Pelham Secrets

The other day I was in Pelham, the sister town to Amherst that also shares the same high school. It is a small out of the way place with lots of beautiful little hideaways if you know where to go. Yesterday I went hiking past this trespass sign that is so old that it can barely be read. Does that sign still have any authority?







It doesn't matter - we citizen journalists consider such signs merely a dare! The first brook we came to had these wooden planks to walk across.







Further on in the Pelham wilderness, this rickety arrangement had to suffice.







Penetrating yet further into the woodlands, we had to do a balancing act on these logs and board.







At last we came to this giant pine. Pine trees grow slowly, so one that has grown to this gigantic size must be at least 300 years old.







Nearby lay this ancient handmade stone wall, with a mysterious cemetery beyond.







How odd to find such a place deep in the woods, yet neither so deep nor so mysterious as to prevent someone from placing a few flags to honor Memorial Day. There will always be those who make it their personal duty to care for the secret places.







The best woodland setting we came to was this beaver pond.







Alone with nature in these hidden, quiet places one can truly be at peace.







The People's Justice



Recently I noticed that the Amherst Grocery Store has gone out of business. While I'm usually a cheerleader for our area businesses, I was glad to see this particular place close its doors.







The reason I'm glad is because I read this article in the Amherst Bulletin:



An Amherst shopkeeper was arrested at his home on charges related to the theft of thousands of dollars of merchandise from other local stores after police found stolen items at his home on the afternoon of April 6.







Mohamed S. Nagooradumai, 39, (above) of Palley Village Place, who owns Amherst Grocery Store on Main Street, was arrested at 12:32 p.m. on charges of receiving stolen property over $250 and credit card fraud over $250, police said.



Lt. Ron Young, head of the police detective bureau, said the investigation began in December when an Amity Place woman reported several credit cards were taken from her home and later used to make purchases.



After police determined that the credit cards were used at stores in both Amherst and Hadley, including the Wal-Mart at Mountain Farms Mall and the Sears store on Route 9, detectives obtained video surveillance and paperwork indicating that Nagooradumai might be responsible.



After getting a search warrant, police detectives executed it at Nagooradumai's home, where two stolen appliances and a variety of clothing was recovered Tuesday, Young said.



The credit cards used in the alleged thefts have not yet been recovered. Young said additional charges may be filed against Nagooradumai as the investigation continues.



Many people told me after that article appeared that they would never go to that store again for any reason. Perhaps this spontaneous boycott contributed to the store's closing. It just goes to show you that government regulation of business is seldom necessary, because the marketplace inflicts it's own punishment through the righteous actions of the wise consumer.



This video has surfaced of militant libertarians smoking marijuana onstage in April at the Amherst Extravaganja.







Grateful Dead medley performed by the Doug Hewitt Group at the Harp Irish Bar in Amherst.