Author Archives: Marjorie

Peter Oliver’s Mill Park, Middleboro

The fish ladder at Oliver’s Mills Park, Middleboro

Marjorie Turner Hollman is a writer who loves the outdoors. Link to all Marjorie’s books.

On our way elsewhere, we passed by an intriguing spot just off Route 44, 8 Nemasket Street, in Middleboro, and discovered a very cool historic site along the Nemasket River. As soon as we pulled into the good-sized parking area I knew I had heard of this before–Peter Oliver’s Mill Park has a fish ladder that is essential for migrating herring in the spring. My friend Brenda (Natures Fairy on Youtube) has shared videos of the migrating herring, but I had no idea it had all the historic features we found.

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Diamond Hill Reservoir, Cumberland, RI

A hot day offered spectacular views of the Diamond HIll Reservoir in Cumberland, RI, and the fluffy clouds above

Marjorie Turner Hollman is a writer who loves the outdoors. Link to all Marjorie’s books.

Summer heat is not my favorite, and it’s been a hot, wet summer for lots of us. Rather than drive a long ways to get out on our bike, we left straight from our yard and chose to return to road biking, which we did a lot of last year in the height of the pandemic. Our goal? The Diamond HIll Reservoir in Cumberland, RI, just a few miles from home, despite our living over the state line in another town. We are back to #avoidingcrowds and learned that road biking, rather than navigating our beloved rail trails, offers some unexpected delights, and provides for much less interaction with others right now.

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Women’s work-sign your work Anonymous needlepoint

I had meant to clean my dusty needlepoint doorstop and finally got around to pulling out the lint remover, which allowed the intricate needlework to be on display once more on our small doorstop. (I have a very uneven house–doorstops are essential or the door won’t stay open!) Once I started handling the doorstop to clean it, I wondered if there might be any initials on it. I knew the doorstop had come from my grandmother Marjorie’s (my namesake) house, and was brought to my parent’s house after my grandmother’s death, then moved to my house after my grandmother’s death. Once all dusted off, I looked closely, but found no initials.

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Old roads–along the Quinapoxit River, West Boylston, MA

Along the west bank of the Quinapoxit River, West Boylston

Marjorie Turner Hollman is a writer who loves the outdoors. Link to all Marjorie’s books.

While visiting the area, we stopped along the Quinapoxit River to walk along an abandoned road that offers great views of the river. The pavement is still mostly intact, although several areas have lost some pavement from washouts in seasonal storms. The road is open to walkers and bicyclists.

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The importance of maintenance-Upper Charles Trail Holliston

Our newly powder coated adaptive tandem, ready to ride at the Upper charles Trail Holliston

Marjorie Turner Hollman is a writer who loves the outdoors. Link to all Marjorie’s books.

Maintenance is a fact of life. As much as we’d like to simply have things work, there are times we have to spend time (and money) and effort to maintain things we depend on. We had put off getting our adaptive tandem repainted, but rust is a serious concern on a steel bike, so off it went last month to Pike Powdercoating of Allston, in an effort to protect the bike from rust. It was wonderful to get it back and take it for its first test ride, out on the Upper Charles Trail in Holliston.

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Meeting outdoors Bellingham town common

Bellingham Writer’s group met in person at the Bellingham Town Common

Many of us have been meeting virtually the past year through the pandemic, and are inching our ways toward meeting in person. The outdoors still feels like a better option, so when my local writer’s group talked about meeting outdoors, we looked to our town common as a great central meeting spot. Last month the rain kept us meeting virtually, and this month, despite lots of storms through the week, we finally managed to meet in person for the first time since March 2020.

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Sachuest in summer, Middletown, RI

Fisherman hoping for a catch even as the waves grew higher

Marjorie Turner Hollman is a writer who loves the outdoors. Link to all Marjorie’s books.

We have visted Sachuest National Wildlife Refuge a number of times, but typically in the winter, and often because we have been nearly certain we will spot snowy owls at some point during our visit. Because of impending rain, we hoped this popular spot would be less crowded, even though it was a holiday weekend in mid-summer. We were surprised, however, at the number of others who had the same idea we did, even as storm clouds threatened.

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Along the Pemigewasset River, Bristol, Franklin NH

Great views of the Pemigewasset River for miles along this path in Franklin Falls Dam Recreation area

Marjorie Turner Hollman is a writer who loves the outdoors. Link to all Marjorie’s books.

We visited the Franklin Falls Dam recreation area and found a great six mile long trail (basically a fire road) alongside the Pemigewasset River. The trail is in good condition, offering views of the river along almost the entire length of the path. Besides a great spot to enjoy the natural history of the area, we realized we had stumbled into some fascinating cultural history as well.

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Carver’s Pond Bridgewater, MA

Carver Pond, Bridgewater, MA

Marjorie Turner Hollman is a writer who loves the outdoors. Link to all Marjorie’s books.

Years ago I lived about three blocks from Carver’s Pond when I was a student at Bridgewater (then College, now University) and I had no idea the pond and trails were even there. Thanks to the Facebook Group I created, Easy Walks, Massachusetts, RI and nearby, I learned about Carver’s Pond from a participant in the group and used the information shared to meet a friend there recently.

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Walking through history-Blackstone Canal Tow Path, Uxbridge, MA

Along the historic tow path of the Blackstone Canal

Marjorie Turner Hollman is a writer who loves the outdoors. Link to all Marjorie’s books.

We recently visited River Bend Farm in Uxbridge, MA, a state park and in the Blackstone River Valley National Historical Park. We planned to walk along the one-mile section of restored tow path that follows the route of the historic Blackstone Canal, built to transport goods from Worcester, MA through the canal to Pawtucket, RI. I describe this walk as “handicapped friendly” since there are no steps to navigate in crossing the bridge from the parking area and visitor center over to the tow path. The path itself is packed gravel, which offers safe footing.

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