Wednesday, March 31, 2021

Connecticut’s Woodcock Nature Center

Ridgefield, Connecticut has managed to preserve and maintain so many green spaces that they have an entire book devoted to these. (The Ridgefield Walk Book is sold in town.)


The Woodcock Nature Center is one of these green spaces.


One of the loop trails in the Woodcock Nature Center wanders beside wetlands and across snow-covered pedestrian bridges over the myriad waterways. When I recently hiked there, I was completely alone in the woods that are laden with old oak, maple and hickory trees as well as a network of low stone walls,




Walking the trails here is a year-round delight. But I found trekking along the purple-red loop especially stunning in the winter when ice crystals glow on the many frozen streams and wetlands.



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Tuesday, March 30, 2021

Necessary Connections With Nature In Connecticut

All through this pandemic, I found that the way to deal with stress is by connecting — and reconnecting — with nature. Since there’s little in the way of broad — or even petite — green spaces where I live, I regularly chose to drive one hour to Ridgefield, Connecticut. The town is surrounded by a wealth of parks, gardens and hiking trails. And the historic town center is delightful year-round, especially when draped with snow and ice crystals. These are some of my observations from one of my recent trips.

Ballard Park is a grand expanse that occupies a central part of Main Street in Historic Ridgefield.




This park is especially atmospheric in the winter when a snowy coat blankets everything, even the gazebo and the impressive columns guarding the entrances.


I find jogging during a snowstorm especially invigorating when I’m in Ridgefield. These are some of the sights I found along my journey.








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Thursday, March 18, 2021

Dispelling Myths and Misinformation — Face Masks and the COVID-19 Vaccine

 


As I’ve been talking to friends, colleagues and acquaintances, I’ve noted that the degree of misinformation and lack of understanding about face masks and the COVID-19 vaccine is staggering. So, since I’m a scientist by training, I’m providing some brief insights into this topic, which is important from a public health perspective.


1- Many people say face masks don’t work, a most curious statement given that I wonder how many people would want to have surgery if their surgeon as well as anesthesiologist and others in the operating room didn’t wear a face mask. We’ve known that face masks that cover your nose and mouth prevent the transmission of disease-causing organisms since the late 1800s. 


2- Other people claim that if you’ve been vaccinated, you no longer need to wear a mask. Untrue. If you’ve already had COVID-19 or you’ve been vaccinated, you still need to wear a face mask. That’s because the vaccine, like all vaccines, is not 100% protective. But, more importantly, because the COVID-19 virus — referred to as SARS-CoV-2 — had been allowed to spread unchecked or poorly checked in so many countries (including Brazil, the UK and South Africa), the virus mutated, resulting in an array of variants that are more infectious, more lethal or both. So you need to continue wearing a mask after you’ve been vaccinated if you’re around unvaccinated people. 


3- I’ve heard many people claiming they’re not getting vaccinated because they believe the vaccine was “rushed,” and wasn’t properly tested. Not true. Maybe people think it’s been rushed because we’re all accustomed to traditional vaccines that take a minimum of four to five years to develop. Those vaccines require growing the infectious organism in the lab. That’s not how the COVID-19 vaccine was developed. It depended on making synthetic viral mRNA, a segment of a molecule that would code for not the virus but its spike protein. And this research into mRNA has been going on for years. In fact, scientists have been studying it for a litany of infectious diseases, including rabies, Zika and the flu. So, there was no rush to develop the COVID-19 vaccine. It was the result of a long history of scientific studies. 


4- I was surprised to hear many people believe that if you get the vaccine it will do something to your DNA, changing it irreparably. In fact, one person said to me “Once you get the vaccine, it’s forever.” I wasn’t even sure what that meant. In fact, the mRNA in the vaccine does not and cannot enter the cell’s nucleus where DNA resides. In addition, after you get the vaccine and the mRNA forms the viral spike protein so the immune system is activated and ready to defend us against the virus, that mRNA is broken down by the body. End of the story. No changes are made in the body’s DNA.


5- Finally, there are people who claim they’re not getting the vaccine because they don’t trust the pharmaceutical companies or the government. Does that mean that these same people refuse medications when they have an illness, refuse to go to the hospital when they need treatment including surgery? I think not. 


Get vaccinated when it’s your turn and wear a face mask. It’s for your good and that of your neighbor. After all, we’re all in this together. 








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Friday, March 12, 2021

Exploring Ridgefield, Connecticut

 As I’ve continued my explorations in Ridgefield, Connecticut, I found that the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum has been hosting an outdoor sculpture exhibition. Frank Stella’s Stars are perfectly placed in the snowy landscape.




A few minutes from Main Street, I found a tranquil hiking trail in the Seth Low Pierrepont State Park that paralleled the lakefront and then angled into the woods.



What I love about Ridgefield, Connecticut is that just outside of downtown there are a variety of trailheads easily accessed off the road. The red-blazed Jones Trail, which starts beside a cul-de-sac, gradually climbs an undulating, wooded landscape peppered with boulders.




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