I’m burning ice storm wood now. After the big storm and after the snow and ice of last winter had melted, the trees at the edge of the north field remained, bent, broken. Their high tops bowed down, their crowns touching the earth, surrendered to the ice. The warming sun of the new season could […]
Magazine
Silent, Brilliant Storm
It’s been calm here this week, unusually mild for November. Temperatures have been in the 50s, skies are a light blue, the sunlight pale and weak on the bare trees, bare ground. This exposure is fleeting. It will be covered soon. But there has been a peaceful feeling all around, a sharp contrast to the […]
Four Poems by Paul Marion
All of the following poems can be found in Paul Marion’s What is the City?, copies of which may be purchased from Loom Press. Merrimack Street The place yours for once, or again, you walk down Merrimack, past Jordan’s minimalist window dressing, one black torso filling a yellow sweater, and the CVS, door open, scent […]
VIDEO: Meetinghouses
Photographer Paul Wainwright has been recording New England meetinghouses with large-format black-and-white photography since 2004, capturing their dual functions of church and town hall — and preserving the sense of history within their spaces. His book, A Space For Faith: The Colonial Meetinghouses of New England, is scheduled for release by Peter E. Randall Publisher […]
Deer Strike
This past Sunday I was slated to do a program in Kennebunkport with my friend, the author Carolyn Chute. Carolyn doesn’t drive so I was going to go pick her up which meant I was basically going to drive three sides of a triangle, from my home to Parsonsfield, Maine, down to Kennebunkport, and then […]
The Metropolitan Opera in the Pines
I went to the opera on Saturday afternoon. The Met. Verdi’s Aida. Around noon, I put on a pair of slacks and a sweater, gave the dogs a cookie and left the house. I turned left out of my driveway, headed down a paved road which soon turned to dirt. I was on my way. […]
Of Sick Dogs, Of Mad Dogs
Here was my week: Monday When I got home in the afternoon, I found Mayday, my 13-year-old mini-schnauzer, sitting in the corner, staring at the floor and trembling. When I picked her up, she felt hot. A few months ago she had been in hospital for a week with a high fever. The cause was […]
Fitchburg, MA: Mayor Lisa Wong
In November 2007, residents of Fitchburg, Massachusetts, overwhelmingly voted for change when they elected Lisa Wong, a 28-year political novice and the daughter of Chinese immigrants, as their mayor. In Wong, Fitchburg, a once thriving manufacturing city whose biggest exports these days are its jobs, gets a leader who matches an expertise in economic development […]
Pairings Hint — November/December
To respond, click on the link below. You will come to our Feedback page. Step 1. Fill in “Pairings” as the subject. Step 2. Fill in your name and e-mail address. Step 3. Type your answer in the box. Please include your city and state with your answer. Good luck! The clues: First:In Bangor, Paul […]
Newport, RI: Touro Synagogue
I once brought my mother, Adele, to Newport on a small cruise ship. We visited the mansions and Hammersmith Farm, and I showed her the bustling shops. But when we left, what she wanted to talk about most was a modest but lovely building visited by only a fraction of the city’s tourists: Touro Synagogue. […]
VIDEO: Where is Peak Color?
Yankee editor Mel Allen explains why the search for “peak color” in New England is an elusive one. Think, instead, of a process of color lasting a month or more.
VIDEO: Brimfield Antique Show
Route 20 in Brimfield, Massachusetts, is best known for the annual three-part fairs, Brimfield Antique and Flea Market Shows, that take place each May, July, and September. Catch the next one September 8-13, 2009. Yankee editor Mel Allen gives his tips for visiting the countless booths, “as far as you can see.” Hints: wear comfortable […]