The Hidden World in Our Neighborhood

That so stunningly magical a place as "The Floating Meadows" can exist unnoticed, under our very noses, is exposed today in Peter Marteka's excellent column in the Hartford Courant. Marteka writes a weekly piece called "The Path Less Traveled" and this weeks offering is an account of his, mine, and a couple dozen others' journey into the Mattabesset River and a hidden world of Wild rice, Arrowroot, and Swallows.

Marteka'a column begins.....

When I first decided to journey up the Connecticut and Mattabesset rivers, I had visions of my canoe tipping over because of strong currents, slapping away mosquitoes the size of blimps and paddling around half-sunk refrigerators and washing machines rusting in the murky water. Not even close.

Peter Marteka is pictured below as we near the bridges between Middletown and Portland.