Columbus Day in Rockport

This weekend, artisans in the Cape Ann towns of Rockport and Gloucester opened their galleries for their 30th Annual Studio Tour. We decided that this was a lovely excuse to drive to the coast and enjoy the blue skies and salty air. Those of you who are George Clooney fans (and really, who isn't?) might know Gloucester as the setting for the movie The Perfect Storm. It's also home to that yellow slicker-clad icon, the Gorton's Fisherman. Gloucester is incredibly scenic, and deserves its own post sometime. For this outing, though, we decided to spend most of the afternoon next door in Rockport's Bearskin Neck, a touristy stretch of lobster shacks, art galleries, and souvenir shops.

Here on Bradley Wharf, you can see what has been called "the most often-painted building in America", a red fishing shack known as Motif #1.

After lunch at the Blue Lobster Grille, we wandered down the streets and through the shops.

The intriguingly named
"Dark Star Philosophia"

Gorton's Fishergulls?

This buoy was calling my name.

Lobster Traps

Fall Fashion Essentials: Boston Edition

I miss the L.A. uniform. Slip on a pair of faded jeans, a white gauzy tunic, and some flip-flops and you could blend in anywhere in the city, from the surf shacks of Manhattan Beach to the sidewalk bistros of Robertson Blvd. So easy. Of course, looking good in L.A. has always been about the body, not the clothes. It takes endless hours of hiking in Runyon Canyon to perfect that laid-back style. On second thought, maybe not so easy after all.

I'm sure it will surprise you not in the least to hear that there is a uniform in Boston too. Over the last week, I've been shuttling visiting relatives all over town, and doing some fashion reconnaissance on the sly. So, what are all the cool girls wearing this fall?

#1: Longchamp's Le Pliage

This bag is everywhere. Navy is the most popular, but several girls walking around the Common today sported dark red.

Here.

#2: Frye Melissa Button Boot

There are still a few brave souls wearing their Navajos, but most are tucking their skinny jeans and Lululemons into riding boots.

Here.

#3: The Quilted Puffer Vest

Your torso is ready for the tundra in a down vest. Again, navy rules, but yesterday I saw a beautiful version in burgundy with ruffles down the front at Sara Campbell in Concord.

Here.

#4: The Infinity Scarf

I am convinced that Une Femme is the only chick in Southern California who understands scarves. So, I'm encouraged to see women wearing circle scarves, like this one from Lilly Pulitzer. No mad origami skillz needed. Even I can pull this look off.

Here.

#5: Needlepoint Hat

Worn with a bun peeking out at the nape of the neck.

Here.

PSA: Brooks Brothers Shoe Sale

I have been stalking these shoes forever. They are finally on super-sale for $45.60. Oh Happy Day!

Apple Picking

My sister and niece flew out from L.A. yesterday to visit me for a whole week! The little one is currently obsessed with the Fancy Nancy book Apples Galore, so this morning we drove out to Stow to pick apples at Shelburne Farm.

You can walk through the orchards and fill up 10 or 20 pound bags with Macoun, McIntosh, Cortland, Empire, and Fuji apples. You can also pick what's left of the summer peaches, or get a jump on Halloween and buy a pumpkin instead.

We admired the farm animals, which included some donkeys and a llama, and then set out into the orchard.

We took a hay ride.

And we *had* to take a break for cider donuts!

Cider donuts rule.

So, what does 20 pounds of apples look like?

Our haul.

I tried to get my niece to do her best "Desperate Merry Wives" pose, but she went running after a dropped apple like Atalanta.

Tomorrow we head out to the Deerfield Fair in New Hampshire!

Twilight on the Pond

Did you see the Harvest Moon last night? I forgot all about it until I took the Merry Dog for an evening walk around Horn Pond and glanced up to see its full white face.

One of the pond's resident swans.

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Reflections of a Householder

Pond at the Minuteman National Park Visitor Center,
Lexintgon, MA

While getting caught up on my high school alumni notes this weekend, I read that that a former classmate was ordained in July as a Benedictine priest. This after years of exploring Eastern spirituality and then living at a monastery in the Mohave Desert.

It is difficult for me to reconcile this holy image with my memory of the teenager who would sit and talk with me at lunch about cars, guitars, and surfing (the three primary obsessions of any So Cal teen) and then carry my books as we walked to 5th period Civics. But I am happy for him, and incredibly impressed that he has committed himself so completely to his pursuit of truth. Congratulations, Father Cassian.

I, on the other hand, am shopping around for God, or (more precisely) a new spiritual home. As a Unitarian in Los Angeles, my options were pretty limited. My preferred church was a good 40 minute drive away. Between the commute and coffee hour (free-trade, of course), I was lucky to get back home by 2:00.

But now I find myself in Unitarian Central - there are six congregations within a 5 mile drive. For the first time, I can be picky. On a rainy Sunday a few weeks ago, I visited First Parish in Lexington, right on the Battle Green. With its tall white steeple, Hutchings pipe organ, and old cemetery out back, it is the quintessential New England Church. Yesterday, I attended services at the Follen Church Society, also in Lexington. Follen is the oldest standing religious structure in Lexington. It was also the site of Emerson's last regular preaching gig before he chucked it all for Transcendentalism. They've kept his pulpit all these years, and now the congregation's brand-new slip-of-a-thing Reverend Claire preaches from it every Sunday at 10:30. A self-described Jewnitarian, she gave a beautiful sermon yesterday about Yom Kippur, imperfection, and atonement. I like to think Emerson would have approved.

I couldn't bring myself to take photos inside the sanctuary, so I've taken a few from their website.

Follen Church Society
755 Massachusetts Ave.
Lexington, MA

The sanctuary was shaped like an
octagon so that church-goers could
see and hear the minister and each other
easily.

Detail of Emerson's pulpit. Originally, the pulpit was at pew-level
so that the minister was not above his congregants. 

In a sign of the times, the old Unitarian church building in Woburn is now the Satsang Center. I like to think that Emerson, who was influenced by the Vedas, would have approved of this as well.

Independent Study

I am currently enjoying an extended sabbatical. That is, I haven't quite convinced myself to look for a job yet (it's on my to-do list, I swear). Instead, I'm using up my new town's free services, first and foremost, the library.

Woburn Public Library,
aka Winn Memorial Library

Statue of  Benjamin Thompson.

Isn't it pretty? The architect was Henry H. Richardson, who also designed Trinity Church in the Back Bay of Boston. The statue out front is of Benjamin Thompson, a Woburn-born physicist who served as a soldier for the Loyalists during the Revolution. After the war, he moved back to London. Apparently, all has been forgiven, and he now keeps a careful eye on the courthouse across the street.

The book stacks in the morning light.

When I moved here, I pictured endless hours spent loitering on the upper levels of the stacks, like Burgess Meredith in that Twilight Zone episode before he breaks his glasses. Imagine my disappointment when I learned that the stairs to the upper level have been chained off. The lovely iron balconies have become too rickety (librarian's words, not mine) and only library employees are allowed up. My inner reaction? "That's not fair. That's not fair at all. There was time now. There was all the time I needed....*sob*."

But onward. I am now happily requesting and checking out books with abandon, everything from 84, Charing Cross Road to the Prose Edda. Let the semester begin!