The nearest supermarket to me is the Shaw’s on Border Street in East Boston. I…
The Words We Are Willing To Hear
Back in the late nineteen-sixties, I clipped a cartoon from The New Yorker, at a time that urban renewal was doing its worst in a variety of Boston neighborhoods. The picture was a pair of little old ladies sitting on a train, one speaking to the other. The caption...
As 2024 Becomes 2025
First Night in Boston is a venerable event. Forty years ago, I was never motivated to brave the cold—it was always very cold. The temperatures, however, were mild this year and the ice sculptures—one of the most popular traditions—weren’t going to keep their...
Christmas Letter 2024
A new home, a new address, a new life. New Roommate Ping. She arrived at the Costco parking lot in Newington CT from Texas, late at night on August 23. The cheek swab says she is 67.3% Shih Tzu, 19.5% Lhasa Apso, and 13.2% small Poodle. A “shapsoodle.” I named her for...
Paul Caponigro 1932-2024
Obituaries mark with increasing insistence the evanescence of my own memories. A notice reminds me of this musician or that scholar or politician or athlete. On Friday, November 29, 2024, the day after Thanksgiving, it was the loss of the great photographer, Paul...
Hugh Hayden: Home Work
I am good—pretty good—at keeping my hands in my pockets or clasped behind my back while in an art museum. Rules keep the art safe. Even so, between my poor eyesight and exuberance in the presence of objects of wonder, I have driven a number of guards on two continents...
Trump Redux: It’s Worse When You Know How Terrible It Was Before
I spent November 5, 2024, working at my local polling place. Had just enough time to shower and dress, walk Ping, have a swallow of tea, and trot over to Samuel Adams Elementary School before the clock chimed six. There’s a lot to prepare: putting up signs, plugging...
Family Stories 1: Witches, Part Two
Pilgrim Witches I might have thought that was all the witchcraft there was in the tree, until January 2024 when I was wandering in Old South Church off Copley Square in Boston. The church has installed a series of panels along the back of the nave that describes the...
Family Stories 1: Witches, Part One
I’ve been called a witch often enough. Most of the time, I think that meant the word that started with a “b,” although the term chosen makes no difference to me or my sense of self-esteem. It certainly made a difference my 7th great-grand-dad Samuel Wardwell...