Public Art

The town where I live can be pretty big on what I call "taxpayer art," which can sometimes be nice. 

.......but when I find something outdoors that was created by someone who just wanted to share it ... that really grabs me.

No Parking

No Problem

A Few Ingredients

a map

a very nice boat

a beautiful summer day

                                             a  great friend

A Day (Looking) at the Beach

...and the marshes.  

Isn't this arctic tern beautiful?

Basil.......

....becomes pesto,

and a few ingredients from my kitchen become supper!

Going to Visit Maude

Today it was kind of hot and muggy in town, so I took a ride out to visit Maude.  She lives near the river, where I knew I would find shade and a nice breeze.


I have to admit, a big part of my friendship with Maude is about WHERE she lives.  I really appreciate her neighborhood- 500 acres of lush woodland and fields along the Merrimack River.  I wish I could live there!

Maude lives just inside the entrance of Maudslay State Park, so she's pretty popular.  She gets lots of visitors, but she always has time for me.

Memorial Day, New England style

On my way to Newburyport's Memorial Day ceremonies, I walked past the home of my neighbor, Barbara Oswald,  and was delighted to see this huge American flag flying.  She told me it once draped the coffin of her dad, a veteran, and she's been flying it every patriotic holiday since he passed away in 1979.

 A young dad and his child listen to the speeches at City Hall.

Local artist Alan Bull captures the scene.

This cannon serves better as something for kids to climb on than as a weapon, (just my opinion...)

Pet Eggs

When a garage-door opener stops working, it can be a good thing- for a mother robin looking for a place to build her nest.  My friend Trudy, the animal lover,  discovered this bird in her garage, and right away started bringing worms to her.  She even provided her with a bird bath! 

 I wonder how the robin will feel after her baby birds become appetizers for Trudy's two cats!

Bingo today?

These nice folks who live at Heritage Towers in Amesbury, MA,  listened to us reading from our book, Carried Away-True Stories From Letter Carriers Across America.  I hope we were at least as entertaining as BINGO.

Kate Drury, (right) reading a story from our book.

They're lining up to buy the book!

I think they like it!

http://carriedawaytruestories.blogspot.com

Photos courtesy of NJ Anderson.   Thanks, Nance!

Quaint New England.....

not really!

This lovely cottage is just a stone's throw from my friend Kate's house on Ring's Island (settled in 1642.)  I've always thought, "Oh, how nice- Edna St. Vincent Millay lived here.  What a perfect house for a lady poet."

Then I did a little research on Ms. Millay. She was anything but staid and sweet. She was brilliant and wild and she had a short, controversial and difficult life.  She lived in this house briefly as a child- one of the many places her mother brought her three daughters to live with relatives after she was divorced (at the turn of the century!) The one constant in Edna St. Vincent Millay's life was the love and inspiration of her mother, who encouraged her to pursue poetry when she was a teenager, which led to her literary success.

Edna St. Vincent Millay (February 22, 1892 – October 19, 1950) was an American lyrical poet and playwright and the first woman to receive the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry. She was also known for her unconventional, bohemian lifestyle and her many love affairs.

Return to the Scene

I had such fun watching the Essex River Race last weekend,  I thought it would be a good idea to go back and paddle it on a Monday, when the river was empty (except for the nesting osprey and other birds...)  Thank you, Jo-Ann, for the great trip idea and the good company!

Click to see the race course.

"I like to watch."  Chauncey Gardner in Being There by Jerzy Kosinski

Essex River Race, Essex, MA
http://www.blackburnchallenge.com/Essex.html


In 2008, I paddled in this race....and came in last!
Today, I went to watch this year's race, and stood next to the woman who came in last in 2009. What a coincidence! We both agreed it was more fun to be a spectator, especially on a  day like today, which looks beautiful, if you can ignore the wind (15-20 mph. ) I think I am an official Fair Weather Paddler.

The Essex River flows into the Atlantic Ocean, just behind Crane's Beach in Ipswich.  Gorgeous!

If they build it.....

...I will climb!

Someone went to the effort and expense to build this fake rock face right in the middle of a local park, so the least I could do was to climb up on top of it and have a look around.

I need a Star Map of Newburyport

Now, if I lived in Beverly Hills, there would be "star maps" for sale to show me where the famous people live (or used to live.)
But here in Newburyport, I stumble on places where remarkable people lived or visited even when I'm not looking for them. Frederick Douglass!

Carried Away gets real!

 The Carried Away team (Kate Drury, NJ Anderson and I ) took our little book out into the real world yesterday to read some stories at a local bookshop, and...they liked it- they really liked it!  People showed up (whew!) They laughed, they applauded, and, best of all, they bought a whole bunch of copies!

http://carriedawaytruestories.blogspot.com

Survival of the Fittest

"Lettuce up!  Please, lettuce up!"  Each little sprout is struggling so hard to survive.  One day soon I will have to pinch the life out of all but the most hearty-looking ones.  At this stage, it's almost impossible to tell which are the fittest.  Stay tuned. 

Ahhhhhhh!

It's easy to take the advice to relax and "just breathe" when you're paddling with the current down the Merrimack River on a warm spring morning.  From the time I decided to get my boat wet to the moment it was in the water- 40 minutes,  (including loading the boat onto the car myself.) Cool water, clear sky, fresh air, birds calling.... this huge enveloping peace pierced only briefly by some pervasively loud motorized leaf-blowers at a McMansion along the river's edge. Still, not bad for such a convenient put-in (Rocks Village Bridge, W. Newbury.)  

Compost

I think, if someone were to ask me, "What is #1 on your list of favorite (inanimate) things in the whole world, I would have to say: COMPOST.  (You could argue that compost is not exactly inanimate. )
The other day I harvested this lovely black gold from the bottom of the compost bin which was here at the back of a huge yard when I moved into the apartment.
I have been feeding the compost bin all winter, sometimes trudging through the snow....