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Cambridge, MA, 9/14: “Yes, in My Backyard”

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged A Better Cambridge, cambridge, Cambridge Historical Society, density, evicted, harvard square, hong kong restaurant, housing, Jesse Kanson-Benanav, macarthur, massachusetts, matthew desmond, Millennial, postaday, yes in my backyard, yimby on September 1, 2016| 2 Comments »

My childhood friend Caroline, now living in Colorado, writes, “As a person who has spent her life designing and building housing, I am pretty convinced that we need to figure out how to house more people closer to downtown areas rather than contributing to endless low density sprawl and destruction of open spaces.

“To this end Tom and I attended the first ever YIMBY (yes in my backyard) conference that was held here in Boulder in June. It is a movement driven primarily by millennials and I am forwarding this invitation to a lecture in Cambridge in case it piques your interest.”

It does pique my interest.

As anyone who has read the incredibly moving Evicted (by MacArthur award winner Matthew Desmond) knows, housing is one of the most critical issues, if not the most critical, for domestic policy today. Housing ties to everything else.

So here’s the opportunity for people in the Greater Boston area: Jesse Kanson-Benanav (chairman of A Better Cambridge) is giving a talk September 14 at 6:30 p.m. for the Cambridge Historical Society on the Yimby movement.

Click this EventBrite link to sign up.

This month we’re asking ‘What is a YIMBY?,’ with the help of Jesse Kanson-Benanav, Chair of A Better Cambridge.

What’s our goal?

The Cambridge Historical Society wants to facilitate dynamic conversations about the housing issues facing Cambridge residents today with a historical perspective.

Where and why?

We are heading out to meet you in the city. The historic Hong Kong in Harvard Square is the perfect setting to bring your friends (or make new ones), grab a drink, and settle in for some engaging conversation about our 2016 theme, “Are We Home?”

Tickets:

$5 members/ $10 non-members

Questions?

Email us at rprevite@cambridgehistory.org

or call 617-547-4252

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Haley House Meets Trustees of Reservations

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged african american, art, art installation, black, breaking bread, caucasian, children, concord, food, food desert, fulani haynes, garden, grow your own, haley house, healthy eating, history, landscape, massachusetts, nutrition, old manse, performance art, postaday, race, race relations, roxbury, sam durant, slaves, the meeting house, white, william emerson on August 14, 2016| 2 Comments »

I had an awfully nice lunch yesterday, and I’d like to tell you about it. It involved two nonprofits — the mostly Caucasian conservation group Trustees of Reservations and the mostly African American community-outreach enterprise called Haley House.

The trustees had a really great idea recently to do meaningful art installations on a couple of their properties and chose one next to the Old Manse in Concord. The Old Manse is most often associated with 19th Century novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne, but the grandfather of Ralph Waldo Emerson was also a resident and saw the historic events unfold at the North Bridge on April 19, 1775.

Artist Sam Durant wanted to draw attention to the presence of slaves in the early days of Concord and launch a discussion, so he constructed a kind of big-tent meeting house, with a floor made of the kinds of materials that might have been in slave buildings.

The Trustees conferred with him on a series of “lyceums” that might bring races together at the site. They decided that at the first one, they would encourage races to break bread together and talk about food traditions.

From Haley House in Roxbury, they brought in a chef, a beautiful meal, and singer/educator/retired-nurse Fulani Haynes.

I ate a vegan burger, sweet-potato mash, very spicey collard greens and wonderful corn muffins. Also available were salad and chicken.

Haynes sang a bit and talked about the origins of Haley House, how it helps low-income people and ex-offenders and local children, teaching cooking and nutrition and gardening, among other things. She invited attendees to tell food stories from their early years, and several brave spirits stood up.

That participatory aspect of the activities helped to reduce the impression that African Americans were making entertainments for a mostly white audience (art, food, music entertainments).

I loved the whole thing and learned a lot. (For example, Grandpa Emerson had slaves living upstairs, and “the embattled farmers” who “fired the shot heard ’round the world” were able to go marching off because slaves were working the farms. I really didn’t know.)

African American artifacts are on display next door at the Old Manse. The art installation will be up until the end of October 2016.

More here.

Photos: Artist Sam Durant offers the crowd a new lens on history. The chef from Haley House keeps an eye on the African American cuisine. Fulani Haynes demonstrates how a food can become an instrument.

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Southern New England Photo Update

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged ello, hp lovecraft, massachusetts, new shoreham, painted rock, photo, photography, picture, postaday, providence, rhode island, rhode island school of design on June 5, 2016| 2 Comments »

Here are some recent Rhode Island and Massachusetts photos. (Connecticut is also considered Southern New England, but I haven’t been there in ages.)

I wonder if other people have preferences for seeing certain kinds of photos on certain kinds of social media. For example, unless it’s a picture of one of my grandchildren, I really don’t like seeing people pictures on Instagram, but on Facebook, people pictures are the only kinds of photos I want to see. I’m still figuring out Ello, which is more likely to have art or gifs. I like almost any kind of photo on twitter or on blogs.

My own pictures are mostly from my walks. I’m starting off here with the plant sale at the New Shoreham library fundraiser and a typically short-lived scene on the island’s famed painted rock. Also in Rhode Island, an intensely serious heavy-equipment operator in a sandbox, the alley beside the Rhode Island School of Design Museum, fancy church architecture, and a plaque commemorating H.P. Lovecraft, a popular Providence-based horror writer with some regrettable character flaws.

From Massachusetts, yellow iris in a meadow that is more often than not under water — or ice. Also a clematis, a remnant of a once-spectacular garden at a house that got sold. (Too spectacular for the new owners to live up to. Kind of like the garden in Woolf’s To the Lighthouse.)

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Photos Requiring Some Explanation

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged benefit street, children's museum, dogwood, flowering trees, lilacs, massachusetts, photo, photograph, picture, postaday, providence, utility box on May 31, 2016| 2 Comments »

I call this one Downward Facing Dogwood. Taken from above, it shows our dogwood’s drooping magnificence. Next is a view from almost the same angle but including the neighbors’ flowering trees, too. On the back steps is an arrangement of lilacs, dogwood and a ubiquitous yellow flower whose name I don’t know.

Three pictures taken in Providence feature a decorated utility box near the Rhode Island School of Design, the dragon that hovers over the Children’s Museum, and a cryptic statement in small print on the side of a Benefit Street house. My question: Is this the homeowner’s voice or vandalism?

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Looking for the Rural in Providence

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged fungus, massachusetts, photo, photograph, postaday, providence, rainbow, treehugger, treehugger tree on March 21, 2016| 4 Comments »

Something reader KerryCan said in a comment one day got me thinking that I’d like to see if I could get a photo of Providence that could make a part of the city pass for rural. At first, I found only bland vacant lots left over from the rerouting of route 195. Then I went to Blackstone Park, where a treehugger tree and an ersatz teepee caught my eye.

The soccer-playing kid is in a suburban-looking area on the East Side, and the glowing tunnel is right downtown.

I thought the sandbox looked lonely.

In Massachusetts, I went looking for skunk cabbage and jack-in-the-pulpit plants, but it was too early. Not spring yet. I did hear peepers. And I saw gracefully rotting tree stumps, a bird on a mailbox, and a wonderful rainbow.

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Teens Leading the Way

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged expungement, lowell, massachusetts, postaday, unted teen equality center, utec on December 29, 2015| Leave a Comment »

I am a fan of UTEC, the United Teen Equality Center, in Lowell, Mass., which has many programs for helping acting-out youth choose a better path. A couple aspects of UTEC’s approach strike me as fundamental to its success, which was recognized by the governor in his inaugural address.

For one thing, UTEC gives people a second, third, fourth, fifth … chance. (ROCA in Chelsea is like that, too.) It tries to remove barriers to success but holds that it’s up to the individual to take up opportunities. For another thing, teen decisions are key to the organization’s direction. After all, young people concerned about gang violence were the founders in 1999.

An impressive staff, led by Gregg Croteau, is also dedicated to making change.

One of UTEC’s initiatives, as I learned from a recent presentation at church, is called Teens Leading the Way. The members are actually working to change government policy. Right now they are focused on expungement of early criminal behavior after teens have served their time. They believe underage offenders must deal with the consequences of their actions but be able to start over and not be blocked from education and jobs.

Here’s what the website says, “Expungement essentially erases a criminal record, including police reports and arrest records, as if it never existed. This would be a unique opportunity for young people with criminal records to obtain a clean slate after completion of their sentences. In 2012 a report titled ‘An Exploration of Juvenile Records Maintenance Across America: A Way Forward for the Commonwealth’ looked into the status of juvenile records in Massachusetts and recommended policy changes to offer expungement to juveniles. …

“Teens Leading The Way youth … have coined the motto: “Erase our sentence so we may write a novel,” which highlights their belief that young people should be held accountable for their actions, but additional rehabilitative actions should be taken to remove barriers upon re-entry and to prevent recidivism.”

More here.

Photo: UTEC

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Professor’s Favorite Number Gets Road Sign

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged amherst, carolyn robbins, david kelly, Elizabeth Conlisk, favorite number, hampshire college, Jonathan Lash, mass live, massachusetts, mathematics, postaday, road sign on November 20, 2015| 2 Comments »

At Mass Live, Carolyn Robbins writes that a retired math professor known for having a favorite number is being honored with his own road sign. This could only happen at Hampshire College.

“There are probably an infinite number of ways to say goodbye to a beloved math professor, but Hampshire College’s David Kelly would prefer his students and colleagues keep it to just 17.

“Kelly, who has taught the mathematical and social history of the number 17 during his four and a half decades of teaching, didn’t want a party. So, instead of a dinner reception, Hampshire College decided to give Kelly the lasting tribute he preferred. …

“Elizabeth Conlisk, a professor of public health, together with Hampshire College President Jonathan Lash, worked to make it happen. All of the 15 mph speed limit signs on campus have come down and been replaced with ones that read 17 mph.

“Kelly’s reaction of seeing the new 17 mph speed limit signs for the first time: ” ‘It felt very good,’ he said. ‘And soon after, someone from admissions told me a prospective student was visiting campus, and when he drove up and saw the 17 mph sign he said, “I’m going here.” ‘ ” More here.

Photo: Hampshire College, Amherst, Massachusetts
Professor David Kelly taught the mathematical and social history of the number 17. In his honor, all the 15 mph speed limit signs on campus came down, replaced by 17 mph speed limit signs.

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New England Factory Tours

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged 3Doodler, Altaeros Energies, Artisan’s Asylum, Built-Rite Tool & Die, Chris Denney, Craig A. Bovaird, Erik Sobel, factory tour, greentown labs, Jon Christian, Kieran Kesner, kodak, lima bean, massachusetts, meetup, postaday, shelter island, Technology Research Laboratories, Understory on October 22, 2015| 2 Comments »

I was hoping to have a factory tour to write about this fall, but when I went to the MeetUp page to register, it turned out New England Factory Tours was taking a break.

I like factory tours. I remember a tour of a lima bean packaging factory on Shelter Island, NY, when I was a kid, and a Kodak tour when Suzanne and John were little.

I have often referred to the lima bean factory when trying to explain to colleagues why a good publishing process involves doing things at the right time. You wouldn’t try to put the lima beans in the package after you had pasted the wrapper around it, and you shouldn’t make lots of changes to your original paper after it has been copyedited, laid out, and readied for press.

What I gleaned from Kodak was mainly how much got thrown away. It seemed wasteful, but the guide said it was cheaper to toss things. I’d like to see the lean manufacturing that’s more common today.

The Boston Globe‘s Jon Christian wrote about a trip to manufacturer Built-Rite, which makes automation systems for industrial tasks.It’s in Lancaster, Mass.

“Built-Rite is the fourth plant visited by the group of manufacturing enthusiasts known as New England Factory Tours. Inspired by a similar group in San Francisco, it is indicative of the cachet manufacturing has gained in recent years as a new generation of entrepreneurs known as makers turn their attention from software and services toward tangible products — from hardware to drones to smartwatches.

“The growth of this movement is underscored by the emergence of shared workspaces such as Artisan’s Asylum in Somerville, the home of startups such as 3Doodler, the maker of a 3-D printing pen, and Greentown Labs, also in Somerville, a hardware incubator that houses wind turbine developer Altaeros Energies, weather sensor maker Understory, and other firms. …

“In Massachusetts, manufacturing still employs about 250,000 people, paying average wages of about $80,000 a year compared with about $60,000 for all industries, according to state labor statistics. Most manufacturing in the state is so-called advanced manufacturing that uses sophisticated processes, makes sophisticated products, and requires highly skilled workers.” More.

I’m hoping the MeetUp organizer gets going again. A factory tour is something fun to do with kids and can make a lasting impression.

Photo: Kieran Kesner for The Boston Globe
During a tour of Built-Rite Tool & Die, president Craig A. Bovaird (center) spoke with tour organizer Chris Denney and visitor Erik Sobel, a principal at Technology Research Laboratories.

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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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August in New England

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged blue daisy, blue dandelion, blue sailor, blue weed, bunk, chicory, coffeeweed, cornflower, hendibeh, horseweed, massachusetts, mistersmartyplants, ragged sailor, rhode island, succory, wild bachelor's buttons, wild endive on August 2, 2015| 4 Comments »

Here are new photos from Massachusetts and Rhode Island. The weather has been hot but beautiful, especially by the sea.

On the island, the blue flowers you see below are called Ragged Sailors, but elsewhere, the weed is called chicory.

The variation in plants’ common names is the reason a landscaper I know uses only Latin names (one name per plant). When we identify plants at John’s website MisterSmartyPlants, we use common names. That can get confusing, but it’s nice how common names tell something about the people that use local names.

Wikipedia says chicory is called by all these names: blue daisy, blue dandelion, blue sailor, blue weed, bunk (bunk?), coffeeweed, cornflower, hendibeh, horseweed, ragged sailor, succory, wild bachelor’s buttons, and wild endive. And those are only the English names.

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Sandcastles in the Air

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged craig f walker, Deborah Barrett-Cutulle, dog track, horse racing, massachusetts, monica disare, revere, Revere Beach International Sand Sculpting Festival, sandcastle, sculpting, suffolk downs, travel channel, wonderland on July 26, 2015| Leave a Comment »

If I had known how to get to the shuttle at the Wonderland dog track or if the other shuttle had been at Suffolk Downs when I arrived too early, I might have made it all the way to Revere and taken my own photos of the Revere Beach International Sand Sculpting Festival.

I probably should have waited, but oh, my! How sad Suffolk Downs has become since the horse racing ended! Acres of haunted parking lots. No sign of human life. No one to ask about the shuttle.

John and Suzanne and I went to the racetrack on its 40th birthday (1984). I got a visor that said “40 Years on the Right Track.” John tells me he won a few dollars, but I’ve forgotten. Quoth the Raven, Nevermore.

Fortunately, the Boston Globe took pictures on Friday as the competitors got to work at Revere Beach. Monica Disare interviewed contestants from has far away as Russia.

The Globe also offered the following tips from the Travel Channel on making a good sandcastle, here.

* Find good sand
Look for sand that sticks together. This makes it fit for building and carving.
* Form a castle foundation
With a shovel, create a sand pile to serve a base. Pat it down and soak with plenty of water.
* Create towers
Use a plastic bottomless, 5-gallon bucket and place it atop base. Fill it halfway with sand and the other half with water. Slowly lift the bucket letting the water drain out.
* Pack and shape rough forms
Fill another 5-gallon bucket (with a bottom) with sand and water. Scoop the sloppy, wet mixture out and pat it down on your tower bases to form steeper towers. Rough form walls or other features around castle.
* Carve and smooth
With plastic shovel or mortar trowel, slice sand away from your rough forms, adding shape details like stairs, windows, doorways, and parapets. Add more detail to castle, working from top down. Smooth out details and moisten your castle with water if it begins to dry out.

Photo: Craig F. Walker/Globe Staff
Deborah Barrett-Cutulle, of Saugus, worked on her sculpture on Friday.

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Bubble Soccer

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged bubble soccer, bump factor, chicago bubble soccer league, Denise Taylor, innovative, Joe Curtatone, massachusetts, Matthew Aronian, postaday, somerville, stan grossfeld, steve annear on May 23, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Somerville, Massachusetts, is adding another innovation to its roster: bubble soccer. Sports don’t get much wackier than this.

Steve Annear writes at the Boston Globe, “A new form of entertainment is set to bounce into Somerville this fall, bringing a unique twist on conventional team sporting events.

“Beginning in September, the city will host a ‘bubble soccer’ league, a sport in which participants cram themselves into massive, inflatable balls and then use the air-filled bubbles to knock their opponents off their feet.

“Participants can’t move their arms while inside of the see-through plastic bubbles, and rely solely on their lower bodies to move a soccer ball into a goal.

“ ‘It’s a silly sport,’ said Matthew Aronian, co-director of MA Sports Leagues, the company bringing the team sport to Somerville. ‘But it’s getting bigger and bigger and more popular.’

“Bubble soccer is already being played in Norway, Italy, Austria, and other countries. There’s also a league in Chicago, which is believed to be the first of its kind in the United States.

“Aronian said the game is fun to watch and play, as opponents send each other flying through the air. The bubble-wrap encasings are intended to prevent serious injuries during contact. …

“The game aligns with Mayor Joe Curtatone’s ‘bump factor’ theory that the community thrives when innovative people, ideas, and activities collide.

“ ‘While bubble soccer isn’t exactly the type of bump factor he means, folks bouncing off one another in giant, inflatable orbs fits right into Somerville,’ said Somerville spokeswoman Denise Taylor in an e-mail.” More here.

Photo: Stan Grossfeld/Globe Staff
What does it look like? Here, players compete in the Chicago Bubble Soccer league.

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Outdoors in Spring

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged massachusetts, new england, outdoors, photo, photograph, pictures, postaday, rhode island, spring on May 19, 2015| 2 Comments »

It rained hard at noon, but the stalwarts opening booths for the first farmers market of the season hung on and before long the weather cleared, and it was sunny and warm.

Today I’m posting some recent outdoor photos from Massachusetts and Rhode Island and thinking particularly how seed pods, the smell of lilacs, and small landscapers make me happy.

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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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Leveling the Playing Field

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged circles, dominican, education, empowerment, equalizing, gateway, immigrant, jobs, lawrence, lawrence community works, lcw, leveling, massachusetts, oliver partnership school, parent engagement, spanish on April 15, 2015| 4 Comments »

After work yesterday, I went with a colleague to observe a parent-engagement program organized by Lawrence Community Works (LCW) at the Oliver Partnership School, in Lawrence, Mass. I had long been interested in LCW’s use of circles to build a sense of community among strangers of very different backgrounds.

Lawrence is what is sometimes called a Gateway City, meaning it’s always been a gateway to the U.S. culture and experience for new waves of immigrants. It currently has a large Spanish-speaking Dominican population and foreign-born and native-born residents from all over.

The parent night was the third in a series. In the first two, facilitators had helped the participants to come up with agreed-upon ground rules (come on time, no cellphones, respectful attention to one another) and to choose an “obstacle” that they would like to address related to their children’s life at the school. They had selected recess, which is only 10 minutes. (Lunch is 15 minutes.)

Everything was conducted in both Spanish and English.

As the evening was getting going, Tony told me his children love school. He believes a good education is vital. He wishes he had more. He did learn Spanish and English in addition to his native Portuguese. The languages help him in his job working with troubled youth, a job he loves to go to every day.

In a warm-up exercise, we stood in a circle and stated our name, followed by our favorite fruit and the name and favorite fruit of everyone who spoke previously. It was fun and a great equalizing experience as anyone can be good at that and anyone can struggle with it. The people who went last had about 20 names and fruits to report and did really well despite language differences.

To discuss the recess issue, we separated into two groups — those who felt comfortable speaking English (which included the two teachers in attendance) and those who felt comfortable speaking Spanish. At the end we came together with the results of our investigation of three questions: why having a longer recess is important, why it might have been set up that way, and what parents themselves could do about it. (Asking the administration’s help was to wait for a joint meeting in June.)

I won’t make this post much longer, but I do want to say that I thought the way this was handled was very good. Parents appeared to feel that their opinions were welcome and that they could accomplish something. Continued engagement with them will be important as the work is a piece of a much bigger project by LCW that aims to help parents get skills for jobs. Unemployment is a serious issue in a city where many of the people are poor, have not had good educational opportunities, and are still learning English.

Photo: Family literacy night at the Oliver Partnership School in Lawrence, Mass.

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