If you hike to the “top” of Holy Hill, you will find a carved granite slot that clearly used to hold an upright stone marker in it.

It’s still there today, even after all these years. It last served its purpose in 1853.

living-in-harvard.7robots.org/Places/Lo…

Harvard’s Holy Hill was cleared and built by the Shakers over the course of 1842 and 1843. Preserved journals capture some of the steps they took for the construction.

living-in-harvard.7robots.org/Places/Ho…

Every day, I start out the day hiking the trails near my house. I started the habit at the beginning of COVID - a way to continue to get exercise and to both ground and refresh myself in nature. I rarely skip that walk – usually just when I’m sick.

The primary trail I typically walk on is called “Holy Hill” - a key location on the path being an old Shaker outdoor worship area in the 1840’s.

It is fitting, then, that my first entry in my “Where I live” series is about the Holy Hill trail.

living-in-harvard.7robots.org/Places/Ho…

A few months ago, I came across Circling Home by John Lane. The book described a personal project of his to learn everything about the home, neighborhood, and town that he had made a conscious decision to settle in. He drew a circle with a one mile radius around his home on a map and used that as the boundary for his investigations. This research would eventually become the book.

I really the idea. It resonates with me on two levels:

First, every few years, I pick a research topic to “go deep” in and learn everything I can about. I typically collect all of that information, analysis, and data and build an extensive set of notes, articles, and diagrams. Over the past three decades, topics have included: comparative religion, neuroscience, post-Soviet international relations, the American revolution, geology, astrophotography, AI and data science, climate change, lunar science.

Second, I love the town that I live in: the small town of Harvard, MA. I’ve already been accumulating articles and web links and local histories of my immediate environs. I’ve already been capturing photos of the plants and trees and insects in my area. I’ve been downloading topographic maps and geology articles of the area.

And so I’ve already started my next research project. I will learn all that I can about my neighborhood – the Shaker Village Historic District.

I’ll document my findings and notes and discoveries here. After hand wringing over a few different titles, I’ve decided to call this site “Where I live.”