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By BILL DANIELSON

It was the end of an exciting day of nature photography and as I pulled into my driveway I figured that I was done for the day. I had been out in forests and fields and had managed to take just about 1,000 photographs of flowers, birds and even some turtles. I went into the house, set my camera on the writing desk by my kitchen window and started the process of shifting into “evening mode,” which is what everyone aspires to after a long day. On my way through the house, heading toward a change of clothes and something for dinner, I glanced out the back window and stopped in my tracks. What in Darwin’s name was that?

By STEVE PFARRER

Several years ago, Mattea Kramer, an Amherst writer and researcher who’s studied and written about the federal budget as well as drug policies at state and federal levels, spent time interviewing a number of women in the Greenfield jail who were part of a recovery program for substance use.

By AMY NEWSHORE

Our thoughts and beliefs about ourselves greatly impact how we feel and act in our close relationships. Humans are the only species that engage in “self-talk.” Many of us find ourselves having both positive thoughts about ourselves (for example, “I feel proud for what I just accomplished”) and other times negative and self-defeating thoughts (such as, “I am not attractive enough”). In my work with couples, it is often the derogatory self-talk that each individual engages in that contributes to the difficult and painful dynamics between partners.

By BILL DANIELSON

We have reached that time of year when going to work in the morning becomes more difficult with every passing day. The world is waking up from its winter slumber and more and more items of interest present themselves to be observed and adored. I have a rather lengthy commute to work and as the amount of daylight increases each day, so to do the number of distractions. Like Odysseus tempted by the Sirens, I navigate this passage of temptation every day. There are mornings when I feel like my heart will break as I am forced to pilot myself past birds and flowers that sing out to me and beg me to stop and pay attention to them.

By MAYA MITCHELL

Five years after the first case of what was then a novel coronavirus infection, health care professionals and state legislators worry Massachusetts isn’t ready if another pandemic were to happen.

By JIM BRIDGMAN

Three teenagers completed an 18-hour stint each of dancing this weekend in efforts to raise money for a scholarship for a Tri-Hi Y member. Winners were Buff Zeitler, Steve Laiczyk and Ann Rayes-Guera, all of whom will receive a dinner at the Captain’s Table.

By MICKEY RATHBUN

I wonder how closely Joni Mitchell follows the news. Did the headline “Trump Turns the White House Lawn into a Tesla Showroom” catch her eye? Trump’s craven gesture is about as close as you can get to “paving paradise and putting up a parking lot.”

By LISA GOODRICH

Named for sunny citrus fruit grown far from the valley, Lemon Bakery in Amherst mixes the sweet with the tart. Four years ago, in the uncertainty of the pandemic, owner Rori Hanson built a bakery business with a model of curbside pickup and delivery rather than a storefront. Hanson’s menu follows the seasons by sourcing from local farms. Today, Lemon Bakery continues to sell through online pre-ordering and curbside pickup or delivery; there is no storefront cafe.

By RICHARD MCCARTHY

I have a good friend who goes to family gatherings at which folks fall on either side of the Great American Political Divide. He says his relatives and in-laws have come to an understanding to not talk about politics, but rather to treat it “like a drunken uncle sleeping it off on the couch.” You know he’s there, you know he will be a source of vexation again when he comes to, but for the moment you can enjoy his being zonked out.

By ADITI THUBE

Massachusetts gun rights advocates are pushing to overturn a 2024 update of the state’s already tough firearms law, collecting more than 90,000 signatures to place a repeal referendum on the 2026 ballot. Their efforts face opposition from mental health professionals and legal experts who argue the law’s regulations are necessary for public safety.

By JIM BRIDGMAN

“Our goal is to waterproof every family in Hampshire County,” is the way Frank LaLiberte, executive director of the Hampshire Regional YMCA, describes the Y’s free learn-too-swim program set for the week of April 21. Using the most modern teaching techniques, the Y course enables most swimmers to swim safely 50 feet after five days.

By BEN BAUMER

The Hampshire Regional YMCA Dolphins Swim Team concluded their winter season schedule recently. This season marks the second under head coach Jay Fritz, who was assisted this year by Ania Axas and Hannah Creamer.

By BILL DANIELSON

March Madness is a term that has been assigned to the sport of college basketball. The idea is that a huge tournament creates a frenzied “madness” of athletic exuberance as different teams from across the country compete in a clash of collegiate contenders to see who will be crowned as champion. There are brackets, debates and wagers involved and everyone seems to have a good time.

By MITCHELL FINK

LEVERETT — Two years after a Leverett family released videos of motorists whizzing past their children’s stopped school bus, the Legislature has passed a bill allowing video monitoring to catch violators.

By JACOB NELSON

Spring is here, and with it are signs of new life on farms around the Valley. Leaves are beginning to bud on fruit trees, farmers are preparing soil for the coming growing season, and at Little Brook Farm in Sunderland, day-old baby lambs are bounding around the lambing barn.

By NANCY PICK

Asparagus, strawberries and sunflowers are, to my mind, three of the best reasons to live in western Massachusetts.

By BILL DANIELSON

The plan was simple. Make a quick stop at a geologic feature that would provide a real-world example of topics that were being discussed in my biology classes. The topic was evolution and I was specifically looking for an example of rock formations that were being reshaped by the elements. It really couldn’t be any more straightforward, right? Well, perhaps a little background would help.

By MOLLY PARR

Today’s recipe comes double recommended. The moms I did a meal train for wrote to ask me for the recipe. That same week, my husband asked what was in the noodles that made them so good.

By GABRIEL O’HARA SALINI

The Massachusetts cannabis industry is a billion-dollar enterprise, with over 700 retailers operating across the state. Yet stores are closing, companies are firing their workers and retail and non-retail licenses are being surrendered by former operators as business owners clamor for regulatory changes to transform an industry they see as unsustainable.

By TED WATT

It was January, with two feet of cold crisp powder on the ground. The day was bright and sunny. The 5th and 6th grades at our small rural, hill-town school had been studying life sciences. Educators and students were focusing on animals and the many varied ways they are adapted, both physically and behaviorally, to living in their environment. We decided to take advantage of the perfect winter day and headed out to see what we could learn about how animals live in winter from the signs and tracks they left behind.

By BILL DANIELSON

As I write this column I am feeling quite under the weather. The flu has come to town and it has me in its grip. I haven’t left the house in days and all I want to do is sleep. That being said, I am also stuck on “teacher time” and I can’t seem to sleep past 5 a.m. With the recent changing of the clocks this puts me in the unhappy position of being awake while it is still dark outside; annoying on a work day, positively miserable when not going to work.