About this Site

This site really began in 2000 as that was when this picture of my first daughter was made and posted on my private family photo galleries. It was taken with my Konica T3N 35mm film camera, 85mm/1.8 Hexanon lens, and some fill flash on Fuji Reala film at Honey-Pot Hill Orchards in Stow. It is probably my first "made in Stow" photograph. 

Since I was a kid, every fall our family would pack in our car for our annual pilgrimage to "apple country." We would stop along the way and have a picnic lunch. It wasn't an ordinary picnic. We had a feast of homemade pasta and meatballs and sausages. Once full, we would head over to Honey-Pot, spend a few hours filling our bags, and return home. On the way home, we stopped for more homemade food we had packed. This time it was for peppers and eggs, cold cuts and fresh rolls, and donuts from Kane's Donuts in Saugus (the best donut shop in the world). Every year we did this without fail: grandparents, parents and siblings. As my grandparents got older, we changed our destination to Carver Hill Orchard in Stow since the land is flat. Every year I marveled at this wonderful area of Massachusetts. I remember seeing the construction in the Birch Hill area in the 70s and 80s. In the back of my mind I dreamed of one day moving to Stow. That dream became a reality on Halloween 2002 when we moved here from our small 2-bedroom house in West Roxbury. 

We still have our annual family apple picking, except now the eating occurs at our home and now the young children of the family have replaced the elders who have passed on. The tradition continues. I hope you enjoy this site, which is really nothing more than a tribute to Stow.  

I had a very poor site on my personal Boston University pages on Stow for many years with some pictures. I joined The Stow Independent newspaper in April 2007 as its main photographer. Over a year later, I have moved onto other photographic endeavors. Several months ago, because I was creating so many images, I moved my original Stow site to Google's blogspot and began making some posts. In May 2008, I moved the site off Google and onto my own domain and installed and configured Movable Type 4's Content Management System, redesigned the site, and began posting regular content and writing and backdating older posts. Right now this site contains posts only by me and my wife. But I do hope to grow the site into a moderated community blog, with text and photo submissions. If you have a story to tell that you think would be served well by being archived here, I would be most happy to post your submission.

Some interesting links (most are from my hometown of Stow, MA, but you will see there are others):

• Honey-Pot Hill Orchard, Shelburne Farm, and Carver Hill Orchard, a few of the several apple orchards in Stow that our whole family has visited annually since I was a kid. Now that we've moved here we also visit One Stack Farm and Derby Farm. See also Anne with Ann VanTine's Celebration of Apples pages and Jennifer Gero's Simply Apples online store.
• Small Farm and Applefield Farm are home-grown places to find fresh vegetables and cut flowers. Graeme Robinson's Stow Community Gardens blog talks about our relatively new public gardening community.
• Butternut Farm Golf Club and Stow Acres Country Club, two great golf courses. There is also the private Wedgewood Pines Country Club and public the 9-hole Stowaway Golf Course.
• There are many nearby attractions worth visiting: Wachusett Brewery, Nashoba Winery, Nashoba Valley Ski Area, Verrill Farm, Bolton Orchards, Berlin Orchards, Roller Kingdom, Navin Ice Rink, DeCordova Museum, Fruitlands Museum, Concord Museum, Acton Discovery Museum, Drumlin Farm, Codman Community Farm, Acton Jazz Cafe, Firefly's BBQ, and Dante's Blues.

Enjoy!