Motif #1

A fisherman's shack on Bradley Wharf in the harbor of Rockport, Massachusetts, USA, is one of the most famous buildings in the world, recognizable to students of art and art history as Motif Number 1.
Built in the 1840s as Rockport became home to a colony of artists and fishermen, the shack became a favorite subject of painters due to the composition and lighting of its location as well as the symbol it represented of the hard New England maritime life. The painter Lester Hornby is believed to be the first to call the shack "Motif Number 1," a reference to its being the favorite subject of the town's painters, and the name achieved general acceptance.

(Wikipedia)

Ten Pound Island Light

Gloucester, Ma.

Having guided generations of mariners into Gloucester's harbor, the Ten Pound Island Light became a movie star and featured prominently when the movie The Perfect Storm was released in 2000.

The original lighthouse was built in 1821 and replaced in 1881. It remains operational today displaying a white light.

Eastern Point Light

For more than 150 yrs., the Eastern Point beacon has guided
Gloucester fisherman safely home from the seas. The tower and dwelling stand on the east side of the town's harbor on a long, rocky point of land that forms a natural breakwater.

The existing thirty six-foot brick tower, built in 1890, projects a white light mariners can see from up to twenty miles at sea. The flashing signal helps mark dangerous Dog Bar Reef, near the harbor entrance.

(American Lighthouses: A Definitive Guide, Bruce Roberts and Ray Jones, Second Edition)

Cape Ann Light

Located on Thatcher Island, Rockport, Ma. These lights are among the oldest and most historic light stations in America. Their lights shone for the first time in 1771, before the Revolution.

Nearly 150 years later, the foghorn here may have saved the life of President Woodrow Wilson by preventing the wreck of his fog-blinded ship as it returned from Europe in 1919, following the Versailles Peace Conference that officially ended WW I.

The two 124-foot granite towers that stand here now date from 1861. Only the south tower remains active, however, its flashing red beacon produced by a modern optic.

Thatcher Island is accessible only by boat, but you can see the towers from Route 127A near Rockport on Cape Ann.

("American Lighthouses" A Definitive Guide, by Bruce Roberts and Ray Jones 2nd Edition)

"The Perfect Storm"

The year 2000 movie with George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg and Diane Lane was a movie based on a true story.

In October of 1991 and unusually intense storm caught off guard the fisherman listed in the below picture.

Since the 1600's there have been over 5300 men lost at sea. This memorial is in honor of them.

Have you ever seen a Gooseberry?

Canadian Geese on a flooded cranberry bog.

The cranberry bogs that get flooded are used for juice.

On an earlier post I showed a cranberry bog that was dry harvested. The dry harvest berries are bagged and sold in stores as whole berries.

This is the Marshfield Cranberry company in Marshfield, Ma.

Today at Gloucester, Ma. (Pronounced: Glawsta) LOL

Look at the birds surrounding this lobster/fishing boat. You can click on the picture to zoom.

Today at Duxbury Beach

Bird of another feather

The Dance of the Swan Song

Sights from Boston Common

Leaving

Today at Walden Pond

The pond is over 100 feet deep at it's deepest point.
For over a century admirers of Thoreau have added a stone to this pile as an ancient tradition to the lasting greatness of Thoreau's work.
These stones mark where the cabin that Thoreau built and lived in for two years and two months.

Henry David Thoreau wrote many books, "Walden" aka "Life in the Woods" is one of the best known non-fiction books written by an American.

George Washington: A Real Leader

The Continental Congress appointed Washington commander-in-chief of the American revolutionary forces in 1775. The following year, he forced the British out of Boston, lost New York City, and crossed the Delaware River in New Jersey, defeating the surprised enemy units later that year. As a result of his strategy, Revolutionary forces captured the two main British combat armies at Saratoga and Yorktown. Negotiating with Congress, the colonial states, and French allies, he held together a tenuous army and a fragile nation amid the threats of disintegration and failure. Following the end of the war in 1783, Washington retired to his plantation at Mount Vernon, prompting an incredulous King George III to state, "If he does that, he will be the greatest man in the world."


Washington died in 1799, and in his funeral oration, Henry Lee said that of all Americans, he was "first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen."Washington has been consistently ranked by scholars as one of the greatest U.S. Presidents.
(Information obtained from Wikipedia)

Where Everybody Knows Your Name

God is..............

Tonight on Sunset Lake, Braintree, Ma.

Freedom Trail Stop # 15

USS Constitution is a wooden-hulled, three-masted heavy frigate of the United States Navy. Named after the Constitution of the United States of America by President George Washington, she is the oldest commissioned vessel afloat in the world.

Nicknamed, "Old Ironsides" because during battle in the War of 1812 the enemies' cannonballs bounced off the sides of the ship and never put the first hole in the ship. This is due to the hull of the ship being 18-24 inches thick of Georgia Pine and covered with copper. The copper was put on the ship by Paul Revere. Mr. Revere was a very busy man, but that is a blog for another day.

Constitution's mission today is to promote understanding of the Navy’s role in war and peace through active participation in public events and education through educational outreach, public access and historic demonstration. As a fully commissioned US Navy ship, her crew of 60 officers and sailors participate in ceremonies, educational programs and special events while keeping the ship open to visitors year-round and providing free tours. The officers and crew are all active-duty US Navy personnel and the assignment is considered special duty in the Navy.
(Information provided from Wikipedia and the tour guide from the Freedom Trail.)

Today at Harvard University

No classes.

Today in Boston

The 32nd annual Tufts Health Plan 10k.

As Gina and I were returning from Boston Common

we saw a sea of women coming down Charles Street.

For you "Sam Adams" Lager Heads

The story as heard this weekend on the tour
is that Sam Adams was so Butt ugly that the
brewery chose to use Paul Revere's likeness
on the beer bottle. Sam Adams did inherit a
brewery from an uncle but ran it out of
business in eight months. The Sam Adams
brewery of today has literally nothing to do
with Sam Adams other than have his name.
Sam Adams was better known as a politician
and chief organizer of the Patriot cause leading to
the American Revolution. The most famous protest
that he organized was "The Boston Tea Party".