143. Library crawl number two

Week 143  3/27/18

Three libraries are on the list for today. First Bellingham.

We first met the children's librarian getting ready for a preschool program where he introduces a letter of the alphabet each week. This week it is X. As we were looking at photos of the town around the classroom, he told us that two years ago a car crashed right through this room from the parking lot. It went through a wall and right through the wall on the opposite side! 

Here Paul is looking at a seismograph that has been set up as a demo.

Blackstone library is next. For a small town they have a nice modern and fairly sizable library.

Finally, for the day, Uxbridge Library. This is situated the old Town Hall.

We liked this print showing libraries on Massachusetts, but at the time it was published, apparently Holliston didn't have a library yet! It was very hard to see the print because it was hung way above our heads.

Paul has a way of finding survey markers everywhere. This one was on the library steps.

A patron at the Uxbridge library recommends the Northbridge library for our next trip. Noted. But we stopped at Wrentham Outlets to look for a few items we needed.

142. Books and Brews

Week 142  3/22/18

It's a good day for a local indoor type of adventure. We set out for Plainville to see the bookstore called An Unlikely Story which is located at the site previously occupied by a general store and other stores before the space was abandoned. Now, Plainville is lucky to have this bookstore which is owned by children's book author Jeff Kinney who wrote the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. Besides a nice collection of books and gifts, they offer a a comfy cafe and a large community space upstairs. It has turned into a gathering space for the town, just as it was when it was a general store.
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This is part of the community space. It looks like they are set up for lectures and music. In another large space that was furnished with comfy chairs, a knitting group was meeting.

After we left the bookstore we headed for a well-hidden micro-brew spot called Ravenous. It is behind an industrial area in what looks like a bay for trucks or heavy equipment. We drove around quite a bit before finding it down a sort of alley after a sign saying that we couldn't enter. The beer was pretty good but the space was ....

141. PEM

Week 141  3/16/18

We're excited to return to the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, one of our favorites. The previous day we contacted our friend Jim Olson who is the Director of Integrated Media at the museum and he spent quite a bit of time with us, taking us through three of the four special exhibits, all of which he was involved with the planning and execution. 

I think the Georgia O'Keefe exhibit probably brought in the most visitors because everyone is familiar with her art. This exhibit included many examples of her paintings but also photographs of the artist and many examples of her clothing and footwear which she designed and made herself. The exhibit was divided into her early work when she lived in New York, then her New Mexico period and finally Asian-inspired work.

Another exhibit was XYZT: A Journey In Four Dimensions with 10 interactive environments. This was a lot of fun and fascinating. The mathematics were explained but we couldn't understand it. All was black and white and many pieces involved typefaces.

The Playtime exhibit was probably more for kids but I went into the balloon room.

Finally our favorite - T.C. Cannon: At the Edge of America. T.C. was a Native American artist, poet, musician and Vietnam Veteran who died very young in an accident. The exhibit was creatively curated and lovingly displayed in a large network of rooms. Judging by the guest book, many visitors were moved to tears by the talent and life of this American artist. Besides the paintings and poetry, were recordings of his music, his guitar, his service medals and several pieces of correspondence.

Here is Jim showing us around the T.C. Cannon exhibit of which he is very proud.

And here is another piece at the museum that I love. I wish I noted the artist's name.

140. Wennakeening Woods

Week 140  3/7/18

With winter in it's waning days (or so we hope) we walked Wennakeening near our house to check on downed trees and other needed maintenance. These woods are part of the Upper Charles Conservation Trust, and Paul is an officer on the board. We found a lot of wet spots. There is a lake-like "puddle" beyond Paul here.

139. Braving the storm

Week 139  3/2-4/2018

The worst storm of the season was predicted for our annual Riverside Fishing and Poker Club outing to Chatham, but we wouldn't think of missing it. Even our friends from Pennsylvania managed to make the trip.

Paul and I left early so we had a chance to check out the shore. Record high tides - 3 extreme ones in a row - were predicted for the weekend, as well as high waves, snow and rain.  Most of the town of Chatham was without power but our house hung on. We enjoyed great food, played games, and even walked to the shore a couple of times.