Duxbury Bogs

As far back as my early 30’s, the landscape somehow awed me. In the morning or afternoon, sun or grey, rain or snow my gaze was always drawn to it whether I was a passenger or the driver. The landscape I’m talking about is on a stretch of Route 3A in Duxbury, near mile marker 21. It sits right along the highway, so close that if you pulled into the breakdown lane you could possibly jump into the water. It is a body of water, a pond with dead trees growing out from beneath it, straight and bare, never changing over the years, maybe. Something about it was dream-like, haunting, shriveled but magical. Whether I was fatigued or hung-over or distracted I would always turn my neck out the window to watch it travel by like I were a passing ghost. I mean, it’s a common thing, like any marker you would encounter I suppose— an old hanging tree, a field with a barn set back, a billboard. You remember them over the years, use them to gauge distance and time. However I always thought, “man, I love this scene. I would love to take a picture of it.” But then it’s gone and you are on your way to work, or the beach or the ferry.

I started working on a job sight in Duxbury back in April, today being November 23. It just so happened that I would pass this scene every morning to work. I kept thinking about the picture I wanted to take. There was no way I was going to pull over into the breakdown lane, hop the guard rail and fire away— too dangerous and time consuming. I kept making mental notes though as if I were planning to track it. Mile marker 21 off Route 3 South and beneath the overpass roads of Elm and East Street. I would turn my phone GPS on to see if the pond came up on it and if so was there a name. I google Earthed the area and saw more ponds, bigger ones around it and lots of cranberry bogs. I saw no streets around the pond, small trails I made out in the picture but nothing concrete.

Well finally, last night, I decided that if I got out of work early, I would try and find this landscape of my imagination. I brought my camera. We got out of work at noon. As I pulled out and on to the highway towards home I still wasn’t convinced I would actually do it and it wasn’t until I approached Exit 11 that I said fuck it— I’ll look around. I won’t commit. I took a circuitous path along local streets navigating towards where I hoped the area would be. My GPS showed nothing— just a blank open space. I came to East Street overpass and just before it was a dirt road with a big metal gate keeping out any would be adventurer. This had to be it. I turned off and parked by the gate. Obviously I wasn’t meant to go in but I sat there and pondered what to do. Fuck it. I got my camera, my jacket and proceeded on foot. It was a wonderful path through pine trees and cranberry bogs and I could hear the highway whizzing with cars. But no pond. I walked a good half mile before I realized it was probably the other way and I turned back, sat in my car and ate my lunch. I walked to the overpass and could see the pond, just as I thought, north. Then I decided to try and drive around a little, the way I came and find a rode that branched off towards the other direction where it might be. I pulled out and as I drove off, I spied out of the corner of my eye what looked to be a parking lot— a scenic view turn off. I turned around, parked and was greeted by a sign that read Duxbury Bogs and there were others walking their dogs along a trail that headed towards my objective. Man was I pumped. It took me all the way to my goal albeit a little different view than I was accustomed too seeing from the highway as here it was set more far off closer to the highway. I was thrilled anyway. I took some pictures and happily called it a day.

The first trail just through the gate

Trees on hill

Cranberry bog and trees

Rounding a corner

View through trees

Cranberries

My view objective

This is the photo that most resembles the roadside image. It is called Golden Reservoir.

Bubbles caught beneath a thin layer of ice

Everything I learned in life, I learned on Facebook.

Cool. I learned how to embed music on here

lost camcorder footage 99 hawaii

When Dano and Rich came to visit us in Hawaii in 1999, Dano had found a handheld camcorder on a bench outside the pizza bar we were eating in. He filmed some stuff, just a little and had forgotten about it until a couple of years later and gave me the tape. In 2006, I transferred the film from the camcorder to AVI file on computer. We were still playing tennis in 99 maybe not so much as years passed. Me and Rich had a huge rivalry, often trading victories until I developed my spin shot. Neither one could beat me for years. I even started playing tennis wearing my roller-blades but when I realized it was probably pissing people off, I stopped wearing them. By 99 they had figured it out and I was beatable again. God... has it been almost years? Seems like everytime I think of the past it's always twenty years ago.

FB

I had deactivated my Facebook account back in September so I was shocked to find out tonight it was still open. So I deactivated it again and well, hopefully it sticks. Weird....

Phone sweep

Just cleaning up my phone and came across these strange images from work I had captured.

Trump

What a long fucking day... that began with me waking up, turning on the computer and seeing, on Yahoo that Trump was our new president! Whoa, I couldn't believe it. And wouldn't you know it, on that same head page was the story (or non-story, in my eyes) of Tom Brady/Bill Bellicheck's last minute public support of Trump but whatever. It was like, I went to bed, the outcome was a forgone conclusion like a sporting event, a Superbowl or World Series that you knew your team had no chance to win. And by God, they won! Anyway, I voted for Trump (surprisingly Robin voted Hillary, last minute). Listen. I've never been about politics. I don't follow it, don't care for it and have very few opinions on their agendas. All I can say and I won't get into the endless back and forth rhetoric that I have to listen to from everyone else, is that I have always liked the way Trump thinks, his no nonsense approach to life, his motivation to make things better and I truly believe that he believes in the old ideas about America-- that it should be great again. I watched his show The Apprentice from the beginning and loved listening to his board room assessment of the game. I loved his old interviews on Howard Stern when he came across as just one of the guys. I've been tired for so long of the politicians. Manipulators, liars and to some degree murderers. Hillary isn't the first nor last to be involved in mixed up Benghazi type stuff... whatever, it happens. It's what politicians do. I felt we needed a change, some swagger, some hope. The last great American president was Reagan, the actor. Maybe it was time for a non politician to take the steed.

And just a few things that were important to me that Trump seems to be tackling and hopefully he will: build the fucking wall. Send the illegals home and make them come to this country the proper way. And enough free shit to illegals and terrorists and deadbeats. Get what you earn, earn what you get. Go after Isis, destroy those fucking maniacs. Check all Muslims or whatever it is he wants to do and keep this country safe. Get rid of Obama Care (without getting too much into it, part of that is that it gives 200.00 dollars worth of food stamps to heroin junkies who then turn around and sell them to Asian convenient stores for half the cost). And if you all don't like it, you got 4 years to get baked and piss and moan about how Trump is a racist, rapist and Putin bro mance uncouth fool. Hillary would be more of the same bullshit; Trump represents change... I hope.

It was nice to be on the side of the winning team too; the last time my vote seemed to count was when Bush Jr won. And no thanks to Massachusetts either or Braintree for that matter in 2016. Of course Mass backed Hillary, what 61% to 42% or something like that. I forget. Braintree too-- such smug Democrats. They even voted against the pot thing, 54% against, 45% for and in the prseidential race, voted for Hillary 52% to 42% (just checked on those numbers).

So on that note, I was at the gas station tonight after work (in Braintree), filling up the truck, listening to sports radio through my open window. A black man tapped me on the shoulder and pointed at my Trump/Pence bumper sticker, smiled and said, "nice sticker. We did it."

Had to vent somewhere. Most of my friends are Dems and voted Hillary. I see myself more as an Independent and make up my mind as things go in the race. However I remember one time watching The Apprentice and Trump was really laying in to one of the players, really just reprimanding them about fair play but at same time looking for strategy and I remember telling Robin, "I love this guy. He should run for president. He'd have my vote." True story.