Green Line Trolley

Green Line Trolley at pulling into the station at Longwood Medical Area. The Green Line runs on city streets and partially underground through the downtown area. There are actually four Green Lines, designated by the letters B, C, D, and E. The fare is the same as for the subway Red, Orange, and Blue lines. If anyone noticed from a recent post, there is also a Silver Line. The Silver Line should have been a subway line, but for political and monetary reasons it is a Bus Line. The only bus line in the entire system that I know of that is designated by a color; the others usually are designated by numbers.

If your city has public transportation, how are the various lines designated?

Stone Bench

Stone Bench at Harvard Medical School. I was in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston visiting a friend in one of the hospitals and I stopped to take this picture. I couldn't resist the beautiful bench on the front lawn of the medical school.

The blue banner you see is a reminder that the whole campus area is a smoke free zone. There are also metal signs and other banners on all the buildings in the area. My first thought was of all the money they spent on those expensive signs and banners. It is a medical area and even though I am not a smoker I thought the number of signs posted excessive. The one responsible for posting the signs must be an over-zealous ex-smoker; or else he must have a brother-in-law working in the sign business:)

Redcoats on the Common

Tour guide dressed as a Colonial British soldier. Here is another view of a tour guide.

Four Trombones and a Girl

Meet Grant, Chris, Wei, and Yozomi. All 2009 graduates of the New England Conservatory of Music, except Chris who graduated from the Boston Conservatory. They are looking for work as musicians and in the interim are playing for donations in the parks of Boston. In the picture above I saw them playing a few weeks ago on the Boston Common; below they are playing in the Public Garden. And yes, they play beautifully. I was not initally aware of it, but there is actually quite a lot of music written for trombone ensembles like this. I wish you guys luck in finding employment in music.

Wednesday Doorway

This week's doorway continues the subway theme of doorways from last week. The doorway is actually the elevator doors just beyond the glass canopy.

Emily the Barista

I met Emily in Peet's Coffee on High Street as she was grinding some coffee for me. She has worked at Peets for seven months but is leaving soon to work in a dentist's office, for which she jokes she has no experience. Don't worry, she won't be working with patients because her background is in Education. She would love to get a teaching job but none are available right now.

Emily previously worked at a Starbucks in another section of the city (I won't say where so certain college students won't be offended if they read this), and was unsure at first about coming to Peets. But she says she likes the customers at Peets much better than at Starbucks. I like them too, especially since I am one of them:)

Emily is a baseball fan of her hometown minor league team the Rochester Red Wings; who by the way play in the same league as my favorite minor league team, the Pawtucket Red Sox. She also told me both of her parents are professional photographers. Her father is a Leica afficiando so she was especially interested in my DLux-4.

Note to Emily: if you want to see the other photo with the, as you termed it, "the Leica expression" on your face drop me a line. And thank you for letting me take your picture. Good luck in your career.

For more information on the 100 Strangers Project visit the 100Strangers.com Project on Flickr.

Monchrome Monday

Cannons at Antietam, one of the major battles of the American Civil War, 1861-1865. Today is Memorial Day in the U.S. and all veterans who have served in the Armed Forces are honored and remembered.

Visit other monochrome afficianados.

Night Baseball

Night baseball at McCoy Stadium in Pawtucket, R.I. The night I was there the Paw Sox were hammered by the division leading Scranton Yankees 14-1.

The black line you see in the middle of the picture is a seam of the netting behind home plate to prevent accidents from foul balls.

Reader's Delight

It's a long weekend in the U.S. and many people use this weekend to open summer homes on Cape Cod, and others to have backyard barbecues. One of the best ways to relax on a long weekend is to visit a good bookstore like this one on West Street. It's an open air reader's delight run by the Brattle Book Shop, one of America's largest antiquarian book stores. What's your favorite book and do you ever re-read a book, or is once enough?

Lines and Shadows

Late afternoon sun casts some great shadows.

Bob the Grounds Keeper

Bob has worked in the Public Garden as a grounds keeper for 15 years. When I asked if he minded having his picture taken he said he has had his picture taken many times by tourists and is used to it. He said he has seen everything filmed in the Garden, from photography shoots to movies.

Wednesday Doorway

This week's doorway is the entrance to the subway station at Government Center. As you can see, this station connects two subway lines, the Blue Line and the Green Line.

Reading on the Charles

Picture I took last month on the Charles River Esplanade when the trees were first starting to bud.

Monochrome Monday - Angel

Monday means it's monochrome day for many folks. The list of participants can be found at Aileni's Home of Monochrome Monday. I'm sure you'll find many interesting and wonderful photos to enjoy as you start your week. Please visit as many participants as you can and leave a comment if you are so inclined. Have a great week.

Bigelow Chapel Stained Glass: Detail

Closeup view of part of the stained glass windows at Bigelow Chapel in Mt. Auburn Cemetery. As we learned yesterday from Tom Johnson, the stained glass underwent a 2.5 million dollar renovation in 2006.

This panel shows a mother with two small infants depicting the tragedy of infant mortality. Click to enlarge for more detail. To see an outside view of the Bigelow chapel, visit Quincy Daily Photo.

Originally installed in 1846, the hand-painted glass chancel window measures 21 1/2 feet high by 9 feet wide and is composed of 36 panels containing over 4,000 individual pieces of blown glass. It is considered one of the important early works produced by the Edinburgh based Scottish firm of Ballantine and Allen that also created the now lost windows for the Houses of Parliament in London. It is one of the few examples of that firm’s early work that survive today. It is truly magnificent to see in person.

Update and correction
Tom Johnson, Family Services Coordinator at Mt. Auburn Cemetery, informs me the amount quoted for the restoration of the stained glass window actually covers the entire restoration of the chapel which included the beautiful chancel window, chapel roofs, repointing the pinnacles, woodwork, handicap accessible bathroom, kitchen area and more. I apologize for the confusion.

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Meet Tom Johnson

I met Tom Johnson while visiting the grounds of the Mt. Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge. Tom is the Family Services Director for the cemetery and has worked there for seven years. He says that in his job he coordinates services for families and events and loves his job. Prior to working at Mt. Auburn, Tom worked in the funeral industry and for the airlines.

Tom is shown here in the Gothic Revival Bigelow Chapel. He was happy to talk about the cemetery, its magnificent grounds, and the Bigelow Chapel. The Chapel for instance, just finished a 2.5 million dollar restoration of its stained glass windows. I'll have a picture of part of the stained glass tomorrow. He also told me that Mt. Auburn Cemetery is the second largest flyway for birds in North America, definitely a place to visit if you like birding.

One other interesting note about the Bigelow Chapel is that Tom said it will soon be available to rent for weddings at a very reasonable rate. (The only prerequisite is you must watch Four Weddings and a Funeral before booking:)



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Meet Alfred

I met Alfred in the Public Garden the same day I met the 4 Lovely Latinas, previously seen on this blog. He spied me crouching in the grass taking pictures of the tulips and he struck up a conversation.

Alfred is a photographer too and was naturally interested in what setting I using, what I was seeing, etc. A naturally gregarious man, Alfred was very easy to talk to. He had heard of the 100 Strangers Project and was very willing to participate and pose for me.

Being a good photographer Alfred suggested I take a second shot because he thought his hat may have cast a shadow on his face, and he was right. The second shot was better.

Alfred told me he lives on the Cape (Cape Cod) and works in Boston as a Career Counselor so he has been very busy lately. Most of his photography is done on the Cape, but he hasn't quite made the philosophical move to digital, yet. However, he did say he owns both a Nikon D80 and a Panasonic Lumix so he is serious about his photography.

It was a pleasure meeting you Alfred and I hope next time we meet you have your camera and maybe I can return the favor and pose for you.

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This post is being brought to you by the magic of Blogger. I'm not really here, but traveling for a few days and unable to visit or respond to comments. Thanks for visiting.

Four Lovely Latinas

I met these four lovely ladies in the Public Garden when they asked me to take a picture of them with their camera. This happened about ten minutes earlier in another part of the Public Garden. I took their picture and then continued on my way. Though, I couldn't help but see them running to different spots, taking pictures of each other and generally laughing and having a great deal of fun.

At the footbridge I literally almost bumped into them again and knew I had to ask to take their picture. Not surprisingly, knowing them a little now, they immediately said yes and struck the pose you see here. The four were as joyful in person as they look in the photo.

They are from left to right, Francicsa from El Salvador, Claudia from Colombia, Esmerelda from Colombia, and Francis from Honduras. I asked them how they knew each other coming from different countries and Esmerelda told me they work together and were waiting for their boss who was at lunch. Taking pictures in the park is a great way to spend your lunch hour, after all, that's what I usually do too.

Thank you Francicsa, Claudia, Esmerelda, and Francis for allowing me to take your picture.

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This post is being brought to you by the magic of Blogger. I'm not really here, but traveling for a few days and unable to visit or respond to comments. Thanks for visiting.

Wednesday Doorway

This week's doorway is Two International Place. It is a magnificent building and has some of the best looking lanterns in the city, reminiscent of the ones on the Boston Public Library building.

Meet Jerry

I met Jerry on Washington Street at Downtown Crossing. As you can see he is a mounted police officer, a member of the Boston Police Special Operations Unit. Jerry patrols the Downtown Crossing and the Back Bay Fens (commonly called "The Fens") area of Boston. The Fens is where the Red Sox play baseball at Fenway Park, and the Museum of Fine Arts is located.

Monochrome Monday - Before the Concert

This Monday's photo is a picture of the Boston Symphony Orchestra stage before a concert; if you enlarge the photo you can see the pianist inspecting the piano. Other Monochrome Maniacs can be found here.

Tulip and tulip

Seen on Beacon Hill. Is this simply a curious tulip peeking through the fence; or did it have a spat with its mate and is trying to keep its distance?

Andrew and Rachel

This Saturday I thought I would provide us all with the opportunity for some exercise. Biking is the perfect group activity, a wonderful way to get some exercise, and a way to tour the city and not contribute to pollution by taking a tour bus.

I met Andrew and Rachel at Downtown Crossing as they were publicizing Urban Adventours, which provides bicycle rentals, water, and most importantly, bicycle tours of Boston. Andrew is the "Chief Wheel Operator" of Urban Adventours located in the North End and would be the perfect guide for a bicycle tour.

Biking is not something Boston is well known for, probably because of our narrow streets and the infamous Boston drivers, but biking is the perfect way for visitors to discover Boston or for locals to rediscover Boston.

Girls will be girls

Yesterday we saw little boys being little boys having fun playing in the fountain at the Christian Science Center. Today we give equal time to the girls and show them having fun playing in the fountain. Unlike the little boy yesterday who could easily navigate between the spraying water, this girl took a different tack, which I think may have been a lot more fun.

Keep an eye on the girl in the red skirt above left, then enlarge the image below to see her navigate the waters at the Christian Science Center. Note also her friend on the far right who was also photographing her friends adventure.

Boys will be boys

I caught these little fun loving boys playing in the fountain at the Christian Science Center. Don't you just love the look of glee on his face while his little brother looks on.

Wednesday Doorway

This weeks doorway is located at One Winthrop Square near Boston's Financial District.

Winthrop Square is located at the intersection of Otis Street and Devonshire Street. It is named after John Winthrop, the first Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, because his house was in the vicinity.

First Stranger: Sarah

Sarah, with the Mona Lisa smile, was waiting for her friend Carol when I met her outside the Borders Bookstore by the Irish Potato Famine Memorial. Sarah told me she is an animal lover and was enjoying watching all the pigeons, as some were variously resting on the ground and others perching on the statues. Not surprisingly, Sarah told me she was an animal lover; and works nearby.

This is my first official post of a portrait of a stranger. It is difficult to overcome shyness and approach a stranger and ask to take their picture. It took me a long while to get up the courage to even consider such a project for myself. One wag said he simply bought a zoom lens, case closed. But I wanted to see if I could do it - talk to people and ask if I could take their picture.

I have been inspired by many, but especially Steffe from Haninge, Sweden and his Strangers No Longer Project; as well as a group of kind Australians who have encouraged me and have a blog for their own 100 Strangers Project, and Saretta who just started her Molfettan Faces this past Saturday. And finally, here is the link to the original 100 Strangers Project on Flickr.

Sarah is my first, and I hope not my last. Did I spell your name right Sarah?

Monochrome Monday - A Dog's Best Friend

Today is Monday and the day for many of us to post a b&w photo. The list of participants can all be found at Aileni's Home of Monochrome Monday. Give the participants a visit and leave a comment or two. Have a great week.

Sax in the park

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Continuing the musical theme from yesterday at Symphony Hall, today's music is provided by a street musician in the Public Garden.

Symphony Hall

On Thursday night I went to the Symphony and heard the Boston Symphony Orchestra perform Berlioz's Te Deum under the direction of Sir Colin Davis with tenor Matthew Polenzani, and the Tanglewood Festival Chorus and the PALS Children's Chorus. The first half of the program was Piano Concerto No. 25 in C, K.503 by Mozart performed by English pianist Imogen Cooper.

The final performance of this program and the BSO's 2008-09 season is tonight at 8:00 pm (EDT). It was a magnificent way to end the season and with my new camera's fast lens I was able capture a few photos in the hall.

Theme Day May 2009 - Shadows

Today is the first day of the month and is theme day for the City Daily Photo Blog (CDPB) community. My photo for theme day is one of the stairways from the foot bridge in the Boston Public Garden.

City Daily Photo Blogs from all over the world participate in Theme Day and thumbnails of each participant can be viewed by clicking this link.