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Posts Tagged ‘massachusetts’

250th

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , on April 19, 2025| 4 Comments »

Pottery: Sue Brewster.
My retirement community has prepared for the country’s 250th anniversary — counting from April 19, 1775, when “the shot heard ’round the world” was fired at the North Bridge — in charateristic ways. In the pottery workshop, for example.

You will be pleased to know that the American experiment in democracy lasted nearly 250 years. It’s nothing like geologic time, but it’s pretty good depending on your frame of reference.

There will be celebrations all around New England to recognize the key events of 1775. In our town, the day will include an extra long parade and a visiting dignitary whose name the planners withheld until the last minute.

Back in 1975, the 200th anniversary of Patriots Day, the visiting dignitary was Gerald Ford. Protesters camped out on the hill above the North Bridge, by the Buttrick Mansion. They are said to have been rowdy, and Emerson Hospital had to treat several of them. This time, extensive preparations were made to handle rowdiness.

To give you a taste of the day’s activities at just one of many locales, here is what the museum posted:

“Celebrate the 250th Anniversary of April 19, 1775, with a free community celebration at the Concord Museum. … Free admission (9:00 am – 5:00 pm), including access to the immersive April 19, 1775 galleries to see the original lantern from Paul Revere’s famous midnight ride and the new special exhibition Whose Revolution.

“A family-friendly encampment of Revolutionary Living History (10:00 am – 5:00 pm). Billerica Colonial Minutemen will drill with muskets, cook over an open firepit, and demonstrate colonial crafts.

“Family drop-in activities (9:00 am – 4:00 pm) inspired by the American Revolution and the new Barefoot Books publication Rise Up!

“A Forum with Doris Kearns Goodwin (6:00 – 7:00 pm) on the American Revolutionand its legacy. In-person attendance is at capacity. Join a stand-by line or register for virtual attendance.

“An outdoor concert with the Goodwin Band (7:30 – 8:30 pm), finishing with a view of a town-wide drone show.

“Food trucks, an ice cream truck, and a wine and beer truck all day and evening.”

Speaking of food trucks, you should know that they were a big bone of contention a few years ago at Town Meeting, when planning was getting underway. Not historically accurate, you know.

I have no idea where you can park, but if you can get here early, our tourist site notes, “church bells at 1st Parish toll at 5:45 a.m. to sound the alarm [and] Dr. Prescott arrives at the North Bridge after riding across the fields calling out the warning to towns and villages that the [British] Regulars were on the march and that their destination was Concord. The Concord Minutemen fire salutes and the Concord Independent Battery fire several volleys from the field at the Old Manse.”

I have heard the Independent Battery fire historically accurate volleys several times over the years, and my advice to you is to wear earplugs.

For other information, check the town website, here.

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Jumbled Seasons in Pictures

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , on April 14, 2025| 4 Comments »

Photo: John.
Our older granddaughter skiing in Maine. I’m told it was cold.

Today’s photo roundup covers some winter and some spring. The weird thing is that just as we were beginning to enjoy spring in Massachusetts, we got a snowfall on April 12th, followed by a warm and sunny day today. That makes us wonder what April 19th will be like — a big deal here. It’s the 250th anniversary of what we think of as the beginning of the American Revolution, the confrontation at the North Bridge. (Amazing to think of how long democracy has lasted among erring mortals!)

Getting back to the photos, there was fresh snow on the boardwalk in February, making it eminently skiable. But after a few days of people walking there, it was all ice.

Next photo shows Erik’s Squirrel Buster birdfeeder with a visiting cardinal.

Keeping warm indoors at our retirement place, we enjoyed Joe Reid’s latest trio, with guest vocalist Mikayla Shirley from Berklee College of Music.

My anthurium in the sun is next.

The rest of the photos are from several local art displays.

They include an outsize but otherwise lifelike banana peel by Mary Kenny, a marble bird by Stephen Wetzel, and “Pollen,” a piece of fabric art by Rebecca V. Mann expressing her preoccupation with the fragility of nature. These are followed by Felix Beaudry’s woven head. Resting.

The last photos are part of an extensive sidewalk exhibit in which works by artists of all ages were somehow laminated and glued down so people could walk on them. You can see my shoes. The first, of trees, is by Jack Confrey, a young guy you’ll meet meet if you go to the website, here.

Then there’s a child’s art and a QR code for anyone interested.

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Guns into Plowshares

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , on March 20, 2025| 2 Comments »

Photo: Melanie Stetson Freeman/Christian Science Monitor staff.
Retired Episcopal Suffragan Bishop Jim Curry, co-founder of the nonprofit Swords into Plowshares, gives a blacksmithing demonstration in Winchester, Mass. The nonprofit’s goal is to get guns off the streets and make young people enthusiastic about peaceful projects.

In a Providence park, there’s a sculpture made from illegal handguns. It’s kind of a depressing pillar to failure, unless you look at it as the removal of guns from circulation. It’s ambiguous, which I guess art is supposed to be.

Here’s a story about an effort to turn young people away from the gun culture of the streets.

Troy Aidan Sambajon writes at the Christian Science Monitor, “Retired Episcopal Suffragan Bishop Jim Curry ignites his propane forge in the courtyard of Parish of the Epiphany church. Slowly he heats the barrel of a dismantled rifle to 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit, and then starts hammering the red-hot metal on his anvil. In minutes, a piece of once-deadly weaponry transforms into a humble weeding tool. 

“Bishop Curry then invites onlookers to try their own hand at making garden tools from firearm parts, using the forge that he takes with him to various communities in the Northeast region. With each strike of the hammer, participants mold a hopeful vision of a future without gun violence.

“Before the demonstration, Bishop Curry gave a sermon explaining the mission of Swords to Plowshares (S2P) Northeast, a nonprofit that he co-founded a decade ago in New Haven, Connecticut. ‘At the forge, we hammer guns into gardening tools and art. We forge rings from shotgun barrels into hearts – symbolizing that the change we need begins in the transformation of our own hearts,’ he told parishioners.

“His work has inspired residents in Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Vermont to start their own independent S2P chapters, which host gun-surrender events in partnership with police departments. Law enforcement officials vet and dismantle the weapons, and then give the parts to the chapters for public blacksmithing demonstrations. Besides raising awareness about gun violence, the demonstrations help get young people interested in blacksmithing.

“Montrel Morrison, who runs a youth mentoring organization in Connecticut, calls S2P Northeast a ‘safe haven and beacon of hope.’ …

“Kam’eya Ingram, who spent the last two summers as a blacksmith with S2P Northeast, says that ‘when someone dies from gun violence, it’s like the world goes quiet.’ But for her, hammering on the anvil fills the silence with a resounding release of emotions. … ‘I feel like I’m bringing people peace – letting them know that one more gun is gone and that this [gun violence] might not happen to someone else.’

“Bishop Curry … studied religion at Amherst College. He graduated in 1970 and started his career working in public schools in Huntington, Massachusetts, as a middle and elementary schoolteacher for 10 years. Yet he longed to serve the spiritual needs of his community.

“That desire led him to the seminary in 1982, and, three years later, he was ordained as a deacon and priest in the Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut. He focused his ministry as a spiritual adviser, working in hospitals with families in Connecticut and addressing the devastating impacts of gun violence and suicide. By 2000, he was elected suffragan bishop of Connecticut. 

“His life ‘changed entirely,’ he says, in the wake of the December 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. … Newtown was in his diocese. …

“In early 2013, he joined other Episcopal bishops in Washington, D.C., and helped found Bishops United Against Gun Violence. Through that group, he learned about the Guns to Gardens movement, a network of nonprofits that repurposes unwanted firearms into garden tools and artwork. …

“In 2014, he co-founded his chapter, S2P Northeast, with Pina Violano, a trauma nurse and nursing professor at Quinnipiac University. The group’s namesake peacebuilding mission comes from the Old Testament (Isaiah 2:4): ‘They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks.’ …

“S2P Northeast has partnered with a Colorado organization called RAWtools on a nationwide gun-surrender program and, before the COVID-19 pandemic, taught blacksmithing skills to incarcerated people. …

“For Bishop Curry, ‘the real life of the forge’ has been to empower teens from New Haven through summer job opportunities. They are paid to transform guns through blacksmithing and help lead public demonstrations. …

“Jared Sanchez, age 18, takes pride in being a junior blacksmith instead of working a teenager’s typical mundane hustle. In a single day, he can make seven or eight garden tools out of shotgun barrels. He has also created a heart necklace for his younger sister and a cross to sit beside his grandfather’s urn. …

“After two summers serving as a blacksmith alongside Bishop Curry, Mr. Sanchez has come out of his shell and come into his own as a leader. Handling so many firearm parts has revealed to him the depth of the gun violence problem in his community and the work that must be done to combat it.”

More at the Monitor, here. No paywall. Nice pictures.

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Making Cymbals in Massachusetts

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , on March 3, 2025| 6 Comments »

Photo: Robin Lubbock/WBUR.
Cymbalsmith Peter Nelson works on a cymbal on a lathe at the Zildjian cymbal factory in Norwell, Massachusetts.

My brother has a book coming out about long-lived companies in the US. It’s not uncommon for businesses in Europe to keep reinventing themselves over centuries, but it is here. So that was one reason I was drawn to a report from WBUR radio about a cymbal maker in Massachusetts that has been turning out high-quality instruments for 400 years and counting. It’s called Avedis Zildjian Co. 

Andrea Shea has the story: “From symphonies to rock music, marching bands and advertising jingles — we hear Zildjian cymbals everywhere. Drummers across the globe know that name because it’s emblazoned on every gleaming disc. What’s less known is the Zildjian family has been making their famous cymbals — with a secret process — for more than 400 years. Of course, not all of those years were in Massachusetts.

“Since the 1970s, the Avedis Zildjian Co. has operated under the radar in Norwell, Massachusetts. We jumped at the chance to get inside the world’s oldest cymbal manufacturer.

“Even in Massachusetts many people have no idea an industrial factory outside of Boston designs, casts, blasts, rolls, hammers, buffs and tests at least a million Zildjian cymbals each year.

“ ‘There’s a lot of mystique and a lot of history at this facility,’ said Joe Mitchell, the company’s director of operations, as we walked past loud, hulking machinery. He’s one of the few privy to a Zildjian process that’s been shrouded in mystery since the height of the Ottoman Empire. It begins in a room that’s off-limits to the public.

“ ‘Behind this door is where we have our foundry,’ Mitchell explained. “This is where we melt our metal and where we pour our castings.’ …

“He leaned over a bin filled with chunky, rough-hewn metal discs. Even in their nascent state, Mitchell said the castings possess the secret to Zildjian’s sound. He struck one lightly to release an enchanting, reverberant ring.

“The company’s proprietary alloy was alchemized 13 generations ago in Constantinople (now Istanbul) by Debbie Zildjian’s ancestor, Avedis I. He was trying to make gold, she said, but he ended up concocting a combination of copper and tin. ‘The mixing of those metals produced a very loud, resonant, beautiful sound,’ she said.

“Debbie explained that in 1618 the Ottoman sultan summoned Avedis to the Topkapi Palace to make cymbals for elite military bands. The metalsmith’s work pleased the ruler, who gave him permission to found his own business in 1623. The sultan also bestowed Avedis the family name ‘Zildjian,’ which actually means cymbal maker. …

“Zildjian became synonymous with cymbals after her grandfather Avedis III, an ethnic Armenian, emigrated to the U.S. in 1909. Two decades later he re-located the family’s cymbal business from Turkey to Quincy, Massachusetts, with his uncle.

“At the time jazz was exploding, so Avedis III travelled to New York City so he could develop new sounds with pioneers, including Gene Krupa. ‘Not only was he a fabulous drummer,’ Debbie said, ‘he was also very flamboyant in his style.’ This made Krupa an ideal ambassador for Zildjian.

“The company really took off with a little help from the Beatles’ 1964 appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show. ‘Everybody wanted to become a musician,’ Debbie said, ‘and it was in a matter of months that we were totally backordered because Ringo was a huge celebrity.’ …

“In 1973, Zildjian moved to a state-of-the-art factory in Norwell.  Debbie said her father Armand, who was then running the company, loved music. …

“Armand, who started working in Zildjian’s melt room when he was 14, eventually brought Debbie and her sister Craigie inside to teach them the secret process. The family business had always been passed down to the eldest male, but Debbie and Craigie were their father’s heirs.

“ ‘For us, it was very natural on the inside, but the music industry had a hard time accepting women in the business,’ Debbie said. ‘The players were all men, manufacturing was done mostly by men, the salespeople were all men.’

“Craigie became CEO in 1999. Now she’s president and executive chair of the board of trustees. Debbie gravitated to manufacturing and oversees Zildjian’s proprietary alloy process taught to her by her father.

“Over the decades, drummers across all genres have embraced Zildjian cymbals – from Lars Ulrich of Metallica to Grammy Award-winning jazz drummer Terri Lyne Carrington.

” ‘I normally play about six cymbals plus hi-hats,’ she said, ‘They are the sound I’ve been playing my whole life because most jazz drummers play Zildjian cymbals.’

“Carrington founded and directs Berklee College of Music’s Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice in Boston. She’s also a Zildjian artist, which means she exclusively endorses and plays the company’s cymbals. Carrington said they’ve helped forge her musical identity since she was 10 years old. …

“Carrington’s drum kit is like a painter’s palette. The sound of each cymbal guides her to the next stroke. She’s visited the Zildjian factory many times and still marvels at what they do. ‘I don’t know the secret sauce,’ she said, ‘but to make a piece of metal sound so pretty — and become this beautiful instrument that’s a part of every kind of music that you hear — is pretty remarkable.’ ”

More at WBUR, here. Aren’t the kinds of work people get into for a career endlessly fascinating? Whokid ever imagines they will grow up to be a cymbal maker?

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A Different Kind of Bookshop

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , on March 2, 2025| 1 Comment »

Photo: Paul Singer/GBH News.
Ellie Paris-Miranda inside her new bookshop in downtown Brockton, Massachusetts. This shop aims to build social networks as well as sell books.

I am thinking of a friend in Manhattan, a writer who loves books. Currently in her 90s, she passed through a difficult year with her husband’s illness. After he died, she didn’t feel like doing anything. She stayed home. She turned down overtures from friends.

Then one day, she tells me, she decided to go outside and walk a few blocks on Broadway. She had heard that there was a new independent bookstore. When she walked in and felt the literary atmosphere there, she began to cry. “These are my people,” she said.

That’s just one example of what a bookstore can mean to someone.

Paul Singer reports at GBH radio about other kinds of meaning a new bookstore intends to provide: “On a chilly Sunday afternoon in Brockton, Mayor Robert Sullivan sat in a cozy corner of a new bookstore on Main Street and read a bilingual children’s book to a couple dozen patrons and staff.

“The mayor had arrived to celebrate the opening of the Dr. Ellie Paris Social Bookstore and Ice Cream Cafe, a new storefront shop intended to encourage literacy and social networking particularly among Brockton’s large immigrant population.

“The book he read, Tiagu and Vovo, is written in English and Cape Verdean Creole and tells the story of an immigrant family learning the new language. 

“Ellie Paris-Miranda, the owner of the shop and an immigrant from Cape Verde herself, said having the mayor reading this book symbolizes why she wanted to open a bookstore.

“ ‘I really want to foster literacy, education, and upward economic mobility through giving communities access to not only books, but also a network,’ she said. …

“In her other job, Paris-Miranda is a tenure-track assistant professor of entrepreneurship at Wheaton College in Norton.

” ‘There’s this positive correlation between building successful business with the quality of the network, the relationships that you have that can be used as a financial resource,’ she said. ‘Especially for low income people, starting businesses and women who often don’t have all the resources needed.’

“The shop is just a few blocks from city hall and the courthouse, so she hopes her neighborhood customers will rub elbows and get to know city leaders over a sandwich or an ice cream cone.

“True to her own roots, Paris-Miranda’s shop shelves prominently feature books about financial planning and business strategy, as well as books in a variety of languages. She also refers to her customers as clients. …

“ ‘My “clients” are like long-term relationships I am building,’ she said.

“Eventually, Paris-Miranda said, she plans to teach English classes at the shop, as well as other programming on entrepreneurship and personal finance.

“The new bookstore is riding a wave of new interest in local bookshops, said Beth Ineson, executive director of the New England Independent Booksellers Association.

“ ‘We’ve had such a boom in eastern New England since basically 2020 for bookstores opening,’ Ineson said. … ‘We’ve had as many new stores join my organization in the past four years as the previous ten combined.’ …

“Part of the reason for this boom, Ineson said, is that the pandemic left many storefronts vacant, making commercial real estate more affordable. But another part of it is the need for community.

“ ‘It is really on everybody’s mind now how these stores can become places for community and for intellectual engagement,’ she said. …

“In Brockton, the Ellie Paris Social Bookstore replaces an empty storefront with the sound of chatter and a smoothie blender.

“Matt Stanton, a lifelong Brockton resident and member of the city’s Beautification Committee, said he hopes the new bookstore can be an engine for downtown revitalization.

“ ‘To me, this could be a catalyst to just, you know, really bring the downtown back,’ he said. ‘There’s a couple shops right up the street. If somebody comes in here, they walk up to the store in the next block. And it’s just great.’ ”

More at GBH radio, here.

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Sculptor Maya Lin in Massachusetts

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , on February 23, 2025| 4 Comments »

Photo: David L. Ryan/Globe Staff.
Maya Lin’s landscape artwork in Kendall Square in Cambridge. It’s an “undulating wave field” in front of the Volpe Transportation building on Binney Street.

For most of us, sculptor Mia Lin first came to our attention when she was chosen to create the Vietnam war memorial in Washington, DC. The solemn listing of the names of the dead on black granite was a brilliant idea, endlessly moving.

Until now Lin had never created landscape art in Massachusetts, so people were surprised to learn that in fact she had had an impressive earthwork in busy Cambridge since 2023.

Scott Kirsner writes at the Boston Globe, “What if someone spent $1.3 million on a work of art, installed it in one of the busiest parts of Cambridge, and forgot to tell anyone?

“That’s effectively what happened with a piece called ‘The Sound We Travel At,’ by the New York City artist Maya Lin. She is best known for works like the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., and the Civil Rights Memorial in Montgomery, Ala. …

“But she also makes works of landscape art … and that’s what was created in Kendall in 2023. You can find it on Binney Street as you head toward Boston, to the left of a new 13-story building that houses the Volpe National Transportation Systems Center, a research center run by the US Department of Transportation. Sandwiched between a row of trees and lampposts is a series of 11 grass-covered, wave-like mounds of earth.

“Apropos of the Volpe Center’s work … the artwork outside is a physical representation of the Doppler effect. You know: the phenomenon of a sound, like a train’s horn, changing in pitch as it races past you. Some of the rippling mounds in Lin’s work represent sound waves that are approaching the viewer, and some of them represent sound waves that are receding from the viewer. Visitors are invited to walk atop, or even sit on, the work.

“There’s so much construction work in Kendall Square right now that I only noticed the artwork in November 2023, when I was visiting the Volpe Center to write a piece. … A year later, I noticed that there’s still no sign, and it doesn’t appear on the website of either the Volpe Center or the Maya Lin Studio. I couldn’t find a single museum curator or former curator in town who knew about it. …

“The artwork is part of a 14-acre site that MIT’s real estate management arm acquired from the federal government in 2017, and is redeveloping to include housing, retail, office space, parks, and a new community center. Part of that deal involved MIT building a newer home for the Volpe Center, and any time a new federal building goes up, half of one percent of the building’s cost goes to art. (That’s even true when MIT is footing the construction bill, as it was in this case.)

“Paul Ha, the director of MIT’s List Visual Arts Center, helped make the connection to Lin for the project. He was one of the few people in the local art world I could find that was aware of its existence. Ha had worked with Lin on a major exhibit when he was running the Contemporary Art Museum in St. Louis. …

“Aprile Gallant of the Smith College Museum of Art says, ‘I do believe this is Lin’s first landscape piece in Massachusetts, so it is a milestone.’ That museum hosted a major exhibit of Lin’s works in 2022, when a library that she’d designed opened on campus. …

“Did ‘The Sound We Travel At’ fall through the cracks, in a neighborhood peppered with cranes and construction fencing, and tech and biotech workers who go from garages to offices perhaps two or three days a week?

“ ‘We felt that way,’ says James Ewart, manager of the Maya Lin Studio.

“But according to the government’s General Services Administration, by the time spring rolls around, a sign will finally be installed next to the artwork.”

More on the Maya Lin project at the Globe, here.

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Robots for Greener Housing

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , on February 15, 2025| 2 Comments »

Photo: Jacob Posner/Christian Science Monitor.
Felipe Polido, co-founder and head of technology at Reframe Systems, explains how the company uses robots and simplified processes in construction.

Innovations of the kind we continue to need in areas such as medicine, housing, and carbon reduction will probably rely more on entrepreneurs and businesses than on government for years to come.

I won’t be the one to begrudge any visionary a reasonable profit. In fact, the only thing that worries me about today’s story is the reduced need for human workers. See what you think.

Jacob Posner writes at the Christian Science Monitor about one company aiming to do so by benefiting others.

“A growing number of startups are trying to reinvent the U.S. homebuilding industry, with big goals of making it both more efficient and more climate-friendly. It is a disruption that many say is past due. The construction industry is not only struggling to meet housing needs but also is one of the country’s largest emitters of greenhouse gases. …

“Massachusetts-based Reframe Systems is among the new companies hoping to change one of the nation’s largest industries. Reframe is developing a ‘next generation’ modular construction method to build high-efficiency housing. Employees follow instructions on iPads to install plumbing and electrical components into robot-made walls, then transport these modules to construction sites, where they are stacked into multifloor units.

“But the challenges are myriad. Despite a huge influx of investor funding, the share of housing stock built through high-tech modular construction remains small. …

“[Recently a crowd] gathered to see a robot build a house. In a concrete-and-steel factory in Andover, Massachusetts, yellow-vested consultants, sustainable builders, and possible investors strain to see past a clear fence. Behind the barrier, a giant blue arm jutting from the floor comes to life.

“Its sensor-covered hand analyzes a pile of wood before emitting a loud hiss, then carefully suctions a two-by-four. Rotating at the shoulder and extending its elbow, the robot methodically delivers the plank to a partially completed wall.

“On the other side of the factory – about the size of a hangar for small planes – a few human workers are on their lunch break. They are employees of a three-year-old company called Reframe Systems, which is one of a growing number of startups across the United States scrambling to reinvent the homebuilding industry. …

“More than 100 startups have entered the industry in the past two decades, according to estimates by Tyler Pullen, a senior technical adviser at the Terner Center for Housing Innovation at the University of California Berkeley. He says there are likely more than 200 construction innovation companies currently doing business in the U.S.

“Like many of these, Reframe is focused on a new form of modular construction to upend one of the county’s largest industries. The company aims to create affordable, net-zero houses, which generate the same or more energy than they consume. Reframe CEO Vikas Enti says he can deliver a hefty return to investors – all while making a significant dent in the housing and climate crises. The next step, he says, is to build a factory that can produce 500 apartment units per year using lessons learned from his small, pilot factory in Andover. Then, he hopes to build a network of facilities across the country, varying their sizes to meet the demands and needs of their region. …

“So far, Reframe has completed one two-bedroom house. …

“The current model for modular construction – using assembly-line technologies to build homes – has its origin in the period after World War II. … But federal support for the movement dwindled, and in recent years, modular construction companies have mostly focused on the luxury housing market and sustainability-focused buyers. …

“The need for companies like Reframe is clear, modular boosters say.

“Energy consumed by residential buildings is responsible for around 15% of all U.S. emissions. Fossil fuels warm most of the country’s roughly 145 million apartment units and houses, in addition to keeping their stoves running and heating water. …

“Reframe was founded by roboticists who used to work at Amazon. Following instructions on iPads, its human employees insert plumbing and electrical wiring into the robot-made walls, turn them into ‘modules,’ and bring them to construction sites, where they are stacked into multifloor, highly energy-efficient homes. Because the iPad instructions are akin to a Lego or Ikea manual, Reframe can employ fewer high-cost, high-skill laborers.

“Having most of the needed professionals – electricians, plumbers, architects, engineers – under the same roof solves a problem of communication Mr. Pullen sees as endemic to the traditional construction industry. Every different professional involved must work together, but they are all ‘masters of their own kingdom,’ he says.

“While not all companies offer net-zero buildings like Reframe, Mr. Pullen says building in a factory setting lends itself to tighter structures that hold their temperature better. Plus, factory construction results in less waste. Companies know what they need to order for hundreds of projects at once; in traditional building, ad hoc orders require far more trucks and often leave behind excess material like piping and drywall.”

More at the Monitor, here. No paywall.

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Bogs Become Wetlands Once More

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , on February 11, 2025| 3 Comments »

Photo: Charles Krupa/AP.
Workers harvest cranberries at the Rocky Meadow bog in Middleborough, Massachusetts, ahead of Thanksgiving. 

Recently, I read about a federal program paying “farmers to convert the land of bogs that is not efficient for growing” into wetlands that can alleviate climate change consequences. Whether or not the federal program will continue, Massachusetts is on the case, helping its own farmers with restoration.

Gloria Oladipo wrote at the Guardian last November, “As millions of cranberries were being harvested for Thursday’s US Thanksgiving holiday, Massachusetts farmers were working to convert defunct cranberry bogs back to wild wetlands, amid climate crisis woes. Several restoration projects were awarded $6m in grants to carry out such initiatives, state officials announced this week.

“The grants, provided by the New England state’s department of fish and game division of ecological restoration (DER), will ‘increase resilience to climate change for people and nature, restore crucial wildlife habitat, and improve water quality’ in 12 communities, said the Massachusetts governor, Maura Healey, in a statement. …

“ ‘These initiatives will enhance our ability to store and sequester carbon with nature and help us meet our net zero goals,’ said Rebecca Tepper, secretary of the state’s office of energy and environmental affairs. …

“The grants are being awarded through two state programs: the DER’s wetland restoration program and the DER’s cranberry bog restoration program, which converts defunct cranberry bogs into wetlands and streams.

“To date, scientists and government officials have converted 400 acres of retired cranberry bogs into wetlands, the Washington Post reported. State officials have said they hope to restore an additional 1,000 acres of bogs within the next decade. …

“As sea levels rise in Massachusetts because of the climate crisis caused by humans burning fossil fuels, scientists are looking to develop bogs into wetlands to improve coastal resilience and slow down erosion.

“Wetlands can hold more water and filter out pollutants amid increased storms that bring potential flooding. They also have other environmental benefits, acting as wildlife habitats and storing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere in their soil.

“More farmers have been drawn to the prospect of transitioning their former cranberry bogs into wetlands. The climate crisis and economic factors, including the high cost of modernizing bogs, can make cranberry farming more difficult. …

“ ‘We are in an upward trend in terms of interest in retiring cranberry bogs,’ said Brian Wick, executive director of the Cape Cod Cranberry Growers Association, to the Post. … But getting land for restoration remains a competitive process, as other businesses – such as housing developers – vie for undeveloped coastal land.

“ ‘This opportunity won’t be here in 25 years,’ said Christopher Neill, a senior scientist at the Woodwell Climate Research Center and an expert in restored bogs, to the Post. ‘These growers are not going to hang on, they’re going to make decisions and the land won’t be available forever.’

“While conservation projects have steadily increased in southeastern Massachusetts, restoration initiatives are still relatively new. The majority of finished projects are only a few years old, with 14 restoration initiatives still being designed and implemented, the Post reported.”

In addition to benefits like carbon storage and habitat for wildlife, converted cranberry bogs can be lovely for walkers.

More at the Guardian, here. Nice photos. No firewall.

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Rodeos … in Massachusetts?

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , on December 22, 2024| 4 Comments »

Photo: Estaban Bustillos/GBH News.
A rider mounts a bull at New England Rodeo in Norton, Massachusetts, in September.

I have seen rodeos in Madison Square Garden and in Buffalo, Minnesota, and in the Southwest. But I never expected to hear there were rodeos in Massachusetts. I should have given a little more thought to the welcome variety of national cultures that have taken root here.

Esteban Bustillos reports at GBH News, “Drivers who pull onto the small road leading them to the New England Rodeo in Norton might well feel like they’ve arrived on a different planet.

“Located about an hour from Boston, the parking lot is a sea of cowboy hats, boots and pickup trucks. And as Kelly Pina, who helps with the behind-the-scenes paperwork for the rodeo, jokes, it’s New England’s best-kept secret. …

“The event is the only weekly event in the commonwealth to feature bull riding and barrel racing, making it a lifeline for rodeo culture that’s far from home. That’s especially important for Brazilians, who make up the vast majority of the bull riders at the rodeo. It makes for a swirl of English and Portuguese, Americans and Brazilians all coming together for a sport and lifestyle they love.

“Jullia Oliveira manages the rodeo’s bull riding — and she also speaks fluent Portuguese, a crucial skill given the high number of Brazilian bull riders in the sport. …

“Since Massachusetts has one of the largest Brazilian communities in the country, Norton’s rodeo is a natural hub. The owner, Elias DaSilva, hails from Brazil, too.

“ ‘It’s nice to have a place where they can come and feel comfortable and feel welcomed,’ Oliveira said. ‘Especially since they’re coming from another country, usually without being able to speak English.’ …

“As welcoming as the rodeo may be, the back of a bull is no place for the timid. As soon as the gate to the pen opens, it’s man versus nature. And for a few electrifying seconds, the riders are locked in a mesmerizing dance that shakes the earth beneath them as supporters scream and holler.

“But gravity and thrashing bulls have a way of getting the cowboys to hit the ground. As terrifying as it looks, they all dust themselves off and hop back up. Some even do so with a smile.

“Wesley Goncalves, Oliveira’s uncle, has been riding bulls most of his life. He says bull riding and soccer are the big sports in his home country of Brazil, so having the rodeo in Norton has been very important to him. … Walter Oliveira, Jullia’s father, is a bull rider as well. And having a local rodeo has been a game changer.

“ ‘We used to travel like six hours, seven hours, eight or more, sometimes sixteen hours, to go for a ride,’ he said. ‘And to have the New England Rodeo here, for us is great. For me, it’s one hour from my house.’

“Today’s established New England Rodeo is a long way from its humble beginnings. Tim Lee, one of the rodeo’s announcers, used to be a bullfighter — the type that helps wrangle a bull after it’s thrown a rider, not the matador-with-a-cape kind.

“ ‘Sometimes rodeo can be like a dying breed, but we’re never gonna let it die,’ Lee said. “There’s just nothing like rodeo, man. You bring so many people together like that, how could you have a bad time?’

“For Pina, the rodeo is a personal affair. Along with helping to run it, she’s a professional barrel racer, zooming through the dirt of the arena and weaving through barrels on horseback. And her husband, Ed Pina, is the other half of the rodeo’s announcing duo. …

“ ‘You come here a few times, you’re family. You work with us, you’re blood, no matter what,’ he said. ‘It’s about building our family bigger and teaching the next generation how to do our sport and to make sure our sport keeps going.’ ”

Shout-out to Craig, the bull rider who ran manufacturing for my husband’s former company. Despite bones repeatedly broken, he truly loved the sport. And he provided enthusiastic support to the many little kids who got their start by riding rams!

More at GBH, here.

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Fall Photos from New England

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , on November 27, 2024| 8 Comments »

Photos: Suzanne and John’s Mom.

It’s starting to feel like winter is around the corner, so I’ll just post a few photos from my New England autumn before the snow falls.

Below, clouds over the Seekonk River in Providence, Rhode Island, and chess-playing foxes in Fox Point. Also in Fox Point, the notorious Mayor Cianci’s plaque honoring both composer George M. Cohan — and Cianci himself.

In the same neighborhood, I got a kick out of the name of a 19th century homeowner. And a jazzed-up staircase across the street.

Back in Massachusetts, I found a nice shot of a different kind of staircase (jazzed up by light and shadow), then two fungus photos (one flower-like) and Starbucks receipts decorating a telephone pole. The pastry chef, age 11, has more baking experience than most adults.

In the what-the-heck-is-it department, there’s a decorative plant at Debra’s Natural Gourmet that is not milkweed but looks sort of like it. Any ideas?

Next comes Sally Frank’s magnificent Black Sycamore print in a frame reflecting my table lamp. Then a derelict house waiting for the land developer’s bulldozer, and a special map for the town’s 250th anniversary in 2025. Did you know the Revolution started at the North Bridge? Not with the Declaration of Independence, as significant as that was.

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Free College To Build the Workforce

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , on November 22, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Photo: Troy Aidan Sambajon/The Christian Science Monitor.
Tyrie Daniel poses in the library at the Charlestown campus of Bunker Hill Community College in Boston, Sept. 10, 2024.

I think most people would agree — maybe even college presidents would agree — that the cost of higher education has gotten out of hand. Two of our grandchildren, being half Swedish, could get educated for free in Sweden, but free higher ed is not an option for most Americans. That’s why Massachusetts is joining the states that have been offering options to students who could use the help.

Troy Aidan Sambajon writes at the Christian Science Monitor, “Cambridge resident Tyrie Daniel was almost at the finish line when he dropped out of Bunker Hill Community College in 2015. He just needed 16 more credits to transfer to a four-year school. But life just came hard. His family was scammed, he says, and their Social Security numbers were stolen.

“ ‘When your stomach keeps growling and you have nothing in your fridge, you can’t even focus on school,’ says Mr. Daniel, who is 33 years old. His family was struggling to pay bills at home and provide for their household of six. … ‘I had to choose between school or food on the table.’

“With five classes to go, he dropped out. He worked as a cleaner, in his family’s spice business, and in real estate. More than thrice, he contemplated returning to school. But he couldn’t reenroll until his overdue fees were paid.

“Now, Mr. Daniel is back at Bunker Hill. This time, he is debt-free and his tuition is covered by MassReconnect. The program, which started in 2023, made community college tuition free for Massachusetts residents over 25 who don’t have a degree. Mr. Daniel says he feels both enormous relief and a new motivation to succeed. …

“Says the cybersecurity major, ‘Now, I’m actually back in school to further my career in something that I really am interested in and passionate about.’

“This fall, Massachusetts is widening the halls of higher education even further. For the first time, all residents with a high school diploma can attend one of its 15 community colleges for free. Since Tennessee first pioneered tuition-free community college for all in 2017, it has spread rapidly in both red and blue states.

“With the launch of MassEducate, the Bay State becomes the 20th to offer tuition-free community college regardless of age, income, or GPA. Another 14 states offer programs targeting specific demographics, such as people over 25, or high-demand majors, such as nursing. …

“Douglas Harris, chair of the economics department at Tulane University and director of the National Center for Research on Education, Access, and Choice [says] promising universal access to community college ‘wipes away that complexity and the risk and uncertainty that goes with it.’

“ ‘Going to college is complicated,’ he says. … ‘When it gets cheaper and simpler, it makes people say yes.’ …

“ ‘This is going to change family trees for generations to come, for the better,’ says Nate Mackinnon, executive director of the Massachusetts Association of Community Colleges. … ‘More families are turning to public higher education and discovering that these institutions offer excellent quality at an affordable price.’

“Why free tuition now? The Bay State needs workers. Massachusetts has 42 available workers for every 100 open jobs, categorizing its workforce shortage as ‘most severe,’ according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Meanwhile, 700,000 residents have some college credits but no degree. …

“In MassReconnect’s first year, 2023-24, some 8,411 students enrolled through MassReconnect. That was a 45% increase in students over 25 from the previous academic year. …

“As of this August, with the launch of MassEducate, total enrollment is up another 20% compared with last year. ‘It’s like the advertising value of free college is giving you a pretty big bang for your buck,’ says David Deming, an economist from the Harvard Kennedy School. … ‘The challenge in the long term is maintaining the quality of education with more students. If local colleges themselves are not getting any extra funding to accommodate the influx, the quality of the service itself might decline.’ …

“For recent high school graduates like Erick Peguero, free tuition means his family can save money while he takes classes in the hopes of transferring to a four-year program. … When he graduated from Brooke High School in June, Mr. Peguero didn’t have plans to go to college this fall. It wasn’t that the resident of the Dorchester neighborhood wasn’t interested, but his family lives in Section 8 low-income housing. When community college became free last month, he jumped at the chance to continue his education.  …

“Some community college leaders say they welcome the challenges that more students in classes bring.

“ ‘I’ve been waiting my entire professional life for this moment,’ says [Pam Eddinger, president of Bunker Hill Community College]. ‘I’ll be damned if I’m going to turn anyone away. Because if I turn somebody away now, where it takes so much for them to come to me, they may not come back.’ ”

More at the Monitor, here.

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Circle Singing, Good Vibrations

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , on November 6, 2024| 2 Comments »

Photo: Melanie Stetson Freeman/CSM.
From left, Lynn Rosenbaum, Sam Whyte, and Patti Gurekian introduce themselves through song at a CircleSinging session at St. Mary Orthodox Church, Aug. 18, 2024, in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Those of us worry a lot need to make a point of searching out joyful moments. Here’s one way that folks in Massachusetts fill their joy quotient: circle singing.

Oli Turner reports at the Christian Science Monitor, “The song coming from the St. Mary Orthodox Church meeting room in Cambridge, Massachusetts, has never been heard before. And it will never be heard again. 

“Fourteen singers stand in a circle of metal folding chairs, improvising an organic cacophony of harmonious and discordant sounds. Some tap their feet, sway, or bob their heads to the rhythm – but no two people engage with the music in quite the same way. 

“In CircleSinging, there’s no sheet music, no director, no pitch pipe. There’s an art to it, but not a pretentious one.

The singers have coalesced into an intergenerational network of friendship.

” ‘It’s really all about following. Following well,’ organizer Peter McLoughlin explains to the group between exercises. Mr. McLoughlin is not a teacher or a director. He gently sets the group in motion, and then blends into the circle as a participant. 

“ ‘Everybody’s welcome, and we’re not as concerned with whether you’re an excellent singer or you are an excellent harmonizer,’ he says before the rest of the singers arrive. 

“The Boston area’s CircleSinging community – tucked away in church meeting rooms in Cambridge, Arlington, Somerville, and the Jamaica Plain neighborhood – is part of an international network of CircleSingers who delight in the spontaneous art form. 

“The improvisational singing technique was developed by jazz musician Bobby McFerrin, best known for his 1988 hit song ‘Don’t Worry, Be Happy,’ the first a cappella song to go No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Mr. McFerrin’s vocal jam sessions relied on a call-and-response model, in which a leader improvises one vocal part at a time and other singers repeat those ‘loops.’ Any singer can volunteer to lead a composition.

“Cambridge organizer Mr. McLoughlin started the first of the four Boston-area circles in 2015 on Meetup.com, inspired by Mr. McFerrin’s ‘magnificent’ rendition of Psalm 23. The looping choruses and complex harmonies reminded him of the music surrounding his own Catholic upbringing. He was hooked.

“Mr. McLoughlin learned the technique from Mr. McFerrin himself, attending his weeklong workshops once a year for seven years. Then CircleSinging Boston was born in Mr. McLoughlin’s living room.

“Each of the four Boston groups, run by different organizers, holds two-hour meetings that prioritize openness. One Boston CircleSinger, Maureen Root, says her favorite exercise starts by singing a random word – not for its meaning, but for its sounds.

“ ‘So it’s like these different vibrations and things come out,’ Ms. Root says. ‘It’s almost like you’re bypassing the mental circuitry. … It gets me out of my self-conscious mind.’

“Some CircleSingers have no prior musical or singing experience, like Ms. Root, a retired medical technologist and yoga and meditation instructor of more than 30 years. …

“Less-experienced singers like Ms. Root share a circle with vocal professionals like Boston Children’s Chorus conductor Destiny Cooper, who moved to Boston after college, ‘knowing not a soul.’ In experimental CircleSinging, a far cry from her familiar structured choirs, she found belonging.

“ ‘Most of the members are significantly older than me, but nonetheless, I think that community was really important to give me a sense of home,’ Ms. Cooper says. Since joining the group about five years ago, she never missed a circle until the pandemic. …

“Arlington CircleSinging organizer Lynn Rosenbaum leads her meetups with all singers in mind.

“ ‘I tend to think of the arc of where we start and where we end, and bringing people along, building their confidence and their skills,’ says Ms. Rosenbaum, a seasoned improv singer herself. ‘There’s usually a big difference between the beginning and the end, especially for new people – in their level of comfort and how much they’re willing to take risks.’ …

“ ‘Singing together and playing together – I say “playing” as in “playfulness” – it just creates a connection among people,’ Ms. Rosenbaum says. ‘It’s a common denominator that we can all connect to.’ …

“ ‘[CircleSinging is] just this opportunity to express our full range of emotions and letting it out through our voices and our bodies,’ Ms. Rosenbaum explains. ‘There’s not always a lot of opportunities in everyday life to do that, so this creates a safe space for people to be silly and explore and take risks and express joy.’ ”

More at the Monitor, here.

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End-of-Summer Photos

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , on September 4, 2024| 18 Comments »

Photos: Suzanne and John’s Mom.

I went out to the deck early one morning and caught my breath. I knew I had to take a photo of the scene above even though all I use is a cellphone. The aperature was open a long time and my unsteady hand distorted the image a bit. My husband noticed that it created extra levels to the deck.

The next photo shows how much I admire Nature creating her own kind of art, often using shadows. Then for manmade art, I love visiting the late Ben Wohlberg‘s open houses. Part of the delight is to see his gardens and creatively decorated home.

As Catherine Wohlberg told me, her husband was able to support himself with art his whole life, from magazine illustration to portraiture to abstract. He focused on abstract work in his last years, and I include one of the quotes she posted for the 2024 show. Ben’s obituary is here.

Sandra M Kelly took the next photo, the best we got from the lotus pond this year. Such an amazing flower, but one that can take over if not confined in a small space.

The next few photos are also from New Shoreham, including the one of my granddaughter helping her mom make fresh spaghetti. (It tasted wonderful!)

The final two pictures were taken back in Massachusetts, where we’re heading into September and harvest season.

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About Waffles

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , on May 15, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Photos: Suzanne and John’s Mom.
Fancy Liège waffle at the Burgundian in Attleboro, Massachusetts, the center of an Oprah-related controversy.

Probably bloggers Cook and Drink, among other readers who cook, will be too polite to scoff at my culinary ignorance, but I have always conflated Dutch pancakes with Belgian waffles.

I love Dutch pancakes — their egginess, the way they swim in butter and puff up like popovers in the required hot, hot oven. My latest mistake arose when I started reading about the Waffle Wars in Massachusetts and the Liège waffle (named for a city in Belgium) at the center of the controversy.

On Mother’s Day, my husband and I went with Suzanne’s family to check out one party to the controversy, the Burgundian in Attleboro, and I for one was expecting to taste something with a popover texture. Turns out Liège waffles have a more doughy, almost chewy, texture and are much sweeter. The web says they are made with a brioche-type batter, using yeast! (I found a recipe online at Karen’s Kitchen, here.) In any case, they were a hit with my family, if not what I expected.

Now you want to hear about the Waffle Wars and what it has to do with Oprah. Let’s turn to the website JD Supra.

“A Massachusetts waffle manufacturer, The Burgundian, recently filed a lawsuit alleging that a potential co-venturer, Eastern Standard Provisions, submitted its Liege waffles for inclusion on Oprah Winfrey’s annual ‘Favorite Things’ list without giving credit to Burgundian. Then, after Burgundian refused to sell its secret waffle recipe, Eastern Standard employed a ‘bait and switch’ by selling Liege waffles from a different company while touting Oprah’s endorsement of the Liege waffles made by Burgundian and enjoying the spoils of landing a spot on the coveted list.

“Burgundian’s owner, Shane Matlock, lacked any formal baking training and therefore developed his secret Liege waffle recipe through years of trial and error. Sensing the limits of ‘self-teaching,’ Mr. Matlock arranged to train with a master Liege waffle maker in Belgium. Mr. Matlock alleges that he was approached by Eastern Standard in 2021 to explore expanding its existing pretzel line with Liege waffles, and the two companies began exploring co-branding opportunities.

“Burgundian shared its secret waffle recipe after Eastern Standard signed a nondisclosure agreement. Eastern Standard’s pretzels had previously been selected as one of Oprah’s ‘Favorite Things’ and the two companies decided to pitch the waffles for Oprah’s 2021 list. Mr. Matlock personally prepared the waffles using his confidential recipe, which were later delivered to Oprah by Eastern Standard.

“Sensing that the waffles would be selected by Oprah for her 2021 list, Eastern Standard allegedly set out in bad faith to secure the rights to Burgundian’s waffle recipe by presenting a term sheet which, rather than proposing a co-branding relationship, contemplated a ‘recipe buy’ whereby Burgundian would sell its recipe to Eastern Standard and receive a royalty for each waffle sold.

“After Oprah selected Burgundian’s waffles to be included in her 2021 list, Burgundian and Eastern Standard’s negotiations broke down. Burgundian alleges that Eastern Standard abruptly terminated the parties’ relationship and threatened litigation against Burgundian. Eastern Standard claimed that it had decided to move forward using a waffle recipe developed by its ‘co-packer,’ which was different than Burgundian’s recipe. Burgundian alleges that the Liege waffles Eastern Standard is currently selling are not the same waffles that Mr. Matlock made and submitted to Oprah, although Eastern Standard continues to advertise its selection on the ‘Favorite Things’ list.

“After Burgundian brought suit in Massachusetts state court, Eastern Standard hit back with counterclaims against Burgundian and Mr. Matlock, alleging that they breached the parties’ NDA by publicly disclosing confidential information in the complaint. Eastern Standard also told a very different story about the parties’ relationship: it alleged that Eastern Standard negotiated in good faith to pursue a co-branding deal with Burgundian, but when Burgundian could not secure the necessary capital to secure such a deal, Eastern Standard was forced to move forward with a different manufacturer, using a different waffle recipe.” Oy, oy, oy. Punished for not raising capital.

Read more at JD Supra, here. And let me hear about your own waffle experiences.

Dutch pancake in cast iron pan I wish I still had after my move.

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Moving Into Spring

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , on April 30, 2024| 5 Comments »

Partly, of course, spring is about the angle of sunlight, how early the sun comes up, how late it stays. I never thought I had seasonal affective disorder, wasn’t sure I believed there was such a thing. But I do find I’m cheered up by sunlight, discouraged by gray skies.

The photos today are mostly self-explanatory, but I want to point out how vibrant the moss looks in early spring. Also, the last photo is of a New England wildflower called Mayapple.

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