I don’t consider myself an incredibly materialistic person, but like everyone it’s easy to get caught up in stuff. On Black Friday, in part inspired by REI’s longstanding initiative, I make a concerted effort to get off the capitalism hamster wheel for 24 hours and spend some time connecting with my surroundings, my loved ones, and myself.
Every year we get our Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving. We always get a concolor fir from the same farm in Southwick – Morgan cuts it down and then I carry it back. Cooper was already a little antsy with the chaos of the farm on a beautiful day, and then a rabbit ran across our path and he gave Morgan a good pull, which kind of killed the vibe. Regardless, worth the trip, and very happy to continue one of my favorite traditions.
The rest of the afternoon was a bit busy catching up with house stuff, but we did get out on a short sunset hike in Hampden at a spot called Mount Vision. I came across it while browsing the Minnechaug Land Trust website, and it’s a bit off the beaten path; we’ve biked past the trailhead many times and haven’t ever noticed its existence, and Strava doesn’t even have the trail marked.
The hike was short and steep, well marked with white blazes but very clearly doesn’t see much traffic. The trail ran along and across old stone walls marking old property lines from before the trust bought the property. At the top we passed a creepy statue and sat on a makeshift stone bench to enjoy the sunset with hot tea and a cold beer before heading back down in the dark.
Public land is important to preserve but not enough people take advantage of it. It definitely takes a bit more effort to get out somewhere new, but it’s always worth it. I hope that places like this don’t go away as time goes on, but I have my doubts. I fear that if we don’t have the public desire and political will to solve housing and transportation and all the other side effects of capitalism we won’t be able to preserve the spaces I love. For the time being, I’ll enjoy every minute I can.