09.01.2024 – The air is markedly cooler on this Sunday morning, the first day of September in a year that has flown by – as all years do at this season of my life. I wake up one morning and it is spring, roll over and it is summer, get up to fall knocking at the door, back in bed and it is winter.
At least, that is how it feels.
By cooler, I mean the temperature this morning was about 70 degrees as I headed out the door, a half dozen degrees below the lows recorded each morning during the dog days. The highs are still drifting into the 90s by mid-afternoon. Still, summer has been put on notice...
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FENWAY PARK — It always feels like a homecoming when we return to “America’s Most Beloved Ballpark,” as the illuminated sign over the first-base grandstand proclaims. I have been showing up here regularly since at least 1967, maybe longer. That year is my earliest memory of being at Fenway, at age 12, sitting with my dad, brother Scott and childhood friend Bruce Courtemanche in the right-field bleachers. It was the next-to-last game of the season, and improbably the Red Sox were in a pennant race. Even more improbably, we had tickets, purchased early in the season by my dad.
Now, 57 seasons...
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SALEM, MASSACHUSETTS — Every day is Halloween here in Witch City — as this town of 45,000 on the North Shore, about 25 miles northeast of Boston, proudly proclaims itself at practically every commercial corner of town. The Witch City Mall is located downtown. The local high school athletic teams are named the Witches. Folks dressed as witches, both young and grown up, wandered the city’s streets, which are filled with shops banking on the theme. There is Witch City Wicks, a candle shop; Witch Tee’s, selling T-shirts; HausWitch Home + Healing; Blackcraft Salem; and Wicked Good Books, to name...
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BOSTON — I wish I could have been friends with Isabella Stewart Gardner. My Beautiful Mystery Companion and I are standing before a full-length portrait of her, painted in 1888 by John Singer Sargent and now ensconced in the Gothic Room of the museum that bears her name. The painting, which shows considerably less cleavage than the average teenage girl wandering any mall in America, at the time caused quite a scandal — prompting Isabella’s husband, Jack, to ask her to refrain from showing it in public. She respected his wishes. The painting remained visible by invitation only until her death...
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TAOS, NEW MEXICO — The Taos Farmer’s Market is held every Saturday from May through November in the parking lot of the handsome adobe courthouse. In previous years when we attended, it was held on the historic plaza, but apparently vendors ran out of space. The Farmer’s Market is a popular event in this small town, which holds great attraction to many visitors, including us. It has become one of our favorite places to visit in the summer — at 6,969 feet above sea level, summer temperatures are usually 15 degrees cooler than East Texas. A light hoodie is pleasantly required in the morning,...
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Everybody loves the sound of a train in the distance.
— Paul Simon
ABOARD THE DURANGO-SILVERTON NARROW GAUGE RAILROAD — In 1881, this railroad began operating between Durango and Silverton, Colorado — two towns willed into existence by railroad magnates to transport tourists, gold and silver. The gold and silver played out long ago, but the tourist trade remains healthy. My Beautiful Mystery Companion and I are attempting to escape the Texas heat with a road trip out west, eventually landing in Pagosa Springs, an hour west of Durango. We bought a pair of tickets on the steam train...
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We have a new family member. Bob doesn’t require feeding or being taken outside to do his business. He hums and squeaks but does not bark or meow. He does require regular maintenance in order to efficiently operate. Other than that, Bob is trouble-free, content to spend his downtime beneath the spare couch in the front room, safely docked in his station. Bob is a robotic floor cleaner, a Father’s Day gift from daughter Abbie.
I would never have purchased a robotic floor cleaner on my own but am grateful that Bob has joined the household. He got his name because “Bob” is in the brand...
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The remnants of Tropical Storm Beryl came through the Pine Curtain on July 8, after hours earlier leaving a half-million folks without power in the Houston area. We were far more fortunate than Bayou City residents, where more than 100,000 are still without power a week later. But the six-plus inches of rain that pummeled Three Geese Farm certainly had consequences, though nowhere near as dire. Our experience drove home the perils of hobby farming. It also reinforced my gratitude that we are not actually trying to make a living at this endeavor. So please read this in the spirit intended — not to complain...
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PHILADELPHIA — Besides touring the famed historical spots in the birthplace of America, several other interesting venues landed on our mostly unplanned itinerary, which might be of interest to readers considering a trip to Philly — a friendly, easy-to-get-around city that vies for the top of our list of American cities to visit. Here are some suggestions after our trip there. I heard from several Facebook friends responding to a call for advice before we headed north. So I am returning the favor based on our limited time in the City of Brotherly Love.
First off, you should consider buying...
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PHILADELPHIA — This is our first trip to the birthplace of America, a fitting place to visit just before Independence Day. The weather is just slightly cooler than Behind the Pine Curtain, just enough to make it tolerable to walk these historic streets. My Beautiful Mystery Companion and I booked a hotel across the street from Independence Hall, where both the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution were crafted, debated and ultimately adopted by the Founding Fathers — a term that is a bit cringeworthy but accurate. White men ran the show in 1776.
So let us praise Betsy Ross,...
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