One thing I’m really thankful for is that I can be on the trail at the Holy Hill conservation land and into the woods within a five- to 15-minute walk from my house. Easy access to a conservation trail is within walking distance for many residents of Harvard. During the Thanksgiving weekend I’m especially grateful for this because it means that an entire group can get outside on the trail without debating which conservation land to visit, the hassle of getting into cars and car seats, and figuring out the best driving route. It’s easy to just head out the door and down the road.
But even if you drive to a trail, escaping the kitchen and going for a walk outside, as the turkey is roasting or after the feast, is an important part of the holiday; maybe because of a recognition that nature is the source of all that bounty. Walking outside with others who have partaken of that bounty feels like an acknowledgement that we can’t put it all together by ourselves. An outside walk seems to complete the meaning of Thanksgiving.
The Muller land off Littleton County Road offers the option of a small loop or a larger one. The connection to Horse Meadows Knoll greatly expands the possibilities and takes you into a variety of habitats with a vernal pool, the Horse Meadows Reservoir, and the knoll itself. (Courtesy photo)
Each neighborhood trail is unique and has its own character, whether because of its historical and agricultural importance or because it is scattered with glacial erratic boulders, meandering wetlands, or because of its distant views from a higher elevation or because of its plants and animals. For me, no matter how often I walk my neighborhood trail, each visit is a new experience because nature is always changing.
I consider the conservation land and trail down the road from my house an extension of my home. Over the years I have learned the history of the land and the buildings on it, and can imagine the lives of its long-ago residents. By now, I have become familiar with some of its plants and developed a special fondness for some, like the doomed American chestnut saplings I see along the trail. I still visit the boulder that wowed me the first time I saw it years ago. I routinely check out the water level of Bennett’s Brook that flows by the path, and in the spring I obsessively count the lady-slippers in the spots where I’ve learned they grow. I’m thrilled when the fall-blooming witch hazel blossoms appear.
Some days the panoramic view from the ridge may offer intense color contrasts, or on others my eyes may be drawn to a tiny mushroom or a crawling wooly bear caterpillar or the sassafras leaves lying on the trail.
But, as in any relationship, I continue to make new discoveries, like the time I inquisitively followed a faint path that led to a vernal pool where frogs were giving a spring concert. The ever-changing lighting one day revealed an ancient granite marker hidden in the brush. I still grieve the loss of a spectacular birch tree, and, for a couple of years, I haven’t seen the white flowers of the bloodroot plant, considered medicinal by the Shaker residents.
By visiting my neighborhood conservation land regularly and year-round, I see and meet my neighbors and their children and their dogs. If the weather is pleasant, the Thanksgiving holiday is guaranteed to be a good opportunity to get out and greet some of them.
The Harvard Trails booklet published by the Harvard Conservation Trust is still the only overview on paper for locating a trail near your house. But it is incomplete due mostly to new acquisitions, and the online version has inaccuracies. Open source maps on your phone, such as Gaia or AllTrails, may be your best bet for locating and following a trail near your house if you haven’t already located one by seeing a “Town of Harvard Conservation Land” or “Harvard Conservation Trust” sign at a trailhead near the road. Once on the trail, keep to the path by following yellow primary trail or blue secondary trail markers on trees or by following your map.
And if the weather discourages an outside walk, you can go to Fivesparks and view “Destination: Nature,” an exhibit of more than 60 artists’ interpretations of Harvard’s conservation lands. Or do both. See fivesparks.org for hours.
