351 in 365

Re-presenting Massachusetts Through the Lens.

Mountains O’ Things: Hancock and Great Barrington

14 Comments Posted by on March 1, 2012

Driving up to Jiminy Peak in Hancock, MA was no easy feat. Perhaps I shouldn’t have gotten there mid-day, at the peak of skiing, with no intentions of skiing and no parking spots left in the lot. Live and learn, I suppose. This is what I ended up with.

Jiminy Peak • Hancock, MA

I haven’t skied since 2002 when I was mentoring an after-school program. We’d go skiing every Monday for 10 weeks or so. I wiped out pretty badly on our last day and that about sums up my experience with the ol’ skis and poles.

Great Barrington, MA also has a nice mountain. Imagine going to school with Read more of this post

photography, travel , , , , ,

Lenox, MA: Prim, Proper and White All Over

22 Comments Posted by on February 27, 2012

A couple of weekends ago, while visiting my friend Calyb in the Berkshires, I stopped at The Mount to visit author Edith Wharton’s estate and gardens. Wharton’s novel, The House of Mirth, is one of my favorite books to date — but don’t click that link unless you enjoy spoilers. It’s a novel of her time, when women’s main objective was to marry and marry well. I was forced to read it in college and failed to read the last 30 pages. I did the same thing for 1984 in high school. I don’t know why; guess I just ran out of steam.

Wharton was not only a writer, however. She was extremely skilled in gardening and house building. She built The Mount Estate and Gardens based on a book that she co-wrote with architect Ogden Codman, The Decoration of Houses, which is a manual that explains interior decoration and design that were appropriate in the Victorian era. The first building that I saw as I drove down the path to the estate was the stable.

The Stable • The Mount Estate and Gardens (Edith Wharton) • Lenox, MA

As you might expect, the stable was home to Edith and Teddy Wharton’s horses and carriages and, later, their cars. Their help lived on the top floor. Sundries were visible in Read more of this post

photography, travel , , , , , , ,

Small Business Saturday: Alford, Richmond, Boylston

4 Comments Posted by on February 25, 2012

As I sit down to edit photos and write up my posts on these towns in Massachusetts, I notice themes. While I plan itineraries for which towns I’m covering and where exactly I’m going for a given weekend, I don’t plan out any over-arching subjects. Yet, somehow, they emerge.

It makes sense that I keep traveling to flea markets and other small businesses, though, given my general agenda. It would probably be boring if all I did was talk about Barnes and Noble, Target and Wal-Mart all the time. Small business got a lot of recognition for the 2011 holiday season’s Small Business Saturday, which I thought was pretty awesome.

Have you ever been to Richmond, MA? I didn’t even know this town existed. I do, however, have friends that live in Richmond, VA. A couple of weeks ago, I thought it would be nice to stop by the winery at Hilltop Orchards in Richmond to pick up a bottle of wine.

Wine • Hilltop Orchards • Richmond, MA

It was a small place, but they also had a selection of pickles, relishes and preserves.

Pickles and Relishes • Hilltop Orchards • Richmond, MA

I grabbed a bottle of dry Riesling — which I enjoyed at my friend Stacey’s new house a couple of nights ago — and Read more of this post

photography, travel , , , , , , ,

Uxbridge, MA: Two for One

8 Comments Posted by on February 22, 2012

It’s been longer than usual since I last posted. I’ve been experiencing some life developments, for lack of a better term — all of it good, but all of it diverting my energy from this blog. Bear with me, yes?

Bear • Credit: rchall, www.morguefile.com

Non sequitur to Uxbridge, MA. Well, not really, because the town is already in the title. But yeah. Uxbridge is pretty cool because it’s right at the center of the Blackstone River Valley National Heritage Corridor — say that 10 times fast — the area that got a jump on industrialization before any other region in America. If you’ve ever heard of Uxbridge Blue, the first Air Force dress uniform, that’s where it came from.

I was on my way to Farnum House when I got a little turned around due to the complete lack of digital compass chips in my brain. My geographical defect forced me to face what appeared to be an abandoned mill off the main road, on Depot St. Let’s investigate, shall we?

Bernat (Capron) Mill • Uxbridge, MA

The fence was taller than I was. Fun fact about me: I’m 5’7″. So, that’s fairly tall. So much of the structure was missing that Read more of this post

history, photography, travel , , , ,

Douglas, MA: Bazaar World

8 Comments Posted by on February 16, 2012

Oh goody, another excuse to post about flea markets. I like flea markets because they always have a little something old that makes me happy, plus the usual oddities that are fun to talk about. What appeals to me most about these bazaars is that they represent small business. Note that you don’t see me getting super-excited about the recent possibility of Walmart coming to Watertown.

I parked my car in the ample lot of the Douglas Flea Market in Douglas, MA on a frigid Sunday afternoon. From old photos to creepy clowns, this place didn’t disappoint.

Photo • Douglas Flea Market • Douglas, MA

Clowns • Douglas Flea Market • Douglas, MA

I’m not sure how old the black figurines and dolls were. They caught my attention because Read more of this post

photography, travel , , ,

Hubbardston, MA: The Old Barn

14 Comments Posted by on February 13, 2012

There ain’t a lot going on in Hubbardston; I’m just going to lay that out on the table right now. The biggest thing I can find that’s ever happened there was a tornado that touched down there in the summer of 1981, which, while it destroyed property, it did not kill anyone. So, there’s that.

There’s also this pretty cool barn that’s on the market at the moment. From the side of the road, the 1904 barn on Bemis Rd. appeared to be part red-painted wood, part stone.

Old Barn • Hubbardston, MA

I’m not going to pretend to know all sorts of fun facts about barns, but I’ll include Read more of this post

photography, travel , , ,

Waltham, MA: Of Kababs and Bimbos

6 Comments Posted by on February 12, 2012

Our friend Calyb and his dog, Toby, just came up to visit us for the weekend. It’s always a joy to see Toby (and Calyb).

Calyb's dog, Toby — who also responds to "Toaster."

After dinner in Waltham the other night, Calyb suggested that we walk down Moody St. to India Market. I was pleasantly surprised by how many foods were there that I eat all the time. I’ve only just started to become a food snob over the past few years.

India Market • Waltham, MA

India Market • Waltham, MA

India Market • Waltham, MA

Some of the pickled stuff, I never knew people pickled.

I was particularly excited to see such a bouquet of jalapeño peppers.  Over the summer, my manager had the team over for Read more of this post

humor, photography, travel , , , , ,

Photos in Flux Part 3: Townsend, Upton, Wilmington, Worcester

14 Comments Posted by on February 9, 2012

Like waves melting on the shore, so are the days of our lives. Rather, part 3 of this three-part series, Photos in Flux. You don’t need to read them in order, but if you want to check out part 1 or part 2, there they are. Ready? Okay! *clap clap*

1. Harbor Pond Waterfall at Spaulding Cooperage

I was sad to see that the Spaulding Cooperage, a modest antiques store next to the Harbor Pond waterfall in Townsend, MA, was closed for the month. Bad timing on my part. There were some goods arranged outside, though.

Spaulding Cooperage • Townsend, MA

After loading as much loot as I could fit into the back seat of my modest Kia Rio, I admired the view.

Harbor Pond Waterfall • Spaulding Cooperage • Townsend, MA

The folks at the Cooperage probably do pretty well with this site luring unsuspecting shoppers.

2. Pratt Pond

Pratt Pond in Upton, MA was an interesting location to get to. Parking was tricky, with a Read more of this post

nature, photography, travel , , , , , ,

Photos in Flux Part 2: Northborough, Phillipston, Sutton, Templeton

5 Comments Posted by on February 4, 2012

Yesterday, I posted Photos in Flux Part 1, showing some bodies of water throughout Massachusetts. The “flux” in the title not only refers to the obvious flowing of the tides, but also “going with the flow” when things don’t go as planned. Today, I’ll walk you through the next four towns in part 2 of this three-part series.

1. Wachusett Aqueduct

My goal was to photograph the bridge that I saw on the Northborough, MA official Web site. As can be the case sometimes, there simply wasn’t anywhere safe to pull over. With my point-and-shoot camera, I wasn’t going to have terrific luck with the zoom function. Instead, I settled for a dam just across the street.

Wachusett Aqueduct • Northborough, MA

2. Queen Lake

I was having some trouble finding one of my locations in the next town — Queen Lake wasn’t even on the agenda. I drove through Gardner and suddenly I was in Phillipston, MA where the lake caught my eye. There was a sign on the side of road that said Read more of this post

nature, photography, travel , , , , , ,

Photos in Flux Part 1: Ashby, Auburn, Hopkinton, Lunenburg

12 Comments Posted by on February 3, 2012

No white coating on the ground. Temperatures in the 50s earlier this week. Here in Massachusetts, nature is a hot, withered mess. The only thing that isn’t dry, of course, is your local body of water. Follow me on a tour of Water, Water, Everywhere. This will be part 1 in a series of three posts.

1. Damon Pond

Damon Pond • Ashby, MA

The only reason I made it to Damon Pond in Ashby, MA is that Read more of this post

nature, photography, travel , , , , , ,

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