My Boston expedition

Boston's North End. Many Italians= great pizza, coffee, bakeries...

I have returned from my Boston expedition. The purpose: to explore the city that has captured and resided in my imagination. Once there, I found a city of delights. It helped that our hosts (who live in Jamaica Plain) have a large and lovely home and the orange line nearby.

Boston's public library. The first U.S. library to be free to all citizens. One of my favorite spots in the city.

Everything about this trip was easy. We visited the Museum of Fine Arts, the Fogg and Sackler Museums at Harvard. We walked most of the Freedom trail. Stopped in a Paul Revere's house, the old State House, and the old South Meeting House. We walked through the Boston Commons and returned for a free evening performance of Taming of the Shrew. We walked Commonwealth, Charles and Newbury Streets. We walked from Cambridge back to Boston proper via the Longfellow bridge.



Crane Beach. The sunshine came later.

We spent a day at Crane Beach. It was overcast keeping the beach comfortable with plenty of space to spread out our picnic. Later, the sun shone through though it never warmed up quite enough for a swim.



Paul Revere at one entrance of the Boston Commons
Goodbye for now Boston. I will return.

Where are you?

Mercury is in retrograde. It went in late on the 4th of July and will depart on the 23rd. This is a good time to revisit old ideas, reconnect with friends and family and
double check details. This retrograde began in the sign of Leo and is now backtracking through Cancer. The cancer influence emphasises family and home issues. During this retrograde period you might find yourself repeating old conversations. Pay attention to what has changed and explore your role in these conversations. Recognize the beauty of life and what remains as life moves through and around you.

The countdown begins

One week until departure for a Boston vacation. This is a trip I've imagined, discussed, and after a few years, will finally realize. Why Boston? I don't know exactly why.

Do you have any trip suggestions? Unfortunately the Red Sox will not be home during my stay...Anything else?

Another reason it's hip to be a collie.

NY Times article on the Hollywood trend of sheepherding Now, imagine if Maggie could corral all of the humans with sheep-like behavior and take them to An Inconvenient Truth. Would soaring temperatures drop?

global warming 101

This movie made me miss university life. It is essentially Al Gore's slideshow on global warming interspersed with images of changed environments and personal narratives explaining why the former "next president" is compelled to share this concern. During the movie Gore observes that he has given the presentation over one thousand times all over the world. Good. I would like to encourage everyone to see this. If you need to feel entertained for your ten bucks, wait for DVD. Don't be disappointed. As I left the theater my mind was full of current concerns: access to natural foods & clean water, the threat that global warming truly poses, and an administration focused on making money on their war machine. The discomfort and self-questioning are reminiscent of fallout from educational epiphanies common in my college experience. I find myself curiously in search of discourse regarding these issues.

Having a Capital Time

big trees and single track in capital forest



Time out for a little vacation explanation. We took five days and travelled familiar paths. Up to Seattle, further north to Bellingham and then returning to the beach house for an Independence Day celebration appropriate to NW living: food, family, boating. We also managed to get a few MTB rides in along the way. Bellingham trails humbled our high desert mountain biking sensibilities. Capital Forest showed us some fantastic singletrack.


looking out from the beach house