Stony Brook Timeline

While researching earlier Urban Nature Walks involving the Muddy River, I discovered that Olmsted (the 19th century landscape architect that transformed urban America) was given the task of dealing with Stony Brook, as well as the Muddy. Both are tributaries of the Charles, but while the Muddy is the centerpiece of a major park, the Riverway, that I live next to and visit every day, I realized that I knew nothing about Stony Brook. I knew it was the name of a train stop in Jamaica Plain, but the brook itself didn't even seem to appear on maps. Then we decided to do an Urban Nature Walk at the Stony Brook Reservation, the location of the headwaters of Stony Brook, a Metropolitan Reservation (as opposed to Municipal Park) that straddles the neighborhoods of Roslindale and Hyde Park in Boston. I did some research before our walk, and turned up some interesting history. ( Read more... )

My pictures of the Stony Brook Reservation can be seen here, while cottonmanifesto's pictures are here and here.

It's finally winter

Goldenrod, in the deer enclosure.



Sunset on old Bird Hill.

More winter wonders

Raccoon and squirrel tracks on the snow on the ice on the pond in the deer enclosure.

( It gets better )

Not the microorganisms I want

I just poured almost an entire 12 pack of Bass Ale down the sink. I bought it for belen1974 as a thank you for dogsitting gift, which she suspiciously ignored. Perhaps she opened one up and tasted the mildewey flavor that I did when I opened one. In fact, all the bottles I opened smelled and tasted like a moldy newspaper. While I appreciate the work of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the microorganism that changes the sugars in the beer mixture into alcohol and carbon dioxide, some other little creature has clearly gotten involved. Does anyone know what microorganism can spoil beer in this way? Interestingly, the box that the bottles came in also smelled mildewy. There's no way that whatever spoiled the beer was the same thing that spoiled the box (the capped bottles are airtight) but it makes me wonder if the boxes were exposed to some event that encouraged the unwanted mold growth. Flooding? Heat? What could spoil capped beer?

Sorry about the bad beer, Alex! I bought some replacements, whenever you'd like to come drink them with me!