81. A dismal history, perhaps

Week 81  1/17/17

Medfield State Hospital was called Medfield Insane Asylum when it was first opened in 1892. It had about 60 buildings then and about half of them are still standing. They appear to be structurally sound but are boarded up. The public is allowed to walk anywhere on the grounds but not to enter the buildings. This facility was in use until 2003. The state owns it now, but apparently hasn't decided what to do with it. Paul says that the old buildings would be too expensive to restore and maintain. Here is the current planning site.

The grounds were surprisingly clean. There was no graffiti that I noticed. Bushes were trimmed and leaves and brush were cleared away.

There are a few spooky YouTube videos about this place, but here is the one called A World Apart that a sign referred to.

When I was in college, I wrote a research paper on deinstitutionalization which was taking place for psychiatric patients in Massachusetts at that time and was much in the news. I did an internship with Dr. John Mack who was at Harvard and associated with Youville Hospital in Cambridge and Westborough State Hospital which was in the process of deinstitutionalizing at that time. I joined a group of a dozen or so psychiatrists at that hospital as they interviewed a patient in the locked ward who had lived almost her whole life at Westborough State Hospital. I will never forget being in that locked ward with all of the patients going about their daily routines. Dr. John Mack had a very interesting story after I knew him. It's a bizarre tale, worth looking at -- basically he became interested in patients who had experienced what they thought was alien abduction, and Dr. Mack gave enough credence to their beliefs that he was investigated by Harvard and charged with ethics violations. He also received the Pulitzer Prize for biography two years after I worked for him. I would love to find my paper and my notebooks from that internship.

Adjacent to the hospital grounds is the associated cemetery for patients. It is fairly well maintained. Every grave and marker was the same -- a flat marker with name and year of birth and death. Most were born in the latter half of the 19th century and died in the beginning half of the 20th century. The most recent death date was 1978 but I saw no others in the 70's or 60's.

The Medfield State Hospital is adjacent to the Charles River Link Trail and beautiful views of the river. There is a canoe/kayak launch which we have passed many times while paddling up and down the Charles River.

80. Yarn and Art

Week 80  1/13/17

I was given a generous gift certificate to Webs yarn store in Northampton for serving 9+ years on the board of the Metro West Knitters Guild. Webs has their own line of yarn made from various fibers and spun for different purposes. Paul shows us "Northampton" and "Sunderland."

Next stop was the Smith College Museum of Art which has a very impressive collection.

Because our book group just discussed Grapes of Wrath, Paul took a photo of this print called "Cottonpickers" by Danny Lyon.

We enjoyed all of the artist-designed benches in the museum.

Here is seating of a different sort. When we purchased tickets we were advised not to miss the two artist-designed rest rooms.

79. First Snow Fun of the season!

Week 79  1/8/17

I tested out my new "winter walker" snow shoes. I like them! Paul went off on skis and we got separated when I took a detour to get warmer mittens. I tried to track him through the woods and got misled by other people's tracks at Idlebrook. We both had fun.

I tried to capture the beautiful red color of the blueberry bushes, the blue sky and a hawk hovering low. The hawk had moved away by the time I got my camera ready.

78. Castle Hill

Week 78  1/4/17

For the first adventure of the calendar year, we drove to the North Shore to see Castle Hill on the Crane Estate in Ipswich.

We began with a walk toward the sea, and fist up a hill.

The tide was coming toward us. If we were earlier or quicker we could have walked farther down the beach, but it eventually became impassable.

I love the way these waves advance.

The allee has recently been renovated. All of the statuary had raincoats on. Paul measured the width of the allee by pacing. I'll need to ask him to remind me how wide it is.

A view of the mansion with the casino in front of it. Apparently a casino is an Italian term for this type of small lodge. There are two guest houses flanking a pool. The pool has been changed to a garden.

This is one of the guest houses. I peeked inside and saw that there are some furnishings.

More of the allee. We thought it would go all the way to the water. Maybe it did at one time. But now the far end is blocked by a stretch of overgrowth. We also assumed we'd be able to see the entire allee from the top, but it is hilly as you can see, which is actually more interesting, I think.

I thought I had more photos taken near the house, which was not open to visitors this day. We were eating a snack there, when a colorful-looking man asked us what we thought of the summer place and whether we could imagine such a residence with hundreds of servants etc. He said he was a Crane relative/descendent and now on the board.

77. An inspiration day.

Week 77  12/27/16

Julia was still visiting post-Christmas, and had never seen the Fuller Craft Museum. There were some very interesting exhibits this time (as usual).

The beautiful contemporary museum building is in a natural environment. This pond is just outside the window and in one area, it flows between some of the buildings.

One exhibit connected the "steampunk" aesthetic with the local shoe industry.

A gallery held several works by artist John Bisbee from Maine. Not only had was Julia familiar with his work through her job at the ICA, but we also ran into a bevy of the artists' cousins who were visiting for the holiday and didn't realize that their cousin had an exhibit here.

I liked these embellished photographs.

On the way home we drove by Bird Park in Walpole and decided to stop. It is a wonderful spot! Here is the music pavilion where outdoor musical performances and plays are held.

76. Improving open space

Week 76  12/20/16

Paul had printed some flyers for the Wennakeening Woods property owned by the Upper Charles Conservation Trust. The flyers inform about upcoming forestry management. We took the opportunity to walk around most of the trails while we posted the signs. While we parked the car, we saw that the hired foresters, Phil and Tim, were already there, making plans. They showed Paul their ideas about where the equipment would park and what trees would be removed and so forth.

75. Maker Space!

Week 75  12/16/16

Medway has a lovely new Maker Space at the public library. I have been teaching certification classes on the knitting machine and will soon teach weaving and hand knitting classes. Paul had not been to the space yet, and wanted a chance to try the 3D printer. I am certified on the printer and was allowed to help Paul. When the staff person saw how good he is with the design software, he was proclaimed instantly certified.

Paul selected this golf ball marking tool created by a previous user who saved the file. We rotated it but were careful not to make any size adjustments because the tool needs to fit snugly over a golf ball.

The golf ball marker took several hours to print. The library uses a corn-based material so that it is non-toxic when heated and doesn't require venting.

Here is the very old (1950's or 60's) knitting machine that was donated. It is a fine gauge and a few needle slots are dented. I hope they will buy or somehow acquire a machine that is easier to use for beginners and that is not broken.

Here is the electronics workbench.

This loom was also donated and is definitely not for beginners or anyone doing a smaller project. There are a few hand-made looms as well, but something between these two would be ideal.

 

We picked up the golf ball marker the next day. Payment is by the gram and I think this cost about 35 cents to print.