The Industrial Harbor

I am going to miss the working harbor. You get very used to the industrial buildings as part of the scene. I find it exciting to see all the activity that goes with supporting and running a fishing harbor. The Gloucester fishing industry diminishes each year because of the restrictions on taking stocks of fish. Still, the harbor always looks busy to me.

I Wil Miss . . . . . . . .

Buoys! They are everywhere on Cape Ann. You see them hanging on fences, barns, fishing shacks, etc. They always remind me that I live in a working fishing city.

Things I Will Miss

I am going to miss that part of the beach where the waves wash up on the sand. In summer you walk through the water to cool off. In the winter you try not to walk through the waves or get wet! Then there is the sound of the waves. I can hear it from my house at high tide in the Magnolia Harbor.

New Home

I've been running around a lot lately - doctor's visits, packing to move and organizing my work before I head to surgery. This is an overwhelming time compared to the quiet of the last two years. I happily welcome the activity even though I am having trouble getting everything done.

Here are pictures of my new home in Ayer, MA. You can see the carpenters on the roof starting to build my living room/bedroom that runs across the back of the house. I had to include pictures of the beach and the pond. They make this house a pleasant place to visit and live. My friend's neighbor calls her house a place to go for a "stay-cation". That's just what I will be doing, sort of. I also will have an office off the room that is being built.

It's a busy time of change and new hope.

Granite, Granite, Granite

Cape Ann, unlike my sandy Cape Cod, is built on granite. It is everywhere including ledge that runs through people's yards and boulders all over the place. I am going to miss this stony landscape as I move to farm land.

This rocky wall is my path to a new life.

Wish I Was Swimming

Doesn't this look like the perfect summertime activity? I would be thrilled to be playing in the water like these kids. Instead I am cleaning out "stuff" accumulated over time. I took 7 bags to the garbage and 3 to Goodwill. I've got to admit, I felt great when I came home. I don't think I am going to mind this down-sizing! Who knew!

The Ladies of Gloucester

Our Sicilian women are the heart of the city. You see them in groups mostly sitting on stoops or walking. Many wear black. They always speak Italian to each other making this wonderful old world atmosphere. These ladies were sitting on the street during our annual Sidewalk Sale weekend.

These women got me thinking about change and what change looks like. While I think of the Sicilian community as firmly rooted in the past, they aren't. They represent the bravery of change and leaving home for a new life. Perhaps these women are a part of setting out from Sicily to find a new life when they were much younger and in the process have forever altered the Gloucester community.

Padre Pio

I took this picture as a study of "blue" (get a load of all those blues!). Yet this fishing boat is a symbol of a community in change. Gloucester's main industry has been fishing and all the businesses that support fishing. Generations of families are fishing families. Over the years the diminishing stocks of fish have caused a collapse of the community. The National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration have wisely put in regulations that limit the amount of fish any one boat can catch in order to save the fish stock and help them grow. This is treated as an assault on the local livelihood. I believe it is an example of the distance between science and enterprise. This has been going on for years and year.

The Gloucester Daily Times reported yesterday that seven New England Senators have asked the President for a $150M bailout for struggling fishermen. Guess what the local reaction is? No. We don't want a bailout we want to lower the restrictions on catching fish so we can continue our tradition of fishing.

This is a community of proud Sicilian and Portuguese fishermen. Change is slow here. Gloucester is impoverished and a bailout would help the city survive.

Change

My friend Libby Ball inspired me to think of life changes and how the ones I am about to make are ones from which I can learn a tremendous amount about finding life's real pleasures and making a home.

I have made a life decision to sell my sweet little house (seen here) and move in with my friend Jess who has invited me to share her house in Ayer. It's a major life change. At the same time I am having hip replacement surgery August 30. My life is changing from the inside out.

My life has been marked by down times that lead to wonderful new experiences - I lived with an alcoholic boyfriend which inspired me to leave Cape Cod and move to Boston. That pivotal move gave me a career which I never would have found otherwise. When my mother died, I found small town life on Cape Ann. A car accident helped me create a house of my own as my protection from the world. Now, the ugly side of layoffs is leading me to down-size and reduce expenses.

I am embracing the chance to reflect on life and learn how to live simply without the clutter of stuff, emotional and otherwise. This blog will now be about change. Please post your thoughts. Change is a communal one and your thoughts will inspire all of us.

The photos will continue!

Study in Red

Yesterday was a brilliant, sunny, clear day and all the colors in the harbor were striking. I went back to Kathleen's color challenge which I have yet to fully explore. Here's one of my "red" pictures. It's the hull of a good sized boat pulled up to the Coast Guard pier. The boat stood out in the sea of blues and whites that is the color vocabulary of the harbor.

Playing with Dad

The beach is a great place for people watching. You see lots of fathers building sandcastles, jumping over waves and teaching their kids to be playful. This shot reminds me of being a kid and climbing up high and then not knowing how to get down! What endless, fun summer days kids get to have on our beautiful beaches.

Juan Munoz sculpture

This sculpture is on display at the Clark Museum on the outdoor patio. The piece is groupings of figures engaged with each other. I accidentally clicked the shutter on my camera before I had the view finder up to my eye. The result was better than the ones I took with proper aim. It focuses right in on the gist of the sculpture - communication.

Perfect Summer Day

Wow! Doesn't this image just say "summer"? I took this on the grounds of the Sterling and Francine Clark Museum in Williamstown. The sky was just right. I wanted to go lay down in the field and watch the clouds float by which was a childhood activity of mine during long, lazy summers. Who wouldn't want to have one of those endless summers now?

Jacob's Pillow

I took a cultural escape with my friend Linda in the Berkshires Thursday and Friday. We went to see Monica Bill Barnes perform at Jacob's Pillow and the Picasso-Degas Exhibit at the Clark Museum in Williamstown. The weather was perfect, the art fantastic and the dance, the freshest choreography we've seen in a long time.

This picture is off the gardens on the beautiful, picturesque grounds of Jacob's Pillow. We were strolling around before the performance. I had to get one garden shot at least. Viewing the people through the flowers was an added bonus.