Medford, Massachusetts, USA

Back in 1630, a London merchant and investor in the Massachusetts Bay Company staked out the land along the Mystic River that is today the town of Medford.  It's early history included shipbuilding, rum making, and brick making. In the early 1800's many shipyards were located here and a Medford built ship was famous for its quality.  By mid-century, a quarter of all Massachusetts shipbuilders were employed in Medford.  The building above was built in 1886 and is in the center of town. Medford today is a vibrant community 5 miles north of Boston.

 This underused band shell along the bank of the Mystic River is dedicated to Medford native Lydia Child who in 1844 published the classic American Thanksgiving poem, "Over the River and Through the Woods." She might not be as famous as former Medford resident aviator Amelia Earhart, the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean.  And don't forget James Pierpont who in 1857 wrote "Jingle Bells" in Medford.

A flowering pear tree fronts the turn of the early 20th century former Medford Armory.

A street scene of Spring busting out everywhere.

 

More signs of Spring frame this hundred year old grand colonial home in a residential area of Medford.



Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Just about every large city of note in the world has an iconic area or street that captures a particular essence and mood. Boston has Commonwealth Avenue in the Back Bay. It begins at the western edge of the Public Garden and stretches westward. Some have compared it to the great boulevards of Paris. In addition to the multi-million dollar properties lining the central park area, Boston University and nearby Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox baseball team call the area home. On this unseasonably warm Easter Sunday, the magnolias are exploding in bloom - seems the 60 inches of snowfall last winter really is over until next season. 

And dogs that neither bark, bite, eat nor poop are always welcome.

Some varieties have already begun the petal blizzard.

Not to be outdone, the nearby Public Garden has its Spring show in full display also.  Days like today are enough to make a person forget forever the cold, dark, windy days of January and February just past.

Boston, Massachusetts, USA

It is early April in Boston. The days are longer, the temperatures are rising, and soon the flowers and trees will be budding and blossoming.  Today it seems that the whole city has come out to play on this Sunday morning with temperatures reaching the low 60's.

The golden dome of the Massachusetts State House tops the area of downtown Boston known as Beacon Hill. In the center distance is the Charles River, Beacon Street to the left, and the Prudential Building in the left distance.

The Boston Common, dating from 1634 and encompasing 50 acres of land, is the oldest city park in the United States.  The grass is greening but the trees are just showing the hint of Spring and Summer to come. (And the Hancock building in the distance isn't really blue).

One of the many brick townhouses on Beacon Hill, this extraordinary exterior trim is all copper and marks a time of exceptional craftsmanship seldom created today. 

On perhaps the most photographed street in Boston, Acorn Street, the Plymouth Digital Photographers Club enjoys the day doing what they do best - taking pictures!

Where else but Boston would one find a solid brass lobster door knocker?

All that walking and photographing required pizza at Figs Restaurant on Charles Street before continuing to the Public Garden to finish the day.

And if you think Boston is only full of stuffy, conservative, New Englanders - you'd be wrong - some folks are willing to serve as substitute bridge anchor posts.

For those of us "of a certain age,"  we remember in 1968 the Scottish singer Donovan sang a song called "the Hurdy Gurdy Man."  Well, this is in fact, a man playing a Hurdy Gurdy - go figure.

And not to be outdone by the Hurdy Gurdy man, nor intimidated by the bronze statue of Edward Everett Hale, an icon of American history, here's a one man band entertaining the passersby on a Spring day.

Medford, Massachusetts, USA

The Mystic River winds its last few miles through Medford, Massachusetts before emptying into Boston Harbor.  Today's blog is from Macdonald Park, part of the Mystic River Reservation and located only 4 miles from downtown Boston.  It affords visitors a nice change of scene amidst the metropolitan urban setting. On this late winter day, the last day before daylight savings time starts, the first hints of Spring are seen - long shadows later in the day, damp and soft hillsides from the recent snow melt, gloveless hands and hatless heads.........

.........dogs taking their humans for a walk.

The park has a sturdy observation platform.

And this is the view from the platform - Boston's Back Bay skyline is on the horizon - the Hancock building (on the left) and the Prudential building (on the right) are Boston's tallest structures at 790 and 740 feet respectively.

Hope springs eternal - its not too early to set up the volleyball net even though the area might still get more snow before this year's season ends - these two optimists hope otherwise.



Conway, South Carolina, USA

Conway is one of the oldest towns in South Carolina and was originally founded in 1732 as the village of Kingston. Conway is currently home to more than 13,000 residents and is the county seat of Horry County. Conway has been designated as a Tree City USA for 24 consecutive years. It is part of the Myrtle Beach metropolitan area and home of Coastal Carolina University. The photo above was taken on their Riverwalk along the Waccamaw River.

It's a town where the flowering pear trees bloom in winter at the end of February.

It's the kind of town where leaving a majestic live oak tree standing in the roadway is more important than cutting it down for the convenience of cars.

It's the kind of town where spanish moss hangs from the trees......

.......And houses are set back a little from the road but, not too far that you can't say hello to folks siting on the porch.

And it's a kind of place where tulips are planted at a simple corner just because they are beautiful.  It's the kind of town that strolling about one would say, "I could live here."

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, USA

Think what you will about the often maligned gull but, it is still a majestic and beautiful flier.

Strong winds were common this week and helped in photographing the gulls.

In fact, it got so windy here that this building was turned upside down!  You can see the workers on cranes trying to figure out how to turn it back right-side-up.

But otherwise, life continues on normally - the sun shines, shadows exist.  But danger lurks everywhere.......

All appears calm and normal - until a meteorite splashes in the ocean near here.  When such an event occurs, the resulting tsunami should be more than sufficient to knock down the "tsunami zone" signs the city erected on the beach.  (See this blog on 3/1/11). Perhaps the city should replace the "tsunami zone" signs with "meteorite zone" signs? Hmmmmm? 

Grand Strand, South Carolina, USA

Sea oats (real name uniola paniculata) waving in the sunrise.

Is this sign really necessary?  How many Tsunamis have ever occurred along the South Carolina coast?    Perhaps we should put up signs at the beaches saying, "Danger - sunshine may cause skin cancer." Or, "Danger - stepping on sharp broken shells may cause foot damage."  Maybe we should require footwear for all beach goers.  Maybe we should require full length clothing covering all skin to keep the sun away. Maybe we should stop acting like a bunch of idiots by expecting towns, cities, and governments to legislate common sense.  Whatever happened to personal responsibility anyway?

Look at all the footprints - must be all the people running from the Tsunamis!!

Meanwhile, a touch of sanity (?) and unselfish commitment is displayed elsewhere by Worldguy.  Erik Bendl and his trusty dog Nice had just walked from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida over the past two months as part of his ongoing effort to raise awareness for diabetes. Like he says, would you walk up to a strange man with a dog and start chatting with him?  Probably not, but a strange man with a dog walking a six foot diameter globe - that's a whole different story - everyone walks up to him and chats and he gets to share his concern about diabetes.  (His mother was a victim of diabetes).

Elsewhere at lunch in a local Ethiopian restaurant, tourist Amy is attempting to cure her hiccups by drinking from a straw while plugging her ears - not sure it worked - I think the laughter of her tablemates at this visual spectacle may have been the real cure.

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, USA

This morning it rained buckets.  But it stopped at midday, the sun came out, the wind came up, and the temperature rose to 70 degrees F - pretty great for a winter day according to my New England blood! 
 

The storm brought a favorable surf for the surfer dudes - even though the water temp was still only in the upper 40's F.

Surfers weren't the only ones enjoying the after-storm activity, this river of fresh water runoff on the beach became the preferred bathing spot for hundreds of gulls. 

Don't they look just sparkling clean and fresh now? 

But the day passed quickly - a lone gull stood in the waning golden light just before sunset.

And in the immortal words of Elmer

Fudd, "uh.....that's all, folks!"