Somerville Open Studios

On Saturday I went to Davis Square to see the Somerville Open Studios. The event is held every year and features emerging and mid-career artists that open their apartments and studios to the public to show off their work. There was a large range of mediums and styles and everything was original yet tasteful. The studios were all cute or unique. I can't say enough good things about the Open Studios and hopefully they will be doing it again next year. Somerville Open Studios Link. What made this day even better was that the weather was spectacular and the town was beautiful with flowers and freshly popped leaves. We stopped at the Boston Burger Company for lunch which had awesome sweet potatoes and we watched the Square from the big open window. There was some kind of folk dance crew performing throughout the area and later on we stopped at the Joshua Tree where we watched part of the Kentucky Derby and I had a snow berry martini which was very tasty.

Rockingham Park

Rockingham Park in Salem, NH features harness racing. They race trotting or pacing Standardbred horses hooked up to small carts apposed to galloping Thoroughbreds with their typical saddle riders. The Standardbred was developed in America and has a strong build and a good character. The races are one after the other at the Park so there's not too much down time and bets are taken inside. The horses look like they are not overworked which is important to me and they are just a ball to watch. I love them! Their names kill me too: "He's a Player", "Ask for Bliss, "Frankly Fit", and my favorite "Aim for the Stars".

The photos below were taken with my film BlackSlim Devil camera.

Winter in VT After Christmas

I spent several days way up in northern Vermont, having the luxuries of civilization provided not by basic electricity but by my dad's array of generators, inverters, solar panels, and who knows what else. I went snowshoeing with my mom and the dog which was fun until I fell through the ice of the pond up to my knees. We came up to what looked like a dip in the snow where a river fed into the pond and when I tried to jump over it I just kind of slid down and once I hit the ice I just kept going. I was stuck pretty good since I couldn't get a grip on anything. When I got out my toes were about as freezing as they have ever been but as far as those kinds of experiences go it wasn't that bad.

We went snowmobiling a couple days too. We came across a whole herd of deer on the trail and followed them for a ways. They were the biggest deer I had ever seen and their coats were a deep red with snow white patches.