3rd House Journal

Lilacs and More

[Lilacs, Arnold Arboretum, Boston; 5/12/13]

We've had a bountiful spring, I must say, after a long, snowy winter. It has remained mostly pretty cool at night -- almost down to frost the other night -- but the cold seems to have preserved the blossoms on many of our flowering trees. The Arnold Arboretum's Lilac Sunday celebration last weekend certainly benefited from perfect spring weather patterns for the lilacs, which mostly all opened right on time for the annual Mother's Day-coinciding festival. It did rain all morning, but the storm passed out to sea by around noon and hordes of moms and families came out to enjoy the heady scent of the arboretum's 380 lilac plants (176 different species)!

[Visitors stroll past a hillside showing off a variety of lilac species]

[Lilac paparazzi get right in for their close shots]

Although it was clearly the lilacs' day, there were plenty of other flowering plants and trees to be enjoyed -- wildflowers, peonies, flowering dogwoods and cherry trees -- as well as an abundance of burgeoning greenery.

[Tree peonies, on the Chinese Path]

[Azaleas adorn the woods]

Of course, along with all this abundance comes spring allergy season. I've been on allergy shots for two years now, so I'm doing pretty well, but I came away from our visit to the Arboretum with itchy, watering nose and eyes, so I think I hit my saturation point. I've had to break down and take a bit of antihistamines, but so much less than I used to need. Another thing to be grateful for.

You can see a handful more pix from Lilac Sunday here, alas without the scent, but also without the accompanying pollen!

Love is in the (Open) Air

["Loving Stones" by Joseph Wheelwright, in Boston; 5/4/13]

We went to the Christian Science Center Plaza on Saturday to check out the Boston Sculptors Gallery open-air exhibit, Convergence, which had its official opening later that afternoon -- running through the end of October. It was a beautiful sunny day, if chilly with the winds blowing steadily across the plaza, and fun to see the new sculptures sprinkled across the expansive I.M. Pei-designed grounds -- a work of art in itself.

[Christian Science Center, Boston]

One of our favorites was George Sherwood's "Wave Cloud," which stands on the Mass. Ave. edge of the giant reflecting pool. Its turning circle of metal scales fluttered with the wind, sending cloud patterns rippling across its surface.

["Wave Cloud" at the Christian Science Center]

 We also loved the delightful "Impossible" by Andy Moerlein, which we caught sight of by chance while on our way back from the hardware store on Mass. Ave.

Wait, are there boulders in those trees?

["Impossible" - up in the trees near Mass. Ave.]

We ran into one of the artists doing some last-minute touches for the grand opening - Nancy Winship Millikin, whose "Lighthouse" featured a tall scaffolding draped with raw wool. She told us that the lights from the building shine through the her structure like a lighthouse at night. We'll have to go check it on some evening.

We also ended up chatting with one of the grounds security guys for a bit, who gave us some of the inside scoop on who was renting which office spaces, whether the proposed renovations on the reflecting pool would be going forward (no! which is great - breaking up the pool would have ruined it), the QR codes on the artist plaques (only for iPhone at this point), and the availability of public parking underneath the plaza. He also pointed us to the endearing "Loving Stones" shown in the top photo.

If you're in town anytime over the next 5 months, the sculptures are certainly worth checking out, and it's free! You can also go see the Mapparium at the Mary Baker Eddy Library while you're there.

Meanwhile, I have some more photos of the exhibit here. Enjoy!

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[Love on the riverbank; 5/5/13]

Spring Arrives in the City

[Back Bay - Prudential, Boston; 4/28/13]

Very busy with work still, but thought I'd post a few photos from this past weekend in Boston. Spring is in full swing now. Even as the early-blooming magnolias are dropping their blossoms, the pear trees and weeping cherries are taking the baton in the blossom relay, and the tulips and daffodils stand up and cheer.

The city was full of people this weekend, partly due to the long awaited spring weather but also because everyone from the city and suburbs wanted to come pay their respects at the Boston Marathon tributes in newly reopened Copley Square. Lorianne posted about it on her blog (she and J were in on Sunday) and I uploaded some photos on my Flickr site from Saturday.

[Copley Square, Boston; 4/27/13

The Public Garden was a little less crowded than Copley, but there were also many people out enjoying the day there and on Boston Common as well.

[Public Garden at Charles and Boylston Sts; 4/28/13]

[Swan Boats on the Lagoon, Pubic Garden; 4/28/13]

We're having a string of sunny days, although the temps are supposed to drop quite a bit on Friday. I have more deadlines, but I should be able to find some time to get out and enjoy it - especially on this first day of May. It will be hard not to...

Boston Strong

[Marathon duckling (Make Way for Ducklings), Public Garden; 4/20/13]

It's been a crazy week. Hard to get work done, and I'm overloaded with deadlines at the moment. I was supposed to have a phone conference with a client on Friday for a quick turnaround project, but we were all on lockdown -- woken at 6:30 am with voice message from the town police saying to stay indoors. Lockdown lasted until almost 6pm, when D finally got out of Boston to come pick me up for the weekend. It was his birthday. On the way in to Boston we saw police at every street corner as we drove along the main thoroughfare bordering Watertown, and then police cruisers speeding past us in the other direction into Watertown. We spent the evening on D's couch watching it all on TV, when they finally nabbed the surviving bomber. Oh, and did I mention that my 85-year-old dad had hip replacement surgery on Friday morning? So if I wasn't on edge from the lockdown and deadlines, I was pretty anxious waiting to hear from my brother (he emailed me around 11:30 am to say everything went fine).

[On Comm Ave, Boston; 4/20/13]

The street below was filled with noisy cheering students from the local colleges (BU, Northeastern, Berklee...) heading up Comm Ave from Kenmore Square towards the Boston Common to celebrate and thank local law enforcement and first responders. Then the next day everyone else started coming out to enjoy the spring day. It was windy and a bit cloudy, but the magnolias were in full bloom and gardens starting to spring to life.

I won't be able to post much for awhile as I try to tackle my deadlines amid some continuing distractions -- whether continuing news or gorgeous spring days. Meanwhile, check out some of the photos I took yesterday while wandering aroun Back Bay.

[Prudential tower through magnolias, from Comm Ave]

Boston

[Tiffany window, Ayer Mansion - Comm Ave, Boston; 4/14/13]

Most readers who have been visiting this blog in the last several years knows that much of what I post here is about Boston. D lives in the Back Bay and ever since we started dating four years ago we've done a lot of wandering around the city and enjoying its many delights, from restaurants to art museums, riverfront to waterfront, blizzard to blistering summer heat. We enjoy lots of everyday wandering as well as the big annual Boston events like 4th of July weekend and the New Year's Eve procession down Boylston St. And the Marathon, which usually coincides with the prettiest time of year when the magnolias along Commonwealth Ave are coming into bloom.

On Sunday evening, the day before the Marathon, we had a nice dinner at the Eastern Standard with one of D's friends who'd been at the Red Sox game. We walked back from Kenmore Square and headed to Boylston St so we could take pictures at the Boston Marathon finish line painted across the street in bright blue on yellow. The next morning we watched the elite runners on TV as they left Hopkinton and began their amazingly fast run 26.2 miles to Boston. Just before they were due to arrive, we walked the two blocks over to Boylston St from D's apartment and found a spot to watch and take pictures of the fastest women and the fastest men as they glided past us for the remaining two blocks to the finish.

[Fastest man - Desisa heading for the finish line (2 hrs 10 min 22 sec finish time)]

And then we wandered off, mostly back a bit away from the rows of people lining the race, taking pictures of runners, spectators, kids and dogs, and the line of magnolias up Comm Ave. My friend M, who I'd just traveled with in Mexico, called me on her cell to meet up with us. So we met her and walked over to Boylston at Dartmouth St so she could see runners reaching the finish line past all the colorful waving flags. Then we walked back down about a block and stood on the sidewalk for awhile, chatting with a young guy from Southern California who was waiting to cheer in his girlfriend, tracking her with his cell ("She's 3 miles out!" "Now she's 2 and half miles out!"). We cheered on the limping exhausted and the astounding still-vigorous alike. The Marathon is Boston's annual family reunion (117th this year), to which we invite tens of thousands of strangers from all over the world to join in -- the lithe and speedy as well as the merely human cheerers-on. It's our happy day.

It was 1:15 pm by my last camera download. We walked back along Boylston and then over to Newbury St to get some lunch, then said goodbye to M and went home to D's.

[Ornaments under the magnolias, Comm Ave; 4/14/13]

We were about to take a nap. D had come down with a cold, I was tired. It was 10 minutes to 3. We heard one loud crash and wondered if a truck had dropped a large load of steel somewhere. Then the second, closer one, which we could feel. Seeing the smoke rising behind the buildings two blocks away and hearing all the sirens, we knew something very bad had happened. We stayed in, watching TV in utter sadness.

Spring Blog Break

[Flower market, South End Boston; 3/23/13]

Sorry for the dearth of posting. There has either been too much on my plate or on my mind, and in between too much lethargy. It's not that I've worked so much in the last couple of days as I've been getting ready for my trip to sunnier climes, departing bright and early tomorrow morning. Or dull, sleep-deprived, anxious and early as the case will more likely be. I hope to come back rested and refreshed, with a camera full of color. I'm not bringing my laptop, so unless I get into an internet cafe at some point I will not be posting until I've returned. ¡Hasta luego!

And Happy Easter to all those celebrating...

[Outside ChocoLee chocolate shop, Boston; 3/23/13]

[Selling "better candy" on Boylston St, Boston; 3/23/13]

Spring in New England

[First crocus spotted, Boston; 3/10/13

Notice that the photo above is from 10 days ago. Today, the first day of spring, looked like the photo below in my neighborhood -- after some melting of the 8 to 10 inches of snow we had yesterday.

[Aptly named White Street; 3/20/13]

The receptionist at my allergist's office today noted that last year on this day she was at a local beach -- with record-setting temps in the 70s one year ago. It was in the 30s today, with wind chills much lower. Still, the sun came out at various points, and it stayed light until after 7pm. But snow showers are predicted for tomorrow...

My moods have been as volatile as the March weather. The weekdays have been the most challenging, alone in the apartment with an increasing supply of bits of work but lots of uncertainty and insecurity. I did get out on Monday night for a most enjoyable evening with former colleagues, all having left "the writing sweatshop" at one point or another over the last few years, meeting up at the intoxicating Burdick's chocolate shop & cafe in Harvard Square. On the recommendation of one of them, I had a small cup of Granadian hot chocolate ("Robust single source dark chocolate from the Island of Grenada exclusively for Burdick Chocolate. Hints of lychee fruit, nutmeg and banana.") and a piece of hazelnut orange cake. wow

I also had a nice time with D last weekend, seeing Side Effects on Saturday afternoon and going to the Museum of Fine Arts on Sunday. The MFA's current exhibit of blue and white ceramics was an unexpected delight. And I found Bruce Davidson's black and white photographs of one block in East Harlem in the 1960s deeply moving. We were about to leave, having drunk our fill of art for the afternoon (and we hadn't eaten so were getting lightheaded), when I saw the Loïs Mailou Jones exhibit near the stairs. We ducked in for a peek and were rewarded with a striking range of work from this (unknown to me) pioneering artist. D ended up buying a membership for two since it would have cost us half that much for one visit, so we'll be back.

After leaving the MFA, and passing lots of drunken green-clad young people headed for St. Patrick's Day celebrations at every Irish pub in the Back Bay, we went to Bukowski's for a pint and a bite to eat. I'd never been before, but I did like it, conjuring up my younger days and fondness for dive bars. The food and extensive beer menu belie the dive bar ambiance - both excellent, despite the cheeky daily menu (an homage to the bar's namesake).

[Daily menu at the Bukowski Tavern, Boston]

After Effects

[Lagoon in the Public Garden, Boston; 3/9/13]

Though I'd intended to take some photos of the snow during our brief walk around Back Bay and Beacon Hill, I ended up with few. For one thing, the snow was already melting and there were no picturesque snow clinging to branches scenes. For another, I think we are simply tired of it now. What's novel earlier in winter becomes "good lord, not another snowstorm!" We are suffering the after effects of many snowy weeks in a row. So I leave you with a few shots of winter's last gasp (possibly just one of her last gasps) in Boston.

[After effects: duck tracks on the Public Garden Lagoon]

[Apple tucked high in a tree (squirrel?)]

[Local fauna, Newbury St]

Scenes from the Weekend

[Witch hazel, South End, Boston; 3/3/13]

The snow from the blizzard last month is mostly gone. Two feet of snow takes awhile to melt, and we had some added inches and cold weather throughout February keeping it in place. Now there are only dirty, lumpy remains of former snow banks and patches where the sun's warm rays can't quite reach, like an itch in the mid upper back. Soon there will be shoots of crocuses and daffodils everywhere, but for now it's witch hazel heralding the coming of spring. Next weekend, we'll set the clocks ahead and our days will begin to stretch their creaky muscles.

[Birds line up outside Back Bay Station; 3/3/13]

[Crow atop the chimney pots]

On Saturday, I went to a "Tea" that my alumnae club hosted at L'Espalier, one of Boston's fanciest restaurants. The event had been postponed from the day of the blizzard. I'm never entirely comfortable at these things, not close to anyone in the club, but I usually meet interesting people when I do go and end up glad I went. And this time I didn't want to miss out on going to L'Espalier, which I'd never been to and am unlikely to afford otherwise. Plus it's just two blocks from D's place.

The dining room itself was understated if not underwhelming, but the food was excellent and the staff extremely solicitous. It was tea, so there were all the little tea sandwiches -- cucumber and watercress, smoked salmon and creme, a deviled egg -- followed by plates of little fancy pastries. The menu was not for the diabetic! Which I'm not, but I knew all that white flour and sugar would make me light-headed. Anyway, the piece de resistance was a little "roasted guinea hen profiterole with garlic aioli" shaped like, well, more like a swan I think. See photo below.

[Individual pastry plate at L'Espalier's tea party]

I went back to D's wired up from sweets and caffeine which, added to all the stress adreline I've been dealing with lately, rather wiped me out. We napped, then cooked some Trader Joe's salmon dinner and frozen vegetables instead of going out. It may have been frozen dinners, but it was fish and veggies and, along with some good beer, it helped anchor me back on earth. I'd brought my Netflix dvd of Woody Allen's To Rome With Love, which was silly fluff but a nice armchair travel movie.

We got out for brunch on Sunday, and then, since it was reasonably warm (or at least, mostly devoid of chilling wind) we had a nice walk over to the South End and back. Brunch was delicious - we both had the breakfast burrito at the Met Back Bay.

[Breakfast burrito with hash brown potatoes, Met Back Bay]

I seem to be in a space of heightened sensitivity these days, and all too much prey to insecurities, both real (and there are so many real uncertainties in my work and financial life right now) and imagined. I realized this weekend it would probably be wise to start meditating again to have some centering, particularly in this time of flux. My physiatrist, who I'm seeing for painfully overused neck muscles (all that computer work, mainly), recommended it as well -- particularly classes rather than just on my own. Will have to look into it...

Turbidity

[Floating silt curtain, Boston Harbor; 2/23/13]

We went to the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) in Boston last Saturday on a whim. An exhibit of art from the 1980s is leaving soon and we'd seen inviting posters around town. The exhibit itself was mostly disappointing, though it left some impressions. It was the time of the AIDS crisis and of Reagan, both inciting artists. There were a few Mapplethorpes, a Basquiat, Koons' inflatable Rabbit. And a lot of what some friends and I who used to often see modern art together referred to as WAS.* As always at the ICA, the building and its surroundings were the most satisfying visually. The gallery overlooking the harbor offered its usual reflections and the waterfront, even on a mild winter's day, was enticing.

[John Hancock Founders Gallery, ICA Boston]

From the gallery windows, we watched the unusual sight of a sailing regatta coming in on the harbor in February. The Boston Sailing Center's Frostbite Racing series keeps its hardy sailors sharp over the winter season.

[Frostbite Racing on Boston Harbor, from the ICA]

I kept finding the orange floating lines in the harbor outside the ICA intriguing. It took some searching online to find out that they're silt curtains, also called turbidity curtains, used to prevent the spread of silt and sediment near the shoreline. I imagine the one at the ICA is there to help keep a certain depth to the area, which has been used the past two summers for diving championships off the roof. 

[Gull and silt curtain]

Perhaps I need a turbidity curtain for my life. Work in particular has been marked by haziness so far this year, muddy with lots of unsettled sediment. But perhaps things are beginning to settle out, at least for the short term. A couple of freelance projects are surfacing. Other possibilities have receded into the murk. An unexpected trip to sunnier climes with friends is also stirring in the mix, bright as the floating curtain. Will report once we've booked, unless I get superstitious.

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*weird-ass shit