Category Archives: Boston Moments

Phoebe’s best of Boston

Whole Heart . . . Blizzard?

11 Monday Feb 2013

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A blizzard will most certainly reset a person’s weekend plans.

Instead of crawfish at a friend’s Mardi Gras party and a charity dinner hosted by Haley House called the Souper Bowl (yes, pun intended), we enjoyed sleeping in, snowshoeing at Arnold Arboretum, reading, shoveling with neighbors, and -because we were lucky enough to have power throughout- cooking/baking. Lots and lots of cooking/baking.

Outside-blizzard-2013

Jade vs snow

Gluten-free cranberry muffins

Poached egg breakfast

Cat chills

Snowshoeing - taking a rest

The hard part was standing up again!

Arbs sledders

Holding out under the snow

How did you take advantage of the opportunity to do a little less?

Celebrating a Birthday at the Harvard Square Chocolate Festival

28 Monday Jan 2013

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For years I’ve been telling my mother, “It doesn’t matter when you come to visit, there’s always something going on in Boston. There’s always something to see or do* and, in the summer, a festival every weekend.”

Dancing stars in H Square

Still, it was mighty convenient that the 2013 Harvard Square Chocolate Festival coincided with my mother’s birthday visit. We arrived late on the plaza in front of Crema Café and neighboring shops, so we scored only tiny slices of chocolate cake baked by Legal Seafoods from the actual festival part of the event.

Not too cold for free samples

Naturally, Bertucci's gives out rolls

A rare WHL blog Phoebe-sighting . . .

From there we explored a hat shop and headphone shop, paid an adoring visit to Bob Slate Stationer, where my partner, mother and I had to battle strong urges to over-purchase. (Pens + notebooks + office goods = squee!!) Finally, we joined up with good friends for a chocolate lover’s afternoon tea at Upstairs on the Square. Although we didn’t eat as much as we could have, we did end the day with so. much. chocolate.

You shouldn't have

Too much chocolate

(*Boston’s enormous collection of summer and winter markets explode the possibilities of what a person could get up to any day of the week, all year long.)

Warm Moments In Winter

21 Monday Jan 2013

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I’ll admit it: warm winter days make me nervous.

Like so many people, I fret about the Earth and our human impact, but I try not to be that person who grumbles global warming when other folk sigh what a beautiful day this is! Because it was a beautiful day when my partner and I joined friends and their young’ins up at Ponkapoag Pond in the Blue Hills for hiking, exploring, and cheese-eating.

Girls watch the water

Ice shard

Tree spirits

The group hikes

Following the board walk

Librarytour: Free Tiny Library Spotted in JP

17 Monday Dec 2012

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A friend, knowing me to be of the library-lovin’ sort, introduced me to the concept of a Little Free Library. Naturally, I was smitten. Library, little, and free being three words that move me with some speed to cheers, coos, or great gasps of celebratory excitement.

And then one turned up in my neighborhood.

Little Free Library on South Street v1

Little Free Library on South Street v2

I was a little concerned at first, because the library sits perched on a city-owned structure. However it’s stayed, and even grown a solution to keeping out the rain. I look forward to noticing the ebb and flow of it’s collection, as well as adding a few contributions of my own.

Little Free Library on South Street v3

A Tale of Two Pedestrian Crossings

04 Tuesday Dec 2012

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I have a funny relationship with pedestrian crossing signals: sometimes I don’t want to push the button. Yes, I want to cross the street. No, I don’t want to be struck by a vehicle.

For much of my life, crossing safely with the light hasn’t been an option. See a busy street, dart across. Or: see an empty street, meander while the traffic is far, far away. Steady red hand for both. The flashing walk or “white man” (as my cousin calls it), nary to be found. Boston in particular boasts many twenty-second count-downs at four/five-lane, highway-speed boulevards. (Thanks, Boston.)

Then I moved to JP and met, exhibit A: my favorite walk signal.

IMG_2686

It may not look like much, but this crossing sign at the Arborway not only responds with the most satisfying speed, it also has a comfortable space in the middle to wait if need be.

<tangent>I once heard a father tell his two young children “well, now you’ve screwed yourselves!” when they rushed the light and got stranded. He wins the award for the most inappropriate and darkly amusing thing said to kids trapped between lanes of speeding vehicles.</end tangent>

IMG_2691

I readily admit that I’ve taken friends to visit this cross walk towards the green goodness of Arnold Arbs. It’s that great.

Exhibit B: the walk signal with which I have a more complicated relationship. Press the button and you usually have to wait. And then, embarrassingly, traffic on a very busy, very fast road is brought to a halt so that you, in all your importance, can saunter across for something like forty seconds. You could execute some fantastic cartwheels during that time.

crossing to the pond

I was very excited when the city installed this cross walk last year, because getting from one side to the other at Jamaica Pond was the pits. Now, though, when all those cars stop and wait for me, I am filled with guilt. Maybe it’s complexity of that portion of the Jamaicaway, or the fact that I’m often the only one crossing and, with my bike, this act takes probably five seconds. Not that I think the city should change it . . .

new crossing button

Two signals on the same road and a different relationship with each!

For the Pie (in the Sky)

27 Tuesday Nov 2012

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I used to do it for the pie.

Back nine or so years, as part of the annual public service efforts of my dotcom job, I started volunteering with Community Servings, an organization that prepares healthy meals for individuals and families struggling with life threatening illnesses. As a group, we first did a stint in the kitchen -to my memory washing pounds and pounds of broccoli. Then we discovered Pie in the Sky, an enormous bake sale that raises thousands of dollars each year. Some of us fell over heels for the pie hospital (can you guess where some of those “sick” pies end up?)

Pie Hospital at Pie in the Sky

Now days, I do it for the tradition. For the moment of walking into whatever enormous warehouse the pie quality-checking and packing operations are set up in. The refrigerator-chill and boxes of pies stacked higher than our heads.

Pecan pie boxes

I do it for time with friends and “ex” co-workers.

Mary and Lori

I do it for the music pumping through the speakers of that excellent lady DJ, spinning beats that keep our feet moving as we honor our imaginings of all of the people who will continue to receive much-needed meals as a direct result of just a few hours of our labor.

Yutien dances

Cambridge City Dance Party 2012

16 Monday Jul 2012

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Dear Cambridge City Dance Party,

You rock, but I couldn’t fit. It’s true: I got bumped. Maybe it was the perfect weather; maybe all the thousands in attendance were as in need of “dance therapy” as I. Whatever the reason, first I was on the edge, and then I was edged right out.

I retreated with a few friends to the grassy hill of City Hall and shook my rump between the contact improvisation dancers and the people who probably deserved a much better view than I could offer. It was beautiful though, the sky gone pink and punks everywhere, laying down their posturing to take up shaking. And rattling, and arms-swinging. Babies, mommas, poppas, grams. Every type of person, out in mass, one mass, under stars and spotlights and police patrolling the rooftops.

We were the best of Cambridge.

And while there could have been more Tina Turner, Madonna, and Stevie, I forgive those few lapses. In the end, what really matters is that we got out there, and we danced.

Your adoring,
Phoebe

P.s. Ahem!  Please next year, a little more jam?

The pose

Where's the DJ?

Three stop dance

Watching the dancers