Arson at Pondside Reality
Arson at Pondside Reality
Earlier this week as I was coming down Centre Street back to my apartment, I was shocked to see that Pondside Reality, where Yorgos helped us found our place on Rockview, had been reduced to a charred shell. I soon learned that this was the fourth incidence of arson involving JP businesses in little over a year. My sympathies go out to Yorgos and the rest of the employees there, and I hope they can get to the bottom of this despicable string of crimes.
Views from the New Bike Route: Jamaica Pond
One of the best perks of living in JP is the ride from here to work each morning. The 20-25 minute journey takes me down the backroads of Brookline and Chestnut Hill on what feel like country roads. Along the way I pass three bodies of water, the first of which is Jamaica Pond, the bluest of the jewels in the Olmstead-designed Emerald Necklace.
According to The Heart of the City, Jamaica Pond “largest and purest water body in the City of Boston.” Geologically speaking, it’s a “60-acre kettlehole, which is a water body created by glacial meltwater. Natural springs feed the pond, which is up to 90-feet deep in some sections. According to the 2001 Emerald Necklace Master Plan, the pond has ‘exceptionally good water quality’ (p171).”
More on Jamaica Pond: http://www.jamaicapond.com/
Home in Jamaica Plain, or Coming (Nearly) Full Circle
This morning I’m sitting in Emack and Bolios on Centre Street in Jamaica Plain, working on the introduction to my dissertation. I’ve been working on a section where I describe my experience of dislocation after moving from Chicago to Boston, and how my sense of place there was deepened by working with refugees. I’m quite certain that I’ve ended up in JP because it has always reminded me of my old neighborhood in Rogers Park, and now that I’ve moved here after years wandering in an Allston wilderness for too many years, I feel like this is not just a new beginning but also a kind of homecoming, a return to a sense of urban place that I’ve missed for a long time.
It’s good to be back.
Read more about Home in Jamaica Plain, or Coming (Nearly) Full Circle
Carmina Burana at the Sanders Theater
Friday night we took in a free performance of Carmina Burana Harvard’s Sanders theater. Our friend Arnie was in the chorus, so it was a good chance to hear him sing and experience this great piece live for the first time. The performance was outstanding, and I can think of few better places to hear a concert like this.
Being there reminded me that one of the first things I did on my first day in Boston was to hear a concert at Sanders Theater.