Saturday, November 22, 2014

Catching Up To November

Apologies for the flagging number of picture posts lately. Here are a few select favorites from the past few months. For starters, there is this tree that is so reaching and strong. Trees are wonderful connectors to earth and sky. We stand beneath them and look up. They find balance and symmetry as they grow, adjusting their limbs to shifts and alterations in their environment.


September 
This was a neighbor to the tree above


A turning tree. Admiring these swirling roots at the Boston Public Garden. 



October -  was a super busy month. I moderated a panel on love and loss at the Boston Book Festival, hosting on behalf of the Women's National Book Association (WNBA). Here, I am pictured with Jaime Clark who is co-owner of Newtonville Books and author of the novel Vernon Downs. Also on the panel: wonderful novelists Celeste Ng and Leah Hager Cohen. 

 This fall also launched the Boston Literary District, a new initiative to celebrate the vibrant literary community that makes Boston and Greater Boston a unique place.

Reaching to include others as always: Eve Bridburg, founder and exec. director of Grub Street

October wraps up at Brookline Booksmith, where I moderated a panel on Writing Across Gender, also on behalf of the WNBA, featuring novelists: Hank Phillippi Ryan, Askold Melynczuk, and Julie Wu.

And then November arrived. The light changes. I am not quite ready.



And then, the beauty of fall takes over.



Finally, I am adjusting to colder weather, gloves, sweaters, hats. Here is a Chinese maple that is dancing.




Sunday, August 17, 2014

Bees in August

Yesterday, I came across a cluster of sunflowers and found that each and every flower had a bumblebee visitor. Not two or three, but one each. It was as if an agreement had been made among all parties that this was the best way to share the goods--one on one, everyone getting a seat in the theater of pollen collecting. The bumblebees were so content or full or something, they barely moved, which made for easier picture-taking. Here's a few.


Thursday, July 17, 2014

Summer in the City

This is one of my favorite times to be in the city. Boston is less crowded but there's a happy buzz.  Visitors from out of town are lining up for duck tours. Open markets in Copley Square, free musical concerts at the Boston Public Library and all kinds of surprises are happening on street corners. Along the way, there are always the flowers, a sky, a building's facade to consider and enjoy.
Considering infinity

Impossible not to wonder when looking through this leafy door.

symmetry

the John Hancock and clouds

A flower sparkler

The generous hydrangea

Sunday, June 1, 2014

May 2014 wrap up

Beauty dangling on a thread.

Photo: Beauty dangling on a thread.



What surprises are on the way to you?

Photo: What surprises are on their way to you?

Photo: Friday has a feeling of promise in it, the promise of the upcoming weekend, the promise of the end of the week.

Photo: I'm halfway through Wally Lamb's stupendous novel: She's Come Undone and am stunned by the urgency of teenager Dolores; how every sentence drives madly forward, desperate, angry, battling, shattered as she fights for her life and for love. Have you read it?

Ferns on a Saturday walk in Boston
Photo: Ferns--on a Saturday walk.

Did you know that the name for Iris comes from the Greek word for rainbow?
Photo: Did you know that this flower--called Iris--comes from the Greek word for rainbow? (I didn't.)

This fledgling robin spotted in our yard, then later seen scurrying across the road, then later still I saw Parent robin feeding him/her a meal.  Leaving the nest is an exciting and vulnerable time.

Photo: A fledgling robin! Spotted him/her in this bush in our yard, and later, scurrying across the road after making an attempt to fly, and later, getting fed by parent Robin. Leaving the nest is such an exciting and vulnerable time.

Photo: Just read the opening pages of  Gina Frangello author's new novel, A Life In Men, and can tell I am going to love it. What are you reading?

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Everything in May

This spring came so fast after a slow start, everything is blooming at once. I can't keep up with what's newly showing and I certainly don't care to. It's all a wonderful unleashing of aromas and visuals, and awakenings. Here are a few recent sightings accompanied by short musings of sorts, which I hope you enjoy.
These buds on a tree are so ready.





 A peek inside Harvard Yard, newly greening

What shade of blue or violet, she asks.

Boston Public Garden

From a tulip's point of view in Copley Square


Are Peonies from another planet? This cluster of them on a bush at the end of our street popped open in one day, the size of them otherworldly.



Ethereal? Sometimes I think the humble dandelion gets a bum rap. I read somewhere that they offer bees early spring nourishment (pollen). Dandelion leaves can be used for salads and soups, wine and tea. The flower cycles through a wonderful transformation of color and texture-from deep yellow to this.

Flowering into the sky.


Petalfall

Sunday, April 20, 2014

Boston Marathon, a year later



For the past few days leading up to Monday's big race, helicopters--security patrol--have been scrolling the Boston skies. It's a return to sounds from last year when our town went on lock down and my country watched from the internet wings. Those ch-ch-chuffing motors above my roof unsettled me a bit until I went downtown to Copley Square and saw the city sidewalks shimmering with pedestrians in an exuberant expression of happiness and hope--people walking five abreast on Newbury Street, every outdoor cafe brimming with runners about to take the stage; families with kids scattering on the asphalt byways.


The weather obeyed, too. The Boston Garden resumed its hosting activities for ducks, picnickers, swan boat drifters, and trees releasing their stunning magnolia blooms. It's that time of year. We made it. We're at it again.


Magnolia tree on Commonwealth Ave.

Later in the day, riding on a (very) crowded trolley, I met this lovely couple from Wisconsin. The husband, Randy Zemlicka, has run 32 marathons. His goal, he said, was to run a marathon in all 50 states. This was his first time in Boston. Randy was born with a congenital heart problem and has undergone multiple surgeries including a recent implant to help with pacing. And, here he is, ready to go. What a smile! I also learned that Randy is running for Dana-Farber Cancer Institute as a partner for young cancer surviver, Ames. Sitting behind Randy and his lovely wife are their daughter and son-in-law who have come along to cheer him on. It's stories like this one that are recharging our city this weekend. We are celebrating our humanity. Thank you!  Learn more about Randy's inspiring story by clicking this link. 

Here's a few more photos from Saturday's stroll around Copley Square and Newbury Street. Enjoy!



Mr. Copley wearing his Boston Marathon colors


The Finish Line