Becky's photoblog

One of my favorite buildings in the world, and probably THE most recognizable building in Boston, has been turned in to a mysterious work of contemporary art. Over the last few days, an image has been emerging on the side of the 50-story building as if it were a giant canvas. The artist has been working on it over a few days, so the whole city gets to watch as his image comes to life. Still not sure what this is, but I get a pretty good view of the Hancock Tower from several blocks away in Kenmore Square, and when I first saw this yesterday, I thought maybe it was a window washer or something. This is what it looked like as I was leaving work this afternoon, and here’s a great article from Sebastian Smee, who can describe this and so many things better than I can.

We spent the day wandering around Loveland, Colorado before it was time to get ready for the wedding in the evening. After breakfast at a place that advertised cinnamon rolls (they weren’t kidding!), a handful of us took a lovely scenic walk, then visiting Lake Loveland to enjoy the local scenery.

Mel has a strict policy about not working on her birthday, and I felt it was necessary to support her in this endeavor. We checked out the brand new Boston Public Markets, we wandered the Greenway, we spent 90 minutes wandering the harbor on a sailboat, we had a delicious dinner at Back Deck, and we saw Kinky Boots at the Opera House!

It’s always wonderful to see a dear friend, especially one I only get to see every other year or so! We spent a lovely pleasant weekend in New Jersey hanging out with Jamie and her adorable kiddos, and Other Becky who also traveled to visit. We ended the weekend with an awesome meal and Benihana’s, and little T was absolutely captivated by the table-side cooking extravaganza!

I had so much fun assisting Maureen Cotton, who is among many things an amazing wedding photographer, with a wedding shoot at the lovely Cambridge Boat Club. It’s a beautiful spot tucked away in a bend in the Charles River, and a great little spot for a festive party!

 

Today was quite a day, ending with a lovely walk along the Charles River with an old friend and her adorable dogs. Today, the Supreme Court of the United States made it legal for all couples to marry – something that should simply be ordinary rather than incredibly momentous, and yet, seemingly out of nowhere … a victory for common sense, a victory for decency, a victory for what never should have been illegal in the first place, a victory for love.

Today, one of my student’s slept through her final, and I helped her navigate a tricky situation. Today, another office gave us the rest of a delicious ice cream cake. Today, the president led an enormous group in singing Amazing Grace at the funeral of a victim of an unthinkable crime. It was a day for very small victories and very big victories.

Today also marks one year since the death of my father-in-law, and although we missed him very much yesterday and we will miss him very much tomorrow, today we stop and think about 525,600 minutes … what it means when a whole year has passed without him.

My birthday fell on a weekend for the first time in a while, and the weather was absolutely gorgeous, so we spent the day wandering around Boston. We walked the entire length of the Rose Kennedy Greenway, starting in Chinatown and following it along past the new sculpture-thingy, and occasionally crossing the street over to the harbor near the Boston Harbor Hotel, Columbus Park, and Long Wharf, and ending at the North End. Then we walked up Hanover Street past Paul Revere Park, then over to Battery Wharf (one of my favorite views in the city), back around to Columbus Park, through Faneuil Hall and Quincy Market for some MUCH needed fried oysters. Then, we took the T back to our neighborhood to see the new Avengers movie, then walked home. A fantastic birthday!

A gorgeous view of Copley Square towards Old South Church from our sidewalk table at Bangkok Blue. If one must go to work on a gorgeous Friday, then why not take a long lunch with some girlfriends who also work nearby?!

It’s been a little tricky to get to work these days so I’ve been trying different routes. This morning’s route took me through Copley Square, so in between getting squished on a bus and getting squished on a train, I got to breath some fresh air and snap a few photos of some of my favorite snow-covered Boston landmarks before work. It’s refreshing to look up from massive filthy snow banks to see gorgeous buildings like Old South Church, trimmed in lacy snow.

 

 

The Old South Ringers is Old South Church’s handbell choir, and the put on an amazing Christmas concert. It’s incredibly beautiful (the music and the setting), and this has become one of my favorite holiday traditions.

I’m going to be doing a painting of a bride on her wedding day, and her big day finally arrived! I had a wonderful afternoon walking through the North End to Battery Wharf, which happens to be one of my favorite places in Boston (and not just because it has a wonderful view across the harbor to the Hyatt where we were married). The bridal suite at the Fairmont Battery Wharf is literally right at the end of the wharf, and it has some really incredible views. I had the honor of hanging out with the wedding party during some of the formal photos, as well as with my friend, the mother of the bride. We took some really wonderful photos for the painting, and I can’t wait to get started!

After we were done with the photos, I walked back through the North End to head home for a quick change before heading back out again to see Fitz and the Tantrums at the House of Blues! Great show.

The tree outside of my office.

Gorgeous day

We’ve only had two wedding anniversaries, but we also celebrate the anniversary of when we got together … seven years ago today. We had a lovely evening wandering around the city, starting in the Public Gardens, then up Charles Street to the Liberty Hotel for dinner, back down Charles Street, to Newbury Street where we saw a sukkah in front of Emmanuel Church, then we passed through Copley Square on our way home.

The view of Bay State Road (in the foreground), the Charles River and Cambridge from a 5th floor conference room.

I had about an hour to kill before our pre Yom Kippur dinner, and I needed to clear my head after a long week, so I took a walk around the Fenway neighborhood and found myself wandering through the Fenway Victory Gardens: “the oldest continuously operating Word War II Victory Gardens in the United States, spanning 7.5 acres with over 500 gardens.” Who knew?

The gardens are part of a park that’s about half way between Boston University and the Gardner Museum … two places that are a 15 minute walk apart, and where I have spent a lot of my time in the past 8 years … and yet I have never wandered yet another one of Boston’s incredibly little hidden gems.

The Fenway Victory Gardens are truly beautiful and bizarre. It’s one little secret garden after another along narrow dirt paths, each garden with it’s incredibly unique and often strange qualities. You can feel like you’re alone and lost (in a good/peaceful way) among the endless rows of gardens, and yet you can hear traffic not too far away, you can see nearby apartments, and you can see nearby landmarks such as the Prudential Tower. The contrast made this oasis of calm and quiet even more beautiful. In many cases, it’s clear that the gardens are not just places to grow plants and produce, but also places for peaceful personal reflections. Many of the gardens featured wandering paths, sitting nooks and an enormous variety of personal touches.

 

Brian went to MIT’s annual Great Glass Pumpkin Patch while I went to a lecture at the Gardner Museum. I was bummed to miss out of pretty shiny things and family time, but it was a great lecture.

Here’s my photoblog post from when we went to this together last year.

Photo by Brian D.

We wandered through the Boston Arts Festival in Columbus Park (a favorite open-air art market, which we he hadn’t checked out in a few years) before heading back to the car and heading up to New Hampshire for the evening. A little dose of inspiration in the middle of a lovely day!

We checked out the Feast of St. Anthony, an annual weekend-long festival in the North End. It was really fun!

Melissa couldn’t believe that we had never been to any of the Boston Harbor Islands, so we made a last-minute plan to fix that right away. We packed a picnic, hopped on the ferry from Long Wharf (which stopped at Spectacle Island) and spent an absolutely perfect Saturday afternoon wandering around Georges Island.

Most of the island is what’s left of Fort Warren, a civil-war era fort which is now mostly grassy fields, big empty rooms, creepy dark stair wells, and upper ramparts with amazing views  in all directions. We could see Boston, Quincy, Hull, and Boston Light on Little Brewster Island. There were tons of families out there because it’s a fun and inexpensive way for kids to run around and explore, and for adults to relax along the shore with amazing views. We got our exercise in, and we also sat for a long time and read our books. Perfect afternoon! Thanks, Mel!!

Second date-night in a row this week! Delicious dinner in Mission Hill with Deanna, then a lovely walk past the gorgeous Mission Church to her car.

I had the day off, so I ran an errand at city hall (such an ugly building!), then I decided to wander around the North End. It’s such a lovely neighborhood, especially during the day when the sidewalks are not packed with long lines outside of every restaurant. Unfortunately, the sky was gray so the photos aren’t great, but it was a lovely afternoon for wandering. Of course, the North End is right by the harbor so I was able to find a quiet bench and watch the sailboats go by for a while. Great view of the hotel where we were married!