Finding Middle-earth in Amherst

Photo by James Patten (originally featured
in the 2024 Head in the Clouds Amherst calendar)

This featured photo for February in the 2026 Head in the Clouds Amherst wall calendar comes from Jim Patten, who captured this scene at Hampshire College in Amherst.

At first glance, you might think Jim had been wandering around Middle-earth rather than a college campus when he came upon this moment. What drew the jury to this image is its otherworldly, almost mythic quality — an everyday maple transformed, a doorway into another world.

In a winter that has been unrelentingly cold, this photograph feels especially well-timed. The fog blurs the boundaries, and the landscape offers a brief mental escape — proof that even when February is at its most stubborn, our surroundings can still surprise us.

Here’s to finding small portals out of the deep freeze when we need them most.