Tag Archives: jamaica-plain

Hot Monday

17 Tuesday Apr 2012

Posted by in Bloggin Noggin, Boston Moments

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I’ve been remiss in posting to Whole Heart Local.  Not because I have nothing to say, but because I am doing too much, which leaves scant energy for writing or crafting.  Good thing the HEAT descended on Monday (over 80 degrees . . . in April!)  I thought I’d never have the opportunity to laze around the neighborhood, doing nothing, accomplishing even less…

Of course, it’s also true that my annual custom for Marathon Monday is to move as slowly as possible to counterbalance the twenty-thousand-odd runners thundering through the Brookline and Back Bay as part of the Boston Marathon.

So my day consisted of:

Snoozing under the Cherry Blossoms in the Arbs

Blossoms

Cherry blossoms

Brewing up some sun tea

Sun tea

Watching the laundry dry

Drying laundry

Watching the cat, hotbed of activity that he is

Jack on the porch

Jack by the records

Trying out a new two-person board game

New board game

To bed!

Sun over Jamaica St.

What did you do on Hot Monday?

Friday Favorite – Apple Tree on Olmstead

30 Friday Mar 2012

Posted by in Green Life

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Since I started taking the Olmstead Park path through Jamaica Plain into Brookline, over a year ago, I’ve passed this apple tree in its many forms. Decked out with blossoms, in mid-summer greens, full of knobby, misshapen apples that I’ve seen only Canada geese eat, and once with a raccoon perched crookedly on top like a fur hat, I enjoy the sight of the tree in each of its annual moods.  I hope to snap a few more candids as the seasons progress.

Apple tree, pre-spring

Potluck City Photo MadLib

12 Monday Mar 2012

Posted by in Green Life, With Friends

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Create my own fun, time-consuming photo madlib?  Yes, ma’am!

Back in 2011, I attended _A__ potlucks and hosted _B__.

New to hosting successful potlucks, my partner and I enjoyed fresh opportunities to _C__. Also, we learned that a host must be _D__!

Now when friends start a’calling, I whip up a batch of _E__, hop on my trusty _F__ and speed _G__.

Never before in my life have community meals been so _H__. I feel very _I__!

A

Picnic in (fake) b&w

Bitson Jean draws a portrait

Gift circle feet

B

Dishes

Sun commands the room

C

Zuc bread

D

Dave waits for the crowd

E

Orange muffins

F

Bike valet

G

Mass. Ave. Bridge

H

dinner is over

I

Seed Catalog Potluck Brunch

Shrinking the Big City

03 Friday Feb 2012

Posted by in Boston Moments, With Friends

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A study in making the big city small, as illustrated by my experience in three neighborhoods:

Pretty Big

When I lived in Boston’s worst neighborhood (disclaimer: fact might be unproven), I used to see a few people a few times over.  There was that guy who sat on his cement porch playing guitar while his leashed-cat prowled.  Also, a woman with long, red ringlets -the most amazing hair!  Sometimes, as I keyed into my apartment building, I’d spot her walking down the hill towards Brighton Ave., locks carefully held in place by a headband/earmuffs. Once in a while, I’d see her on the B Line.  I wondered where she lived.

twin donuts by David Salafia, Flickr

Twin donuts, Allston, by David Salafia, Flickr

Not So Big

In the Savin Hill neighborhood of Dorchester, neighbors say hello.  It took me some time to get used to this, as it NEVER happened in Allston. One night, I saw a young man steal a Pride flag from the porch of one of my neighbors.  I stared, not exactly sure what I was seeing as he leaped past me, holding the flag high, streaming, as he raced down the street.  Additionally, at the Savin Hill T stop, I developed a family-crush on a couple and their young son, combinations of which I’d see on the Red Line in the mornings.  Sometimes we smiled at one another.

Spring Yarn

A Sagamore sight (and one of my most popular photos on Flickr)

Kind of Tiny

My friends might be tired of hearing me say it, but rarely a day goes by where, commuting from JP to Cambridge, I don’t bump into a friend, a friendly acquaintance, or my own partner walking past when I least expect him. I see community members from JP and Cambridge out of context -in Boston and Somerville- and yet I still recognize them (which is an impressive feat for me, since I tend to forget faces.)

JP winter windowbox display

Windowbox: It's always a party in JP!

Weekend Wonder

08 Thursday Dec 2011

Posted by in Bike Life, Boston Moments, Learnin', With Friends

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Some weekends are just weekends.  Others are adventures.

An adventure in poetry at the Grolier Poetry Bookshop with January Gill O’Neal and Afaa Michael Weaver. . .

January and Afaa

Notes on poems

Chill adventures in Christmas brunch hosted by my good friend, Patricia . . .
Jess Megna and Alice

Egg souffle

An adventure in meeting the important people in my friend Sidia Maricela’s life at her new co-op home (and some dancing) . . .

New friends in Somerville

Dancers

Overwhelmed adventures in shopping local and handmade Bazaar Bizarre style . . .

Bizarre bazaar

Block printing

Adventures in racing about the city on bike, trying to get to every thing on time . . .

Skate feet

Adventures and advice in proper city-cyclist etiquette at Papercut Zine Library with the ladies of Bay State Badass bike zine. . .

Bay State BadAss bike zine reception

Simulated bike and car

Adventures in connecting with old friends and new through the socially compelling and heart-warming adventure that is a gift circle . . .

Sidia Maricela is under the pigpile

Black, Brown, Green, and Cyber

28 Monday Nov 2011

Posted by in Green Life

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Leaves fly by

This year, I had the idea to convert Black Friday into a crafting/reading/writing day. Instead I took a nap.

If I hadn’t been so exhausted by the week’s earlier activities, I might have answered the call of quilt, book, holiday cards, novel-in-progress, or blog. In my younger years, I participated in cruising shopping mall parking lots for that elusive empty space, bleary-eyed scanning the piled boxes of new electronics, hunting for something good (and cheap) that may or may not exist (or actually be cheap.)

Since moving to Boston, I’ve adjusted my habits from participating in events like Black Friday (or Brown or Green Saturday) to devoting my teeny holiday gift budget to farmer’s market finds, craft fairs, and local, independent shops. Certainly, this marks a change in my values and capability (um, can’t haul a TV home in my panniers and IKEA is too far to bike) but also I’ve realized that the true appeal of shopping at 1 AM wasn’t the shopping, it was the togetherness.

The goods, the economy, that tiny surge of purchase-conquest -I’ve realized that none of these marked my true reason for braving the money-slinging hordes. It was sitting in the back seat of the car, my mother and brother up front, music on, street lights flashing by, headlights and tail lights of approaching and passing vehicles reflecting on all our faces.

This past Friday, I continued my true tradition: pulled on my shoes, hoisted my reusable shopping bag and bleary-eyed from my nap, set out on a walk down the ave with my closest available family –my partner.

How did you fare this past Friday -what color did you paint it?

Looking Forward, Looking Back (And Gratitude)

24 Thursday Nov 2011

Posted by in Boston Moments

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My life in Boston continues to amaze me.  Just in this past week I:

  • Danced until 12:30 PM at the second JP vs Somerville Dance-Off in support of Boston’s own Girl’s Rock.
  • Volunteered for my ninth consecutive year at Pie Central, sorting and quality checking pies for Community Serving’s enormous and enormously profitable pie bake sale.
  • At work, hosted the 40th Annual Thanksgiving Potluck Feast, where at least two hundred community members attended and ate turkeys (purchased by my job, roasted by volunteers) and more dessert than is probably appropriate.
  • Swung by late to my friend’s pre-holiday potluck, where I successfully bombed at a game of Cranium.

The hours I’ve kept:

  • Sunday: 1:30 AM arrive home, by bike
  • Monday: 10:30 PM arrive home, by T, lugging bike
  • Tuesday: 10:30 PM arrive home, by bike
  • Wednesday: 10:30 PM arrive home, by bike

Exhausted?  Yes!  Luckily, at all the above events, I’ve been graciously accompanied by friends, whose energy and enthusiasm inspired my own.

I often compare my experience here in Boston with my younger life in Jersey. Naturally, I’ve had a lot of good times in Jersey, but when I think back to high school, it doesn’t escape me that my scheduled looked more like this:

Weekdays: Up at 7:30 AM (groggy), 8:20 AM school, 12:30 PM bus to second school (a story for another day), 2:30 PM school end/bus back to my home town, 3:00 PM work at library, 6:00 PM picked up by mother or brother, 7:00/8:00 dinner, 9:00 PM homework, 11:00 PM bed

Weekends: Hang with mother, aunt, cousin.  Knit/crochet.  Read.

I don’t mean to imply that my life in Jersey wasn’t a perfectly good life -I was safe, loved, happy, and had all the library access my little heart desired.

Still, (here comes the gratitude), how very thankful I am for strange, funny, exhausting, and beautiful Boston moments!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Bike helmet on chair

Bike helmet in costume a la JP Halloween Bike Ride

Phoebe’s Best in Boston Favorites How-To-Say-It?

21 Monday Nov 2011

Posted by in Boston Moments

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One of the roles I’d like this blog to fill is a written celebration of my personal Boston (and Boston-area, I’m looking at you, Cambridge) favorites. From area-events to flora and fauna to singular moments in my memory. I’m not sure what to call this collection, but I’m kicking off the series with a tree I see frequently on my excursions to Arnold Arboretum, just five minutes from my apartment.

I’m open to name suggestions for my series!

Have you ever seen such a massive, gorgeous, precarious tree? I wonder often how the nearby homeowners feel spying it each day, wondering if, someday it might crush their house.

Favorite leaning tree on way to Arboretum

In Which Phoebe Learns How To Climb A Tree

15 Tuesday Nov 2011

Posted by in Learnin', With Friends

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This morning I thought, innocently, “Why am I having a hard time lifting my arms?”

A good portion of the day passed before I realized the answer: on Sunday I’d climbed a tree using ropes and various clamps and tools I can’t name. I’m not even sure how high the tree was. I hadn’t intended to be in it, but I’d tagged along with my partner and a few friends following our weekly coffee hour at City Feed and Supply. One thing led to another, and I found myself following the instructions of our friend Andrew, a self-taught naturalist and long-time recreational climber, inching my way up a stately white oak.

tree-climbers

Back during summer, I’d similarly found myself doing something curious with Andrew and friends: spying on a collection of bee hives at the Boston Nature Center in Mattapan from a safe distance –until that distance was no longer safe and we had to run away! And then we respectfully chased some wild turkeys at a nearby community garden.

Here we see Adam turkey-stalk

It does not escape my notice that I continually, accidentally enjoy the types of adventure that many people pay good money for, and I do it for free. Or, more accurately, I do it for the price of my own curiosity and willingness to give things a try, my drive towards meaningful connection, my interest in feeding care into the relationships that support my partner. For this gift, I’ll gladly bear the sore shoulder or two.

Meet My Bike

09 Wednesday Nov 2011

Posted by in Bike Life

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I thought I’d introduce you to an important member of my family. I never loved Boston more than when I started bike commuting from Jamaica Plain to Cambridge. Every weekday, I travel a little over twelve miles to and fro, more when I have evening activities (which is most evenings.)

05_19AThree years in, I’ve logged somewhere in the neighborhood of 5000 bike miles per year. Each winter, I find myself extending my season a little further because it hurts to be off the bike. Typically I’m not a jealous person but watching someone cycle past on a bright day, no matter how bitter cold or how bundled the rider, makes me yearn for my wheels.

Meet my rusty, trusty stead: a pink Raleigh mountain bike hybrid circa 1990s(?) Also known as:

  • The bike
  • My bike
  • The $60 police auction special
  • Heaviest bike on earth (not true, my Huffy was heavier)
  • The tank
  • The rickshaw

Panniers-annotatedMy “trunk” used to be a plastic milk crate, but I quickly outgrew that. Now I’ve a large set of bright yellow Ortlieb panniers. Unlike the bike, they’ve got actual names: Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. I named them in part because I have trouble with left and right. So Fred “rings and bell” and Ginger “turns on the light.”

This past fall, I got a death sentence for the bike: frame rot. Sadly, I know our days are numbered. In the meantime, I will continue to appreciate it as the best bike I’ve owned in my adult life, purchased from the first auction at which I hefted a number, hand trembling with anticipation when I won my “prize.” What a prize it has been.

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