The Bleak Midwinter and a Walk Around the Pond at Dusk

Our nearly snow-less winter continues.  However, that has not meant that the cold hasn't invaded our fair city (Cambridge, MA).  The Charles River is frozen.  And so is Fresh Pond.

The bleak midwinter without snow is especially bleak.  The cold keeps one from lingering and there is little to see in the snowless, barren landscape.  Hope is hard to find.

Today is the celebration of Martin Luther King, the holiday to honor the vision and hope he brought to the struggle for equal rights and equal recognition.  There was the usual services, inspirational speeches and, this year, a demonstration in Boston.  Time has past, but the hoped for vision is not fully realized.  At times, we're still two nations, not fully understanding each other.  At times, we're still in the bleak midwinter of relations and understanding.

Back in Cambridge at the end of the day, the three of us took a brisk walk around Fresh Pond in the gathering darkness of the dusk of a bleak, but snow-less, mid-winter's day.  It was cold.  But if you keep moving, it was ok.

In the bleak midwinter, hope can be found if you keep moving ahead.

The setting sun casts its orange light on the Ringe Towers trio across the frozen pond.

Dusk in the west beyond the hill of Kingsley Park.

The abandoned track of the Watertown Branch of the once Boston & Maine Railroad passes the west side of the pond.

Little Fresh Pond is frozen over.  In warmer weather, it is a favorite spot for dogs to take a quick swim.

The last light of the day reflects off the ice.

View from a Deck in East Boston

Tourists typically see Boston Harbor from the view on the Boston  side, from Rowe's Wharf or Long Wharf, or Lewis Wharf.  Residents of "Eastie" (as many call East Boston) know they have some of the best views of the harbor.  At the right, a sailboat passes into view.

The following photos show the array of from just one of the many decks that afford residents of Eastie with great views of Boston Harbor.

View to the Boston Hyatt Hotel at Logan Airport.  The airport administration building is just to the left of the hotel.

In the foreground is part of a working shipyard on the harbor waterfront. 

Sunset and the Boston Skyline as seen from across the harbor in East Boston.

Winter Evening

December brings short days and chilled evenings.  But what compensates for shivering outside and inside alike (our place is not so well-insulated) is the soft yellow lighting of the later afternoons, as well as the Christmas card dusk light of snow-covered scenes, such as the one on the right in Brookline, just outside of Boston.

The visual treats make the winter evenings of December a special time of the year.

Late afternoon waterscape.   The Charles River near Watertown Square.

A few weeks later, the Charles River is frozen and snow-covered, as seen through the wood near the river bank.

Slightly pinkist hue of the early dusk on a snow-covered December evening along the Fresh Pond Parkway in Cambridge.

Dusk sky above a snowy scene in Cambridge

Even the stop lights show red and green for the coming Christmas season.

For examples of the warm yellow lighting of late winter afternoons, see my post "Beauty in Urban Industrial Photography."