Sunset at the Beach

Sunday, July 4th, we spent the evening walking Revere Beach (north of Boston) and stayed to enjoy the sunset. We were treated to the visual effect of an ever shifting palate of colors, both in the sky and clouds over the water (in the east) and over the marsh (to the west). We call this the "pink moment," inspirted by a friend from Ojai, CA, who introduced us to that term.

Above right: A rainbow in the sky points to a couple walking along the ocean's edge.

Below: The clouds above appeared like a giant watercolor, maybe by someone influenced by Monet.


Below: Dramatic steaks of light and shaddow across the cloudy sky to the west.

Below: Two views to the west. I love the dramatic contrast of light and shadow.

Churches of Santa Fe

In the end of May I found myself in Santa Fe, New Mexico, attending a family wedding. Santa Fe has an interesting history that weaves Native American and Spanish cultures into the ethnic stew of the present-day southwest in the US. Perhaps most unexpected was that Santa Fe was settled by Europeans before my hometown of Boston. The City of Santa Fe was founded in 1610 while Boston dates from 1630.

The architecture of the churches particularly caught my eye. Typical of the southwest, the palate of the facades consists of earth tones, reflecting Spanish architecture and local materials. The results are a very appealing simplicity in these sacred spaces. Following are samples of these churches.

Above right: Simple interior of the Santuario Diocesano de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe (Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe).

Below: Exterior of the Santuario Diocesano de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe.


Below: San Miguel Mission Church, recognized as the Oldest Church in the United States San Miguel Mission, dates from the early 1600s.

Below: The St. Francis Cathedral Basilica





Right: The famous spiral staircase in the Loretto Chapel. It was constructed in the 1870s. As the taped recording in the chapel tells the story, the chapel was built without a stairs to the choir loft, and this required climbing ladders. This was ok for men, but this chapel was used by nuns. As the referenced web site states, "many carpenters were consulted for a solution, but all of them felt that a traditional stairway would take up too much room." What to do? "The Sisters sought divine guidance, and on the ninth and final day of their Novena, a mysterious carpenter appeared who designed and constructed a circular stairway to the loft. His 'miraculous stairway' contains 33 steps in two full 360-degree turns, with no center support, nor is it held from the sides. Upon completing the stairway, the carpenter disappeared without receiving payment for his work." It still is a mystery to architects and structural engineers as to how it is self-supporting. In recent times, they added braces so it does not collapse with the vibrations on traffic on the street outside.

Sunset on the Charles, Part 2

A few more views from my bike ride home along the Charles River in Boston. Always seems I'm heading home just around sunset. These views are from June 17, 2010.

Sunsets on the Charles River

Whether I take the subway home or ride my bike, I'm often heading home along or across the Charles River near sunset.

Between Boston and Cambridge, the Charles River Basin is lined by parks, the most famous being the Esplanade. This consists of parkland along the riverbank as well as a series of small islands and lagoons. It also features the Hatch Shell, a large bandstand where the annual 4th of July concert and fireworks are held.

Below: Charles Station on the MBTA Red Line, the only above-grade station on this subway line within Boston Proper, affords a wonderful view of sunsets on the Charles River.

Below: A twisted willow on one of the Esplanade islands is silhouetted against the sunset sky over the river. This was on a ride home in March 2009.

Below: A footbridge crosses the lagoon between the riverbank and one of the Esplanade islands.

Below: A delicate pink light on the horizon is reflected in the wide section of the lagoon that separates the bank from the islands. Another photo from a bike ride home.

Below: The tree canopy frames a view west into the dusky sky, with the Harvard Bridge (Massachusetts Avenue) and the high rise dorms of MIT and Boston University in the background.

Below: Ducks swim in the river near the Harvard Bridge, which carries Massachusetts Avenue over the river. Interestingly, the Harvard Bridge is not near Harvard University, but instead adjacent to MIT. Apparently, there was a contest between the schools for naming rights, and given the plain profile of the bridge, it was the looser of the contest that carries its name on the bridge over a century later.

In the Mist Outside the Science Center and Other Photos of a Sunny Friday

Friday afternoon before Memorial Day, I scheduled a late afternoon appointment near home. That gave me the opportunity to just stroll around on a most beautiful, warm, sunny late day in spring! Living a short walk from the campus of Harvard University, I headed in that direction.

Right: sunlight in the tree canopy over Harvard Street.

Below: a view through the mist of the spray founation outside the Harvard Science Center. I spent many a hot afternoon here with my toddlers who enjoyed a bit of the cool spray. Also, Memorial Hall in the background is also famous as the "analog" structure from which the CG version of the Great Hall at Hogwarts was created for the Harry Potter movies.

Below: a young woman finds the stones of the fountain a convenient place to sit while making a call.

I Don't Think We're Still in Cambridge, Children!

That's the feeling I have everytime I walk into this little isolated part of my current home town of Cambridge. This little neighborhood is off the beaten path, partly bordered by the sprawling campus of Harvard University. While the rest of Cambridge is very much a city -- high rise buildings, the subway, closely spaced building, itsy bitsy back yards -- I enter this area and everything changes!

This was a favorite place to stroll when my children were little. First, it was quiet! All those city noise of traffic and people and activity are gone. The houses feel like I'm in the suburbs, maybe an older suburb with a slightly rural character as afforded by the canopy of very mature trees. Some trees, like the one on the right, have grown into the street, beyond the curbline. This never happens in the rest of the city.

There are lawns and real backyards. There are even some single-family houses, which are a rarity in a city of triple deckers (3-family homes with one unit on each floor).

I still enjoy strolling here, and did so today on this beautiful, sunny Sunday in May. Thought the photographs you can join me on a stoll through this part of Cambridge which doesn't feel like we're still in Cambridge.

Urban Evening

It is evening when my workday is finally over and I can leave my environmentally controlled office (visually isolated from the world outside) and enter the urban environment of this great city where I am employed. Many days, I'm rushing home and take everything for granted. Other evenings, when I have some time, I stroll, taking in the scenes as though I was a tourist here for the first time.

Here are some evening photos. All but the park were taken just last Thursday.

Above left: The classic Boston Back Bay skyline reflecting into the Charles River, as seen from the Massachusetts Avenue (Harvard) Bridge. The tower on the left in the Hancock and on the right it's the Prudential (the results of a rivalry for tallest building in Boston between these two insurance companies in the 1960s). To the left of the Hancock tower is the old Hancock tower with its lit single spire.

Below: A view across the lagoon at the Public Garden as the shadows of evening fall.



Below: Up close, the Hancock tower's glass facade reflects its plaza and the buildings around it.

Below: A view down St. James Avenue, with the Hancock tower to the right.



Below: The evening setting sun backlights clouds over the Boston Public Library and the Old South Church.