Tag Archives: New England

Ragweed Season

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A tall green ragweed plant with spiky flower clusters standing among thick late‑summer vegetation.My Annual Allergy Showdown

Ragweed season is creeping in again — not that it ever politely announces itself. One warm week, one good rain, and suddenly the air is full of tiny yellow pollen ninjas whose only mission is to make my eyes itch and my nose run. Every year I swear I’m going to write a poem about it, and this year? I finally did.

A Little Ragweed Poetry

Ragweed pops up after rain

like it’s been waiting for its cue.

My allergies go full Broadway—

sneezing in act one, itching in act two.

You’d think after all these years

we’d have reached some kind of truce—

but no, you come back stronger,

pollen with a point to prove.

 

A Ragweed Moment in the Wild

Just yesterday I was waiting for the Dial‑A‑Ride bus when out of nowhere I let out a sneeze — not a polite little ka‑choo, but a full‑body, from‑your‑toes‑to‑your‑eyebrows sneeze. The kind that echoes. The kind that makes strangers look up.

A man standing nearby said “God bless” and then started to laugh. All I said was, “Ragweed.” He understood immediately.

That’s the thing about ragweed season: it creates instant camaraderie among allergy sufferers. One word and you’re bonded by shared misery.

Why Ragweed Hits Hard in September

Ragweed may start in August, but September is when it really digs in its heels. It’s like it waits for Labor Day weekend to roll around and then says, “Showtime!” The kids go back to school, the pumpkin spice crowd wakes up, and ragweed decides to launch its annual attack.

And if you’ve lived in New England long enough, you know the old rule: ragweed season ends with the first hard frost.

Except… we don’t get the hard frost when we used to. It’s that warmer weather — you know, from the climate change that doesn’t exist.

The season stretches longer now, creeping deeper into fall, and my sinuses are not amused. What used to be a few miserable weeks has turned into a full‑blown endurance test.

My Personal Ragweed History

I’ve been allergic to ragweed for as long as I can remember. It’s the one plant that can take me from “fine” to “why are my eyes leaking?” in under ten minutes. I can walk past a field of goldenrod without a single sniffle, but ragweed? One tiny puff of pollen and I’m done.

Every September I stock up on:

  • tissues
  • eye drops
  • antihistamines
  • and the eternal hope that maybe this year won’t be so bad

Spoiler: it’s always bad.

The Ragweed Reality Check

Ragweed doesn’t care if you have plans. It doesn’t care if you want to enjoy a crisp fall morning or take a walk without sneezing yourself into another dimension. It doesn’t care that you’ve already suffered through spring allergies and summer humidity.

It shows up, spreads its pollen like confetti, and dares you to complain.

So yes — I wrote a poem. Because if I’m going to be miserable, I might as well make it rhyme.

Here’s to Surviving Another Season

September 3 marks the unofficial start of my annual ragweed battle. I’ll be armed with tissues, tea, and a sense of humor. And maybe, just maybe, a hard frost will show up early this year and save us all.

But I’m not holding my breath. (Well… actually I am. Ragweed.)

 

WMEO Predictions for Fall- A Great Color Season this Year

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WMEO 9 Newsroom — We Meow, You Listen

Morning Edition: Fall Is Tiptoeing In (Even If the Calendar Says “Simmer Down, It’s Still Summer”)

Yes, technically it’s still summer. Labor Day hasn’t strutted in yet with its “last hurrah” energy, but the back‑to‑school chaos has begun, the A gray squirrel clings to the side of a tree trunk, its bushy tail arched behind it. The squirrel faces to the right, alert and wide‑eyed, with textured bark and soft green foliage in the sunlit background.final BBQs are warming up, and King Richard’s Faire is polishing its turkey legs for opening day on September 5.

Meanwhile, the squirrels have already declared it fall. They’re doing high‑speed acrobatics across the yard like they’re auditioning for Squirrel Cirque du Soleil. Banner and Balboa have filed several complaints with management.

Speaking of complaints…

Balboa’s Breaking News:

There was ONE sunbeam in the entire house this morning. Just one. And Banner took it. He didn’t just take it — he spread out in it like a smug croissant, soaking up every last photon while Balboa sat in the shadows, muttering about injustice and poor resource distribution.

Banner claims it was “first come, first serve.” Balboa claims it was “a hostile takeover.”

We report. You decide.

 

🍁 WMEO Fall Foliage Report 

Banner & Balboa, your feline field correspondents

Picnic anyone

Banner:

Good morning, leaf peepers. Last year’s foliage was… well… meh. Muted colors, blink‑and‑you‑miss‑it peak, and one maple that tried to turn orange but gave up halfway through.

This year? Oh, it’s looking much better. The forests got a long winter soak, and spring melt fed the roots like a spa day.

Balboa:

Also, we had those surprise all‑day rain events this summer. I hated them. My fur hated them. My emotional stability hated them. But apparently the trees loved them, so fine.

Banner:

All that moisture means the woods are primed for bright, dramatic, show‑off leaves that linger longer than last year’s sad attempt.

Balboa:

Red Tree

Watch the maples first — they’re the drama queens of autumn. When they start flashing those bright red leaves, the season has officially begun.

Banner:

We’ll track the color wave as it rolls from Maine down to Rhode Island. Get ready for nature’s grand finale.

Sponsor Message

This Foliage Update is brought to you by VSGO, camera gear for photographers who want clean lenses, crisp shots, and fewer “why is that smudge THERE” moments. 

WMEO Disclosure: Affiliate links ahead. If you buy something, WMEO earns a small commission at no added cost to you.  Banner says it keeps the newsroom lights on. Balboa says it keeps him from staging a coup. Both statements are technically true.

Stay Tuned

More foliage updates coming as the season progresses. Until then, please resume your regularly scheduled scrolling — preferably while sitting in a sunbeam, if you can find one. Balboa cannot.

End of bulletin. Please resume your regularly scheduled scrolling. Banner thanks you for your attention. Balboa would thank you too, but he’s still upset about the sunbeam situation.

Fall leaves

 

Summer’s End: Fairs, Food, and the First Signs of Magic

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A single tree covered in bright red autumn leaves stands in a grassy yard, surrounded by green foliage and a wooden fence. The vivid red color contrasts sharply with the surrounding greenery, capturing the early beauty of fall in New England.

Fall leavesSummer’s Last Hurrah

Here we are in the second half of August. Summer is winding down, and everyone is scrambling to squeeze in that last vacation, beach day, or backyard barbecue before school starts. Summer always feels too short — but the good news is that fall in New England has a special magic all its own.

The First Signs of Fall

Apple picking season arrives with pies, cobblers, crisps, and even apple pancakes. Cranberry bogs turn brilliant red as farmers flood the fields for harvest. Everywhere you look, there’s a sense of change in the air — and that brings us to one of the best parts of autumn: the fairs.

Cranberry Bog

The Big One: The Big E

Let’s start with the biggest fair of them all. The Big E, located in Springfield, offers a full 17 days of fair fun. Some years you’ll find camel and elephant rides for the kids. One year when I visited, the Budweiser Clydesdales led the parade — a sight you never forget. There’s so much to see and do, it’s practically its own season.

2026 Dates: September 18 – October 4

The Topsfield Fair

If that’s not enough for you, head to the Topsfield Fair — one of the oldest agricultural fairs in the country. They’re famous for their Giant Pumpkin Contest. In 2022, a record was set with a 2,480‑pound pumpkin grown in Tyngsboro, MA. That’s a lot of pumpkin pies.

2026 Dates: October 2 – October 12

More Great New England Fairs

Miss those two and you still have plenty to choose from. New England is packed with fall fairs, each with its own charm:

  • Fryeburg Fair (ME) – Early October
  • Deerfield Fair (NH) – Late September
  • Durham Fair (CT) – Late September
  • Franklin County Fair (MA) – Early September
  • Spencer Fair (MA) – Labor Day Weekend
  • Three County Fair (MA) – Labor Day Weekend

There’s truly something happening every weekend.

Specialty Fun: King Richard’s Faire

Now for the specialty faire — spelled with an e, of course. King Richard’s Faire is New England’s ultimate Renaissance experience. So my Lords and Ladies, dust off your swords and join the fun. Watch jousting and jugglers, enjoy turkey legs and mead, and step back in time for a day.

2026 Dates: August 29 – October 25

Food Festivals & Coastal Celebrations

Fall isn’t just about fairs — it’s also prime time for food and coastal festivals.

Bourne Scallop FestivalFried Scallops

One of my favorites. It features one of my favorite foods — scallops. Succulent, deep‑fried, golden scallops. They also have craft booths, but let’s be honest… I go for the scallops.

Gloucester Schooner Festival

If you want boats and fireworks, this is the place to be. Historic schooners, races, and nighttime fireworks light up the harbor.

2026 Dates: September 4–7

Peak Foliage: Nature’s Grand Finale

And just wait for that burst of color from the trees. Fall foliage usually peaks around mid‑October in southern New England, but it depends on where you are. Farther north — say in Maine — peak color can arrive as early as late September. Plan accordingly if you’re chasing the brightest leaves.

Welcome to Fall in New England

It’s a busy, beautiful season filled with fairs, festivals, food, and foliage. Whether you’re apple picking, wandering a fairground, or watching the trees turn gold, fall in New England never disappoints.

 

Necco: The Candy That Refuses to Die

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The former Necco candy factory in Cambridge, Massachusetts, with its brightly colored pastel water tower displaying the classic red Necco logo — a well‑known New England landmark.

If you grew up in New England, Necco wasn’t just a candy brand — it was part of the scenery. The pastel wafers, the Valentine hearts, the Cambridge factory with its neon sign glowing over Mass Ave… it all felt woven into everyday life. Necco was one of those regional icons you didn’t think much about until suddenly, it was gone.

Necco Wafers: America’s First “Melt in Your Mouth, Not in Your Hand” Candy… Before M&M’s

Necco Wafers weren’t just old — they were historic. Dating back to the 1840s, they were one of America’s earliest mass‑produced candies. Soldiers carried them in the Civil War. Explorers packed them for long expeditions. They lasted forever, held up in heat, and didn’t crumble in a pocket.

And here’s the fun part: Long before M&M’s turned “melts in your mouth, not in your hand” into a marketing empire, Necco Wafers were already doing it. They didn’t have a sugar shell — they were simple, chalky discs — but they were famously durable. They survived heat, humidity, backpacks, pockets, and battlefields without turning into a sticky mess. The original tough‑as‑nails candy.

Sweethearts: The Chalky Little Hearts That Defined Valentine’s Day

Then there were the conversation hearts — Sweethearts. Every February, those pastel hearts took over classrooms, office desks, and candy bowls. “Be Mine.” “Cutie Pie.” “Call Me.” Corny, chalky, and absolutely iconic.

Necco made billions of them every year. When the company collapsed, Valentine’s Day actually felt wrong without them. Stores had empty shelves. People hoarded old bags. It was a tiny cultural crisis.

The Collapse: When a New England Institution Went Dark

In 2018, after nearly two centuries, Necco abruptly shut down. Workers were locked out. The Cambridge factory closed. The neon sign went dark. Candy lovers panicked, and New England collectively realized how much this quirky little company meant to its identity.

Necco Wafers disappeared. Sweethearts vanished. Sky Bar went extinct. It felt like losing a piece of home.

The Rescue: Necco Lives On

But New England doesn’t let its traditions die quietly.

Spangler Candy Company stepped in and revived Necco Wafers in 2020, keeping the classic flavors intact. Sweethearts returned too — a little imperfect at first, but unmistakably back. The original company is gone, but the candies themselves survived. The spirit of Necco lives on.

Sky Bar: The Rebel That Went Its Own Way

Sky Bar didn’t follow the others.

Instead of being scooped up by a big candy company, it was rescued by a tiny gourmet shop in Sudbury, Massachusetts. Duck Soup bought the rights at auction, rebuilt the production process from scratch, and brought Sky Bar back as a small‑batch regional candy.

Eventually, Sky Bar spun off into its own brand — Sky Bar Candy — with its own website, its own store, and even its own merch. T‑shirts, hoodies, hats… all in that bright yellow retro logo. It’s the most New England thing imaginable: a beloved candy bar saved by sheer local determination.

In the End, It’s All New England

Necco’s story — collapse, rescue, reinvention — feels like a perfect metaphor for New England itself. Old traditions, stubborn loyalty, small businesses stepping up when the giants fall. Whether it’s wafers, Sweethearts, or the resurrected Sky Bar, these candies are stitched into the fabric of the region.

The factory may be gone, but the candy lives on. Still loved. Still nostalgic and unmistakably New England.

 

Massachusetts. First in Ideas, First in Innovation

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Massachusetts Wasn’t First… Until It Decided to Be First in Everything

Jamestown may have gotten the early bragging rights in 1607, and the Pilgrims didn’t step onto Plymouth soil until 1620 — and then, just ten years later, Boston was founded in 1630. And once Massachusetts finally entered the race, we behaved exactly like Golden Tempo: lally‑gagging along at the rear of the pack for a while, just taking our sweet time… and then in the home stretch, POW. Look out world, here we come.

Some places take centuries to build a legacy.
Massachusetts took about five minutes.

And once we hit our stride? We didn’t just join the party — we started inventing half the things in the room.

🌳 1634 — Boston Common: First Public Park AND First Botanical Garden

People remember the “first public park” part.
Almost nobody remembers the “first botanical garden” part.
And here’s the kicker: the botanical garden portion sits on reclaimed marshland — Boston literally reshaped the landscape so people could stroll among curated plantings. We were cultivating beauty before most cities even had sidewalks.

💡 1716 — Boston Light: First Lighthouse in the United States

Before America had a country, Boston was already lighting the way. Built on Little Brewster Island, Boston Light guided ships into the harbor starting in 1716.

And when the British evacuated Boston in 1776, they didn’t leave quietly. They blew up the original lighthouse on their way out — a dramatic “if we can’t have it, no one can” exit.

In true Massachusetts fashion, we rebuilt it.
Stronger. Taller. Ready for another few centuries of service.
Boston Light. Still Standing, Still shining

Boston Light on Little Brewster Island

🔫 1775 — Lexington & Concord: The Shot Heard ’Round the World

And then came the big one — the first that changed everything. On April 19, 1775, in the quiet towns of Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts fired the shot heard ’round the world and officially kicked off the American Revolution.

The first battles.
The first resistance.
The first spark of a brand‑new nation.

Massachusetts didn’t just make history — we started it.

🍫 1765 — First Chocolate Factory… and the Cookies That Came Later

Long before Hershey dreamed up a chocolate bar, Dorchester was grinding cacao and running the first chocolate factory in America. Massachusetts was sipping hot chocolate while the rest of the colonies were still figuring out how to boil water.

And many years later, just down the road in Whitman, Ruth Wakefield would bake the very first Toll House cookies — the chocolate chip cookie that changed dessert forever.

Hot chocolate and fresh‑baked cookies.
Massachusetts really understood the assignment.

🏖 1896 — Revere Beach: First Public Beach in the U.S.

Revere Beach wasn’t just a place to swim — it was a radical idea: the shoreline should belong to everyone. America’s first public beach, right here in Massachusetts, proving once again that we don’t just make history… we make it accessible.

A detailed sand sculpture of the U.S.S. Constitution on Revere Beach, surrounded by carved crates and barrels, with beachgoers and the ocean in the background.

🚇 1897 — The Tremont Street Subway: First Subway in America

Boston didn’t just build a subway — it built the first subway in the United States. The Tremont Street Subway opened in 1897, whisking commuters underground while other cities were still arguing about horse‑drawn traffic.
Boston Transit-First in the Nation, Last to Arrive

🪒 1901 — Gillette’s Disposable Razor: A Shaving Revolution

King Camp Gillette wasn’t born a mogul — he was a traveling salesman with more ideas than money, always tinkering, always trying to solve everyday annoyances. One boss once suggested he invent something people would need to replace often — the kind of product that keeps customers coming back.

Gillette took that seed of an idea and turned it into a whole new way of shaving. Instead of sharpening the same blade forever, he imagined a razor with thin, inexpensive blades you could swap out and toss. Safe, simple, and endlessly replaceable.

It was the birth of the disposable razor — and honestly, the birth of the “use it, replace it, repeat” model long before today’s built‑in obsolescence became standard in everything from appliances to earbuds.

Gillette didn’t just change grooming.
He changed how America buys things.

📸 1948 — First Polaroid Camera Sold in Boston

Edwin Land unveiled his instant camera at Jordan Marsh, and when the photo developed right in people’s hands, the crowd gasped. Boston didn’t just witness the moment — it was the moment.

 

☕ 1950 — First Dunkin’

Our Dunkin’ addiction officially began in Quincy in 1950, when the very first shop opened its doors. Back then it was called Open Kettle, but the idea was the same: coffee, donuts, and a way of life.
Is it any wonder America runs on Dunkin.

And that’s the thing about Massachusetts…

We may not have been the first to arrive, but once we got moving, we became first in everything that mattered — from chocolate to coffee to beaches to botany to photography to shaving your face without slicing it open… and yes, even the Revolution.

We weren’t early.
We were excellent.