Here's a look at some of the beautiful and not-so-beautiful sights in and around western Massachusetts and southern Vermont over the course of this winter. Bundle up and enjoy!
They say it's spring, but I don't believe it. We had a foot of snow fall earlier this week, before the old stuff was even cleaned up and off the ground. Still, it's been a nice winter. No terrible storms, just "decent snows," as old timers call anything short of a three-footer around here. Here's a look at some of the beautiful and not-so-beautiful sights in and around western Massachusetts and southern Vermont over the course of this winter. Bundle up and enjoy!
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It's hard to believe, but today marks the third anniversary of the passage of the Affordable Care Act, better known as health care reform. Thank you, Barack Obama! Thank you, US Congress! Thank you, Nancy Pelosi! Thank you, Harry Reid! Thank you, Supreme Court! Here's hoping we have many, many more years to watch this fledgling law grow. As it evolves, we expect the ACA to greatly improve the lives and overall health of everyone in the US. Halfway through college, I got married. (Who knows why? Don’t ask.) Len and I would have been quite happy with a civil ceremony and raucous party, but Maryland law required the blessing of clergy. So, we found a Unitarian minister who agreed to do a small, very informal wedding in July, 1963. I was 19, he was 20. I assumed we would be together forever but it didn't turn out that way, as some of you already know.
We got off to a bad start. Our first six months together were hardly a honeymoon. We rented a small furnished basement in a poor neighborhood, and lived from hand to mouth by waiting tables, sorting mail, taking classified ads and washing cars. Even worse, we found ourselves under an avalanche of misery after being blindsided in a 7-car pile-up on a highway near Baltimore. Both injured and uninsured, we lost our jobs, our driver’s licenses and, tragically, our only valuable possession, a “new” 10-year-old Chevy. It had cost us the equivalent of a month’s rent. I was still trying to finish school, so this was a major setback. Overwhelmed by the situation, my young husband fell into a deep depression and probably suffered a nervous breakdown. He was immobilized, sleepless and hallucinating. Worst of all, he made a half-serious attempt at suicide. Looking back, I see how foolish I was to not contact our parents but, at the time, didn't think it was a good idea. None of them had forgiven us for marrying one another, especially while we were so young. They knew about our accident but didn't offer any help, and made it clear we were completely on our own. Instead, I sought help from the kind man who married us, and he referred me to a minister at All Souls Church, just a few blocks from our apartment in the Mount Pleasant neighborhood of DC. Jim Reeb was a godsend. As assistant minister of a large, inner-city church, he served as chief social worker for an active neighborhood outreach program. Several times a week, I went to his office for counseling on how to help Len through his breakdown. As things improved at home, he gave advice on how we could get out of the pit we had dug for ourselves. Jim Reeb never pretended to be a therapist but knew a lot. And, it didn't hurt that he had God on his side! I felt at the time -- and still believe -- that without his help, Len would have succeeded in doing away with himself. Terrified of being locked up, he refused help for himself, but didn't stand in my way when I said I needed to see Rev. Reeb for my own spiritual needs. It was silly, he said, but he put up with it. Not only did Jim Reeb step in and support me emotionally, but he suggested I use one of the church’s many pianos for music lessons. He knew a few parishioners who might be interested in piano lessons. Hmmm. I loved that idea! Until my teaching business got off the ground, Jim gave us one month’s rent and enough money to buy a few groceries. I think that came to about $65. As he predicted, three or four students signed up the first week and, before I knew it, I had almost more work than I could handle. Those piano lessons brought in enough money to pay our basic bills, and even bus fare to school, once in a while. When it didn't, I collected bottles for refunds. In a few months, Len improved enough that he wanted to go back out into the world, and maybe even work. (Obviously, he wasn’t fine, but I didn’t know much about mental illness at the time.) Once Len was ready, Jim got him an interview for a sales job at a stationery store on 14th Street, about three blocks from home. Jim also gave him a tweed wool jacket he could wear to the interview, and a few dollars for a haircut. Without Jim Reeb’s help, I don’t know what would have happened to us, but it could have been catastrophic. Later that year (1964), as were getting on our feet, Jim Reeb moved his wife and four young children to Boston so he could take a job with the American Friends Service Committee. I sent him a note through All Souls, thanking him for saving at least one of our lives. On Sunday, March 7, 1965, Jim Reeb answered a telegram Martin Luther Kind sent to clergy across the country, asking them to join him in Selma, Alabama, and march with him to the state capital. Several hundred protestors had already run into intensive police resistance trying to reach Montgomery that weekend, and had been ordered to stop at the Edmond Pettus Bridge in Selma. According to one account, “When ordered to end the march by state troopers, the marchers were given three minutes, but within one and half minutes they were attacked by dogs, beaten with Billy clubs, tear gas, and chased by posses.” (http://library.thinkquest.org/CR0214523/selmamarch.htm#second.) Jim and two colleagues flew south the next day and, at the end of their first full day in Selma, they were beaten by a group of white men with clubs and pipes. For some reason, Jim didn't reach a hospital for several hours. He died there from his injuries three days later. He was 38. To read a portion of the eulogy Martin Luther King gave at Jim Reeb’s memorial service, click Read More. … [On Tuesday, March 9, after that day’s leg of the march] Reeb and two friends got some dinner in a local restaurant -- not one of the "whites only" restaurants, but one run by local black citizens. When they had eaten and left, they were walking to the church where marchers were meeting again to plan for the next day. James Reeb never made it to that meeting. Four white men attacked him on the street. His two friends recovered from being kicked and beaten, but James was struck from behind by a heavy piece of wood. It crushed the left side of his head. At his memorial service, held in Selma on the day that President Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act, Martin Luther King concluded his eulogy with these remarks: Naturally, we are compelled to ask the question, Who killed James Reeb? The answer is simple and rather limited when we think of the who. He was murdered by a few sick, demented, and misguided men who have the strange notion that you express dissent through murder. There is another haunting, poignant, desperate question we are forced to ask this afternoon. It is the question, 'What killed James Reeb? When we move from the who to the what, the blame is wide and responsibility grows… James Reeb was murdered by the indifference of every minister of the gospel who has remained silent behind the safe security of stained glass windows. He was murdered by the irrelevancy of a church that will stand amid social evil and serve as a taillight rather than a headlight, an echo rather than a voice. He was murdered by the irresponsibility of every politician who has moved down the path of demagoguery, who has fed his constituents the stale bread of hatred and the spoiled meat of racism. From http://www.stolaf.edu/news/speeches/benson.html For some recollections of Reeb’s two daughters, see http://www.hmbreview.com/articles/2008/11/12/news/doc491b50f509276949150920.txt According to a Ju;y 17, 2011 story in the Boston Globe, the FBI had reopened the investigation of his murder. http://bo.st/ZADEmA Looking for something different to serve at your Super Bowl Party this Sunday? Here's an idea: Order a party platter with a sauce of your choice, from one of our local country stores. Um-um, good! And, you can save the leftovers for ice fishing! A twofer! One of unexpected benefits of grandparenthood is the chance one gets to play with toys. Big toys, little toys, girls toys, boys toys, it doesn't matter. I guess we didn't have many toys when we were growing up, or at least, not enough. Today, my husband and I never miss a chance to poke around toy shops or try out toys we stumble upon at garage sales, under the pretense of stocking our home toy box (for the grandkids,of course!). In fact, the two of us can spend whole evenings comparing notes on toys that meant something to us, how we got them and what we did with them when we were too old to get away with playing with them. Hint: Some are in our attic. So, it was a given that while in Colmar France, we would visit La Musée du Jouet, the city’s delightful toy museum. And, what a treasure we found: Our two childhoods cleaned up and captured behind glass for all to enjoy! If you are thinking of going there, be forewarned, this is not a toy museum for children. It’s obviously designed for adults -- grandparents, actually – since most of the toys are 40-50 years old and counting. As you enter this three-story dreamworld, you will be greeted by mechanical horses and a carriage right out of a fairy tale! You'll find baby dolls galore. ( I've mentioned before that, as a child, my favorite baby doll wore a bridal outfit. I kept her in a cradle and had no problem with any of that.) And, you'll find tea sets, little sewing machines and doll clothes. Plus bikes, trikes and toy horses, both rocking and stationary. They have a separate room of little cars, boats, planes and board games, plus tea sets, miniature sewing machines, kitchen sets, a Punch and Judy show and roomful of collectible dolls from the 1940s to 1960s. When I was a kid, my favorite was a Ginny doll that looked and dressed like a kid my age. I never owned a Barbie doll and, frankly, would never give one to a granddaughter today. BUT, the Colmar collection shows that the Barbies of yesterday were much more interesting than the tarted-up ones kids play with now. In fact, Barbie reflected the fashions and visions of women of her day. Look at this incredible display of historical Barbies and you may find representations of Jacqueline Kennedy, Audrey Hepburn, Sophia Loren and even Josephine Baker! Big,mechanical, metal sculptures were not part of my childhood, but I loved this one. As you might expect, there are puppet show and a fabulous train exhibit, plus a floor full of all kinds of trains moving through Alsatian landscapes, including one that travels through a miniature Colmar. You'll see them in the video, below. For more information on this cheery trip back to childhood, go here. An op-ed by Indian author Sohaila Abdulali in yesterday's New York Times is the perfect follow up to my last post. She and I are definitely on the same page about how rape and rapists should be viewed. Here are a few choice comments: Rape is horrible. But it is not horrible for all the reasons that have been drilled into the heads of Indian women. It is horrible because you are violated, you are scared, someone else takes control of your body and hurts you in the most intimate way. It is not horrible because you lose your “virtue.” At age 17, Abdulali was gang-raped by four men over a period of hours, and she credits her family for handling the event in a way that helped her move on with her life. At 17, I was just a child. Life rewarded me richly for surviving. I stumbled home, wounded and traumatized, to a fabulous family. With them on my side, so much came my way. I found true love. I wrote books. I saw a kangaroo in the wild. I caught buses and missed trains. I had a shining child. The century changed. My first gray hair appeared. Like me, she has no use for those who turn the blame on the victim instead of the rapist. There is no rational excuse for rape. And, it has NOTHING (I repeat, nothing) to do with sex but everything to do with control. Rape is just another form of attempted murder. We need to shelve all the gibberish about honor and virtue and did-she-lead-him-on and could-he-help-himself. We need to put responsibility where it lies: on men who violate women, and on all of us who let them get away with it while we point accusing fingers at their victims. To read the entire piece, go to http://nyti.ms/VRbelT. If there were no violence against women, the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 -- which the House of Representatives allowed to expire early this week -- would be unnecessary. Apparently, that’s not the case. Recently, several high-profile rape cases have underscored our antiquated views and laws regarding one person taking advantage of another person's body. You would think violence against women would be obvious and easy to prosecute, but it's not. I'm talking about rape. In India, where women overwhelmingly are the victims in the majority of violent crimes, two young rape victims recently died after their ordeal. Actually, they were raped several times: once by aggressors, then by certain elements of their culture, and finally by their own law enforcement and legal systems. Their deaths, it turns out, may galvanize an entire population into re-evaluating its attitude toward women and rewriting laws pertaining to rape. In the US, two current cases illustrate the need for a simple, single, legal definition of rape. In California, a rape conviction was overturned because the victim was not married. What, you say? An archaic state law ties certain rapes to the business-side of marriage by protecting a husband's valuable possessions, including his access to his wife. Got it? In this case, the sleeping victim was not married, but says she was tricked into believing she was having sex with her boyfriend when the man was, in fact, a stranger. The absence of a reasonable law forced the judge’s hand in this one, and he had to let the guy go. Words fail. In a small town in Ohio, two high school football players allegedly repeatedly raped an unconscious 16-year-old girl shortly before the start of school. The boys claim the sex was consensual. “Friends” caught the act on video, then posted it with related gossip to other friends through social network sites. Townspeople quickly took sides and outside “advocates” got involved. Chaos and anger ensued. Add to this ugly mix, evidence was lost on such ephemeral media, and some of what remains is inconclusive as proof of rape, or not. As long as there is violence against women in the US and elsewhere, we need laws that make it easy to determine a crime has been committed and easy to prosecute someone who has abused a woman’s body and soul, whether the attacker succeeded in causing that woman's death or not. If you steal from the pockets of an unconscious person, isn't that a crime, no matter what the person was dreaming? If you threaten to strangle or hold a knife to someone's throat, isn't that attempted murder? Is there ever a question that a crime has been committed when someone stabs, beats or shoots another person? Do we blame stabbing victims for their deaths? Do we doubt that someone's life has been threatened if they are kidnapped? A rape is just another form of murder or attempted murder, pure and simple. The crime and its victims should be treated with the same care and seriousness. There is no such thing as he-said/she-said in a murder case, and it should never be considered in the investigation or prosecution of a rape. For more on these cases, see: http://bit.ly/Wc1PnO http://nyti.ms/Wc20Q5 http://bit.ly/Wc2cyH Thanks to you and everyone who took a woman to vote on November 6, we now have more women and more diversity in Congress, than ever before. It's not enough, of course, but it's a good start. Next time, please take two women to vote! I won't be satisfied until the percentage of women in Congress mirrors the makeup of the US population, which, right now, is a little heavy on XX chromosomes. See: http://nyti.ms/WbWcGl Meet all 20 women members of the Senate: http://wapo.st/Wc0760 It's that time of year, when everyone starts compiling lists. At Birds, the most important list of the year is the one of new books by authors who happen to follow this blog. We've got mystery writers and other novelists, self-help gurus, artists, a satirist, a poet,a French literature scholar and someone who writes in the young adult genre. We've even got a joyful CD. What more could anyone want? You'll recognize a few names, but I've read many of these books so am sure you'll hear more about all of them in the near future. Most books and the CD are available from Amazon through the link provided. If reviewed, I've provided the ranking. In some cases, authors also sell books on their own websites and would prefer you buy directly from them. Don't shop online? Then print this page and take it with you to your local bookseller for holiday shopping or your own reading pleasure. Elaine Magalis Elaine Magalis Long-time Birds reader and blogger at Late Fruit, Elaine Magalis lives near the Canadian border in West Glover, Vermont. A writer, editor, art historian and docent at the Old Stone House in Brownington, Elaine taps into her interests in the first two installments of a series of "cozy mysteries" set in the mythical Shrubsbury, Vermont, the quintessential small New England village of lore. The Body in the Butter Churn 5 stars from Amazon! A gem of a mystery! Elaine rolls history, the practice of art restoration, arts administration, Internet research and police procedure into a big knitting ball of a tale about an improbable murder in an idyllic locale. Follow her two would-be detectives as they track down a killer in a town ripped right from a Currier & Ives print. Reading this book is like taking a dip in a refreshing Northeast Kingdom quarry pool on a sweltering afternoon, without getting wet. The Organist Who Wore Gloves Another great cozy mystery from Elaine Magalis, a perfect read for a cold winter night. In this tale, we learn much more about the two "detectives," Alex and Tasha Mulholland, both of whom are experiencing trepidation over growing older. One is facing puberty and the other, old age. If you love Vermont, or just have a vision of how idyllic life might be in a slower-paced, less congested locale, you may be surprised to learn that ordinary people are less than perfect everywhere, even in Shrubsbury, Vermont, and especially to its south, in the nearly heathen Brattleboro. Can't wait for her third book in this series! Kathleen Scott and Dennis E. Coates, Ph.D. Conversations with the Wise Aunt: The Secret to Being Strong as a Teenager and Preparing for Success as an Adult 4.5 stars from Amazon! Don’t you wish a wise relative would step in and help you raise your kids? Life-coach Dennis E. Coates and his wife, writer and blogger Kathleen Scott, assume the roles of favorite relatives in this book and its predecessor, Conversations with the Wise Uncle. Coates and Scott say all those things you wish you could say easily, but can’t. Even better, they throw in the advice your kids don’t want to hear from you (of all people!). What a blessing for a frazzled parent on your gift list! Ann McNeal Ann McNeal The Spaces Between 5 stars from Amazon! A closet poet for decades, Ann McNeal taught physiology at Hampshire College for 33 years while writing poetry published by small journals, including Peregrine, Paper Street, Equinox, and several anthologies, including On Retirement: 75 Poems (University of Iowa Press, 2007) and Solace in So Many Words (Weighed Words, 2011). This collection of her work speaks the quiet language of New England backyards and woods. Using images from nature, her writing portrays subtle changes of weather, both external and internal. Observations on a quiet pond, mathematics lessons in grammar school, the poignancy of autumn, all lead to accessible yet profound meditations on life and aging. Bill Campbell The Koontown Killing Kaper 4 stars from Amazon! I finally got a chance to meet the iconoclastic novelist Bill Campbell. His third novel, Koontown Killing Kaper, is making some waves, even in academe where it is popping up on syllabi for African-American and contemporary lit courses. Bill is one of the most literate writers you’ll ever encounter, but he hides his reading addiction well behind a near-perfect voice for satire, especially on any topic related to the black experience. If you like the book, he has a whole range of related merchandise on his website. Theasa Touhy Theasa Tuohy Five O’Clock Follies: What's a Woman Doing Here, Anyway? 4.5 stars from Amazon! Says Amazon: In her brilliant debut novel, longtime daily journalist Theasa Tuohy captures the essence of what drives those who go into war armed only with a camera, notebook, and pen. At a time when women rarely dreamed beyond careers as nurses, teachers or secretaries and certainly not as news reporters, a tall, enigmatic redhead arrives in Saigon. She is an object of great interest to the male correspondents, one of whom reports she arrived at Tan Son Nhut Airport wearing high heeled bikini shoes. Few take her seriously as a reporter. To most, she is a trifle, a bobble, a lagniappe. Angela Martinelli survives a chopper crash, spends several days in the bunkers of the so-called Alamo Hilton during the siege of Khe Sanh, is captured briefly by the Viet Cong while trying to make her own way to the battle of Hue after being refused a hop on a military chopper because she isn't male, and finally is badly wounded when a jeepload of other correspondents are killed in Cholon, the Chinese quarter of Saigon. Her life, loves and struggle to prove herself chronicle the deterioration of the war, the strategic battles around the Tet offensive, and the conflict raging back home over the conduct of the war. Not since Graham Greene has anyone captured so well the tedium and terror of reporting on war. Pamela Chatterton-Purdy Pamela Chatterton-Purdy and David Purdy Icons of the Civil Rights Movement Some of you may be familiar with artist Pamela Chatterton-Purdy’s Icons of the Civil Rights Movement, a multi-media exhibit featured on this blog as part of a series of posts about civil rights. Using wood, oil paint and even gold, Pamela created 26 pieces of art commemorating milestones in the US civil rights movement or honoring its martyrs. Like religious icons, these panels tell a powerful story through images capturing the power and the dignity of those involved in the struggle. The Icons have been exhibited at over 22 universities, art galleries, libraries, houses of worship, as well as at the Obama inauguration in 2008. As Pamela and her husband David, a retired United Methodist minister, traveled with the exhibit, they got a chance to meet and talk with some of their heroes, including Rep. John Lewis, the family of Viola Liuzzo, the father of a child killed in the Birmingham church bombing and one of the nine students who integrated the Little Rock schools in 1957. The Purdys also met “ordinary people who did extraordinary things,” Pamela says. These were the unknowns who marched, sat in, registered voters and did legal work for equal rights. Using eyewitness testimony collected over the course of their travels, the two created a large-format, hardcover art book featuring 22 of Pamela’s pieces and a narrative based on David’s historical research. Not only does Icons of the Civil Rights Movement: Connecting the Dots contains high-quality reproductions of Pamela’s work, the book includes exclusive interviews with people whose courage and commitment changed the course of history. You can purchase this book directly from the Purdys. Click on the title to link to their website. Leigh Russell Leigh Russell Death Bed (2011 in UK, 2012 in US) 4 stars from Amazon! UK author Leigh Russell writes the very popular DCI Geraldine Steele police-procedural series. Leigh’s most recent book, Death Bed, hit UK bestseller lists a year before it was available in the US. She promises her next book, Stop Dead, will top all the previous Geraldine Steele mysteries in shock and complexity. Not an easy task! Stop Dead will be published this month in the UK, but is available now for pre-order in the US at amazon.com. Paula Dumont Paula Dumont Les convictions de Colette: Histoire, politique, guerre, condition des femmes French university professor Paula Dumont looks at 20th century French novelist Colette's views on women's lives, loves, and history in a book published this month, in France. Les convictions de Colette is not available from Amazon at this time, but can be purchased through the link above. Colette was a brilliant female writer, perhaps best known for Gigi, her scandalous novel about a young courtesan-in-training. Colette's own life was far more flamboyant than her literature. At 34, she began a very public romance with one of Napoleon's nieces. At 47, she seduced her teenage stepson. In the 1940s when she was in her 70s, she aided many Jews hiding from the Germans, including her own husband. At the same time, she flirted with Nazi occupiers. For more about Colette's life and work, see http://bit.ly/UEI60z. I look forward to learning more about what drove this complex woman, according Professor Dumont's research. Archer Mayor Archer Mayor Paradise City: A Joe Gunther Novel 4 stars from Amazon! Another year, another mystery for Joe Gunther and his crack team at the Vermont Bureau of Investigation. This one takes them out of their comfort zone in Brattleboro, Vermont, to the lawlessness of urban and rural Massachusetts. An elderly woman surprises thieves in her Beacon Hill home and is viciously murdered. Thus begins a tale that moves from the streets of Boston to ivy-covered Northampton (a/k/a Paradise City) in the west, and ultimately back north to the Green Mountain State. Archer Mayor’s 2011 book made it to the New York Times Bestseller list. He’s on a roll. Best wishes, Archer! Rani Arbo and Daisy Mayhem Rani Arbo and Daisy Mayhem Some Bright Morning (CD) I’ve written at length about Rani Arbo and the agnostic gospel group Daisy Mayhem. We never miss a chance to hear them perform live. In fact, the best live music I’ve heard this season came from Daisy Mayhem and the hospice choir Hallowell at a Brattleboro church last month. If you want to feel good or just belt out a few joyous sounds with like-minded folks, join with the Mayhem on their new album, Some Bright Morning. Follow the link to song samples, downloads and a place to purchase this gem of a CD. Suitable for all ages, orientations and most musical preferences. Connie Corcoran Wilson Connie Corcoran Wilson For the last several years, blogger and journalist Connie Wilson has published three, four or five books a year. How does she do it? Does this woman ever sleep? This year, she co-authored a textbook on creative writing while producing weekly entertainment reviews and a collection of award-winning mystery/thriller short stories that are sure to scare you into mending your ways. All are available on Amazon. Here’s Connie's current lineup: Creative Writing Primer by Ellen Tsagaris, Connie (Corcoran) Wilson, Robin Throne and Jodie Toohey Hellfire and Damnation II 4.5 stars from Amazon! The Color of Evil 3.5 stars from Amazon! The Legend of Tug Fest and Other LeClaire Ghost Stories The Bureau Here is my Christmas gift to you: nuggets of Christmas cheer, warmth and sugar, all wrapped up in a tidy sampler box with pretty wrapping. Dig in! You’ll find family stories, music, dance, art, a little history, a photo or three. These 10 stories are being recycled from earlier posts, as a way to save on time and energy at this time of year. I think you’ll like them just as much as new ones. Be sure to turn up your speakers for the holiday music! Some of it may be new to you. So, let's relax over the next few weeks and enjoy as much time as we can with our family and friends. See you next year. All best wishes for 2013! Joyeux Noël! Click here to read 10 Christmas stories Click here for information about the Penrose Victorian Inn. |
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