Sunday, November 27, 2011

My Town

This is how I started my day: 6:15 am and I see the view from the kitchen door, above the driveway.



And during the course of my day, I meandered with JB and our good friends along the streets of Northampton, where I live. My friend who has twelve sheep and lives two thirds up a mountain along side a dilapidated barn thinks my town is affluent.

There are pockets of affluence, yes, but mostly my town has a working class feel with an intellectual bent. There is a major college here (Smith) and that brings a bit of smart and hip to the area, but mostly the houses are modest and there are surrounding farms and to me the town looks like it probably did fifty years ago.


It is a liberal progressive tolerant, diverse and alittle-'hippie-crunchy- town. There are currently three "occupy" tents on the lawn of the Unitarian Church next to the City Hall.


Panhandling is allowed here, as long as it stays civil. This is a good place to be if you're down and out: the churches are active, the community helpful, the residents respectful.


And, although I rarely walk along Main Street because I rarely shop, the quarter mile strip o down town Northampton is looking good and ready for the holidays


It's feeling festive.









JB and I are looking for old color-rich bottles to perhaps (emphasize 'perhaps') make a chandiler out of them for over the dining room table. There are several antique shops here, this one beside a new cool coffee house, where you can sit and read or write for as long as you wish.

I had a good holiday. Our friends stayed an extra day and night because we were having so much fun. I am now in Provincetown beginning a week long vacation with JB that is overdue. We have brought fabric and books and colored pens and holiday cards and we will have some time. Our dog Stella is here too and we have just learned that if he hold her tail up and firmly she can walk without falling. She can almost run. It must look so odd to passersby, holding her tail like that.

I know the holidays are not easy for most of us and for sure I have had my share of wishing they were this when they were that. But this year I'm doing my best to be with people who are important to me, to buy or make little gifts that make me happy, and to let it all be what it will be.

I'll be reporting in on my progress, right here. :^)

with love, kj

27 comments:

  1. Oh KJ how wonderful you have one week to spend in P town with your loved ones!
    Enjoy every minute of it!
    I enjoyed all the pictures.
    Now that I am done in the house I am ready for Xmas! I hope I still have enough time to do some preps. But I have to fly also. Anyway I will try to enjoy everything as much as I can.
    Northampton seems wonderful as well and to wake up to a pink sky like that!!!! Awesome!

    Enjoy your week there
    ♥M
    I love that second picture with all that colored glass! Just beautiful. I just couldn't figure out how those balls were hanging....

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  2. Whow, quite a town! I always thought you live in a very small village with a few farmhouses. Don't know why but I thought so. ;-) Can I see a picture of your tailholding walk with Stella? ;-) Good to read that she is doing alright. And the both of you too.

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  3. Love you're photos and your town, Having a little trouble getting into the christmas thing this year myself and have to remind myself that change is inevitable and often good. Maybe next Christmas, I can spend it somewhere cold with people who are warm. Go the chandelier, sounds fabulous.

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  4. A week in ptown sounds just lovely as does the chandelier. Go for it!

    Say hi to the ocean for me - would ya?

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  5. Lovely post. Glad you had a good holiday.
    Mine was wonderful spending the whole week with friends, non stress, just joy :-). The only sadness that came was finding out that the amazing Nolly passed. I will miss her so.xoxo

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  6. how pretty the town looks with lights strung up all around, i love that. everything sounds good kj, glad that you'll have time to do whats important to you. any chance there'll be snow soon?!

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  7. marianne, how great it must be for you to have your house the way you want it and now to let the holidays settle upon you. those glass ornaments: i think they are hanging with transparent thread, inside plastic openings. ? p.s. ♥

    wieneke, ♥ i will take a picture for you. stella is not doing very well because she can barely walk. we hold her tail but when we let go she falls. we are taking a day at time. sometimes i cry...

    hells, i'm a warm person..... :^) i know what you mean about change. i think you are a knock out caterpillar on your way to being a knock out butterfly. you know i've always thought the universe has great surprises in store for you. i believe that 100%. xoxo

    hello ocean! mim sends her love!

    annie, i am so glad your week was so fun and warmed by friends! and yes, we have lost nolly. i imagine renee greeting her. ♥

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  8. lori, hello! no forecast of snow and i'm glad. the weather has been unseasonably gentle, so easy to be out and about. once the first storm comes, the ground will be white until march. but i'll make sure you get your share of vicarious snow through me :^)

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  9. You know I love your town and all the funky, artsy shops! It's a bit like Santa Cruz, CA in MA ;)
    I'd be one of the "crunchy" ones if I lived there.

    Gentle temps here again this week so far. How wonderful!

    Say hello to P'twon for me. More wonderful shops!

    haha, you're holding Stella's rudder, that's why it helps.

    Off to turn in my rental car. yay!

    xoxo
    Lo♥

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  10. I wanna visit. It looks so....NOT California. Artsy I like! Intellectual I am NOT. So I'll just walk down the middle of the street. I'm happy you are happy KJ. Nothing like a vacation with crafts!!!! Yeowza. That's the jackpot!

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  11. Collect the bottles. If not for a chandelier, then a bottle tree.

    I want to see Stella's rudder too. And what a fascinating thing to discover.I'm sure it helps her dignity also, bless her soul!

    Your town looks very peace-filled. I like that.

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  12. A wonderful tour,thank you for sharing the steps you take...making a chandelier out of colored bottles sounds really cool...
    You sound as though you are enjoying it all,and I am happy for you,actually,I am inspired by you,...an overdue vacation with JB,Sweet Stella,colored pencils,making gifts that make you happy...Sounds W.O.N.D.E.R.F.U.L.
    Big Hugs Friend,Cat

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  13. I have a serious crush on your town. I love any place that has a Unitarian Church, tolerates (and helps!) those that need a hand, a college vibe, art shops and well, residents like you and JB! :) What a lovely place. I felt all sorts of Christmassy looking at those pictures! xox! Pam

    PS I am making gifts, too. I have no idea how they are going to turn out - lol!!

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  14. oh, you guys are back in p'town - yay!! don't you love the ocean even in the winter? so mysterious and conducive to reading and writing, i think. please take a foto of it if you can - especially if the waves are rough and seas are wild..enjoy and give stella a pat♡

    p.s. i love the pink sky at 6;15 a.m.

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  15. lo, you are welcome in this old town any old time. i don't think you'd be a crunchy as the crunchy i mean :^)

    annie, don't worry about the intellectual part. it's easy to avoid. do you know new england, annie? ♥

    hi babs, gosh, stella's tail is strong. who knew? but it is bittersweet: when we let go she falls. her legs are getting weaker every day. my heart is afraid. ♥

    cat, i feel i've been a broken record for more than two years now about how sad and hurt i've been, so it's time. there is alot i really love about this holiday season, so i'm going for it. today i glittered cards. and doodled :^)

    pam, i wish you were my neighbor. i truly honestly totally completely wish you were my neighbor.

    hi amanda, yes, there is a creative force here. i feel it. i will do my best to get you a good ocean shot. it is still surprisingly warm, which i am thrilled about. xo

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  16. I absolutely love your images of your town! Definitely brochure quality, and I like your common-sense description of it also. Makes me want to see it (but I still have that hankering to see Provincetown more...it's that Louise Bryant/John Reed/Eugene O'Neill thing....) Enjoy a relaxing time there.

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  17. What a quaint looking place as I have always said. I was reminded so clearly of dear Renee when reading about Nolly passing away. The thought of Renee always brings me such sadness, but I know I am not too good at dealing with death anyway. YOU somehow are the glue that holds all us wonderful people together in bloggyland- I do hope you know that!

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  18. There is a path that starts on the asphalt and leads through a cornfield to the forest. In that forest if you have walked that path without holding on to regret or fear you will find a clearing where all you have spent your life searching for has been waiting. Sit and enjoy the gade within your heart kj.

    There is a cool radio station in Northampton @ 93.9 I like to listen to at times.

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  19. lydia, i'm now walking around ptown and i can't believe the sights and lights! the main holiday tree is made from lobster traps! i know you would like both places ♥

    joss, i thought of renee too. i'm sure she has greeted nollyposh already. i don't know about being glue but i know i can be sticky! hee hee xoxo

    chills, mark. for whatever reason you are telling me this at this moment, on this day, you gave me chills. thank you. ♥

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  20. I loved reading about your Thanksgiving and now I'm off to pack up my boxes and move to Provincetown! I especially loved this: "three "occupy" tents on the lawn of the Unitarian Church" and the traditional look of a liberal place (awesome photos). Big hug.

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  21. I find myself beginning to anticipate Christmas - even though I won't get to have my fellas n Christmas Eve, I love the season and an't wait to go get a tree.

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  22. big hug to you, andrea. no doubt you would like this here provincetown :^) and vice versa

    cs, i've never had jess for chistmas eve since she was two; always with her father. but christmas eve midnight and christmas day is another matter all together!!! we have traditions, as i know you do too xoxo

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  23. You are indeed blessed and your town looks wonderful.
    I am so glad you had a wonderful Thanksgiving.
    You do win the most gorgeous family award, because they are.
    They look happy, most important of all though.
    Have a great time on your vacation.
    Blessings all over you.

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  24. hello dear dear marie! your family could no doubt win this award too! we can share it! i'm sending love your way: tsup mwah!!!!!

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  25. kj, it's all so lovely: quaint and chic at the same time. How great to get out and peruse main street with its shops.
    I love your getaway to make your own cards, being able to feel the spirit of the holidays without so many distractions.
    And my favorite image of all (well, would have been the cat and dog walk) is that incredible sunrise! What a way to greet the day!
    Good luck! Tomorrow is Dec 1, and the count is on... xo

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  26. Your town sounds amazing- I want to live there!! I love towns that have that small town feel but at the same time are a little less, how shall we say, conservative? ;)

    It sounds like you are blessed to feel at home where you live.

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  27. I took pics of those same bottles next to the Roost! When you are back in town, seriously, coffee or dinner. Really. Email me...I am so bad with the phone. Are you around next weekend?

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