Art or food?

“The Tree of Crows” (oil on canvas), by Caspar David Friedrich (1774-1840)

“Five crows, frock-coated in dignity, have arrived and sit upright and still on a bough. One thinks, ‘Oh beloved symbols of New England’ or ‘Drat those birds,’ depending upon whether one is planning a poem or a cornfield.’’

— Richard F. Merrifield (1905-1977), American essayist and novelist, in Monadnock Journal (1975). He lived in Keeene, N.H.

They’re in charge

“Crow on a Branch,’’ by Kawanabe Kyosai (1831–1889)

“Five crows, frock-coated in dignity, have arrived and sit upright and still on a bough. One thinks, ‘Oh, beloved symbols of New England’ or ‘Drat those birds,’ depending on whether one is planning a poem or a cornfield.’’

— Richard F. Merrifield, in Monadnock Journal (1975)

A still, very New England place for reflection, not feasting

On Thanksgiving: In Jaffrey Center, N.H., with Mt. Monadnock in the background. The celebrated novelist Willa Cather is buried in Jaffrey’s Old Burying Ground.

— Photo by William Morgan

'Bright with April's buoyancy'

On the summit of Monadnock

Photo by Shiva shankar,

Cloud-topped and splendid, dominating all
    The little lesser hills which compass thee,
    Thou standest, bright with April’s buoyancy,
Yet holding Winter in some shaded wall
Of stern, steep rock; and startled by the call
    Of Spring, thy trees flush with expectancy
    And cast a cloud of crimson, silently,
Above thy snowy crevices where fall
    Pale shrivelled oak leaves, while the snow beneath
    Melts at their phantom touch. Another year
Is quick with import. Such each year has been.
    Unmoved thou watchest all, and all bequeath
    Some jewel to thy diadem of power,
Thou pledge of greater majesty unseen.

— “Monadnock in Early Spring,’’ by Amy Lowell (1874-1925)

Art and civics in Peterboro

“Hidden Myth” (collagraph, wax, tape), by Soosen Dunholter, a Peterboro, N.H.-based painter.

Peterboro, in New Hampshire’s (Mount) Monadnock Region (named for the mountain that has long been reputed to be the second-most climbed in the world, after Mt. Fuji), is famous for the many writers and other artists who have lived and/or worked there. That’s party because of the MacDowell Colony, which has been a cozy and supportive place for writers, composers and visual artists to work since its founding, in 1907. One of its writers was Thornton Wilder, who is said to have based the community, Grover’s Corners, in his famous play Our Town on Peterboro. Peterboro is still more rural than not, but Boston’s exurban sprawl is pushing toward the town, which remains a weekend and vacation home for quite a few affluent people.

Peterboro is well known for its engaged and well-informed citizenry.

Next door is beautiful Dublin, the highest town in New England and the site of the headquarters of Yankee Inc., which publishes the eponymous magazine and the Old Farmer’s Almanack and has a couple of glorious lakes. For many years Dublin hosted Beech Hill Farm, a substance-abuse (mostly of alcohol) facility in an old mansion on top of Beech Hill that drew a fair share of celebrities who needed to dry out. The property is no longer used for that.

Children’s arts parade in Peterboro.

Bond House at the MacDowell Colony

The top of Mount Monadnock on a typically crowded day in warm weather.

Ambiguous 'promised land'

Mt Wachusett, in central Massachusetts, and at 2006 feet high the highest point in the state east of the Connecticut. River.

“Ephraim Cross drives up the trail

From Worcester. Hepsibah goes pale

At sumac feathers in the pines.

….Pine to birch

The hills change color. In the west

Wachusett humps a stubborn crest.

Ephraim takes the promised land,

Earth, rock and rubble, in his hand.’’

— From the “1750’’ part of “The Farm,’’ by Archibald MacLeish (1892-1992)

Wachusett is a  monadnock: a single mountain on a relatively flat landscape. The word monadnock comes from a similarly isolated mountain, Mt. Monadnock, in southern New Hampshire.

Wachusett is a popular hiking and skiing destination, in part because it’s so near to cities. An automobile road, open spring to fall, ascends to the summit. Views from the top include Mt. Monadnock to the north, Mt. Greylock to the west, southern Vermont to the northwest, and Boston to the east.