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.

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!)

Listings Taken from:

Thoreau Farm

Freedom's Way

Thoreau Society

Sense of Place

Transcendentalism Council of Concord 

Concord Festival of Authors 2013 

Concord Concerts, October 18 & 19, 8pm, 51 Walden ($30)

http://www.thoreausociety.org/events

(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 

http://sense-of-place-concord.blogspot.com/

(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)

http://www.freedomsway.org/friends/news.html

(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.

(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

http://www.concordfestivalofauthors.com/2013/events/#a_life_with_thoreau

(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!!

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!!

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.

Ramble on the Amble Trail

The next set of posts were taken on a hike, led by Cherry Corey (her blog is Sense of Place) on October 19, 2013.  Lovely weather!  Hikers coordinated parking across the street from the High School (the end of that hike) and carpooled to the beginning of the trail, near the Emerson House.

The picture is a trail marker for the "Emerson/Thoreau Amble"  (Google map here) and for the Bay Circuit Trail.  There is another white rectangle marker which I think is a "Concord Trails" indicator.  The photo was taken in Heywoods Meadow next to Emerson house.  You can read about the history of the trail being forged (again) by town activists here, taking a walk in 2007.

A Note about Parking: You might want to do what the group did and park at the Trail Head across from Concord Carlistle Regional High School (there is room for a few cars).  Or at Emerson House, you can park on the street- but there are not too many spaces.  You can easily go all the way to Walden (probably 2 miles), but be aware that Route 2 (A MAJOR HIGHWAY) cuts through the idyllic walk.  If you are the type to carry a lot of beach gear with you, park at Walden when you swim.  If you are just going to see the scenery, the trail actually skips the Main Beach and leads right to Henry's house site.  (Bring a rock for the Cairn!!)

If you are looking for the entrance to the trail, it is at the back of Heywood Meadow.  (Heywood owned property around Walden too, in case you know the name "Heywood Meadow" in reference to that part of town) This Heywood Meadow is on Lexington Street and will be on your right if you are coming from the center of town.  It is the last patch of open land before you reach Emerson's House (and the Concord Museum across the street). I didn't see a path connecting Emerson's yard (please don't bushwack one!!), but the trail goes just behind the house so that it is in view for the first section.

Other Walden & Concord Blogs

This is what I've found so far.

Hope you enjoy them as much as I am.
"Thoreau's Sukkah"
http://thoreaussukkah.wordpress.com/ - written by a pond regular, who swims & kayaks. (Awesome!)

"Sense of Place Concord"
http://sense-of-place-concord.blogspot.com/- Written by Cherry Corey, a fascinating woman who leads walks, (for normal people and also for enthusiasts of Wildflowers, etc).  Also an incredible photographer & recorder of everything she sees.

"New Start For Liz"
http://newstart4liz.wordpress.com/- a writer's journey, former triathelete, now swimmer.

"Thoreau's Chronological Atlas"
http://aschmidt01742.wordpress.com/ Academic (Allan H. Schmidt) who lives by "Thoreau's Mill Brook" and who is exploring & mapping the locations of Thoreau's surveys.  Lots of good info, especially if you are a hiker or if you want to walk in Thoreau's footsteps.

"Walden Pond Press"
http://waldenpondpress.blogspot.com/ a Children's Book Publishing collaboration between HarperCollins and Walden Media (be warned, not genuine Walden Pond focus)

If you are looking for a more genuine Concord press for kids, head to
"Barefoot Books"
http://www.barefootbooks.com/?bf_affiliate_code=000-02yb-7151 a bookstore for kids in Concord Center, they have their own press and often have events as well.