3rd House Journal

Spring Arrives

[Spring blossoms, Smith College Plant House Bulb Show; 3/17/12]

We drove out to Northampton for the Spring Bulb Show at the Lyman Plant House at my alma mater on Saturday. Even though crocuses, scilla, and even daffodils are already beginning to bloom on lawns outdoors in our continued unseasonal warmth, it was lovely to see (and smell!) all the beautiful flowers in the show. The drive out was dreary - gray skies and dull brown landscape all the way out, no sign of the predicted sunshine breaking through on the western horizon - so walking into the plant house was like walking into a candyland of color.

[Lilies, tulips, jonquils, and more]

The sun did finally come out later in the afternoon, and we enjoyed walking around campus and the shops in  town, along with a delicious mid-day meal at Viva Fresh Pasta, our favorite Northampton eaterie.

Yesterday, I'd planned to sort through and clean my spring/summer wardrobe and put away winter clothes, plus other spring cleaning, but another warm sunny day intervened. D and I went to Harvard Square and walked along the river and before I knew it, it was late afternoon before I got back to my apartment, too pooped to do all I'd hoped for. But I did get most of the clothes sorted, which will make getting ready for work (and packing up on weekends) easier. And yes, I did save some warmer layers for the inevitable cold snaps. But the forecast is for more record-breaking warmth - into the 80s this week - just so utterly wrong for March in New England. Not a good sign for the coming summer.

[Harvard crew team practices on the Charles River; 3/18/12]

It's been a busy few days - my group at work went out to lunch yesterday, then last night I met up with friends I haven't seen in a long time for dinner. Tonight I have to go the hair salon after work. I could use a rest. At least the daylight lasts longer into the evening - I may get home before dark.

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You can see more spring blooms from the Spring Bulb Show here. Happy Spring!

 

Small Business Saturday

[Market Square, Portsmouth, NH; 11/26/11]

My mother and I used to go shopping in Portsmouth the day after Thanksgiving (aka Black Friday) when my parents lived at the beach, 20 minutes away. It was often ungodly cold, and one year we bought warm wool hats in the first shop we entered. The first couple of years, there were few other shoppers, everyone else having gone to the malls while we poked around the little shops filled with non-mass-produced things. It got more crowded over the years, but we still had a great time shopping and stopping for lunch or a coffee in the cozy cafes. 

Yesterday, D and I took a drive up from Boston (about an hour) on an unseasonably warm, 60-degree day. I had a Small Business Saturday $25 credit to use and a few of the local shops were participating. I prefer the small shops anyway, and I did find a cute shirt on sale at one shop (alas, it wasn't participating) and used my credit on a scarf in another. It was just nice to be out wandering the familiar streets and enjoying the sunshine.

Ogunquit

[Dock, Perkins Cove, Ogunquit, Maine; 8/20/11]

A couple of weekends ago, while in the healthy eye of these ill winds we've been enduring, we took a drive up to the beach in New Hampshire for a couple of hours and from there a further drive northward to the resort town of Ogunquit in Maine. It was spur of the moment, and we didn't have time to do much, so we walked down from the parking lot to Perkins Cove. The Cove has been a tourist trap for as long as I can remember, with tacky trinket shops and bland seafood restaurants decorated with lobster traps and buoys. The mile-long road between the Cove and Village is now studded with upscale restaurants and shops, many catering to the summer influx of LGBT visitors (who I suspect wouldn't be caught dead in the Cove). But habit sent us to the Cove, which is not without its charms.

[Oarweed Cove (the other side of Perkins Cove)]

[Stairway in Perkins Cove]

The Marginal Way, a well-traveled trail carved along the craggy coastline, runs northward from Perkins Cove to the Village and beach. We intended to walk just a bit of it at the Cove end, but once partway along the trail we couldn't decide whether to turn back or go "just a little further" and then cut up one of the residential streets up to the main road. Which we did, but anxiously - it seemed so much farther than expected, and D was quickly tiring and fretting. Anyway, some locals (or perhaps tourists) we passed assured us the main road was yonder at the bottom of the steep hill we'd climbed (phew!). But it was a lovely view along the trail and the light was spectacular in the late afternoon. We really have to go up and stay up there some weekend to really enjoy it.

[Along the Marginal Way]

Summer Rain

[Beach cabins, North Hampton Beach, NH; 8/25/11]

I left work early on Wednesday to drive up to a friend's place (not shown above!) in North Hampton, NH. She and her husband bought a beautiful place up there last fall, about a half a mile from the beach and not far from where my parents used to have their condo that they retired to. I'd asked to take Thursday off from work and alas, as the day approached, the weather was already looking iffy. But it was an opportunity to have a girlfriends hang for the evening on Wednesday and get onto the beach for a little while on Thursday. I do miss being up there. I miss the beach smells, the air, my feet in the sand, the beautiful views along the coast.

The drive up after escaping work was, despite some slow traffic, beautiful - the crisp late afternoon light as the landscape flattened out nearer the coast, a herd of black cows grazing a wide flat green meadow, then the broad and simple plains of white barnside, green pasture, blue sky. I made it to the beach around 5:30, meeting my friends on the beach in sand chairs, bundled up against the breezes off the ocean. I told them how one of my dogs used to like to run around the beach pushing her nose against the sand she just loved it so much, and how I almost wanted to do that myself at that point.

After much dawdling at the house, we ended up driving to Portsmouth for dinner. Though we arrived after dark, I led them anyway to my favorite spot down by the tugboats on the river. The view wasn't quite as spectacular as in daylight, but the food was delicious.

[North Hampton Beach; 8/26/11]

There was also much dawdling at the house on Thursday morning, so we didn't get to the beach until noon or so. A handful of vacationers braved the surf, while seagulls braved us, trying to snatch any food we might have. We lasted maybe an hour or so on the beach until dark clouds and thunder threatened and we had to pack up and leave.

[Little River Chapel, across from my friend's house]

Before I left work on Wednesday, my manager was shaking her head about the luck I'm having this summer, given that the prospects for my beach day off weren't looking good. Yup, a little cloud does seem to be hovering over my head the way you see them dot themselves over islands when you're flying. But I think we've managed to make the most of the beauty around us, rain or shine, healthy or otherwise.

--

These clouds and thundershowers had nothing to do with the approaching hurricane, which will likely be a tropical storm by the time it hits us tonight and tomorrow. We'll be battening down the hatches in Boston today, then holing up at my place tonight. I hope everyone out there stays safe.

Beach Dreams

[Optician's storefront, Lowell MA; 7/31/11]

 Maybe instead of going on an actual vacation this summer, I'll just make believe.

Water+Fire+Crowds

[Bridge at WaterFire Place; 7/16/11]

WaterFire in Providence has become a very popular urban art installation and event. Which means that it's also utterly mobbed. I am spoiled for having seen my first WaterFire ten years ago on a slow evening, the event almost canceled by rain which let up just before. My friend and I wandered along the canals astonished. It was almost spooky - the odd piped-in music echoing over the water and off the canal walls, the candle-lit candelabras under the bridges throwing shadows from another century, a gondola ferrying people beside the burning braziers strung like jewels down the center of the canal. The elemental power of the water, fire, and music was magical and seemed to hush all the people there.

I went to a few other WaterFire events over the years when I lived at my condo, which was a little over a half-hour drive away. The crowds increased, although side events were added to siphon off some of the people to stages nearby. I could also stay late sometimes and wait out the crowds.

I hadn't been to a WaterFire event in 5 years, and D had never been, so we drove down from Boston on Saturday evening. Our first stop was Federal Hill, Providence's Italian neighborhood. We lucked into good parking and then into a great table outside in DePasquale Square. The cafes and the fountain seats were full of people and it turned out many were there on the warm summer evening to hear a pair of singers who soon arrived to sing oldies mixed with a few Italian-American classics to the crowd. It was fun. Our food was delicious - we both had garlicky rainbow trout with perfectly roasted potatoes and crisp-tender broccoli. Yum.

[DePasquale Square, Providence; 7/16/11]

After dinner, we headed over to WaterFire, which as I said was packed with people, who were quite noisy but seemed to be having a good time. I led D slowly through the crowds to see the highlights, and I think he enjoyed seeing it. It was Chinese culture night and the highlight for me came when a beautiful Chinese singer appeared to float atop the water like an apparition, her haunting song reverberating over the water and off the stone walls of the canal. (There was also this Renoir moment found later on my camera!)

[Chinese singer at WaterFire]

To Have a Dream

[On Four Tree Island, Portsmouth, NH; 5/30/11]

You have to have a dream
If you don't have a dream
How you gonna have a dream come true?
- from "Happy Talk" in Rogers and Hammerstein's "South Pacific"

The inscription on the Cabot Lyford sculpture out on Four Tree Island in Portsmouth reads, "For those who sailed here to find a new life." Before setting sail, the immigrants no doubt had a dream of that new life, a promise of something better than the intractable problems of their current one. My dissatisfactions pale in comparison, but neither am I looking to uproot myself entirely and set sail. I already uprooted myself five years ago to take this job and then a year later to move out of my home to come live near the city, which was rejuvenating. But I'm wearing down, and changes need to be made to have a sustainable -- enjoyable? fulfilling? -- life, particularly the huge portion of my day that is Making a Living.

A work colleague who is a stained glass artist in her off-time told me yesterday that she's hoping to get a subsidized artist work/live space to rent. I told her I saw full-time artist in her future, which is her dream.

I woke up with "You have to have a dream..." running through my head. Dreams need time to surface. I need to find time to reflect, not just to work on it, but time to let that conscious work germinate. Online time (aside from surfing from the office) may be sparse. I guess it already is.

The weather was finally warm enough to drive up to the seacoast one day last weekend. I uploaded a handful of photos from there starting here.

Noho Take Two

[Quarter moon over Northampton buildings; 5:30pm, 10/16/10]

In keeping with our pattern of repeating everything we did last year, we chose "the best weekend" to take a ride out to Northampton on the same weekend we were there last year. The weather was sunnier this year than the gray we saw last year, but the foliage was more subdued. Conditions haven't favored the brilliant fall colors we sometimes get -- perhaps too much summer heat, too much fall rain, recent strong winds knocking the few bright leaves off the trees. My camera lens flared whenever I did see a decent spot of color, as if Mother Nature, having a bad hair day, waved her hand in front of the camera: "No photographs!"

[Paradise Pond, Smith College campus; 4:30pm, 10/16/10]

We also got off to a bit of a late start, so while last year I took D around to see more of campus -- where I lived, where I had classes, new buildings -- this year we took a briefer stroll around the main campus. The botanic garden and plant house are one of my favorite stops, the lovely landscaping no less beautiful in fall decline than at any other time I've been there. The plant house was already closed for the day, so we walked around the paths catching momentary bursts of sunlight on the late blooming flowers.

[At the Smith College Botanic Garden]

But our first stop on arriving in town was the shopping emporium at Thornes Market (hey, it was near the parking lot) where I bought a wool hat and gloves and a couple of nice scarves at 25 Central, always my favorite shop in Northampton. I also picked up a couple of boxes of Christmas cards at the Cedar Chest. It reminded me of previous trips in years past when I'd meet my girlfriends out there to go Christmas shopping. Of course it was a shorter drive for me then, and we all had a little more free time.

D and I had dinner again at Viva Fresh Pasta, which was wonderful. They've added a tapas menu, so we each had two small plates of pumpkin raviolis and a delicious salmon filet, recommended by our enthusiastic and knowledgeable waiter, same guy as last year. Then we made the 100-mile trek back to Boston. You can see a few more photos in my Northampton Flickr set.

Perkins School

[Lunar weathervane on the spire at the Lower School at Perkins; 10/10/10]

The Perkins School for the Blind has a beautiful 38-acre campus overlooking the Charles River in Watertown, just outside of Boston. We walked there from a "high tea" we went to on Sunday afternoon at the home of an acquaintance of D's. She told us the school welcomes the neighbors to use their campus, so we wandered the paths, which were mostly empty on the weekend. The campus was built in 1912, but the school dates back to 1829, according to their history page. Helen Keller's teacher, Anne Sullivan, was educated at Perkins and Keller spent years studying there as well.

The Gothic tower on the main building is the most impressive aspect of the campus and can be seen from all around, with its Perkins banner.

The Lower School's courtyard is surrounded by what looks like cloisters.

We also passed a Braille library building and the horticultural building and grounds, with a greenhouse and gardens. We didn't stay long, but we'll have to go back and explore another time.

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Update: Boston.com had a feature yesterday on kids from the Perkins School going to a special tour of the Barnum and Bailey's Circus where they could touch the animals and costumes.

Revere Beach and beyond

[Pavilion at Revere Beach; 8/28/10]

After visiting Nantasket Beach on the South Shore and Hampton Beach in New Hampshire, we figured we should continue this summer's tour of the more honky-tonk of the area's beaches (at least by reputation) by visiting Revere Beach. Just four miles north of downtown Boston, Revere Beach used to be considered the "Coney Island" of New England. According to Wikipedia, it was founded in 1895 and was the country's first public beach. We knew that renovations had been done, tons of sand trucked in in recent years to smooth the three-mile crescent beach, and the honky-tonks and strip clubs torn down and, in some spots, replaced by condos. Still, it's accessible to Boston by the MBTA subway, so it can be considered a beach for the urban working class.

[Revere's Crescent Beach]

What we found was a beautiful, long stretch of clean beach, which with Saturday's mild temperatures was sparsely populated. We drove up most of the boulevard along the strand, passing a cluster of cheap food stands topped off by the original Kelly's Roast Beef, and finally parked near the far north end. Walking back down the strand a ways, we found very few amenities (we didn't get back as far as the food stands), unlike Nantasket Beach which seemed to have bath houses every hundred feet or so and lots of food stands and beach shops. The historic pavilions at Revere Beach are shelters from the sun and little else. But it was peaceful -- and we may have been at the end of the beach where residents rather than visitors prevail.

We did park near one restaurant, Antonia's at the Beach, where we shared a delicious grilled margarita pizza with fresh tomatoes, basil and garlic. A bit more upscale than Kelly's, and welcome recompense for getting through the traffic along Revere Beach Parkway.

[From Antonia's restaurant]

After hanging out on the beach awhile, we got back in the car and drove north a bit further, taking a drive around the tiny peninsula of Nahant, and continuing along the Lynn Shore Reservation and promenade, another historic strand of coastline which runs from Lynn to Swampscott. The city of Lynn has a nasty reputation ("Lynn Lynn, city of sin..."), but the "Diamond District" area along the coast has some beautiful homes and the promenade is lovely. Alas, the beach isn't clean (signs to this effect are nailed to the promenade, making me think this is not a temporary rise in bacteria levels). One hopes the situation is being remedied.

[Promenade at King's Beach, Lynn/Swampscott line]

[Promenade looking south towards Boston]

For more photos from the North Shore, see my Flickr set.