09.23.2025

Just this morning - I went on a 5-mile hike through the Halfway Pond Conservation Area in Plymouth MA.

12,000 years ago the last of the glacial ice sheets receded from the northeast US - leaving scars of barren lands across the landscape. These coastal plain pine barrens in southeastern Massachusetts are the last of their kind. They give us the ability to imagine what this land might have been after the ice receded and for the first time - this land felt the warmth of the sun.

These lands are visually stunning - but you have to walk through them to understand their power. In near silence you walk through these towering young pines and it feels as though they know all your secrets and all your thoughts. But instead of shame you feel understood - you repent - and you leave as though you’ve just had a meeting with a mentor, fairy godmother, or Gandalf the Grey himself.

I encourage anyone and everyone to experience this place - and please - be a part of helping to keep these lands clean and protected - so future generations can share in this experience.