New England in the Autumn



 

October is upon us, and along comes the shorter days and cooler nights that bring out the sweaters and hot toddies by the fire. This part of our northeast seasonal cycle has long been a favorite simply because October displays…feels like…the best of New England’s charm. We’ve got our fingers crossed for a colorful breakout on our trees given the last couple of years haven't been great. However, the thinking here says we’ve had some decent rainfall despite a brief dry spell or two over the course of the spring and summer. From what we can observe, it appears like we’ve got a shot at a good season of red and gold.

October is the beginning of what might be said is the season of “family and friends”. There are the religious and secular holidays that are celebrated from October through December (and into January), that include Eid al-Adha, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa. Whether the basis is religious or secular the common threads through all of these important celebrations are of giving thanks, and unity. The notions of thankfulness and unity are timeless, and important to a civilized society.

On a less profound note, but still in the vein of family and friends is that peculiar “non-holiday” that gets a lot of attention for kids and grownups alike: Halloween. With something of a complex history, Hallows Eve has pagan and Christian origins, but today is more like an excuse to dress up and have fun. Maybe it’s just life going in cycles and loops for us, but we’ve kind of started to look forward to Halloween again. It was always fun when our kids were young, but we drifted away from it once they got to their teens. Maybe it was exhaustion. But we've come full circle and are looking forward to Halloween fun with our grandson, and the local truants who will descend upon us.

On a related note, we've been talking…. and talking…. for a few years now.... about doing a something fun for adults along the lines of Halloween…but not Halloween.

We’ve agreed that a Venetian style Masquerade Ball would fit our tastes for adult fun. The questions have always been: how would we make it special, and how would we pull it off? To differentiate the event from a Halloween party, since lots of those will go on for sure, we’ll steer clear of that weekend, but it’s nice to think one could be held in early October to fit in with the colorful time of year. This kind of gig would hopefully be “colorful”. 

A grand soiree might include music, dancing, Cirque du Soliel style entertainers, along with food and libations of course. The exquisite masks one might see from images taken from the real masquerade of Venice would be de rigueur. Black tie, or costumes would lend a sense of sophistication we think. And all of it would be wrapped in the air of mischievous, ribald, and utterly wicked, carnival fun.

 Think you'd be up for it?

 

Now, where to find a castle to rent?

 

 

 

 

 

Moonlight Chapters - Touring New England

Prior to the wedding the two of us had the opportunity to get away in July and enjoy a relaxing few days in Nantucket (aka The Grey lady).

Our Nantucket vacation started on a Thursday afternoon with the enjoyable one hour ferry ride from Hyannis. This was a welcome change from the last time we made this same trip. Back in 1983 we were on the ferry in the middle of a strong gale half way through the crossing. The image of the boat rocking side-to-side so steeply that the windows on either side alternately peered into the dark water is still etched in our memory. But not this time, just smooth motoring.

We lodged in the comfy confines of a one bedroom suite at the Nantucket Inn just outside of the town center. The weather on the island was a bit overcast for the entire time we were there, but that was not such a bad thing because conditions were temperate, if a bit humid. On the occasions that the sun was able to fight through the clouds the temperatures spiked up to high 80s. It drizzled on our last day there but that didn’t detract from our happiness at all. In fact, a drizzly day by the coast is rather comfy, don’t you think?

After checking in to our room and unpacking we took the complimentary van back into the town center. We started off with a walking tour of the central three blocks to window shop, people watch, and work up a little appetite. Our restaurant of choice was the Brotherhood Of Thieves. Interesting name for a restaurant, and made appropriate with the interior layout of the street level dining room and bar. One comes in through a heavy wooden door that leads into a short, dark, hallway. From there, the eyes must further adjust to the darkened dining room on the left, and polished wood bar straight ahead. The darkened confines work with the thieves’ den motif. The bar’s low lighting helps to place one in a beta wave kind of vibe. We weren’t up for a big meal so we settled for small dishes. The French onion soup was nothing short of sumptuous. Golden brown cheese expertly draped over the crock was complimented with a fine sherry and hot pepper tang in the broth.

For our libations we followed the strict code of the wise traveler: when in Rome, tip the help and drink the local beer. We decided to try the fare from Nantucket’s home brewery: Cisco Brewery. Our first choice, The Grey Lady, is described on their website as being "named for the often foggy island where it is brewed. This wheat beer is fermented with Belgian yeast and brewed with fresh fruit and spices. A unique ale that emits a complex, earthy nose and a soft, mid-palate maltiness with hints of tropical fruit. Dry and spicy." It was a bit watery tasting for our pallet so we decided to try their Indie Pale Ale. Cisco credits this creation as a "beautiful red-orange ale has a full malty body, balanced by fruity apricot and grapefruit hop character. Mounds of dank Summit Hops provide a deliciously quenching finish to this East meets West Coast ale". We most certainly agree, and would recommend it to people who like IPAs. The 6.5% alcohol content didn’t hurt either, and added a special glow to the evening’s post-meal stroll. However, we looked askance at one other Cisco choice on the list: Baggywrinkle Barleywine. Eloquently described as a "style of potent ale known for it's rich, sweet malt character and it's attendant hop flavors. This beer is an intense mouthful, and is meant to be enjoyed with friends and food." Intense alright. At 9.5% alcohol content we figured Baggywrinkle would accurately describe our facial countenance the next morning. We guess there was fine print somewhere on the bottle saying: "should be enjoyed with a DUI citation." But seriously…we’re sure it is delicious fare from the craftsmen who make it with all the skill and love of a quality microbrewery.

After paying the tab we went out onto the main thoroughfare in search of live music which is our modus operandum when out and about on the town. We got lucky. Lucky as in the Nantucket gray beards have passed ordinances that no loud music can be playing in the down town…on the weekend…but Thursday is OK. A good band was going off at someplace called…we can’t remember. We flashed our ID to the doorman just to assure him we weren’t underage and swaggered in. The blues music (yes!) was in full flow from the house band. For the next hour or so we sat at the bar and sipped from our pints while the band cranked out some of the catalogues from Elmor James, Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf and other OG blues dudes. We were pleased as could be. A quick pic was snapped on Evangeline enjoying the sounds, but an unsteady hand from the 6.5% IPA muddied the frame a bit.



After a set or two we paid our tab and wandered out into the warm evening and crowd bustling under incandescent street lamps. We caught some images and impressions, the best of which was this Victorian style home lit up like something from a Dracula movie set.

Once again, Old Shaky couldn’t get it right, but the visage from street level stood out from the surrounding houses and stores.

We enjoyed the decorated establishments, inviting store fronts, and lively busker scene along Main, Central and Federal streets.

Despite the mid-season, Nantucket’s charm was not lost in the crowd of people who came down to enjoy the quintessential New England seaside town. Old money families who’ve been here since the whaling days have wisely preserved Nantucket’s unique beauty and place in American history with ordinances intended to control commercialism. Even so, it was interesting to see so many high end clothing retailers packed into the downtown. The fact that a clothier can make a buck in this town probably attests to the consumer power available on the island. But you won’t see Baby Fat anytime soon. And it doesn’t get any more WASP than this place. In fact, if you’re female and have some money you have to be a blond. It’s the law.

The dining scene here is quite good with more than several very popular choices. You’ll need to put a reservation in by Thursday if you want the better tables at the fine dining eateries for Saturday night: Dune, Le Languedoc, Boarding House, Fifty-six Union, to name a few, but the locals know the casual dining scene done by places like Sushi by Yoshi, Centre Street Bistro, and Queequeg’s are just as good.

The next day we took a grand ride on rental bicycles to the western side of the island to a beach called Madaket. This seven-plus mile trek, one way, takes the traveler along a smoothly paved and winding pathway adjacent to Madaket Road. The route passes open marshes, farmers’ fields and beach homes along the road, and it’s shaded by trees for much of its length. This was a welcome relief when the sun decided to poke through the clouds because the temperatures rose rapidly to the humid mid 80s. Once at the beach we locked up the bikes to go stroll along the wet sand. It was interesting to note the wave action along the shoreline that hinted "UNDERTOW". Very few people were in the water more than 10 yards out, but everyone was enjoying the bright sun and gloriously cool on-shore wind.

Once refreshed, we got back on our rigs and pedaled back east on the bike path. We detoured to go and check out the Nantucket Farm Festival. It was set back from the main road about half a mile, and we had to slog along a soft sandy road made dangerous by its very narrow width and oncoming Land Rovers being driven by blond women talking on cell phones. Having made it alive to the parking lot we got off our rigs to walk the grounds a bit and view the crafts and flowers for sale. Not much going on but a quiet arts-and-craft fair, but it was a welcome respite.

Once back at the hotel we hung out by the pool to soak up the late afternoon sun. After a shower and change we took a trip back into town eat something at one of the more casual restaurants on the wharf called….whatever. We enjoyed refreshing gin and tonics and a light meal.

Saturday was our chance to take a tour of the island by small bus and learn something about this charming place. Along the way we saw a reenactment of a pre-revolutionary event staged on some historical property with actors dressed in the garb of the 1700s. We stopped to watch the display. The booming flint locks were loud and startled our bus driver. If we had been rolling past at that moment instead of parked she would have put us in a ditch.



Most of Nantucket is preserved state land that is accessible to anyone who wants to wander through it. We were told that at some point in history the vegetation grew so thick that the avian predators couldn’t see though, or get into, the thicket to catch the vermin. So they started dying off and the vermin population exploded. Well the gray beards decided to raze much of the local forest on a part of the island to enable a killing range for the birds. It worked. Things got back under control, but some crazy people put up card board cutouts of cheetahs, lions, giraffes and such because the cleared land started to look like the Serengeti.

Never let it be said that the Nantucket folks don’t have a sense of humor.

One of the three lighthouses on the island was moved away from the shore to keep it from falling into the sea due to erosion. Later, somebody with money built a golf course around it. We heard the club has an exclusive, secret, and very Republican membership, and that it took Theresa Heinz’s intervention to get Bill Clinton a chance to beat the pill around and about. He waited eight years to get the OK. We hear the golf course money is so old…. "how old is it?"….it’s so old that George Washington’s old man is on the dollar bill. Rim shot!

We took some random pictures while the tour bus rolled about the surrounding water front neighborhoods. Some of the homes look so very cozy and inviting. Privacy is assured with thick high hedges that serve primarily to block winds blowing in from the Atlantic and protect the exteriors of the dwellings from excessive weathering. One very exclusive beach front in the town of Siasconset (aka "Sconset") on the eastern part of the island serves a small neighborhood where houses rent out for thousands of dollars a week. Exclusivity is maintained by the fact there is no road side parking. Parking is only available to residents and guests in the drive ways of the homes. We drove past the Nantucket Shipwreck and Lifesaving Museum with a light house lens set on a dais for display. We were told it is one of the first lenses designed using newly developed optical mathematics at the time to achieve unparalleled light amplification.

 

 

By the way, some of these pictures were taken through the glass of the shuttle bus.

 

 On our way back into town and along the main wharf we were shown small little cabin like structures. Many of them, actually all of them, have been restored and maintained from their early function as clam shucking houses. They’re now multi-million dollar summer homes of old money families and artists that pass them down from generation to generation.

That night we decided to treat ourselves to a nice dinner. Our first choice, Queequeg’s, was booked, but our second choice, Dune, was fine. This eclectic little place in town has a nice covered patio that encloses several tables and a bar. We chose Swordfish and Pork Chop dishes that were generous and delicious; they went very well with a delectable Riesling. After dinner we went in search of some live music. Trusting our cabby to deliver us to the hottest joint in town we found ourselves inside The Chicken Box. Great name. Makes us think of some honky-tonk roadhouse blues joint. The doorman didn’t bother to ask for ID, which was disappointing. The place was empty given the time of our arrival, but at least it was set up with pool tables. So we killed some time waiting for the band. Around 10:00 the local college kids started filing in. No one seemed to notice Ward and June Clever dressed to the 7s in the house. We left before what’s-their-name came on stage.

Sunday was departure day and smooth sailing back to Hyannis. We think we will come back again someday, and maybe see what Nantucket feels like in the fall. Sometimes the best times come from a spur of the moment decision to do something unplanned.

***

This first weekend in September we closed out our summer travels with a trip up to Maine again to sample the local off street biking scene on the Eastern Trail. It looks like a converted old rail trail, but much of it is in fact made specifically for recreation from available land. The Eastern Trail is a 65 mile "transportation/ recreation greenway that links Casco Bay at Bug Light in South Portland to Strawberry Bank in Portmouth, New Hampshire". The website says the trail is only about 30% complete, and is part of a larger multi-state project for a 2900 mile recreational trail system connecting Calais, Maine, to Key West. Any novice rider can do this trail, but the parts we were interested in centered mostly around the 24 mile loop we laid out through Saco and Old Orchard Beach into Scarborough and back. For the most part the off-road elements of the ET are comprised of a fairly level 10 foot wide trail of hard packed dirt that meanders through quiet secluded woods and over the spectacular Scarborough Marsh dotted with hundreds of tide pools.

 

However, several hidden entrances along the wooded parts were spied from the trail. The secret was shared not too long ago by a local. From what we learned the various single track entrances lead to a veritable playground of serpentine ascents/descents, stump jumps, and gardens corrugated with exposed roots and rocks ("babyheads") along low ridge lines and through swamps. Yours truly will go back to hit those stashes next year if not this fall, for sure.

But for this day Evangeline was treated to a relatively benign route since she's been cajoled into riding technical single tracks through various local woods as of late. Evangeline has been a good sport about some of the stuff I've been put her through, because sometimes she winds up wrestling her bike over roots, rocks, mud, steep slopes of sliding gravel and stone, while slapping away at mosquitos. But nothing in this year’s edition of our biking adventures compares with my recent blunder of rigging her up into heavy body armor on a 90 degree day of hard technical riding near Heart Break Ridge in Carlisle that left her cooking like a roast. I’ve never seen her quite so flushed in the face. It was kind of a mauve shade.

Anyway, the Eastern Trail was a great 4 hour ride. We started from the parking lot of Thornton Academy in Saco and continued through Scarborough. We were headed into Portland but wisely decided to skip extending our planned itinerary when it started raining steadily and we found ourselves off the dirt track onto Black Point Road (aka Route 9) that has no shoulder. Returning to the ET in the westerly direction we broke off to ride south along the generous shoulder of Pine Point Road in Old Orchard Beach to arrive at a local seafood restaurant called Ken’s Place. It was recommended by a fellow rider on the trail. Ken’s Place has been around for 85 years, and by the number of cars we saw in the lot it was obvious the reputation is known. The fish and chips were very good and the prices are tough to beat.





 

After a leisurely 1 hour meal we headed out on the return leg to our car that was complicated by having to wend our way through the insanity that is the Old Orchard Beach amusement park, and my losing my bearings on the way. Evangeline REALLY hates the fact I avoid asking for directions. For me, asking for directions is like to committing a felony. OK, so we went a couple of miles the wrong way. But we got back on track and made it to our car just about the time Evangeline’s legs turned to wood.

Moonlight Chapters - The Kids Are Alright

Our summer has been occupied with an assortment of home projects that are now nearing completion, and this writer is happy to say "job well done" to Evangeline. Our new look inside reflects her tastes and inspiration. I love coming home, and just being in our home. I trust Evangeline will soon post some pictures on her home staging, design, and decorating website listed on the right hand margin of this blog.

We’ve also kept active with our outdoor exploits, but the real highlights for us this spring and summer were the graduation of daughter Stephanie; return home from Egypt of daughter Nikki; the first birthday of our daughter Christina's son, and our grandson, Alexander; and daughter Elaina’s wedding to her fine young man Patrick (aka "Paddy") Egan.

Stephanie completed her degree in Public Health at UMASS, Lowell, and was very fortunate to move into a job immediately after graduation. Our family learned long ago the value of internship. She picked a great field with lots of opportunity for growth in the future. Her job allows her to work with younger people by providing various workshops in personal health, but she also finds time to stay involved with her personal interest in theater. Maybe someday we’ll see her at the MRT.

 One whole month of having Nikki home was wonderful. We had time to get to the beach, ride bikes together, go out for dinner, and just hang around to shoot the breeze. She made the best of the time home, and even traveled into Boston and Manhattan to visit college friends and stay a little while with them to catch up. The girl has no problem with travel that's for sure.

Alexander is the first born of our oldest daughter Christina and our son-in-law Alaa. They came up all the way from New Jersey, so Ya Ya and Papou hosted a birthday party in his honor. Some of Christina's high school friends came by with their babies. It looked like we had a nursery going on. The Big Boy is growing, and it won't be long before we introduce him to skiing and biking! There's a bet here that he'll also turn out to be a water baby, and if we're right we'll show him free diving too…. if Mom and Dad don't get too nervous with the idea. We had the chance to take him to the beach during his birthday week, and he looked like he’s going to take to the water just fine.

Nikki and Alexander







 





 *** 

 

Elaina’s wedding was beautiful. The venue was held at the Zukas Farm was Spencer, Mass. They could not have picked a better place for beauty and uniqueness. Think of an estate for the equestrian set. Rolling fields of lush green surround a main event hall constructed of amber beams and alabaster walls, complimented by polished blond hardwood floors. The inviting bar along the back wall from the entrance is cleverly segregated, but not closed off, from the main seating area by a magnificent stone fireplace. The hall gives way to a large, snow white tent permanently erected above a veranda behind the hall overlooking a pond with cascading fountain in the center. The veranda can be accessed from several multi-paned double doors to one side of the main area or down an adjoining hall. To the right of the tent and set further back into the verdant landscape around the pond is a gazebo decorated with vines and low lighting. It became a THE place to hang out, cool off, and share cigars after the post-ceremony dinner, and more than a few dances. The staff did a great job decorating the tent with strings of tiny white and blue lights overhead, and this touch only enhanced the ambiance established by the soft orange sun descending through the cumulus on a perfect night for a 5:30 PM ceremony. Our cousin Peter Alexis performed the nuptials with the grace, wisdom and humor he is so loved for in our family, and with a very moving tribute to his aunt and Elaina’s much loved Godmother, Queena Traggis.

 

For the record, the Bride and Groom looked smashing. Elaina has been sharing pictures of the wedding on her FB account for all to enjoy. 

The opportunity to spend time with our new in-laws included and extended weekend to visit Portland, Maine with them and the newlyweds. A great idea made all the more fun with folks who are a delight to be with and share happy times. We hope to return the favor and visit them next year in Ireland.

A Father's Address on his Daughter's Wedding Day

I am pleased to have this opportunity to extend a hearty welcome to all of you on behalf of the bride and groom, Elaina and Paddy, the bride’s mother and my lovely wife, Evangeline, and the groom’s mother and father, Nora and Jim. Having our families and very special friends here to celebrate our children’s wedding with us makes this a very happy occasion, and one we will always cherish.

If I may speak for all parents, a wedding is not only one of the more joyous occasions we can experience on behalf of our children, it is also one of the more profound events in the passages of the family’s life cycle. It is the singular inflection point when parents realize, truly, for the first time, that their child will embark on a life of his or her own. And though familial bonds will always overcome separation by distance and time, the newly wedded couple will begin a journey entirely of their own choosing. Their journey may take them far and wide, but the reality is also that their journey will bring new experiences and wisdom that will factor into the continuing evolution of who they are as individuals, a couple, and parents in their own time.

Evangeline, Nora, Jim, and I are a like all parents in this room, and around the world, who desire only the best life possible for our children. We try to accomplish this by being parents: training and teaching in the early years; guiding and sometimes seemingly unfairly controlling in the critical years of youth, to stepping back and learning how to gently guide and advise our children as they grow into the more sophisticated years of young adulthood. Through this process we hope to give them the social skills and coping tools necessary to be successful in life.. simply as good human beings.

Good things often come to good people, by their own endeavors, and through the generosity of family and true friends who have comprised the thread, yarn and weave of their social fabric.

But sometimes good things happen not by design or intent.

It is often said, and I truly believe this, that a person makes their own luck. Hard work, a commitment to personal integrity, and the lifelong application of the Golden Rule, are what create much of the luck one will experience in life. Yet maybe there is something to be said of "luck" as the random event, or moment of serendipity when the paths of two people intersect at the right place in time, that otherwise, by moment or degree of separation more or less may never have occurred. For those special occasions we have to be thankful.

And so it is that Evangeline, Nora, Jim, and I are so very pleased that our children’s paths have intersected and wended to this very day.

To the newlywed couple let me say this on behalf of your newly extended families: Welcome!

And know this: You will always have us around you to celebrate your joys and successes; to rally to you in times of need; and to continue to help you achieve your goals.

May God bless you... in good health.. wealth.. and happiness. May you have a beautiful life.

Flymobile

"Geeez…I dunno. Don’t you think they’re…um…a little flashy?"

"Naw. Everybody’s riding these kinds of rims. And the chicks like 'em."

"I’m fifty-something, married for thirty years. I got grown kids and a bad leg."

"Oh. That’s too bad. I mean...havin’ a bad leg."



I quizzed the assistant manager at Humongous Tire World about the available wheel choices in my price bracket. I needed to get rid of the original rims because they were so out of round that hub caps would no longer stay on. Besides, they looked like crap.

My introduction to this process started at 8:00 AM. I stood behind the first customer, biding my time and looking around at the open floor plan of what is really a spacious warehouse with windows. Tires of every variety were stacked everywhere. Not realizing my mental drift while waiting, I started giggling at the memory of an episode of The Red Green Show, involving tires.

If you’ve never seen or heard of The Red Green Show, it was broadcast up here in New England by PBS for several years. It was a fictional show hosted by a fictional backwoods mountain man named Red Green who would provide all sorts of backcountry, old timey, remedies and solutions to the common man and home maker’s everyday problems. Like transforming a 1971 AMC Gremlin into a gull wing car with a steel plate cutter and a roll of duct tape. But his brilliance was unsurpassed in the episode dedicated to recycling truck tires into a girls’ bedroom set. He showed how to stack and tack so as to create a chest of drawers, and how the do-it-your-selfer could create the most awesome bunk bed for sleep-overs with reclaimed Super Swamper tires and posts from a chain link fence.

Anyway, the assistant manager and first customer were giving me the wrinkled brow as I snapped out of my mirth. When my turn came up I inquired as to my options for new wheels not requiring hub caps.

My attendant bore a striking resemblance and nuance to Cheech Marin. I forget his name now, but I’ll call him Ralph.

"I need four rims Ralph."

"Ok, whatta ya want? We got five, six, eight, ten and twelve spoke wheels with chrome. The chrome looks real good. "

"Cheap. I want cheap."

"How much you wanna pay?"

"A hundred bucks, tops."

"Oh, hell, we got all sorts of choices for a hundred. Take a look at those Diablos over there. A hundered apiece installed, balanced, and warranted for a year. The deal can’t be beat."

"There must be a misunderstanding. Did you say $100 A PIECE?"

"Yeah."

"No. I only want to pay $100 for all four."

Ralph look at me, then he looked over to the other attendant standing next to him watching our discourse. They both burst out laughing, and had the nerve to fake leaning on each other for support to keep from collapsing with the pain of hilarity.

This transaction was going south, fast.

I said, "I don’t understand."

"No, man. The best I can do for you is $350 for four wheels, installed and balanced, with chrome lug nuts, and a two follow up torque checks. Three-fifty. Plus tax."

"What the F-ing JC on a crutch deal is that? Are you serious? I don’t need chrome lug nuts. Screw the torque check or whatever."

"It’s a package. Check out the competition, man. You can’t do better."

"Alright. What are my choices?"

"Right over there in that stack display. Second row down. Third from the left. The Black Knight. Five spokes, chrome lugs. Sweet."

"My car is eleven years old. It’s got 180K on it, dents and scratches Ralph. It’s silver."

"Ohhh. Ok, then we got the Maxxum Versa for the same price. Ten spokes, brushed satin finish, aircraft grade aluminum alloy. Third row down. Just below the Black Knight. Clean. It’s got sex appeal."

I expressed my doubts about the compatibility of these new wheels with the age and pedigree of The Bullet... and me. But I knew from previous on line searches that I was not going to do better despite my feigned indignation at being "gouged" for four pieces of aluminum.

"MAXXUM VERSA, huh? Does the PACKAGE come with a wide brim hat? If I’m going to  cruise down the street in a Superfly ride I want to be wearing matching gear."

And here we are.

Time to cue up the Curtis Mayfield on the stereo.