Tuesday, October 29, 2013
Friday, October 25, 2013
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
Cambridge Reservoir!!
Even the signs are portmanteaus of what the area has become.
Innosight
Symantec
Bit 9
Adobe
Former Polaroid Plant
Reservoir Place (an industrial "park")
Silicon Alley along 128
General foliage always looks amazing between Cambridge & NYC.
Henry took this trip a few times in his life.
To tutor Emerson's nephew in Staten Island, Perth Amboy, NJ (the same trip where Bronson Alcott took him to meet Walt Whitman).
And, of course. Fire Island.
Emerson asked him to go, to find any remnant of Margaret Fuller. All his keen eyes could find was her husband's coat.
All he brought back to Concord was a button.
Innosight
Symantec
Bit 9
Adobe
Former Polaroid Plant
Reservoir Place (an industrial "park")
Silicon Alley along 128
General foliage always looks amazing between Cambridge & NYC.
Henry took this trip a few times in his life.
To tutor Emerson's nephew in Staten Island, Perth Amboy, NJ (the same trip where Bronson Alcott took him to meet Walt Whitman).
And, of course. Fire Island.
Emerson asked him to go, to find any remnant of Margaret Fuller. All his keen eyes could find was her husband's coat.
All he brought back to Concord was a button.
Mystery Foundation
Higginson Ice House??
Near Thoreau Institute!!
Regular coffees
2nd Thursday
Nov 14?
Cambridge
Near Thoreau Institute!!
Regular coffees
2nd Thursday
Nov 14?
Cambridge
Pine Hill-Turkey Tail
Jane Langton mysteries on Baker Farm road, moved.
Turkey Tail taking over a Black Cherry, visually striking.
Turkey Tail taking over a Black Cherry, visually striking.
Pine Hill, View from the Cut
Lincoln Town Weekly Hike, Pine Hill
17 People
Mt Wachusett
Mt Monadnock
From the top of the Concord (Covered) Reservoir.
Grey Birch (mixed with White & Paper)
Early succession, but it looks as if they were intentionally planted around the edges!!
You can just make out the far side of the Pond.
Foliage is gorgeous today!!
We came from Sandy Pond Road, Pine Hill Loop.
Fine line between conservation & getting people to appreciate the land.
Glossy Buckthorn is an invasive!! Easy to pull out.
17 People
Mt Wachusett
Mt Monadnock
From the top of the Concord (Covered) Reservoir.
Grey Birch (mixed with White & Paper)
Early succession, but it looks as if they were intentionally planted around the edges!!
You can just make out the far side of the Pond.
Foliage is gorgeous today!!
We came from Sandy Pond Road, Pine Hill Loop.
Fine line between conservation & getting people to appreciate the land.
Glossy Buckthorn is an invasive!! Easy to pull out.
Pine Hill, View from the Cut
Lincoln Town Weekly Hike, Pine Hill
17 People
Mt Wachusett
Mt Monadnock
From the top of the Concord (Covered) Reservoir.
Grey Birch (mixed with White & Paper)
Early succession, but it looks as if they were intentionally planted around the edges!!
You can just make out the far side of the Pond.
Foliage is gorgeous today!!
We came from Sandy Pond Road, Pine Hill Loop.
Fine line between conservation & getting people to appreciate the land.
17 People
Mt Wachusett
Mt Monadnock
From the top of the Concord (Covered) Reservoir.
Grey Birch (mixed with White & Paper)
Early succession, but it looks as if they were intentionally planted around the edges!!
You can just make out the far side of the Pond.
Foliage is gorgeous today!!
We came from Sandy Pond Road, Pine Hill Loop.
Fine line between conservation & getting people to appreciate the land.
Monday, October 21, 2013
My Busy Concord Weekend
On Friday, I swam across Walden. Saw other swimmers, water temp was around 62 degrees, but not too cold. At sunset, I lit a candle and another Pond friend lit one and we honored Shabbat and the Lost Swimmer (it was the third Friday in a row that I had lit a candle there). I did not go to the sponsored concert because I was cold from swimming and didn't have $30 to spend.
On Saturday, I went on the Ramble on the Amble Hike (see preceding posts!), had a bite at Main St Cafe with a fellow walker, who happens to also have a high regard for Concord Literary history. (I then went to an unrelated concert in Shirley, Peter Yarrow. I had won tickets from WMBR in Cambridge. In fact, I had an extra ticket that went to waste.)
On Sunday, I was planning to do the tour of Sleepy Hollow, but as I started walking by the graves, I decided to instead went to the Thoreau Farm to hear the talk about Ives' Concord Sonata. (Only 13 people or so). Then met up with a Pond friend for dinner at Helen's and went to the Concord Museum for a talk about a book "On Paper".
A perfect weekend, really. If anything, I'd always like to make sure that physical activities conclude with food. And that lectures get paired with something fun at Walden. In future, maybe it will become a Facebook Group or Meetup.
Please contact me by leaving a comment if/when you'd like to be on the list for future events.
On Saturday, I went on the Ramble on the Amble Hike (see preceding posts!), had a bite at Main St Cafe with a fellow walker, who happens to also have a high regard for Concord Literary history. (I then went to an unrelated concert in Shirley, Peter Yarrow. I had won tickets from WMBR in Cambridge. In fact, I had an extra ticket that went to waste.)
On Sunday, I was planning to do the tour of Sleepy Hollow, but as I started walking by the graves, I decided to instead went to the Thoreau Farm to hear the talk about Ives' Concord Sonata. (Only 13 people or so). Then met up with a Pond friend for dinner at Helen's and went to the Concord Museum for a talk about a book "On Paper".
A perfect weekend, really. If anything, I'd always like to make sure that physical activities conclude with food. And that lectures get paired with something fun at Walden. In future, maybe it will become a Facebook Group or Meetup.
Please contact me by leaving a comment if/when you'd like to be on the list for future events.
Typical Events AND Complementary Activities
October is always a fun and active time in New England, especially in Concord. Sometimes, there are just TOO many things to do! I included a mention in parentheses of suggested additional activities that the 'Concord Conversations" Group could/are doing. (Contact me in comments if you are interested in joining!)
Concord Concerts, October 18 & 19, 8pm, 51 Walden ($30)
Listings Taken from:
Transcendentalism Council of Concord
Concord Concerts, October 18 & 19, 8pm, 51 Walden ($30)
(Visit Walden Pond ahead of time for recreation of your choice: walking/swimming/kayaking)
Saturday, October 19, 1:30pm-4, Heywood Meadow, Concord Center
Fall Family Ramble on the Amble
(Meet for brunch before or coffee afterwards at Helen's for conversations)
Sunday, October 20, 2-4:30pm, Sleepy Hollow Cemetery
"A Walk Through Time"
(also overlaps with a meeting 3:30-5 including refreshments)
(Partake of refreshments)
Sunday Salon: Thoreau’s Flute & Charles Ives’ Concord Sonata
Kyle Gann, Associate Professor of Music at Bard College
Sunday, October 20 at 2 p.m. Thoreau Farm http://thoreaufarm.org/events/ Dr. Gann will talk of the connection of Henry Thoreau and the “Concord Sonata” written by innovative composer Charles Ives. Gann’s forthcoming book, “Essays After a Sonata: Charles Ives’s Concord”, will be released in 2015 by Yale University Press.
Kyle Gann, Associate Professor of Music at Bard College
Sunday, October 20 at 2 p.m. Thoreau Farm http://thoreaufarm.org/events/ Dr. Gann will talk of the connection of Henry Thoreau and the “Concord Sonata” written by innovative composer Charles Ives. Gann’s forthcoming book, “Essays After a Sonata: Charles Ives’s Concord”, will be released in 2015 by Yale University Press.
(Meet at Helen's for dinner)
Concord Museum/Festival of Authors: On PAPER A consideration of all things paper—the invention that revolutionized human civilization: it's thousand-fold uses (and misuses); its sweeping influence on society; its makers, shapers, collectors, and pulpers.
WHO: Nicholas A. Basbanes
WHEN: Sunday, October 20 at 7:30pm
WHERE: Concord Museum
Tuesday, October 22, 7:30pm, Thoreau Institute
Jeffrey Cramer discusses his work
(Meet at Walden Pond for recreation of your choice in the afternoon)
Wednesday morning, October 23, 9:30am-11am, Lincoln Hike
Location:
Roadside pullouts at north end of Sandy Pond Road (south of Garland Road)
(Meet for lunch afterwards)
We can't do everything, but we can try!!
Sweet birch, Yellow Leaves!!
Apparently, at Concord High (?), there is a requirement/challenge for kids to press a collection of leaves of every native species of tree in the town, which may be 45? I must research this further!!
The Sweet Birch is difficult to find, but at this time of season, the leaves go yellow and are especially easy to spot, hidden among the pines.
The Sweet Birch is difficult to find, but at this time of season, the leaves go yellow and are especially easy to spot, hidden among the pines.
Saturday, October 19, 2013
Striped Maple and other wonders of Fairyland
Start with Wiki for basic info. Named by the Alcott sisters & Emerson kids & Thoreau as Fairyland. Apparently, they would dress up and run around the forest as embodied spirits. (Sometimes these events were called Masques). There must be so many more stories, but perhaps because they were "merely" enacted/told by children, they may be lost.
It is a unique ecosystem and quite often the water will be warmer than the air, causing frequent fogging conditions. And a general sense of magic. Writings from a hundred years ago add to the legend.
Fed by Brister's Spring. More info here, at a blog called, Thoreau's Chronological Atlas. There were 9 identified springs in the town. One was found by a brilliant High School kid who is a great border. This new spring was missed by both Thoreau and another -modern- surveyor!!
It is a unique ecosystem and quite often the water will be warmer than the air, causing frequent fogging conditions. And a general sense of magic. Writings from a hundred years ago add to the legend.
Fed by Brister's Spring. More info here, at a blog called, Thoreau's Chronological Atlas. There were 9 identified springs in the town. One was found by a brilliant High School kid who is a great border. This new spring was missed by both Thoreau and another -modern- surveyor!!
Not far from the water, we (Cherry) found a Striped Maple, and apparently it is very rare in Concord.
The above pictures were taken on a walk, "Ramble on the Amble" (10/19/13) led by Cherry Corey (she is in blue, above). Check out her amazing blog, Sense of Place. She also does great walks for the New England Wildflower Society. Highly recommended!!
Vernal Pool and White Pine Forest
Most of the trees on this walk would not have existed in Thoreau's time.
All farmland,
White pine forest (succession of trees!!). Starts with smaller pine trees!!
Tall straight!!
Wolf trees, branchy pine, probably the first one in a field.
Vernal pool, never seen dry!!
Definition: cannot have fish
Ferry shrimp
100 foot setback for Vernal pools
Others have 200 or 300 foot setback
Red Ruschala mushroom sp?
Turns into a vase as it dies!
All farmland,
White pine forest (succession of trees!!). Starts with smaller pine trees!!
Tall straight!!
Wolf trees, branchy pine, probably the first one in a field.
Vernal pool, never seen dry!!
Definition: cannot have fish
Ferry shrimp
100 foot setback for Vernal pools
Others have 200 or 300 foot setback
Red Ruschala mushroom sp?
Turns into a vase as it dies!
Pipsissewa
Found in Fairyland (but also around Walden)
This is my favorite plant, merely because I love to say the Native American name.
It is also known as "Dragon's Tongue".
Look for tiny little white flowers in midsummer.
This is my favorite plant, merely because I love to say the Native American name.
It is also known as "Dragon's Tongue".
Look for tiny little white flowers in midsummer.
Crickets and Timothy Grass
We heard 3 types of crickets, each with a different sound:
Ground cricket
Bush cricket-sharp almost metallic sound (Red faced bush crickets, only Males sing)
Tree cricket (and yes, a video, complete with sound and the male vibrating his wings)
There is a great Rivers & Revolutions School Group in Concord, which also goes along on similar walks. Today's walk was open for families and a few kids came along. It's always fun to watch kids as they discover things about nature!
Evening Primrose is a pioneer in formerly cultivated field. Timothy grass, little lanterns of gold!!
Ground cricket
Bush cricket-sharp almost metallic sound (Red faced bush crickets, only Males sing)
Tree cricket (and yes, a video, complete with sound and the male vibrating his wings)
There is a great Rivers & Revolutions School Group in Concord, which also goes along on similar walks. Today's walk was open for families and a few kids came along. It's always fun to watch kids as they discover things about nature!
Evening Primrose is a pioneer in formerly cultivated field. Timothy grass, little lanterns of gold!!
Millbrook Bridge
Here we are just behind the Fire Dept, still near Emerson's house. There is a new wooden bridge and the path continues on behind the police department (on Walden Street).
Cherry tells us that Red Maple love to get their feet wet, and so grow in marshy areas.
Ray Angelo is documenting all of Henry's Concord plants. Look him up!!
Watercress is growing in the stream, it's now on the State Invasive Species List.
Cherry tells us that Red Maple love to get their feet wet, and so grow in marshy areas.
Ray Angelo is documenting all of Henry's Concord plants. Look him up!!
Watercress is growing in the stream, it's now on the State Invasive Species List.
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