New England
Wandering Boston Gardens
Posted June 2, 2016 by Tara Pealer
Since the spring semester ended, I started a new job, Boston got hit by a heat wave, and I’ve been bouncing back and forth from Boston to CT to handle a few things, like getting an air conditioner and getting my dog vaccinated. However, because it is finally summertime, I’ve been doing my best to walk around Boston and just get to know more of the city. Recently, I’ve been wandering aimlessly and stumbling into some of Boston’s cultivated green spaces. For example: (On the top is the Rose Garden near Simmons, and the bottom is in the financial area near Downtown Crossing) My undergraduate degree in American Studies focused heavily on the history of the environment and environmentalist movements of New England, so I’m always fascinated by these green spaces. A pretty amazing book that discusses Boston’s green spaces in particular is Michael Rawson’s Eden on the Charles. Rawson takes a serious look at green spaces like the Boston Common and this economic, socio-cultural and historical influences which shaped it from an area for cows…
Salem In A Day
Posted May 17, 2016 by Tara Pealer
My semester ended last Tuesday so, on Thursday, my friends and I went out to Salem for the day. It’s a fast, cheap trip (14 dollars for a round trip ticket on the commuter rail!) and about thirty or so minutes from South Station to the Salem MBTA station. We basically just wandered around the central tourist part of Salem, hitting up the Witch Dungeon museum, which was kind of corny but in that nice tourist-y way. They did a reenactment of one of the trials and then lead us on a tour of a replica dungeon, and discussed the history of the jailing of the witches. We then wandered down to the Peabody Museum, which was amazing and rich in both classic and maritime themed art and newer, more modern pieces. If you haven’t been, the offer a student discount and it’s really affordable to go in. Of course, spending the whole day in Salem, we had to grab lunch. If you’re looking for good food and a nice environment, I would recommend the…
Boston By Foot
Posted April 23, 2016 by Amy Wilson
One of my goals for 2016 was, as soon as the weather was nice enough, I would walk to work. From my house, it’s only 2.7 miles, which takes me about an hour. Normally, if I am taking public transit, I need to leave by 8:15 to ge to work for 9am; walking the same route only adds 15-20 minutes to my commute (which doesn’t say much for our transit system). One of the top women runners at the Marathon Attending the Boston Marathon on Monday inspired me to step it up (pun intended). After the marathon, I walked to Simmons to do some homework. Unfortunately, the computer lab was closed, so then I decided to walk home across the Charles (I live in somerville). My 3.5 miles was definitely no marathon, but I felt proud of myself because normally it wouldn’t even corss my mind to walk. View after crossing the Charles I think it’s easy to forget what a small city Boston is when you take public transit, because it can take so…
Sunshine and Seventy-Five
Posted April 21, 2016 by Tara Pealer
Today, as a friend put it, is the “First Nice Day In Boston”. Although my phone is trying to tell me it is partly cloudy, the skies are a clear blue, the 75 degree temperature is perfect, the grass is a lush green and the trees and flowers are in bloom. You can almost forgive mother nature for turning Boston in this two weeks ago: (Almost) At any rate, the weather has turned from winter to spring, and it is finally gorgeous enough out to just start walking everywhere again. This is wonderful, especially considering the fact that my commute home takes me through Fenway and Kenmore, and the Boston Red Sox opened last week for the season. As much as I’m a fan, I’m waiting excited for those nice, relaxing commutes in the summer when there are no games and there are a lot less undergraduates. (Do I sound like a grumpy old graduate student yet? I’ve been working on it.) While I don’t have plans for this weekend–yet!–I’m happy to force my friends…
Walk the Walk (on Commonwealth)
Posted November 2, 2015 by Alexandra Bernson
Last week I somehow caught laryngitis. To my memory, I have never been that sick in my entire life. I was sleeping 20 hours a day, quarantined to my little apartment, voiceless and surviving on canned soup, white rice, and rolled-up tortillas, and mentally swaying back and forth on whether I wished I still had roommates: On the one hand, I’d have someone to take care of me. On the other, they would be forced to be witness to my sickness and squalor. Thankfully my prescription meds worked wonders and I’m on the up and up, but my lost week means that autumn in New England appeared out of nowhere for me. Before I was sick, the leaves were just starting to change, littering the streets with neon yellow slivers. Now, the reds and oranges have arrived, bold and utterly beautiful. On Sunday afternoons I work at the Boston Architectural College Library and I take advantage of the still mild weather and Boston’s essential walkability and stroll through Beacon Hill, across the Public Gardens, and…
Spring Break
Posted March 5, 2015 by Hayley Botnen
I can’t believe it’s spring break next week. And I’m sure I’m not alone in being surprised at how suddenly the semester has flown by. A major part of that is due to the frequent cancellation of classes at the beginning of the semester. I don’t have any Monday classes, so I never had to worry about that, but my Tuesday class didn’t meet a couple of times. And even now, six weeks into the semester, it feels weird to go to class on both Tuesday and Thursday (which is my normal schedule). It’s been even weirder for me because I still compare every day to Montana. I lived in Montana my whole life, and while it’s a big enough state that each part of Montana is very different from another, it still feels like a place where one can speak for the state as a whole. Montana gets plenty of snow (as I think I’ve said before), but they rarely get snow storm after snow storm after snow storm. And as far as I…
An Open Letter to Snow
Posted February 15, 2015 by Jill Silverberg
Dear Snow, You have been very busy these past two months, my dear friend. Since the end of January, not a week has passed where you haven’t unleashed yourself upon the city of Boston. I wonder, is this perhaps retaliation of some kind because the meteorologists were predicting a mild winter? Or perhaps, you simply enjoy covering Boston in your snowy blankets, changing the city into a winter wonderland? Whatever your motivation for delivering snow storm after snow storm upon my beloved city of Boston, I write to you today, as strong winds howl outside my apartment creating clouds of white, to ask you for leniency. Enough is enough. Please, can we not have anymore snow? I am fully aware that writing this plea to you is most likely folly, but with 45.5 inches of snow as today (according to CNN.com), a plea such as this can’t hurt. And yes, that’s right: 45.5 inches. That’s a lot of snow, especially in such a short amount of time. Let me list a just a few of…
Boston Winter Survival Guide
Posted November 5, 2014 by Jill Silverberg
This past Sunday morning, my roommate ran into the living room of our apartment, opened the window and stuck her head outside of it. “It’s snowing out there!” she proclaimed in disbelief. I stood up and joined her at the window and took a look at all the white, fluffy stuff that was coming down. “Well, considering other years, snow in November isn’t such a shocking thing around here. However, this is only the beginning.” For those out there who do not know me, I love snow. One of the reasons I ended up going to an undergraduate university in Massachusetts was because I was guaranteed to have at least more than one snow day. But, my love for snow extends far beyond just the possibility of not having school. I love walking through it, playing in it, taking pictures of it, watching snow collect outside while sitting inside with a warm cup of hot cider. Essentially, if it is a snow based activity (other than shoveling it), chances are high that I’ve participated in it….
Explore
Posted October 16, 2014 by Hayley Botnen
This week has been fantastic for adventuring. October is drawing to a middle, but the weather is still lovely, and with having Monday off from school, I felt like this was a mini-break in the middle of a busy semester. So, of course, I did a little bit of exploring. This last Saturday, I went to Maine with my roommate. We wanted to see a few lighthouses, so we figured we’d take the scenic 1A highway up to Portland. According to GoogleMaps, Portland is usually just under 2 hours away by interstate. We figured it’d take us an extra half-hour to forty-five minutes. Ummmm. No. Being from Montana, we were still going by Montana highways, which while you will hit more towns by taking the highway, you do still have plenty of stretches going 65 mph. It tooks us four hours to get to Portland. It was a lovely drive, but we didn’t have much time to check out Portland while we were there. In fact, we pretty much walked up their Arts District street,…