Where to cool off a hot public life

At The Fells

1905 postcard

Excerpted and edited from an article on The New England Historical Society Web site.

“John Hay called himself ‘the winner of all life’s prizes.’ He had fame, wealth, family, accomplishments, friends—and The Fells.

“John Hay was one of President Abraham Lincoln’s two secretaries, or ‘Lincoln’s boys.’ He also ran the New York Tribune, the biggest and most influential U.S. newspaper of its day. He served as secretary of state under William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt. And as a member of an elite literary circle, he wrote bestselling fiction and poetry.

“On top of all that, he married an extremely rich woman.

“They had homes in New York and Washington. But the stress of being a rich, famous, successful statesman and journalist could get to be too much. So in 1891, John Hay did what wealthy gentlemen did: He built a summer home in the cool northern countryside, along Lake Sunapee, in New Hampshire.

“He called it The Fells….”

To read the whole article, please hit this link.

Creative walks through The Fells

“Winter Fire” (mono-printed fabric hand sewn with perle cotton), by Agusta Agustsson, in her show “Forest Bathing,’’ at Galatea Fine Art, Boston, through Oct. 1-Oct 31.

She explains:

"My walks through {The Middlesex} Fells on the edge of my city provide me with inspiration, material resources and spiritual sustenance. These pieces portray those moments seen from the corner of my eye, sensations rather than clear visions. It might be a branch of beech leaves seemingly afire in a sudden bolt of sunshine or the piney aroma as my feet tread my path. On my walk shapes and textures of common plants will catch my eye and come back to my studio to print fabric for my next piece. As I walk through well-worn paths I see the earth is capable of great renewal. I hope we as a species will allow it to happen.’’

A stone foot bridge crossing an 18th Century dam in the Spot Pond Archeological District of the Middlesex Fells Reservation in Stoneham, Mass.

— Photo by User:Magicpiano 

The Middlesex Fells Reservation, often called simply as The Fells, is a public recreation area covering more than 2,200 acres in Malden, Medford, Melrose, Stoneham and Winchester, Mass. The state park surrounds two inactive reservoirs, Spot Pond and the Fells Reservoir, and the three active reservoirs (North, Middle, and South) supplying Winchester.