Last week I offered some interesting places to explore as Halloween approaches.  This week, just before Halloween, I’d like to offer more. Goblins Goblins are small, grotesque and evil creatures from European folklore.  They really didn’t have much to do with Halloween until author Jack Prelutsky included a poem titled “The Goblin” in his 1977 children’s book […]

With Halloween around the corner, perhaps you’d like to try some adventures on that theme.  Here I list three places you might want to visit in your Halloween explorations: Haunted Lake, New Hampshire Just east of Francestown, New Hampshire, is 139-acre Haunted Lake (42˚ 58.979′ N  71˚ 46.002′ W). “Another tradition, and the one which without doubt […]

As Halloween approaches, what better to talk about than ghost towns as a basis for outdoor recreation and our exploratory adventures.  There are ghost towns across the USA and around the world, but choose carefully.  For example, I don’t recommend exploring Pripyat, Ukraine, a city that became a ghost town after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.  Instead locate and explore one […]

Edward O. Wilson defined biophilia as “the urge to affiliate with other forms of life”.  He suggested that people are born with an instinctive bond with other living systems.  Most kids love animals – Wilson says that’s instinctive.  We like to think of biophilia as finding the joy in nature – ‘affiliating with other forms of life’ sounds […]