Fun Stuff forValentines

Currier and Ives “Snow Opal”* Pendants

These gems are pure magic, old New England winter scenes. Here captured in a field of white are frozen ponds and streams, snow hills and valleys, and snow-covered open fields. They are winterwhite-perfect, over the river and through the woods, trees in black lace silhouetted against a winter-gray sky. Think ice-covered grasses, Queen Anne’s Lace, black crows on the wing, twilight winter’s sleep, and stars in the sky.

*“Snow opal” is its name. The gem material is a natural agatized quartz. “Snow Opal”* Pendants.................$195.00 to $495.00 18" sterling silver chain Visit us on-line, make your selection, give us a call

American Flyer™ Sled

Steel on snow. Trees whizzing by. The fastest kid in the neighborhood.

American Flyer™ Sled Pin

Sterling silver ......X2931..........$135.00

14K yellow gold ....X1175........$1,250.00

New England Snowflake Bracelet

Remember going to sleep on the night of a Nor’easter and waking to a pure white world?

It snowed all night. Listening to the radio, waiting for your town. Breakfast and out the door. A free day. Sound of chains and spinning tires. Snowplows piling high. Sledding on snow-packed streets. Toboggans on the hills. Forts with tunnels. Snowballs. Snowmen. Icicles dripping in the afternoon sun. Pink cheeks, red nose, wet mittens, damp hair, hand-knitted wool hats drying on the radiator. The smell. The warmth of the kitchen. It was a good day.

Six real snowflakes copied here. Bracelet shown actual size. One for each New England state and its snow city.

Sterling silver snowflakes and bracelet. For everyone who loves a beautiful snow storm.

New England Snowflake Bracelet

Sterling Silver ..........X2871................$385.00

14K yellow gold ......X2937............$3,650.00

KIM

Knox Beckius

Researching the sorts of warm touches that make New England inns feel like home away from home [“The Coziest Inn in the World,” p. 84] found Beckius in her comfort zone—literally. A Yankee contributing editor and the author of six travel books, she lives in an 1880 Connecticut farmhouse with a cozy hearth, and in her office next door, “I write beside a wood-burning stove all winter long!”

KRISSY O’SHEA

Though taste-testing was part of the allure of writing about chocolate [“Bean to Bar,” p. 48], O’Shea also learned a lot between nibbles. “I was surprised to discover just how nuanced bean-to-bar chocolate is—on par with wine and coffee,” says O’Shea, a contributing editor for Yankee who also works as a freelance photographer and stylist. You can see more of her work and words on her blog, Cottage Farm.

RICHARD W. BROWN

Since Yankee was one of the first magazines to publish his photographs, back in the early 1970s, Brown finds it “very fitting” that it presents images from The Last of the Hill Farms [p. 96], a project he’s dreamed about almost from the start of his career. “It’s probably good I waited this long to do the book,” says Brown, today one of the foremost photographers of the New England landscape. “More time, more patience.”

ANNIE GRAVES

After starting her journalism career at a small American newspaper in Rome, Graves has covered everything from food and health to travel for a variety of publications, including Coastal Living and Yankee. But writing about a long-ago stint as an acting ingénue [“Looking Back on Our Town,” p. 116] left her feeling “deeply nostalgic,” she says, then adds: “Is it too late to set my sights on Broadway?”

In profiling the painter Eric Aho [“The Artist in Winter,” p. 118], Laine felt a personal connection: Like him, she is third-generation Finnish-American, and their families shared many of the same traditions. Her father even built her a sauna as a wedding present —a structure that today sits on a New Hampshire pond as it brings the Finnish saunapäivä tradition to her own children, Ursula and Virgil.

VICTORIA MAXFIELD

A graduate of Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Maxfield couldn’t believe it when she was asked to illustrate “The Coziest Inn in the World” [p. 84]. “I grew up in New England and worked at a bed-and-breakfast for three years, so it sounded like the ideal illustration job!” says Maxfield, whose work has been honored by American Illustration and the Society of Illustrators, among others.

Elf Awareness

Jonathan Meath [“Ask the Expert,” November/December] definitely knows about being Santa Claus. In 2015, I volunteered to be Sinterklaas (an earlier version of Santa). As a park ranger, I interact with children every day. However, after meeting 400 kids that first night, and feeling that love, I was hooked. I learned great tips from Mr. Meath—and am trying to get my ho-ho-ho! -ing just right for this year!

Kevin Hanley Brooklyn, New York

Parting Lines

Though I was saddened when I read your editorial about Edie Clark [“Homes for the Holidays,” November/December], I appreciated the loving, gracious way you softly gave us the news that Edie will not be able to write for Yankee anymore. Thank goodness we have her past writings to get us through this. Her essays brought me and many others so much joy, and all I can do is be so grateful that Yankee was the place where I could always find her.

Pam Newsome Park City, Utah

Editor’s note: For our tribute to Edie and the historic homestead that inspired so many of her columns, look for “Leaving Mary’s Farm,” on p. 124 in this issue.

Evergreen Example

I read with great emotion your story concerning Boston’s very special Christmas tree and, more important, the tragedy behind its annual presentation by the people of Nova Scotia [“How Boston Got Its Christmas Tree,” November/December].

I have been a Yankee subscriber for years and do not doubt its vast and dedicated readership. However, in light of our current “me first” political stance, I’d like to suggest that the story of how caring individuals united to deliver—

February Optimists

Nothing raises human hopes

Like cupid-covered envelopes.

It’s probably good news, we think—

Electric bills are not this pink.

—D.A.W.

quite literally—the means of survival is one that everyone should read and understand. Nova Scotia’s century of grateful remembrance is not something one sees every day and is certainly not anything we now aspire to.

Thank you for helping us see how tragedies may be handled in our global neighborhood.

Janice R. English Oxford, Connecticut

All-Inclusive

Thank you for your coverage of members of the LGBTQ community in your September/October issue. Reading about Jamie and Paula Eisenberg’s pies [“Local Flavor”] and seeing Gigi Gill’s photo in your Salem story [“Could You Live Here?”] warmed my heart. Many of the people I love are members of the LGBTQ community, and I’m so glad that you’re representing them as the great New Englanders that they are.

Kate Roy Wilbraham, Massachusetts