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Changing Seasons

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged aster, autumn, chrysanthemum, concord, fall, farmers market, first root farm, hutchins farm, main streets cafe, postaday, sweetmancragun, vegetable car, verrill farm on September 12, 2015| 4 Comments »

Nice to run into Judith and Paul at the annual downtown farmers market. We always talk shop a little because we worked together in the ’90s. I was interested to hear she is back doing writing for our former colleague Kate, currently a principal at leadership consultancy SweetmanCragun.

Now about these pictures: Main Streets Café is always creative with their seasonal displays. I don’t know that I would think of lining up pumpkins under a bench. The squashes are from Hutchins Farm. First Root Farm’s display includes radishes, beets, and carrots. The chrysanthemums and asters were tempting, but the car was parked too far away for me to carry a big plant.

Finally, please note the funny vehicles the kids are racing. I include a close-up of several late-model vegetable cars. (Pick a squash; add wheels.)

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When a Town Says No to Plastic Water Bottles

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged bottle ban, concord, massachusetts, plastic bottle, postaday, water bottle on September 4, 2015| Leave a Comment »

You may have heard tell of the town that banned single-serving plastic water bottles. The Huffington Post was one of the many news outlets that reported on the law when it took effect in early 2013.

“Concord, Massachusetts, has become one of the first communities in the U.S. to ban the sale of single-serving plastic water bottles. According to the Associated Press, the plastic bottle ban resulted from a three-year campaign by local activists. The activists pushed to reduce waste and fossil fuel use. …

“The campaign Ban the Bottle claims that ‘It takes 17 million barrels of oil per year to make all the plastic water bottles used in the U.S. alone. That’s enough oil to fuel 1.3 million cars for a year.’ Their website also states: ‘In 2007, Americans consumed over 50 billion single serve bottles of water. With a recycling rate of only 23%, over 38 billion bottles end up in landfills.’ According to the EPA, in 2010, the U.S. generated 31 million tons of plastic waste. …

“Not everyone is happy with the ban. WHDH reports that some businesses are also working around it by selling larger bottles, since the rule only focuses on smaller ones. Local Jenny Fioretti voiced one concern to the news group: “Towns are close enough that people can walk two minutes and go get it from Acton or Bedford. It doesn’t really help I don’t think.” More here.

Many bikers and runners were not happy either. What to do?

Crosby’s supermarket began selling water in cardboard cartons instead of plastic. And it put a faucet on the outside wall of the store so that thirsty people could refill their reusable bottles even when the market was closed. And now, after 2-1/2 years, the town has installed a water fountain near the train station.

So if you were afraid of fainting from dehydration after you took the train to Concord for the long hike to Walden Pond, fear no longer.

Water fountain as a work in progress, left. Finished fountain, right, offers three opportunities for quenching thirst: water to refill your reusable bottle, water to drink directly, water for your dog. All working well.

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Checking in on the Playscape

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged concord, garden, groundhog, lynne cherry, nature, plants, playground, playscape, postaday, ripley school, seeds, story walk on May 5, 2015| Leave a Comment »

I wrote about the early stages of the Playscape at the Ripley School three years ago, here. The idea of the playscape was to incorporate nature activities into a playground. An open house was held last Sunday, and I saw lots of children, parents, and grandparents checking it out.

Perhaps because it was early in the season, perhaps because an open house seems to call for planned activities, it was hard to see if there were enough attractions available for exploring nature on quieter days. Of course, I grew up on the edge of an orchard, a forest, and a mountain, and no one told us kids how to have fun there. Anything less in nature play seems sparse.

One thing I liked was not really an interaction with nature except that you had to walk through a field to engage. It was the story walk for Lynne Cherry’s picture book on a groundhog who learns to make his own garden rather than help himself to other people’s. The laminated page spreads on posts around the field were charming and had lots of useful details about plants and seeds.

A gardening friend on my commuter train was very glad to hear the groundhog learned to grow his own food and leave hers alone.

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Earth Day Festivities Bring Sunshine

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged band, banner, concord, drummer, earth, earth day, environment, float, massachusetts, Musketaquid, nature, new england, parade, postaday on April 26, 2015| 2 Comments »

It was still chilly on Saturday, but a great day for the Musketaquid Parade celebrating the Earth. Bands, stilt walkers, homemade floats, drummers, tables for environmental advocates of all kinds.

Does the boy with the “forest” banner whose dad is on a cellphone remind you of the picture book Sidewalk Flowers?

In the afternoon, I helped my 3-year-old grandson dig holes for strawberry plants. (“It’s gonna be a flower. It’s gonna be beautiful!”)

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Paul Revere Rides through the New World

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged april 19, concord, parade, patriots day, paul revere, postaday on April 20, 2015| 2 Comments »

It’s Patriots Day. Actually, it should be April 19, but everything gets celebrated on Mondays now.

Concord is ready for its parade. In front of the library, the Boston Children’s Museum has posted the Midnight Ride of Paul Revere on wooden stakes. The grandstand is set up for the dignitaries. The vendors are out in force.

I picture Paul Revere coming back for the celebrations and wondering if his ride was for the freedom to buy cotton candy, fried dough, and Sponge Bob Square Pants balloons on a stick.

Kind of like the hobbits who had all the wild adventures coming home and being a bit nonplussed by the pedestrian preoccupations of Hobbiton.

Actually, I think the adventurers did think they had fought for the freedom to have pedestrian preoccupations.

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A Pretty Big Snow

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged 2015, concord, massachusetts, new england, postaday, snow on January 27, 2015| 1 Comment »

Always recognizing that people in Finland, Minnesota, and Buffalo, New York, deal with this sort of thing all the time, I’m going to give it as my opinion that the storm of January 27, 2015, in New England was a pretty big storm. We were told to work at home for two days.

I went out at lunch to see what I could see. I saw one truck and one stand-up snowplow, a few workers trying to clear the commuter rail platform, three walkers, and one neighbor.

The trees and bushes in the yard were bent over. The car’s window wipers were reaching out for help. My husband had shoveled the front walk, but the gate was blocked by a snow bank. A mailbox was barely visible. My neighbor was hard at work with a shovel.

The picture that intrigues me the most, given that I take the train to work, is the picture of the buried train track. I don’t see how a train can get through there. And where will the commuters park? I can walk from my house. Not everyone has it that easy.

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An Extra Post, Thanks to Snow

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged blizzard, concord, new england, photo, photograph, postaday, snow, storm on January 27, 2015| 8 Comments »

I got an unusual number of hits from readers this morning. I never know why. Is it because we are having a big snow in New England?

Let me give you a couple preliminary snow pics just in case. I hope to do a regular post this evening.

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A Phalanx of Photos

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged concord, fort point, photo, photograph, postaday, Rose F. Kennedy Greenway, shadows, wormwood park on November 28, 2014| 5 Comments »

I’m trying to think of a good collective noun for a bunch of photos. Do you like “a phalanx of photos”? How about “a frittata of photos”?

In any case, I’m going to dump some more photographs on you, but now that Bob no longer works in my office, I’ll never know if any of them are good.

Going back to Halloween, there was an artsy ghost in Wormwood Park (Fort Point), and a witch street sign that Erik photographed in Providence. I also have a picture of the moon before dawn and one of the early-morning sun on Trinity Congregational Church in Concord. Next is a wintry Audubon boardwalk in Bristol, Rhode Island. There’s a fall-themed window box, a cemetery with holly in the foreground, flowers in the Rose F. Kennedy Greenway, and fire-escape shadows in Fort Point, Boston.

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Cardamom Buns

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged bakery, buns, cardamom, concord, Djurgarden, Epicurious, kardemummabullar, King Karl XIV Johan, luke pyenson, postaday, restaurant, Rosendals Tradgard, scadinavian fair, stockholm, sweden, Swedish Cardamom Rolls, Swedish Horticultural Society on November 14, 2014| 4 Comments »

In the last year or so, the Boston Globe has been featuring occasional reviews of restaurants in other countries. Knowing I have a few readers in Sweden, I thought I would mention this week’s review, about a restaurant in Stockholm. (If you go, let me know how you like it.)

Luke Pyenson writes, “Occasionally you see a plate of food so beautiful, it’s almost difficult to take the first bite. Imagine 20 such plates on the same table. This is what you’re up against at Rosendals Tradgard, an expansive and unique bakery-cafe-and-garden here. As you approach it, the aromas hit you, then once inside, on an impossibly long table, you see morning buns, pastries, savories, sandwiches, cakes, tarts, and everything in between. As gorgeous as this veritable smorgasbord is, the sheer attractiveness of it all — like Scandinavia itself — is a bit intimidating.

“Located on Djurgarden, one of the 14 islands that make up Sweden’s pristine and enchanting capital city, Rosendals Tradgard is a place with history. First sold to soon-to-be crowned King Karl XIV Johan in 1817, the land around the restaurant was developed by the Swedish Horticultural Society for gardening and horticultural education in the early 1860s. Today, the vast complex comprises sprawling gardens (including a rose garden and apple orchard) where fruits and vegetables are cultivated, plus a cafe, bakery, plant shop, and food shop located in greenhouses. In keeping with the spirit of the Swedish Horticultural Society, there are courses, lectures, and a variety of other cultural activities around biodynamic gardening.” Click for more about the food.

And if you are in the Greater Boston area and hungry for Swedish Cardamom Rolls (kardemummabullar), check out the 43rd annual Scandinavian Fair tomorrow, Saturday, at the Concord-Carlisle Regional High School, 500 Walden St., Concord, MA, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Or you could try a recipe from Epicurious, here. It’s a bit of work. Suzanne once made the rolls for Erik, but not since having a two-year-old who likes to take charge in the kitchen.

Photo: Luke Pyenson for the Boston Globe
A plate of fresh-baked kardemummabullar at Rosendals Tradgard in Stockholm.

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End of Summer In Massachusetts

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged concord, massachusetts, motorcycle, new england, photo, postaday, sunflower on September 18, 2014| 4 Comments »

Today’s post features a bunch of photos again, if you can bear it.

I was especially intrigued by a lovely sunflower and a utility pole that is an actual tree trunk. Although the tree trunk has probably been right in front of my nose for 20 years, it wasn’t until a recent late-train day that I actually noticed. “Holy cow! That’s a tree trunk!” No one else seemed to notice.

Other photos are attempts to capture early-morning light, but you may not be able to tell what time of day it is.

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Seeing What’s in Front of Your Nose

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged billboard, bollard, carving, concord, democracy, in front of your nose, painted rock, photographs, picture, porter square, postaday, rhode island, shady lane, sign to china, summer on July 28, 2014| 2 Comments »

I’m not much of a world traveler although I always enjoy new places once I get there. I feel sufficiently challenged, though, just trying to see what is in front of me and delving into meanings.

I overheard two men who were walking in a shade-dappled lane this morning. They were discussing “operations” and the “lowest cost per month” and were consulting a smartphone. I’m not sure they saw much in front of them.

Not to be superior, I miss things, too. How many times have I come up out of the Porter Square subway station to cross the street and not noticed the bollards with the mysterious carvings? I’ve pasted three samples below.

A few more photos. Two sides of an especially nice paint job on the Painted Rock. A whole family brought their beach chairs and drinks to watch the artists among them paint the sunset, boats, and sea creatures and then photograph the art before someone painted over it with new messages. Which happened in a couple hours and involved much less style. But that’s OK — the rock is the billboard of pure democracy.

On another rock, one I had never noticed until early Saturday, please note directions to China.

Circling back to the “lowest cost” guys, when I got to the bend in the lane, they were gone. I was walking so much slower than they were.

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Mostly Early Morning

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged art, concord, early morning, mosaic, photo, photography, postaday, providence, rowing, seekonk, vinyl on June 26, 2014| 4 Comments »

Here are a few recent photos. The owner of the fish car showed up as I was taking the picture, so I heard the artist’s story. He threw a party and provided his friends with every shade of adhesive-backed vinyl and pairs of scissors. And they cut small pieces to create a kind of mosaic of the fish, the sea, the goldfinch on the mirror, and so on.

Next we have early morning looking over a river in Concord, then early-morning rowers on the Seekonk in Providence.

Early-morning roses follow on early-morning clematis. Modern sculpture does an early-morning stretch in front of the historic house that is now an art center.

Then there is the teapot near Boston’s Government Center, private boats in Boston Harbor, and milkweed. (You’ll have to take my word for it that the milkweed was full of bees.)

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Touch a Truck

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged children, concord, fire engine, kids, postaday, preschool, recreation, touch a truck, truck on May 19, 2014| Leave a Comment »

Kids ages 3 to 5 seem to have a strong compulsion to check out trucks up close. So when organizations like Concord Recreation decide to do a little fundraising by providing the opportunity, parents of preschoolers know they just have to go.

I was walking back from the store when John’s wife and son pulled up and said they were on their way to Touch a Truck. I couldn’t resist. I said we’d meet them there.

I don’t know the names of all the trucks, but I can tell you the array included an ice cream truck, a fire engine, a police van, a front loader, and a truck for drilling telephone pole holes. There was one with a bucket for raising a person up high. My husband pointed out the rubber gloves you have to wear if you’re working around high-voltage lines. He explained how many times the gloves get dipped in rubber and carefully checked during the manufacturing process.

My grandson tried all the trucks. You can see that it’s fairly serious business.

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The Day Dawns on Flowers

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged birds, blithewold, bristol, concord, dawn, dogwood, flowers, lilac, photo, photography, postaday, R.I., spring, walking on May 18, 2014| Leave a Comment »

These photos are mostly from walks in Concord, although one is from Blithewold in Bristol, R.I. I’d like to develop my eye for good shots in winter, but there are so many more reasons to take pictures in spring! I especially love old, blasted trees with delicate, young flowers. I include one, a dogwood. The lilac in the graveyard is another tree that doesn’t know it’s not as hale and hearty as ever.

On Nashawtuc, a hundred different bird calls replaced the sounds of traffic.

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Julie Weinstein Quilting

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged concord, design, fabric, interstitial, Julie Weinstein, liminal, postaday, quilts, umbrella community arts center on April 28, 2014| 4 Comments »

Although I have known Julie Weinstein mostly as a graphic designer, I learned from many conversations over the years that she has experience in a variety of fields. Lately she has been concentrating on quilting.

I went to see the delightful pieces below at the Emerson Community Arts Center’s Earth Month exhibit, “Life on the Edge.” Completely charming. The panels were inspired by seeing birdwatchers and wondering if the birds watch the watchers. In one panel a woman is birdwatching with binoculars. In another, a bird lifts binoculars to study the woman.

The Umbrella website says, “This year’s theme, ‘Life on the Edge,’ invites us to consider those experiences and places where people and habitats intersect. Also called ecotones, liminal or transitional zones, these points of intersection can spawn collaboration, conflict, beauty, chaos, change, and more.” The show is up until May 5. More details here.

Interesting to see the word “liminal” used for the intersection of people and habitats. At Asakiyume’s blog, her literary readers use liminal and the word “interstitial” to refer to places between worlds and ways of being. Like the platforms where Harry Potter catches a train that ordinary people can’t see.

Come to think of it, that is not so different from the intersection of the natural world and the developed one the art show describes. It’s a place where you might see three large wild turkeys sashaying down the middle of a downtown street, as my husband and I did on a recent Sunday morning.

Quilts: Julie Weinstein

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