urbpan | Entries tagged with skyline

The day before Halloween we had an Urban Nature Walk at good old Mount Auburn. Among other things, we saw North America's most massive bird species.

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Current Music: Kyuss - Gardenia

My dad came to visit last Saturday and we went to a place with the problematic name of Squaw Rock Park, in Quincy. It was right above the beach and high enough to give us a nice view of the city across the harbor.

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The only real "nature" picture I took on the walk was of this lovely line of white birches at the ridge of the park.

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I set the googlemap app to find us a "pub," and it found us "The Irish Pub." I was a little tentative based on the outward appearance, but it was perfectly fine inside. We were the only people in there who were not 1. Irish or 2. playing Keno. I love my father's Saturday visits!

Current Music: The Who - Anyway, Anyhow, Anywhere

I'll let you in on a little secret that I won't tell them over at tumblr. I'm going to slow release a whole mess of photos of organisms from this day to try to catch up on my 280 days of urbpandemonium project. The following post is mostly people and places kind of pictures, and lots of them.

Nickerson Beach is on a peninsula neighborhood known as Squantum in the city of Quincy. It sticks up into Boston Harbor and is very close to a couple of the harbor islands.
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Current Music: Faith No More - Epic

On the ground in Boston, waiting for Alexis to come get us.

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A little while earlier: the Back Bay on the horizon.

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Carson Beach and South Boston in the foreground, the Financial District in the back.

Current Music: Guns N' Roses - Paradise City

Approaching Boston from the south, on rt. 93.

Current Music: James Kochalka Superstar - Why Is The Sky Blue?

My dad came up to visit, and we went to my coworker's house in Hull for a visit. They immediately hit it off over the subject of women's basketball.

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Current Music: Too Much Joy - Pirate

I've noticed that many places, usually coastal, have locations that they call "Land's End" or even "World's End." I've been lucky enough to visit some of these with my Dad. Yesterday we went to World's End in Hingham, Massachusetts.
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Current Music: Sara Watkins - Any Old Time

I've decided that in 2014 Urban Nature Walks will be scheduled for the last Sunday of every month. I was planning to go to Constitution Beach but last Sunday was not a good beach day (lots of rain--better for the woods), so I postponed it by one week. Constitution Beach is in East Boston--the same neighborhood as Logan Airport.

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Current Music: Led Zeppelin - Black Dog

Washington street, Roslindale.

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Forest Hills Bridge.

Current Music: Stone Temple Pilots - Between the LInes

Current Music: The Geraldine Fibbers - Get Thee Gone

From up on the footbridge, it looks a little like chaos, but we can see a commuter rail train leaving North Station, the Zakim bridge, Boston Garden (which changes its name every few years with the change of corporate sponsorship), and some tall apartment buildings over the frosty river.

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Current Music: The Bravery - Believe

Somehow in the midst of all the dog-related chaos, with Alexis out of town, I was able to complete a scheduled Urban Nature Walk! My idea for this year is to start at the mouth of the Charles, then follow it upriver on the North side. It's not much, but it's a theme. Here I am, as the weather app indicates, in the fair city of Cambridge. The mercury hit the Fahrenheit scale at 14, a bit colder than yesterday, but the motivation of an Urban Nature Walk is enough to get me out there to see North Point Park.
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Current Music: Alice in Chains - Dam That River

My dad came to visit this Saturday. My intention was to bring him to the Arthur Fiedler statue down on the Esplanade (via car) but found that parking anywhere nearby was not gonna happen. I pulled over at the first legal spot on Beacon Street and it was at Mass Ave. I figured, why not? Dad likes great views, so we crossed the Charles and took some pics.

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Current Music: Elis Regina - Aguas de Marco

Friday was marked with dramatic downpours. Our aging building may need some gutter work.

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Current Music: Nirvana - Dive

The second two days of the Rodent Control Academy were held in the building I'm leaning in front of, a City Government Administrative building of some kind way way down on the southwest tip of Manhattan. It was cold and foggy in the mornings (even as the temp got up to the 80s in Boston) but when it burned off there was quite a view. Here's the balance of my NYC pics, including a couple that I took while doing Rodent Control fieldwork:
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I led an Urban Nature Walk for Boston University's Ecolympics. I parked at my old place in Brookline and walked to BU. I planned to be a little early, but the walk there was shorter than I anticipated, and I got to BU a full hour early. I walked from the meeting point, over the footbridge to the Charles, and balanced some rocks to pass the time.