Quiz: Guess the Mystery Food

Those searching for educational value in this post may want to skip to the end.

Everyone else: Guess the mystery food:

   a.) Texas Olives

   b.)  Greek Meatballs

   c.) Alaskan King Cherries

   d.) That's not a food

   e.) None of the above

   f.) Serial Killer Tomato, having smothered the basil, two varieties of pepper, lettuce, parsley, cilantro, and cucumber, and now is threatening the mint and peonies outside the raised bed

   g.) This is just one plant

   h.) I think I saw a dead toad pinned inside a cluster

   i.) This plant may be related to kudzu

   j.) Tastes like chicken

   k.) Did I mention this is only one plant

   l.) One of the fruits has markings which look like Elvis

   m.)  I'm not sure it's safe to approach unarmed

   n.)  f, k i, g, and sometimes l and m (Ok you know I'm just messing with you now)




I found the answer strolling through our town farmer's market, where I spotted some for sale and inquired:

  o.) This is an heirloom variety of small tomatoes called Black Velvet. They are as tasty as any tomato I've ever grown.

  p.) Kudos to everyone who got it right. I bet the Elvis clue was the clincher.













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3,491 Feet Above Sea Level

We just returned from an overnight trip to the Berkshires -- specifically, the upper left pocket of Massachusetts to North Adams and Williamstown.

The area has spectacular mountain scenery and plenty of places to visit squeezed into a narrow river valley formed by the Hoosic and its branches amid the Taconic, Hoosic, and Berkshire mountains.

Access is gained from the east via Massachusetts Route 2 -- the historic Mohawk Trail -- which traces trade routes along the Millers, Deerfield, and Hoosac Rivers used by Atlantic native tribes doing business with their 'upstate' (and uphill) neighbors.


En route, the Rocket Scientist wanted to stop at one of the native American gift shops at some of the summits, but he couldn't pry my hands from the dashboard grab bar.

Look, the Rocket Scientist grew up on the side of a mountain and has no fear of heights whereas at 5' 4" I'm a hug-the-ground type of chick. 

-- I dunno how to account for this, but whether we were heading up a mountain or down, whether we were traveling east or west, north or south -- I was always on the side of the car hanging off the cliff. How is that possible??

Anyway, our first stop was Mt. Greylock -- presumably named after the numerous hairpin turns on the access roads. It is the highest point in Massachusetts: a dizzying 3,491 feet.

This memorial to war dead atop Mt. Greylock is illuminated at night (except during bird migration times).

Standing at the edge of the summit, you can see the undulating shale and schist mountain formations from Massachusetts, New York, and Vermont. Ok, at 3,491 feet, I also may have been doing some undulating.

We shared this view looking northeast from Mt. Greylock with a few Appalachian Trail hikers; the summit becomes more crowded in the autumn.

It was a great relief to leave all the cliff-hanging moments after descending into the valley and towns, which have a 360-degree view of mountains that made me feel like I was in the bottom of a giant green Champagne flute. In other words, you can go from acrophobic to claustrophobic in 15 minutes flat.

Looking west at North Adams, Mass., from a summit.

With its red brick mill buildings and clapboard two- and three-decker homes, North Adams retains much of its charm from previous centuries. A few hundred years ago this river valley was no more isolated than other places because the waterways were the main way in and out. In the 19th century North Adams was a mill town just like countless others.

One company, the Arnold Print Works, supplied uniforms to the Union Army. It closed its in-town operations in 1942. The Sprague Electric Co. bought the facility and became a center for research and electronics until the mid-80s when it closed due to overseas competition. The site's latest reincarnation came in 1999, when the MASS Museum of Contemporary Art opened its doors.



Our primary destination was The Clark Art Institute in beautiful Williamstown, a few miles west of North Adams and home also to Williams College. This museum had just reopened last month after renovations to its original building and completion of a new wing designed by starchitect Tadeo Ando. The 140 acres of grounds encompass walking trails and a research center.

The back terrace and reflecting pool of the Clark's new wing.

The Clark is a small, eclectic, first-rate collection which won't overwhelm art fans. At $20, admission isn't cheap (and they don't offer popular discounts) but you can save a little by buying package deals. We particularly enjoyed the Homer and Remington pieces in its permanent collection. The on-loan exhibition of Chinese Bronze Age vessels was the most extensive I've ever seen!

The grounds at the Clark are a great place for reflection.

A word to you ladies (guys too): Regarding wardrobe, bring your game to the Clark or prepare to feel insecure. I barely passed muster with a trendy black-and-white striped top, white linen pants (Ok they were linen blend) and a killer custom necklace made by a talented friend. Look, if you need a stylist I may be available.



One of the rarest and most memorable experiences I had in the valley was The Quiet. True, it being summer there were few Williams College or Mass. College of the Liberal Arts students about at night. But also, no distant muted highway noise, sirens, car stereos, bottles breaking, gunshots, screams, etc. The steep green bowl cradling us seemed to smother all sounds man-made, filtering all but the birds, insects and murmuring mountains shooting the breeze with the breeze. (I thought I heard a twig snap, Mr. James Fenimore Cooper!) For those seeking inspiration, The Quiet may offer the cure. 



Our final stop en route home is famous for its inspiration: the Poet's Seat Tower in Greenfield, Mass. After hiking a mile uphill, I never made it up the fourth and final staircase spiraling to the tower roof. That's because as soon as I ascended to the third level, we heard a loud clap of thunder nearby. I urged the Rocket Scientist to go on up ahead of me and have a look-see, seeing as how he's taller than I am, but he declined. (Joking!)

The power of the tower: View of a green field in Greenfield, Mass., from Poet's Seat Tower.

I enthusiastically recommend each stop on our itinerary for an off-the-beaten-path jaunt practically in our backyard -- 115 miles and over 100 years away. We bought a hotel package with free tickets to MASS MoCA which we didn't use (we didn't want to OD on art), so we will be sure to return. Undulating notwithstanding.






Links and Sources:

http://www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/dcr/massparks/region-west/mohawk-trail-state-forest.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/07/travel/driving-the-mohawk-trail-in-massachusetts.html?_r=0


The following link sheds light on Mt. Greylock's name:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Greylock


http://www.northadams-ma.gov/

clarkart.edu

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/11/arts/design/clark-art-institute-reopens-with-new-and-renovated-space.html?module=Search&mabReward=relbias%3Ar%2C{%221%22%3A%22RI%3A11%22}


The following state Department of Conservation and Recreation page has numerous links to all sorts of trail systems:

http://www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/dcr/massparks/region-west/mt-greylock-state-reservation-generic.html


http://massmoca.org/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poet%27s_Seat_Tower


Accessories for well-dressed tourists:

madebymargaretwoo.com


I was mildly disappointed that few establishments in Williamstown and North Adams accepted BerkShares, a local currency which offers a five-percent discount on the dollar. However as you travel south to Pittsfield, Lenox, Stockbridge, etc., places trading BerkShares are more plentiful.

http://www.berkshares.org/






















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Top 9 Possible Reasons Why I Haven't Blogged Recently

I've fielded many questions over the past few months about the dearth of posts here.

I'm not exactly sure why I haven't blogged lately, Dad, but here are some possibilities:


                               Top 9 Possible Reasons Why I Haven't Blogged Recently                  

9. Someone paid me to stop. 

8. I can't blog while I'm eating.

7. I can't blog while I'm in the pool trying to burn off all the weight I gained (see No. 8 above).

6. Brain slosh from my speed-of-light underwater turns.

5. If I told you then I'd have to kill you.

4. I, you know, didn't feel like it.

3. I went off my meds.

2.  I was working on something way more fabulous.


And The Number 1 Possible Reason Why I Haven't Blogged Recently:

1. T#is new tab1et d0esn't 1ike me.



Look, you got better reasons?:

                    Your List of Top 9 Reasons That Are Better Than My Original Ones

9. (Let's hear it)


















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How Cold Is It?

The New England landscape wears winter white, the latest layered look fashioned from a few recent storms ....

 But all anyone can talk about these days is the cold.

Brrrrrrrrrr! 

How cold is it?

The monitor which monitors the backyard reads 6.1 with the latest wind gust of 7.6 mph.

The thermometer on the west side of the house reads 3.9, but it's always 2 degrees warmer than the thermometer on the north side, which alas isn't functioning.

The south side gauge, which reads zero degrees, is unreliable as soon as it hits the sun, which will be soon.

So averaging these numbers out we get 3.3. We might subtract a few degrees for wind chill, since the backyard weather station thingie is spinning enthusiastically.

Iris (my phone) just chimed in with her report: 4 degrees F., sunny, with a wind chill of -12.

(Barometric pressure is 30.26 in.Hg.)

Ya think our focus on weather here is a teeeensy bit obsessive? Me neither.

Basically the majority of the country is experiencing this very same ultra-cold spell, the second in our short new year. This time we can blame an oscillating polar jet stream, according to one local meteorologist.

So how cold is it really?


It's so cold the GPS lady's teeth chatter when I start her up.

It's so cold the barks of the neighborhood dogs freeze in mid-glottis.

It's so cold the cardinals and robins called a truce in their turf war out back.

It's so cold that by the time I get dressed to go outside, I have to pee again.

It's so cold communication outdoors consists mostly of frozen looks, icy stares and chilly receptions.

It's so cold I can't fire up the fireplace. That's because a fire will keep the back zone just warm enough to keep the heat from coming on, which freezes the pipes at the opposite end of the house.

It's so cold I had to make a mask out of birch bark from the tree in the front lawn like Jim Sturgess and Ed Harris did in the movie 'The Way Back'  except they were escaping from a Siberian gulag and I was getting the mail.

It's so cold my timbers are shivering and my computer froze.

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On the 3D Printed Bandwagon

In answer to your many questions (Ok, two), we recently visited the MakerBot store in Boston.

We have a history with 3D printing since the Rocket Scientist was part of a 3D printing research project 15 years ago -- before he was a rocket scientist. So when I learned MakerBot was opening a retail store in Boston, naturally I wasted no time jumping into long johns and dragging my posse down Newbury St. to check it out.

Inside, several MakerBot Replicator Desktop 3D machines were set up scanning and printing small souvenirs, some of which demonstrated 3D's ability to use different compounds and make already-assembled parts. For example, one machine was printing a plastic, four-inch-high figurine with limbs articulated by ball-and-socket joints; another was making parts for an artificial hand.

MakerBot printer, left. MakerBot employee, right. Big plastic jaw with big sharp teeth, center.

Spools of colored filament, upper right. We bought some ornaments.

Yes, Virginia, there is a 3D printed Santa Claus who travels by 3D printed jet engine.

A close-up of 2014's Must-have hood ornament.

3D printed ornaments hanging in the store windows.

Looking down Newbury St.

One of the cleverest products offered by the company is its academy classes on designing, programming, and printing your very own original creations. It holds sessions for adults and kids. MakerBot will also print your standard STL files.

The store also features a special booth with a MakerBot 3D Desktop Digitizer Scanner and chair for you to sit in. For $25 it will scan you and produce a bust in your image. Alas, none of us were brave enough to try that out.




Whew! As I was writing these last graphs I had flashbacks to when I was a technical editor writing software and hardware brochures with words like 'features' and 'ability,' and how I was always dodging bulleted lists of what the product 'lets you do.'

Look, this post is not supposed to be a commercial for MakerBot. I'm just saying if you are visiting

                 * Boston

                 * New York, or

                 * Greenwich, Conn.,

I recommend MakerBot as a fun place to visit.



MakerBot has been running a holiday sale, discounting printers and scanners by as much as 25 percent. The sale ends today, but you may still be able to negotiate price.

In fact, a good opening tactic might be to say that you can't decide whether to buy a 3D printer or wait for a 4D printer. What, you weren't aware that 4D, where an item prints and then assembles itself, is the new 3D?? Get with it! It's 2014!

And I do too have a posse.



http://www.makerbot.com/

http://www.thingiverse.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3D_printing




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