Mystic Fire: Photograph by Will Tenney

Mystic Fire

The city I live in, Medford, Massachusetts, is bisected by the Mystic River. Long before a succession of dams altered the river from a tidal estuary into a long fresh-water lake, the native peoples called the river Missituck (Great Tidal River). While walking on a winter’s day, the late afternoon sun setting, the brilliance of the color of the clouds seen through the trees reminded me of fire, a mystic fire.