Under New Moonagement

It was a New Moon on Monday night, as I took scruffy out again for a walk around the block. It was also cloudy, so there was absolutely no natural light to be had. But I gave the picture-taking a shot anyway, since I had gotten several positive responses from the last night-time outing. Here's an old four-family apartment building I used to live in, just around the corner from where I live now.



The building's been slightly renovated since then, but in my time it was a big old drafty apartment, with high ceilings, old banisters and railings on the steps, and some surviving old fashioned decorative interior woodwork, like big wooden pillars separating the two front rooms. It had the original turn of the century windows, whose panes had worn uneven, giving the passing cars and people outside slightly warped shapes. The whole building in general was in teetering condition at the time, the floors leaned just a little bit, things creaked as you'd walk, wall cracks here and there; and towards the end of my stay, I found that the walls and hidden nooks harbored critters. It did have that nice big porch out front, and another out back, which I made good use of...

Next door to that building is the husk of an old film house called the Burr Theater. It was built in 1927 by local owner Frank Burr, and operated until 1967. (According to former valley resident Larry R., you could take your date out for a show for a mere 40 cents...). The marquee is long gone, and it's been used for decades as a store house for the lumber yard on the other side of it. I've never been in it, but blogger VanDog's quest to save the classic Victory Theater in Holyoke has me curious about what it looks like in there...



The bunker-looking building below used to be Valley Bank, way back in the day. As a kid I always wondered what was up in that windowless second floor. No windows at all up there, just a few very large black grates, breaking the faceless thick concrete walls that make up two thirds of the building. The science fiction in me went mad with wonder whenever I thought about what could possibly be going on up in there; Was it a ventilation shaft, to some vast underground military bunker, posing as a bank? Was it an emergency power generator? A misslie silo? A satelite destroying laser beam generator, right here in my home town?



In all actuality, it probably just contained a couple small accountants' cubicles, with desks and counting machines, and a maybe a couple very pale accountants...

Down by the Chicopee river, the long Ludlow Mills buildings stretching for probably most of a mile, end with this iconic clock tower, which is on the town's seal.



It's the mill that created this town, and most of the oldest surviving buildings were built by or for the mill's management and employees. Most of those buildings are located in the area between the mills and the bridge that goes over into Springfield. The handsome business block below can be seen in some of the oldest pictures of town. The top half are now apartments, and various shops and stores come and go on the first floor.



The Exit 7 Players perform in a theater just one street over from us. Kelly occasionally tries to get me to check them out. Maybe we'll take in a show this coming holiday season...



Throughout my walk, the police had (rightly) been taking notice of the strange fellow and his dog, stopping to take pictures of businesses and buildings in the dark of night. They cruised by slowly several times, staring directly at me as they passed. Looking up from the camera I grinned back, nudging my head a little, as if to say "Uhm, every thing's cool over here, just taking pictures in the middle of the night..." In my head I readied an explanation; prepared to play the blogger card if need be. But they didn't stop to question...this time.



We'd better get home Nemo, the heat is on...

Back in the light of day on Tuesday morning, the stormy clouds were lining up and marching off to the horizon.





Later in the day I happened to glance over while driving home, just in time to catch the last rays of September...



October is at the door step...

Final Fall Fair

The rain finally subsided, so we headed out for something to eat, and something to do. Hawley's Restaurant in Belchertown provided the first destination.



Great home cooked-type food. From there it was a short skip up the hill to the annual Belchertown Fair, being held at the town common. Yestserday's rains must have kept a lot of people away because today, it was jam packed.









We did a quick tour of the grounds, stopping in at various tents and exhibits. This young entertainer belted out a famous song usually reserved for more jaded adults...



We continued on, and stopped in at the grange hall for a look at some prize winning arts and crafts. Here's something to do with that old sneaker.



From the hall we stopped at a couple of the livestock tents to see some critters, like this big rabbit. This really big rabbit.



And this soft rabbit. This really soft rabbit:



A Velveteen Rabbit, as it's owner called it. I can see where it got the name, as the fur on him was plush. This young lady manages to make cuter one of the cutest animals in the farm world.



The chicken tent provided a good variety of fowl, from the well manicured and poised...



To the Keith Richards of the chicken kingdom.



Kelly noted that these guys must be nervously counting down the days...



The clouds throughout the afternoon were coming and going, but it looked like there'd be a good break in the rain.









The weather was certainly good enough for the oxen pulls. We found seats a little early, and settled in to witness the pregame show, featuring some of the up and coming farmer/oxen teams.



The main event got started, and looking around at the competitors, these bad boys looked like the ones to beat.



Not that the smaller teams shirked from the challenge. From what I could tell, the idea is that each team has three tries to pull the loaded sled each round. The distance is measured, and pulling more than six feet automatically gets you into the next round. Each team has a try at pulling the blocks, which begin at 3000 lbs, and more 1000lb blocks are added to the sled after each round, until only one team can pull the load, or pull it the farthest, for the blue ribbon.



With each one of those concrete blocks weighing 1000 lbs, that's four tons these two are pulling.



Here's the struggle to pull just 3000 lbs:



We were sure those two huge oxen mentioned earlier would carry the day, and decided to head off for one more walk around, before leaving. We've checked out several fairs this year, more than I remember ever going to in a single year. So it was a little bitter-sweet leaving this one, as it's probably the last we'll see until next autumn; so far away...

Junk News

The price of most metals, and copper in particular, has absolutely skyrocketed in the past year or so. There's been several stories of copper piping being torn out of empty houses that are up for sale, or even houses where the owners are away on vacation. Recently, someone stole a set of aluminum bleachers from a park in Spencer, Mass. The recycling dumpster at my work, where we throw away our scrap ductwork and old HVAC equipment is regularly raided, usually by desperate looking fellows loading up there beat-up station wagons and pick-up trucks with anything shiny. Several rumors have surfaced of people ripping out air conditioners from the side of homes and businesses, just for the copper and aluminum coils that they contain. I hadn't seen anything like that yet in my HVAC travels, until this week. And it happened right at our work shop.



They simply tore the coil right out of the air conditioner. They didn't even cut the pipes, they just tore it right out. This was a working AC by the way, not scrap. It was attached to the building. The several pounds of Freon it contained, super-damaging to the Ozone layer, must have sprayed all over when they tore open the piping. Surprisingly they took only the copper coil, and left the compressor, fan motor and cabinet, which probably are also worth a few bucks for scrap. So word of warning to business and homeowners: If your AC doesn't seem to be working well, you might want to take a peek around the side of the building, before you call...

Things are getting rough. Even the insect world is trying to save on energy costs; this American Lady Butterfly tried to hitch a free ride on the hood of the vehicle...



As did this guy.



It was nice out most of the week, so we took a spin on the bicycles, down the Norwottuck trail Wednesday afternoon/evening, and on into Northampton for a coffee. Things are getting autumny...



The sun is setting quick these days, and it was nightfall by the time we got into town.





It can be quite a relaxing thing, to just sit around outside and listlessly sip a coffee. And in that respect, Northampton is a great place to do it. Here's a quick, mid-week-nightime-in-Northampton-scene and sound:



The bikers were out in force that evening, another sign of the pleasant weather we've had this past week.



But that's all coming to an end this weekend...



Ready for some rain?

Dog Route

Like Joe Walsh once said...'Vote For Me'.



The canine has been entered in the Springfield Republican's Pet of the Month contest.

It's been a pretty much unspoken rule that it's Kelly's dog and thus, Kelly's responsibilities. She's always taken him for his walks, kept his food and water bowls filled, doled out verbal punishment or time outs for any let's say, bowel-sourced indiscretions that might occur around the house. All fine with me. Let her go out in the middle of a winter night for a trudge around the block. Though I've come to admire the little animal, there's no sense taking on any extra duties if their not warranted. This arrangement is also fine with him as he much prefers the special attention only 'mommy' can dole out.

Despite this usually favorable situation, of having a pet and being virtually free of responsibilities, every now and again his nightly walk duties will still fall on me when Kelly has to work late. Last time though, I made the best of it and took the opportunity to hone my night-shooting. So come on along, curious reader, for a quick walk around the block in my neighborhood...



This Shell station sits a quarter mile away, just far enough to make it an unpleasant spate of fresh air and exercise when I send a grudging Chris for milk or any other supplies. The quick walk serves to pull him back to Earth, from whatever Narnia-like wizard role he's playing on the computer at the time.



Nemo's holy grail.



John's Corner, one of the spots where the local who's whos come to eat breakfast and network.



Speaking of who's whos, we pass State Rep Tom Petrolati's offices. He's a local boy done good, for sure; currently occupying the position of Speaker Pro Tempore in the statehouse...



Down the block is the Lighthouse. One of the more popular drinkeries in Ludlow, by my reckoning. They also have a stage area in the back, where I've witnessed some decent cover bands over the years.



The Chestnut Street School, now converted to the Ludlow Senior Center. Attached to the building is the stage where the Exit 7 Players, a local theater troupe, perform. The building was the original high school in this town, and was the pre-middle school during my time. I spent the awkward 5th and 6th grades here. More on that at another time....



The building also sits atop a low rise overlooking the town's green.



Now that I've found this new aspect of walking the dog, I'll probably add to this night-shoot on upcoming walks...



Ok, Nemo, all empty? Let's go home...

Seasons Come, Seasons Go

We took the dog for a walk at the dog park in Northampton, and I kept a lookout for some final scenes of Summer, on it's final day this year...





This trail is usually a win-win-win situation for us. Kelly gets some excersise, I get to scout for blogging pics, and the dog gets to sniff and pee to his heart's content. Trifecta.



Lots of late summer flowers and berries are popping up everywhere.

And the milkweeds are popping their cottony produce. I remember these things from my earliest childhood memories, as they used to grow in a field all along the side of my elementary school playground.



Chicories always add a nice lavendery color to late summer and fall.



A small patch of daisies out in a field caught my attention, because of all the Monarch butterflies fluttering around it. Inching closer and closer, I began to hear a low steady humming. The patch was also loaded with honey bees and a couple bumble bees. Huh; I had heard that the Monarchs were scarce this year, and we all know the honey bees are having a rough time lately. It was surprising to see them both in the same small patch of flowers, in such abundance...





The Monarchs are fueling up for their remarkable journey to Mexico and beyond, the only butterflies to travel that far and back...



Here's a view from the Insect-Cam...



Looking it up later in books and websites, I at first had a hard time identifying this red and black butterfly that landed right across our path. Ironically, it turned out to be the appropriately named 'Question Mark' Butterfly.



A fitting insect to find, on the last day of summer...