Scorpion Season

Last night I was watching that gooney astronomy show, Jack Horkheimer's Star Gazer that has been on the air for 30th years now--that eery synthetic whistling theme song takes me back to 7 years old faster than I can say the name of the show. He told me that the constellation Scorpius is most visible in late July--between 9 and 10 in the evening. Antares, which marks the scorpion's heart is in the right place for a heart and the right color, red! The star is 700 times wider than our 1 million mile wide sun!! It is so gigantic that if we place one edge of it where our sun is, it reaches beyond jupiter, or 600 light years away. For those of you who can't remember what light years are, that is, we are viewing the light of the star that emitted from it 600 years ago! Within the constellation, towards the bottom right are two fainter "stars" that are actually distant star clusters, called M 6 and M 7, that are roughly 1600 light years away--their light is from 400 AD!!! Wow, outerspace blows my mind.

Look for this exciting constellation before it is gone!

Homeless Man

a crowd begins to form...



a stranger carries his face...

could this procession really be for one tragic man?

the site of the accident

on his fateful vespa...

his picture is all over the mourning town...

Though we only saw Mr. Butch a few times on a corner holding his cup for change, we found out that he was a 30+ year resident of Boston and that his intentions long ago were to be homeless. He made an astounding impact on the community, more so in death than in life, it seemed--they didn't know what they treasured until it was gone.

But as we got caught up in the memorial procession (on our way down to the ocean to enjoy a date that marked our first date six years ago in St. Joe, MI), I could not help being reminded of another homeless man who shook up the community around him...

Oh, You did not have a home
There were places You visited frequently
You took off Your shoes and scratched Your feet
'Cause you knew that the whole world belongs to the meek
But You did not have a home
No, You did not have a home

And You did not take a wife
There were pretty maids all in a row
Who lined up to touch the hem of Your robe
But You had no place to take them, so You did not take a wife
No, You did not take a wife

Birds have nests, foxes have dens
But the hope of the whole world rests
On the shoulders of a homeless man
You had the shoulders of a homeless man

No, You did not have a home
Well you had no stones to throw
You came without an ax to grind
You did not tow the party line
No wonder sight came to the blind
You had no stones to throw
You had no stones to throw

And You rode and ass' foal
They spread their coats and cut down palms
For You and Your donkey to walk upon
But the world won't find what it thinks it wants
On the back of an ass' foal
So I guess You had to get sold
'Cause the world can't stand what it can't own
And it can't own You 'Cause You did not have a home

Birds have nests, foxes have dens
But the hope of the whole world rests
On the shoulders of a homeless man
You had the shoulders of a homeless man
No, You did not have a home

Birds have nests, foxes have dens
But the hope of the whole world rests
On the shoulders of a homeless man
You had the shoulders of a homeless man
And the world can't stand what it can't own
And it can't own You
'Cause You did not have a home

~Rich Mullins 1997

July 22

Six years ago today, Scott and I had our first real date in St. Joseph, MI. We walked along the pier, swam in Lake Michigan in our street clothes and had a beautiful dinner at The Bistro. Then we went back to his parents house and watched Braveheart, just like we did on one of our dates from the first time around, way back in 1996. *Sigh* Such fond memories!

We decided to ride our bikes to Boston College and then we got coffee and split a chicken salad sub at a little cafe at the end of the green line and read for a while. Then we rode our bikes down to a reservoir that reminded me a lot of Notre Dame's little lake. In fact, most of Boston College reminded me of Notre Dame, although it is SO MUCH SMALLER!

Scott is thinking about applying for his PhD in Philosophy here this winter (for next fall) How exciting!

We stopped by the football field and the entrance was wide open, so we took a peek inside. It was fun being on a rival's home turf and imagining the roar of the full stadium....

Just a stone's throw from campus was the reservoir that reminded me of the lake at Notre Dame. It was so scenic and I got to see swans right up close!

Then we decided what we really should have done was to go down to the ocean to commemorate this sweet anniversary of sorts. So we took the Green line downtown and transferred to the Red Line. This is Carleton Beach.

Wish the sun set on the water....guess we'll have to go to California for that.

Scott pointed out a jelly fish waiting to hitch a ride on the next tide. Yikes, I've never seen one live and up close....and then he spotted another one!

Then we saw that they were EVERYWHERE!!! A living mine field! (When we got home, Scott looked them up and they are called Moon jellyfish and are NOT stingers. Whew! They're the shiny round things that look like polished stones)

Our first walk along the Atlantic together at dusk...

Downtown Boston at nightfall.

I love how the pier posts and their reflections together look like spindly legs...

We walked out to a point towards a bright, pristine building we knew to be the John F. Kennedy Museum and Library. Looked kinda like a giant sarcophagus--nothing inviting about it.

Later in the week, ironically, Scott would recieve a call to interview on this same point on the ocean, at The University of Massachusetts Boston's Library. We are anxiously awaiting a phone call. Finally, we walked all the way back to the red line, arm in arm, having a wonderful time laughing, joking, reminising...

Out with the old, in with the new...

Scott wants to know if this blog has anything to do with identity, self-renewal or displacement of some kind. I say, umm, it displaced $90 (x two) out of our bank account. That's a lot of lattes to spend on a driver's license when you don't even have a car...(Scott is laughing and says I am so base, hoi polloi, bourgeois, lower middle class even, etc.--thanks for helping me with my blog Monkey Butt, I mean Sweetie)

Farmer's Market

Every thursday, there is a bountiful, mouth-watering Farmer's Market in Brookline, which is about a ten minute bike ride from home. It opens at 1:30 and doesn't close until dusk. It is set up in a parking lot with a dozen white tents.

Every tent has its own exciting thing to fill your senses with colors, textures and smells.

Some of these things I had never seen before.

On the left is called Goose berries, which are

slightly hard and fuzzy. And on the right is red

and white currants. They enchanted me because

they are completely transparent and jewel-like,

the way you can see right into their small, vibrant

worlds of flavor and life!

And this is the bounty I brought home to enjoy!

Eating fresh and eating healthy is a fun adventure!

The Backyard Part II

Last Saturday morning, Scott and I went to our park with the express purpose of 'beautifying' it. We took big, black trash bags and latex gloves and divided to conquer. They say that Allston is the City of Broken Glass. This is true. It's probably documented somewhere that there are broken beer bottles littered all over the woodsy parts of our park! Giant rocks thrust up everywhere and have met the fate of spray paint. We picked up Fourth of July trash, old jeans, beer cans, broken glass, dog doo, left over Chinese takeout and the list gets worse. Yuck. But it felt good when we were done and we even had some dog walkers thank us.

When we got home, Scott thought it would be fun to ride our bikes over to a nearby nursery. No sooner did we arrive, than it was confirmed that we were going to plant a garden. (I hadn't yet convinced Scott of all the work I wanted to put into the backyard).

This pretty yard ornament was something like a wind chime, but made of different colored shells. The sound made when the wind blew was incredible. It resembled trickling water. I wanted one, but this one was $70! They had one that looked like a chandelier, all white, for $799.

The flowers were breathtaking.

See the little guy in flight?

We bought four green bean plants, two zucchini, two squash, six tomato, three red pepper, one basil, one sage, one mint, four impatiens, a bottle of fertilizer, and a bag of compost....and guess what we didn't have?

Um...we don't have a car anymore, so we made two trips on our bikes, very creatively. We put a tray of plants in the bottom of a trash bag and carried the bag on the side! It was an adventure.

Remember all the weeds that used to border that wall??

We finished tilling our chosen spot around 10 o'clock that night by the light of a floodlight we found in the basement. It looks fertile and inviting!

Here is the view from the top of the stairs.

Sunday afternoon, planting was as easy as 1, for our blisters, 2 for our sunburns and 3 for our bug bites and rat sightings! Ha, ha, ha!

This spot was chosen because it has the most sun all day long. I am so excited to do more. To the right, I want to mulch in a grilling area and to the left, plant a flower garden...