Writer’s Block

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Well it was bound to happen one of these days. I set a pretty ambitious goal to post something 6 days a week. The biggest problem is time. There is lots to write about but I like to give you up to date information and pictures. In fact, I subscribe to the old adage that a picture is worth a thousand words so if I have no pictures, I have no tales.

The past few days were a combination of things including weather that kept me from getting much exploring done. I didn’t even have much time to take pictures for my photo blog. I had my car in for maintenance so with no wheels to get around I missed being out and about gathering stories. It still need some more work too so I hope it won’t be tied up too long. After all I have places to go and people to see and things to do and then tell you all about it all here!

I asked Scout if he had any new tips and he admitted he hadn’t put anything together. He said he could have some in a day or two but by then I should be back on track.

I thought my friend Julie would bail me out with stories of her recent trip to Arizona and California but she had the day off so I haven’t caught up with her at work yet.

My cuz in Florida is going to share her experiences on trip she took to Ireland but she’s still putting that together. I have another co-worker that went to Ireland as well but I haven’t set up a time to get his stories yet. My fault on that one.

My friend Diane still has many, many stories and pictures to share but again I dropped the ball and didn’t leave myself enough time to get together  with her.

Another friend and co-worker, Jay, just got back from his rafting vacation but we haven’t had a chance to chat about that in any detail yet. I can’t wait to see his pictures and he says I can share them here. That will be a treat for us all, I am sure!

Well, sometimes it seems I spend more time making excuses and if I’d just taken that same time I would have had something to write but it’s just human nature, I guess.

I will be on my work schedule now for the next 2 days so I won’t have any time to go anywhere but maybe I can dredge something out of the archives that you might enjoy.

Or maybe I should remind you that you’re welcome to contribute too! I love your comments but you can also share you travel experiences too. Don’t be shy. Sometimes a fresh voice is just what’s needed. In the meantime I’ll share some photos from some of my jaunts. I’ve written about all of the trips shown in these photos but selecting the pictures makes me think that there may be more stories in them to share. Something to think about.

Well enjoy the pictures until I get my next post together. Remember my next trip is fast approaching and we know there will be a lot of things to share from that.

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In the Borderland

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Borderland. The name brings to mind many of the period romance novels I’ve read over the years. The militant hoards descend from the “borderlands” or the retreating army makes a run for the “borderlands”. Of course in today’s news are the “borderlands” along the Mexican border which cause so much concern over illegal immigration. So it was with some curiosity that I headed off to visit Borderland State Park with a friend of mine.

Nancy had run across this hidden gem of a State Park one day while she was looking for a place to amuse her children while repairmen worked in her house. She figured it would be easier for everyone with the children occupied elsewhere. What she found was a lovely park with trails, fields, brooks and ponds…and a mansion. It was a hit with the kids that day and now she was going to introduce me to it as well.

Borderland State Park is located , where else, on the border of the towns of Sharon and Easton. Oakes Ames, a Harvard botanist and his wife Blanche, an artist named their estate “Borderland”. The property remained in their  family for 65 years before passing into the possession of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 1971.

The Park is approximately 1,772 acres. When you arrive there is an automated parking kiosk. The cost to park is a mere $2.00 and the parking lot is nicely maintained. The park is open until 7:30pm. Perfect timing for nice sunset pictures.

The State has kept the grounds much as they were when the Ameses resided here. The family home, a “modest” 3 story, 20 room stone mansion has been retained with the same furnishing; many of Blanche’s paintings adorn the walls. The mansion is impressive when you first view it across a large open area from the parking lot. On our visit the building was not open but we followed the paths around to the side and found a nice little fountain, a grape arbor and flowers.The mansion is open for tours from April to November  on a limited basis. The best bet so you are not disappointed is to call the park for tour schedules and hours.

But back at the Visitor Center we found maps and literature as well as many local events on the schedule. It is clear that this little park is very active in the communities it borders.

A great deal of the beauty of “Borderlands” is actually due to human intervention. It may all look natural but if it were not maintained it would soon really revert to its natural state. The fields would become forests and the ponds would slowly fill becoming marshes and swamps.

Digging into a bit more of the history I learned that the earliest inhabitants were Native Americans. The land was actually a territorial boundary between the Massachusetts and Wampanoag tribes. It would appear that there is a long tradition of this area acting as a “border”.

We did not have the time on this first visit to explore all of the trails that meander through the park so we started with the Leach Pond trail. This is a short , easy trail that opens onto a beautiful pond.

There is a “babbling” brook that runs out of the pond and under a picturesque wooden bridge. Even this early in the spring there were others enjoying the beautiful day. We spotted a black dog that was obviously enjoying a swim in the pond. Working our way over the owner very graciously allowed me to take pictures of her dog as she enjoyed the water.

Nearby was a rustic cabin of some kind. The was a fireplace inside and stumps were gathered around obviously being used for seats. The smell of wood smoke attested to recent or current use of this building. As abandoned as it might appear, it was clear by the freshness of the lingering scent of smoke that this was not truly abandoned. Although we didn’t know at the time, the map seems to have the building identified as the “farm-house”.

As we strolled the trail we spotted robins and  nuthatches. All together there are 6 ponds within the park and a rich mix of habitats. I’m told that the area supports rabbits, squirrels, geese, an occasional otter, and deer. Sometimes a great blue heron stops by.

All too soon we had to wrap up our visit and return to the “real world” of errands and housework, laundry and shopping. With such a lovely park so close to home I am sure I will be returning often.

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He’s Back!

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“Who’s back” you say? “My little friend!” I say excitedly. All last spring, summer and early fall I would watch for a little woodchuck or if you prefer groundhog that seemed to make its home in a field on the side of RT 44.  I drive by there at least 4 times a week to go to work and sometimes errands take me past there on my days off.

It became a game that I embraced enthusiastically to see how many times I could spot the little animal. If I didn’t see him or it, not sure of its gender, for a couple of days I would worriedly search the side of the road for a squashed little body but I never saw one and eventually Mr/Ms Groundhog would be back.

A few times when I was not rushing from one place to another I pulled over and managed to get pictures to prove to my doubting co-workers that there really was wildlife to be seen in our little urban corner of the world.

I began to think of the little rodent as my “furry, little friend” and was disappointed when I wouldn’t see him. He disappeared for several weeks during the summer when we had a drought and the field he was in turned dry and brown. I wasn’t sure if he had moved on or died. Life in the wild is hard enough but with cars, exhaust,  lawn mowers and pesticides, throw in drought and the poor thing didn’t have an easy time.

Even so once the rains came and the grass got green again, he was back. Along about September or October I saw him for the last time. I watched and watched and even stopped and checked for signs that his burrow under the rocks was being used…nothing.

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I don’t know if the little creatures hibernate but it seemed too early for that with lots of grass still available. I kept an eye out all fall and even in the winter because habits die-hard but there was never any sign of him so imagine my surprise when I saw something brown moving at the edge of that same field as I drove past! I slowed down and there he was! I didn’t have time to hang out and watch him today but it’s enough to know that he or another of his kind survived the winter and will be back to entertain me for another summer.

Cape Cod Canal

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What’s 17 miles long, 540 ft wide and connects Cape Cod Bay with Buzzard’s Bay? Answer: The Cape Cod Canal

I thought I’d write a little about the canal because it’s a beautiful area and it’s fascinated me for years. I have had a goal to bike the length of it since I moved out here 30 years ago. Still haven’t done it. Maybe this year.

The canal is spanned by 3 bridges, the Cape Cod Railroad Bridge, the Bourne Bridge and the Sagamore Bridge. I was amazed to learn that there  are traffic lights at each end of the canal to regulate vessels that are over 65 ft!

The idea of the canal was first considered by the pilgrims back in 1623. William Bradford surveyed the area trying to find a way to reduce travel time to the new trading post he established and there the matter ended until 1697 when the General Court of Massachusetts took the first formal request to build a canal under consideration. Over a series of years the area was explored and surveyed numerous times. Even George Washington got involved as one of the surveyors on the project but each time the project fell by the wayside.

The first attempt to actually put shovel to ground and try to dig the canal did not come until the late 19th century. Any previous attempts had been doomed by either money or the shear immensity of the project. It would take someone with real vision and audacity to  get behind the idea.

 That man finally stepped forward in the form of August Belmont Jr, American financier and thoroughbred racer and June of 1909 construction finally began. Almost immediately the engineers ran into difficulty. The builders had “tons” of obstacles to over come and I mean that quite literally. The builders soon discovered huge boulders in the path of the canal left over from the retreat of the glaciers after the last ice age. That problem was tackled by blasting and dredging but it made for slow going. Add to those headaches are the problems inherent in trying to complete a major outdoor project with New England weather to contend with and , well you can see how the canal could be called the original “Big Dig”.

Still the engineers plodded on and finally the canal was opened partially in 1914 and finally completed in 1916.

From 1916 to 1935 the canal muddled along. It was narrow and shallow and navigation was difficult. There were numerous accidents that marred the reputation of the waterway. Finally the government stepped in and under the US Army Corps of Engineering the canal was widened and deepened until it became the widest sea level canal in the world!

Today in addition to being a commercial and recreational waterway, the area has been developed into a heavily used recreation area for biking, walking, skating and fishing. It has benches set at scenic areas along the canal where people like to sit and watch the boat traffic. There are access roads on both sides of the canal that make it easy to reach the best fishing spots.

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So now I just have to get a bicycle!

May Day

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This is a little side bar or diversion from my usual posts. May 1 was yesterday and it’s a kind of quasi holiday so I felt it should have some recognition.

Since I was at work all day I wasn’t out dancing around the Maypole in the sunshine 🙂

In fact May Day isn’t just about flowers in your hair and Maypole dances. I was surprised to learn that in many places it’s labor day or  the “official” name International Workers’ Day.

International Workers’ Day began in 1856 in Australia as a “workers holiday’ commemorating the fight for an 8 hour workday. The original day was April 22 but as the idea spread around the world it was moved to May 1.

As interesting as that bit of trivia is I was thinking more about the tradition of the Maypole and the more ancient celebrations. Traditional May Day celebrations are actually tied to the Celtic Festival of Beltane and the Germanic festival of Walpurgs Night. May Day marks the end of the unfarmable winter half of the year in the northern hemisphere. It’s a festival of rebirth and hope as the cold disappears and green grass and trees return. Baby animals are born and the cycle of life is reaffirmed.

Even earlier Mayday was associated with Flora, the Roman Goddess of flowers.

The Maypole is a tall wooden pole that is raised  as part of various folk festivals. Even with the tradition clearly documented no one seems to agree on the significance of the pole. Makes me think of the story of the lady who was cooking a ham and always cut the ends off. One day her daughter asked her “Mom, why do you cut the ends of the ham?”. Her mother replied, ” because that’s the way grandma always did it.” So when the little girl saw her grandmother she asked her and Grandma said the same thing. Finally the great-grandmother spoke up. She said “We always cut the ends off because we didn’t have a pan big enough to hold the ham.”…but a tradition was born and no one remembered where it came from.  Seems like that’s what goes on here with the Maypole.

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In any case, I like the idea of spring and flowers and ribbons on a pole and everyone skipping and dancing around it. It’s a happy vision 🙂 So no matter where the idea or tradition came from, I hope it continues to stay around a long time!