Memories






We walked through the Salem cemetery in the midst of all the museums and historical sites to find some portraits (Abigail Very at the top and next), some nice spirit effigies and a wide range on the variation of urn and willow tree. This was a stark cemetery of stones and dry grass with erratically placed stones within a wire fence. Not associated with any church, surprisingly unless it was moved (which could have been possible). Abutting the cemetery is the memorial to the slain who were convicted of witchcraft who were, in the large part, were murdered on a day in August and one in September of 1692. It was a striking monument as it was a medium height granite wall with stones jutting out as benches, with each of the slain person's name, date of death and cause of death (hanging or pressed by stones), This wall surrounds a small rectangle of land with trees and grass--a place of contemplation and by the strength of the material and the two quotations embedded in the ground--a place of humiliation and grief that such cruelty can be visited on others. It's simplicity was perfect for the expression of place, of nature and the gravity of the culture that supported the death and tragedy visited on these people. These accused people, accused of being witches, were probably also, not buried in a churchyard, but in this memorial--live alongside those that may have had a hand in their death or quietly went about their lives while this swirl of lies surrounded others in this small community. These people with the carved gravemarkers had the means to have portraits (like Abigail) to remind people of their existence, their humanity, their contribution to their community--others with messages of the future and their link to the people they leave behind. But these accused witches were left with accusations and their cruel deaths to remind us of their tie to these people and place. It is only today that they are remembered as individuals, as people and not as the condemned--condemned by fear, greed and human stupidity memorialized by the solid, silent and cold New England granite, sparkling in the sunlight.

Salem Yesterday





We left our hosts and hostesses early on another perfect seaside day and decided to go to Salem to walk around and see what's what. It reminded me of Baltimore with the big captains houses with the widows' walks...not little salt boxes but big houses that are the oceanside town version of the posh brownstones. Henry James on the water. There was a lovely quadrangle surrounded by these glorious things that led us to the water--and the National Park presence--highlighting certain houses and the way of life in the 1700s. It was great to see the way the water interfaces with the land and the living--and how one drove the other--very Bath, England etc. I can imagine that there was a great deal of society and living that happened here...far wilder than the scene in Nantucket. We learned a bit about the pirates, the privateers and all that terrific Jane Austen/ Horatio Hornblower lore that is so rich and thanks to those books and movies, so visual (at least for me). It was a very quiet morning in Salem so my imagination had a bit of space to go...which I would think might be hindered with the tourbuses and interested parties coming just for the witches, which have historical relevance--particularly in best understanding the culture and people at the time...but the wax museums? and palmistry centers? and witch gear seems to abuse something that was a sad colonial moment of people maligning and mistreating other people out of fear and greed. It is not about Harry Potter, or witchcraft or fairies or spells ( you get the idea)--so that end of the tourist trap of Salem is unfortunate (but thankfully, not overwhelming).

We visited the House of Seven Gables and Nathaniel Hawthorns birth house and toured them. Interesting but not really impressive colonial architecture (unlike Philadelphia)--but interesting none the less. The lady that rennovated the House of Seven Gables put her spin on the property and installed (among the real features) a cent or Penny Shop which I had never heard of. It was impressive how this establishment preserved other buildings and with their profits support community outreach in Salem. Additionally, the Peabody Essex Museum is a must we did not attend. Looks spectacular--and along with the Museum, they own and operate many grand houses in it's neighborhood which to my thinking is inspired in many ways (ownership, maintenance, taxes, control to name a few).

I love the all red houses (detail shown of the Hawthorn birth house), the all black houses and the severity beyond that of colonial brick or clapboard structures. Imagine entering under this bold eagle and terrific lettering--up the steps and into the custom house--a way to enter America--dead smack on the center of the water access. It's impressive now...imagine 300 years ago before illuminated signage and strip malls.

Stones



R and I wandered down to town to see one of the old cemetaries in search of good Memento Mori images. This cemetary was very random and tippy with some of the stones on the ground, some broken off which somehow left me feeling sad and angry at the same time. This is history. Why doesn't anyone care? The town? the boyscouts? the local historians? We saw a few spirit effigies, even more willows and a few beautifully lettered stones that reflected perhaps the carver letterer who rendered the face of the stone. The backs of the stones in some cases were even better than the detailled fronts, with the rough carving--stone work--to straighten and flatten the backs. Some of the stones had simple initials--and in some cases with a 6 pointed star.

Houses for Turtles



After lunch, we visited Gloucester, home of Gortons Frozen Fish and other fab fish brands along with a big harbor filled with gargantuan fishing boats. Gloucester is very rough and ready with lots going on--and the main street opening onto views of the harbor. We then drove up to Rocky Neck Art Colony ( just a hop and a skip from Gloucester downtown) to see the galleries and shops that buzz in the summertime. Its kind of an Ithaca Art Trail, only all the shops are walkable and not in people's houses or studios. Jenny surprised us and presented us with a choice of wooden fish offered at a shop en route to the actually Rocky Neck area and got a cute white carved dog complete with a dog bone in it's mouth (seemingly fitting given the Dogs Gone Wild experiences that happen daily). Then off to Rockport MA that had filming for a Sandra Bullock "light comedy" in Alaska--with many of the shops in town with ersatz signage and the town square with fake totem poles suggesting that this part of Massachusetts was really Alaska. It was very odd and funny.

Then back to Manchester to pick up our girl cousins at their school. It was cute as there is this turtle house that floats in a pond in front of the school that I have depicted on top.

More later.

Old Mac Jenny had a Farm






We visited Jenny at her farm--Freerange Farm--with close attention to the strutting rooster and the polish chickens nesting in the leaves under the bushes. It is a beautiful farm with healthy horses and active chickens. She has built a riding ring with a fabric ceiling(!) that makes the interior space light and beautiful (the picture of Jenny riding Courtland is in the ring). I have great strutting bird pictures for reference so it was a ton of fun and nice to be outside in the high blue sky morning we had.

We visited Appleton Farm in Ipswitch later to see the cows, the property and the buildings to learn about the Foundation that supports this ancient American farm--its organic vegetable and flower gardens and the grassfed cows. It was enormous and beautiful with lots of stone walls.

meet Max



Beeper met Max at the beach this morning--when the dogs were getting wild. Beeper and Max were immediate friends despite their differences in size and points of view. And so, they had a special moment...walking on the beach, exchanging pleasantries. It was a delight to behold.

Tuesday




I was struck at how English, how civilized and how perfect aspects of Boston is. Even the rough and ready parts still are maintained, neat and tidy, no trash, no rough edges--very on the up and up. Being in Cambridge, surrounded by the walls of brick with stone accents, the 12 over 12s or the 12 over 16 panels of glass in the white mullioned windows, the grooved granite slab sidewalks, the perfectly pointed brick, and clean roofs seemed calming--but almost too calm for an atmosphere of learning and intellectual study. It seems a very straight path, very organized and orderly where people don't raise their voices too much, quietly purusing books and publications, and silently accessing the world wide web. It is not the shaggy north we inhabit where there are lots of edges, lots of loud talk and lots of people who are not tucked in, not clean and straight. I didn't see one tattoo parlour in Cambridge unlike Ithaca where you can get ritually decorated on every street corner. It was interesting walking a bit on the campus with Tom who is an HBS graduate. Tom waxed eloquently about the Harvard track--and those who are accepted are honored, but once they get into the "mill" they study hard, live quietly and move through the system until graduation. And after being through the mill, I would surmise, they look to continue this quiet, orderly existence--in panelled clubs with perfect brick and mullioned windows, perhaps moving to Washington or Philadelphia to move the world in small (and large ways) versus the wild haired, loud talking folk from Cornell where the world is your oyster and you can solve a lot of things through feeding the world (with ground peanuts)--prefereably with illustrations winding up your arms and legs and an offbeat tune in your heart. I didn't come to Boston for comparisons--but somehow it seemed obvious and necessary to do.

North Shore con style







North Shore italian bakeries and salami shops. Trays and trays of martzipan in the shapes of eggs on toast, salami on toast, loaves of bread, vegetables--all brilliantly colored and glossy. We had cups of cappuchino and lattes while we admired all the goodies, bottles of olive oil all cloudy and promising, salamis and cheese, foccacias and bread. Don't you love the Modern Pastry sign? The restaurants looked great, affordable and the scene. And the other stuff like shopping! No reason to go anywhere else.

Cambridge





We went to Harvard early this morning. We saw the Appleton Chapel (built by a way back relative--see top and second from top)-- It was beautiful--a colonial design embellished and frosted with war memorials (and a room devoted to war dead with the representative dead having his feet on the Harvard emblem). There were gold cupolas and domes galore. Lots of brick and weathervanes. Mullioned windows and shutter All sorts of terrific old details on beautifullly maintained buildings. Everyone and everything is quite civilized and staid (unlike the scene on Lake Cayuga). The building third down is the Harvard Lampoon which we all love with it's eyes, nose and mouth (and the steam coming out of it's ears).

Dogs gone wild!






The piccolo palazzo has a yard down to the beach, Singing Beach--and the dogs were on the beach! Dogs gone wild. As you can see...Singing Beach is beautiful, almost tropical in it's sparkle and blueness. All sorts of people and their dogs were on the perfect sand walking and enjoying the clear morning. There were corgis and scotties, bernese mountain dogs, shaved standard poodles, newfoundlands--the shot and our new little pal, Beeper (at top) a puggle (cross between pug and beagle). She is a little treat, chasing ice cubes and regaling us with all sorts of high pitched sounds and beeps. Imagine!

Monday a.m.

long day in the car yesterday--driving up to Albany and then across to Manchester MA. It was a day full of talk--of this of that, do you want to stop? what should we do? pretty much the chatter around men and machines, man and dreams, death and taxes. Pretty much the world of chat. We arrived to a wonderful group of people who live in a delightful house filled with happy pets and color--sometimes unexpected color--sometimes planned with images of chickens (the choker poster central) needlepointed, sculpted, formed and shaped, in photographs, paintings. Chickens galore. I need to get going on more. We can see the ocean--
and hope to now.

smell the roses


Bloggilicious times. Working with the content leaders from Hartford, and the king of Drupal,Jim Reidy to do a bit of prototyping that could evolve into our little site: 2squint.com. I would love it if we can push drupal to be prettier (both R and Erich were candid in saying that all the drupal sites they have seen seem nailed together...basic carpentry)...prettier because maybe, just maybe a designer can actually make a teensy bit of difference. I like the flexibility part, the live streams against static ones etc. Could be a cool experiment. Just comes down to request the alumni and students when talking about Hartford tag it so we can grab it. This is a very amenable group so I think this is a possiblity.

There was a request from the local bed and breakfasts to have artists' studios open and available to their guests when they come to town. When poor Jay called me and kindly asked me to join in, my response was "forgetaboutit" as I am prickly about anyone telling me what to do despite its concept. However, my pitch to Jay was that we should do a local website showing local artists (hopefully not weekend watercolorists and scrapbookers)work and a link to their respective websites etc. We are using the qcassetti.com grid for the site. We sent a note to about 35 people with 10 (+/-) folks interested in addition to the initial 5. I hope this can grow as there are a ton of creative people here in Tburg, actually there is a real art community making art and money from that art that probably pulls as much as a small insurance agency or local gift shop that are recognized as businesses by the Chamber of Commerce. I like to think that by awareness, it may help others in the community to see the energy expended and national presence of these skilled people are a force to factor into the vision of the community. Erich and I are doing this gratis...and collecting small money for the URL and hosting services. Our hope is to go live around the first of May to present a new face of Tburg to the locals and to the tourists who come here for the waterfall and lake. As soon as I can send you there, I will post the address etc.

Off to Boston tomorrow for a few days with my brother and hometeam. Our hope is to eat seafood, see the Appleton Chapel and Appleton statue (a relative) in Cambridge, and maybe see the new Martin Scorese movie about the Stones at an IMax theatre. Shady dog will be with Mandy, Baby and Coia. Shady is to get her spring clip. I know she is excited about it. Back to the office on Thursday.

K has finally had a night's sleep. I hope she is having fun and recovering from the time change. That is rough business.

More later.

IF: Fail [to see that some use of mind]


There are women in middle life, whose days are crowded with practical duties, physical strain, and moral responsibility ... they fail to see that some use of the mind, in solid reading or in study, would refresh them by its contrast with carking cares, and would prepare interest and pleasure for their later years. Such women often sink into depression, as their cares fall away from them, and many even become insane. They are mentally starved to death.
Ellen Henrietta Swallow Richards (1842–1911)
U.S. chemist and educator.

Consider getting some training, doing some reading or pushing yourself beyond the full dishwasher, lunches to pack, dinners to cook. If you like dinners and lunches, read a cookbook and try to make puff pastry. And if someone told you that you couldn't do something...there's the incentive to prove to yourself that they were wrong--and that 25 years of holding a grudge can be let go. Consider yourself in control of your life and living. And with that, move forward into a life, reborn as your real self. Being mentally starved to death is not an option.

MM1


This willow head/ willow skull is the Memento Mori image that got into American Illustration 27 along with the Chicken Chokers @ Grassroots poster. I like this image is it came from left field, that blurry place to the left of my left ear--the last place in my brain to react to Platinum Blonde from Gimme Coffee first thing in the morning. This image just happened. I like it that the willow tree interpretation fused with one of the tattoo inspired skulls and like chocolate and peanut butter, this thing fused. I should take it further.