I was delighted to have a snowy celebration for this iconic winter holiday and I hope that you are sitting happily with your feet up and a warm beverage in your hand. I am just finishing an hour of bird watching at my kitchen...

Can’t take that away from me: With Jan. 20 on the horizon, the Queer Joy Collaborative sings, dances and fights for its life

By MELISSA KAREN SANCES

Glitter. Sparkle. Bedazzle. Shine.When Mara Levi and Nova Wehman-Brown started dreaming of a Winter Ball, these four words came to mind. The executive director and the board president of the Queer Joy Collaborative wanted their inaugural event to be...

No need to put your clubs in storage: Golf simulators, gaining in popularity, allow for year-round tee time and swing analysis

By GARRETT COTE

Come fall, which is perhaps the best time to get out and play a round of golf thanks to the combination of lovely weather and gorgeous foliage, every golfer in New England knows the inevitable winter weather is on the horizon. Yet despite being aware...

Weekly Food Photo Contest: This week’s winner: Mary Carey of Amherst

Mary Carey of Amherst made this forest-themed cake “by frosting a big Rice Krispies Treat with melted mini chocolate peanut butter cups and decorated it with meringue mushrooms, sugared cranberries and rosemary, and a little glass fox.” Next, she says...

Reading roundup: Steve Pfarrer’s favorite books of 2024

By STEVE PFARRER

During my last several years as the Gazette’s arts and features writer, I compiled a list of my favorite books of the year each December, given that newspapers all do that best-of-the-year thing and I thought it would be fun to get on board...

Arts Briefs: Bach and rock in Northampton, cumbia in Amherst, and more

Auditions for ‘Love Letters’ The volunteer theater company Valley Players will hold auditions for the play “Love Letters” by appointment only on Monday, Jan. 6, and Tuesday, Jan. 7, from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Bangs Community Center in Amherst.The show,...

Giving the gift of Christmases past: Deerfield children’s letters to Santa resurface after decades

By CHRIS LARABEE

From 1952 to 2008, children in Deerfield had an opportunity to write letters to Santa Claus and, after some time, a letter from the big man himself would be sent back to the child.Now, decades later after many of the letters were likely forgotten, a...

Love is in the airwaves: Queer dating radio show creates connections and community

By CAROLYN BROWN

Finding love is all about finding someone on your wavelength. A radio show at the University of Massachusetts Amherst wants to help the local queer community make romantic connections, one guest DJ at a time.On the show “Queer Yenta Radio Hour,” which...

Weekly Food Photo Contest: This week’s winner: Jane Nevinsmith of Hadley

Jane Nevinsmith sent us this photo of the gingerbread people and sugar cookies that Susan Glowatsky baked for the Hadley Senior Center holiday party earlier this month.How to enter: Snap a pic of something delicious-looking and send it with your name,...

Valley Bounty: Made with the essence of the full moon: Full Moon Ghee has a new owner but the same healing recipe

By JACOB NELSON

Golden, rich, and delicious, “ghee is basically clarified butter,” explains April Poirier. “But it’s so much more than that.”Poirier is the new owner of Full Moon Ghee, a business she recently bought from founder Hannah Jacobson-Hardy. “When I tell...

Get a whiff of this: ‘Flora & Fromage’ unites nature, art and food for an olfactory party in the Paper City

By CAROLYN BROWN

When the weather outside is frightful, warming up indoors, surrounded by plants, food, art and live music, is so delightful.Such is the idea behind Flora & Fromage, an upcoming plant-themed art and food experience at Mill 1 in Holyoke on Saturday,...

Arts Briefs: Christmas shows of a wide variety and a sprinkling of other events

A ‘Country Christmas Singalong Spectacular’The Academy of Music will host “The Country Christmas Singalong Spectacular with Zara Bode” on Sunday, Dec. 22, from 4 to 5:30 p.m.Bode, one half of the country duo The Sweetback Sisters, is a powerhouse...

Get Growing with Mickey Rathbun: A garden in winter need not be dreary: Plants that will enliven your garden in winter

By MICKEY RATHBUN

It’s not unusual these cold gray days to despair over the appearance of our gardens. It wasn’t so long ago that late-blooming asters and brilliant foliage punctuated the landscape. Now that I’m leaving garden cleanup until spring to help feed and...

Speaking of Nature: Irregular in every way: For the first time, I’ve sighted a mockingbird at my feeder in December

By BILL DANIELSON

It was just another morning at the kitchen window. During the school year I am a prisoner of “teacher time,” which means that I wake up at 4:30 a.m. every morning, whether I want to or not. Weekends, holidays, you name it, I’m up. So, rather than...

Only Human with Joan Axelrod-Contrada: Am I a believer?: The song hasn’t changed but I have

By JOAN AXELROD-CONTRADA

Isn’t it funny how a song can sound completely different depending on your mood, life stage, and views on love? Take “I’m a Believer” by the Monkees, for example.The first time it played, I was a starry-eyed preteen with dreams of Monkee-love. The...

The Lehrer Report: Dec. 12, 2024

The rhododendron bush is a great temperature gauge according to garden writers. If the leaves are very furled you know its cold. I have two bushes in front of the dining room windows. When I open the shades, I know whether to bundle up or...

Weekly Food Photo Contest: This week’s winner: Steve Arons of Hatfield

We’ve been getting a lot of beautiful pie photo submissions for the Weekly Food Photo Contest, and this week’s winner is picture-perfect. Steve Arons of Hatfield says that this sour cherry pie is “one of many delicious recipes and cooking skills I...

Eat to the beat: New event series in a new venue mixes music, meals, and job training

By CAROLYN BROWN

At an upcoming new concert series at a recently opened venue in Holyoke, guests can listen to live music while they eat themed meals and help local students build career skills.The series, Feast & Harmony, will debut next week at De La Luz Soundstage...

Arts Briefs: Musical theater karaoke in Easthampton, improv in Hadley, and more

Musical theater karaokeCan you sing some “Sweeney,” croon some “Cats,” or belt some “Beetlejuice?”Easthampton Theater Company will host Musical Theater Karaoke at New City Brewery in Easthampton on Saturday, Dec. 14. Sign-ups start at 7 p.m.; singing...