Field Trip

Journeyman Press

Newburyport, MA

I was able to see a book being printed today, which was exciting for me because it's a book I helped edit!

If you want to read more about it, here's ANOTHER website for you.

http://carriedawaytruestories.blogspot.com

Sailing- kinda

I saw this family playing with their little remote control sailboats, so I stopped for awhile to watch. They even let me try my hand at it.



The dad told me that he and his wife and 7-year-old daughter built the boats at the Wooden Boat workshop at Eggemogin Reach- way up the Maine coast.

My Old Bicycle

This Motobecane has been my companion for 35 years. I wish I had put an odometer on it when I first got it. What wonderful places this bike has taken me! Today was another good day for cycling.....and it happened to be the first day of Spring!

Beach Day!

First nice day after about two weeks of rain and wind. The ocean is still a little restless.

Isn't this just the sweetest little lighthouse? It's been there, overlooking the mouth of the Merrimack River as it flows into the Atlantic at the northern tip of Plum Island, since 1898.

Boston Field Trip

It was about the crummiest day for a train ride into Boston, but it was well worth it because I got to enjoy many of my favorite parts the Museum of Fine Arts and the good company of Nora and Roger (who are so famous they requested no photos...)

Labyrinth

Newburyport, MA

I stumbled upon a labyrinth today- just a few blocks from my house, behind a church. I enjoyed looking at the nice shapes, and I appreciated the details in some of the stones along the paths. But, since I seem to be pretty good at walking around in circles all by myself, I don't think I'll be visiting this lovely labyrinth to walk in circles on purpose anytime soon.

Clocks

Newburyport, MA

I've had this pet peeve for a long time; it's about clocks in public places that show the wrong time. So I set out walking around my neighborhood to document all the offenders I could find. Well, after doing my very unscientific study, I am here to tell you that it's time for me to cross this pet peeve off my list. Eight out of the ten clocks I saw were showing the correct time!

(Of course, they show different times in the photos, because I was walking.)

This steeple had two clock faces- showing two different times, both wrong- but it was the only example I saw today of a clock in a public place showing the wrong time.

The rest were all correct (at the time I walked by.)

Damaged trees after the storm
Maudslay State Park
Newburyport, MA

Today I hiked around in Maudslay, the 500-acre estate along the Merrimack River I own (along with all the other taxpayers of Massachusetts) to see what last week's wind storm did to the trees there. Workers have been in there with chainsaws clearing trails, but many trees are still as they fell, and I enjoyed seeing how the wind messed with them. Have you ever wanted to pull a huge tree out of the ground to see what its roots look like? The wind can do that!

A real SAPPY photo.......

Busts

Newburyport Public Library

Archival Center

These folks keep me company when I volunteer at the library, and today I learned a little bit about their stories:

The gentleman was moved to the Archival Center, in the basement, a few years ago, after some frisky teens tossed him out of the second-floor window one spring day.

The young woman has never been upstairs because the library trustees believe her unclothed bosom would scandalize most patrons!

Just one word:

BREAD!

(Well, ten words: homemade whole wheat bread for less than $1 a loaf!)

Tree down

High Road (Route 1-A)

Newbury, MA

I saw this man chopping wood next to his house, so I stopped to ask if I could take his picture.



I assumed the wood was from a fallen tree from the recent storm, but I didn't see a tree stump nearby.

When I asked where the tree fell, he pointed across the road.


The DPW guys said he could have all the wood he could haul away. Free firewood!

Someone else who had stopped was busy counting the rings. This tree was about 120 years old!

Time travel

Archival Center

Newburyport Public Library

Here is what I did for fun today- time travel!

I got to mess around with antique maps at my volunteer job.

These maps go back to when the native people lived here! Newbury was settled in 1635, and the town of Newburyport was established in 1764. The building I work in was constructed in 1771.

I've only been here since 1974, so I am a newcomer. I have a lot to learn about this place.

Looking up

Newburyport, MA

My Aunt Rose used to describe herself as an "up-looker" because she was an optimistic person. Sometimes, I remember to look up because of her. Within a few blocks of my house, this is what I saw today when I started looking up.

The Screening Room

Newburyport, MA

This little (99-seat) independent movie theater has been a favorite of mine since it opened 27 years ago- just a few blocks from where I live.

Oak Hill Cemetery

Newburyport, MA

Now THIS is love and devotion. The person buried here has been gone five years.