#9 Boston - The Biggest Bang for your Buck - August 4, 2005
Alternatively, my headline this week could have been "What is it with me and the crazies?", but let us start off on a good note. Hiking was on the menu this past weekend, summer is still strong in New England, with some blistering days, interrupted by once-in-a-while refreshing 65 degree temperatures. The Mahis, our loosely thrown together hiking group of people who all met at some point or another through the AMC, or maybe they are complete strangers (I don't maintain the list, what do I know?), headed up to New Hampshire again this past Saturday. Actually it was just Martin, Rick and myself, but we considered that reason enough to go. Three's a hiking crowd, as they say!
Our goal was to go hike the Welch-Dickey Loop in the White Mountains. Two for the price of one, this hike is the biggest bang for your buck when it comes to hiking in the Whites. Both mountains do not exceed 3000 feet, the whole loop is a mere 4.4 miles long, but what a deal! You hike up these giant granite slabs and ledges that look steeper than they are and when looking back at them, you can't help but being impressed by your accomplishment going up there. The views on this day were spectacular - Monadnock, Moosilauke, the Tripyramids, Franconia Notch, you name it. We spent quite a decent amount of time lounging in the sun and stuffing ourselves with blueberries, which were at their peak and sweet as can be! Rick experienced some issues with his aversion to "anything fruity with skin", but after a serious talking to and a mini-intervention he caved in and considered himself converted (at least when it comes to blueberries).
http://www.summitpost.org/mountains/photo_query.pl/object_id/835/sort_by/submission_date.
In preparation for my Sunday hike with Boot, the naturalist, I was spouting off all kinds of wisdom at poor Rick and Martin, convinced that the all-present Jack Pines with their gnarly cones were indeed something completely else. Oh well! It worked for a while, until Rick got his book out of the backpack and put me in my place. http://www.uwgb.edu/biodiversity/herbarium/gymnosperms/pinban_cone01web400gf.jpg Darn!
Sunday then, after a nice 6-mile jog along the Esplanade (in somewhat accommodating weather), it was time to go out and explore the Middlesex Fells with Boot and a pile of nature students. I had dragged Rick and Elaine along for the wild experience, and while I had my moments to shine, a whole new package of botanical knowledge was thrown my way. The naturalist walks are not just to simply stop and smell the "bachelor buttons", there is a whole lot more to them. Just to illustrate: Did you know that said yellow bachelor buttons (also known as tansies) can be used to keep flies away from meat? Actually one website stated that it was used as a main preservative for dead bodies at some point, and another source claims that it was given to Zeus' lover Ganymede to make him immortal. Ha!
Another group favorite was the so-called "Tree of Heaven" (Ailanthus Alissima), prominently featured in Betty Smith's book "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" - if you rub the leaves together they smell like peanut butter!! Who woulda thunk! We learned what plans smell good (the lemony scent of Sassafras and the wintergreen smell of yellow and black birch, and the almond-oil/ stale cigar smell of cherry trees), we experienced how you can take leaves and blossoms from the Sweet Pepperbush, rub it with a little water and voila! You've got soap!!
Other favorites for the day were the chlorophyll-less Indian Pipe (also known as the corpse plant) http://www.fcps.k12.va.us/StratfordLandingES/Ecology/mpages/indian_pipe.htm, the sweet fern (also known as "naughty girls"), Boot's favorite, the spotted pipsissewa, and a delightful bird, the rufus-sided towhee, who delighted us with his trademark "Drink Your Tea" Song!!
What else is happening in the hub? Aside from the scorching weather, we had the most unbelievable thunderstorm this week, quite impressive - it woke me up in the middle of the night, and made me move away from the window to the couch really quickly. I have not seen such a display of thunder and lightning in quite some time!! Wow!
I don't know what it is this week, the weather, the thunderstorm, Mercury in Retrograde - maybe I am emitting some kind of pheromone that attracts the crazies. Aggressiveness in Boston car drivers is currently at an all-time high, and we had two extremely unfortunate road rage incidents here, both with guns involved and one of them ended fatally. Incidentally, I did have a shouting match as well, with a driver from Boston Animal Control, who I think wanted me to crash headlong into oncoming traffic. I was not really into doing that and voiced my displeasure with his plan quite loudly. Maybe I was lucky that he did not go after me with a stun gun! I will certainly think twice about doing that again. The whole experience left me rattled though, enough to go out drinking with Joanne at McCormick and Scmhick's, adjacent to Faneuil Hall - during the week the bar features a $1.95 menu! Burger and Fries - $1.95, Buffalo Wings - right $1.95!! The food was excellent, and two "Knuckleball" beers from Maine set my mind straight and made the world a better place.
The weekend is upon us, and Sunday I am heading to the middle of Massachusetts to Northhampton, where my friend Gerald is attending some kind of workshop at Smith College. We will explore the area around there, and as usual, you will hear all about it. Enjoy the summer!!
pet:)
Our goal was to go hike the Welch-Dickey Loop in the White Mountains. Two for the price of one, this hike is the biggest bang for your buck when it comes to hiking in the Whites. Both mountains do not exceed 3000 feet, the whole loop is a mere 4.4 miles long, but what a deal! You hike up these giant granite slabs and ledges that look steeper than they are and when looking back at them, you can't help but being impressed by your accomplishment going up there. The views on this day were spectacular - Monadnock, Moosilauke, the Tripyramids, Franconia Notch, you name it. We spent quite a decent amount of time lounging in the sun and stuffing ourselves with blueberries, which were at their peak and sweet as can be! Rick experienced some issues with his aversion to "anything fruity with skin", but after a serious talking to and a mini-intervention he caved in and considered himself converted (at least when it comes to blueberries).
http://www.summitpost.org/mountains/photo_query.pl/object_id/835/sort_by/submission_date.
In preparation for my Sunday hike with Boot, the naturalist, I was spouting off all kinds of wisdom at poor Rick and Martin, convinced that the all-present Jack Pines with their gnarly cones were indeed something completely else. Oh well! It worked for a while, until Rick got his book out of the backpack and put me in my place. http://www.uwgb.edu/biodiversity/herbarium/gymnosperms/pinban_cone01web400gf.jpg Darn!
Sunday then, after a nice 6-mile jog along the Esplanade (in somewhat accommodating weather), it was time to go out and explore the Middlesex Fells with Boot and a pile of nature students. I had dragged Rick and Elaine along for the wild experience, and while I had my moments to shine, a whole new package of botanical knowledge was thrown my way. The naturalist walks are not just to simply stop and smell the "bachelor buttons", there is a whole lot more to them. Just to illustrate: Did you know that said yellow bachelor buttons (also known as tansies) can be used to keep flies away from meat? Actually one website stated that it was used as a main preservative for dead bodies at some point, and another source claims that it was given to Zeus' lover Ganymede to make him immortal. Ha!
Another group favorite was the so-called "Tree of Heaven" (Ailanthus Alissima), prominently featured in Betty Smith's book "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" - if you rub the leaves together they smell like peanut butter!! Who woulda thunk! We learned what plans smell good (the lemony scent of Sassafras and the wintergreen smell of yellow and black birch, and the almond-oil/ stale cigar smell of cherry trees), we experienced how you can take leaves and blossoms from the Sweet Pepperbush, rub it with a little water and voila! You've got soap!!
Other favorites for the day were the chlorophyll-less Indian Pipe (also known as the corpse plant) http://www.fcps.k12.va.us/StratfordLandingES/Ecology/mpages/indian_pipe.htm, the sweet fern (also known as "naughty girls"), Boot's favorite, the spotted pipsissewa, and a delightful bird, the rufus-sided towhee, who delighted us with his trademark "Drink Your Tea" Song!!
What else is happening in the hub? Aside from the scorching weather, we had the most unbelievable thunderstorm this week, quite impressive - it woke me up in the middle of the night, and made me move away from the window to the couch really quickly. I have not seen such a display of thunder and lightning in quite some time!! Wow!
I don't know what it is this week, the weather, the thunderstorm, Mercury in Retrograde - maybe I am emitting some kind of pheromone that attracts the crazies. Aggressiveness in Boston car drivers is currently at an all-time high, and we had two extremely unfortunate road rage incidents here, both with guns involved and one of them ended fatally. Incidentally, I did have a shouting match as well, with a driver from Boston Animal Control, who I think wanted me to crash headlong into oncoming traffic. I was not really into doing that and voiced my displeasure with his plan quite loudly. Maybe I was lucky that he did not go after me with a stun gun! I will certainly think twice about doing that again. The whole experience left me rattled though, enough to go out drinking with Joanne at McCormick and Scmhick's, adjacent to Faneuil Hall - during the week the bar features a $1.95 menu! Burger and Fries - $1.95, Buffalo Wings - right $1.95!! The food was excellent, and two "Knuckleball" beers from Maine set my mind straight and made the world a better place.
The weekend is upon us, and Sunday I am heading to the middle of Massachusetts to Northhampton, where my friend Gerald is attending some kind of workshop at Smith College. We will explore the area around there, and as usual, you will hear all about it. Enjoy the summer!!
pet:)
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