Cross-country skiers in a spruce forest at the Notchview Reservation in the Berkshires. Windsor, Massachusetts. The Trustees of Reservations.

Winter is trying its best to take over northern New England this week. The entire region saw snow and cold over the weekend, though some of us have already lost our snow to rain and warmer temps. Still, there is white stuff out there to play on and photograph and I’m excited to start doing both of those! By the way, I sometimes forget how long I’ve been writing on this blog – I just found a five year-old post on photography in winter that still has some good advice: https://ecophotography.com/winter-photo-tips/.

Cold weather and the end of the year also inspires many of us to reflect and be grateful for the people, health, and peace in our lives.  I’ve been even more aware of my own feelings of gratitude after successfully battling cancer for most of 2014 – an experience that truly made me appreciate the incredible family and community that surrounds and supports me. In September, I passed the two-year cancer free milestone. I now feel better physically than I have in probably five years, which makes me even more grateful that I have the ability to hike, ski, kayak, etc. just about any route that comes my way.

If you have the desire to donate to cancer-related causes, these are the ones I support:

Dana Farber Cancer Institute and the Jimmy Fund

On-Belay

Brigham and Women’s Hospital

In my professional life, I am always grateful for all of the incredible non-profit conservation organizations that I work with throughout the year. If you are looking to support an environmental cause this year (and with a new anti-environment administration taking over the US, these organizations need our help more than ever), these are the groups I’ve worked with over the last few years (in alphabetical order.) I can vouch that all do meaningful work.

Appalachian Mountain Club

Appalachian Trail Conservancy

Connecticut River Watershed Council

Conservation Fund

Conservation Law Foundation

Essex County Greenbelt Association

Land Trust Alliance

National Fish and Wildlife Foundation

National Parks Conservation Association

Nature Conservancy

Northern Forest Center

Open Space Institute

Great Bay Discovery Center

Seacoast Science Center

Society for the Protection of NH Forests

Southeast Land Trust of NH

Trust for Public Land

Wildlands Trust

Happy holidays everyone!
-Jerry