I have never typed the word ramshackle before today. And I've seen my share of rundown buildings. But I found a doozy today.
But that's all I have to say about that.
I was surprised, positively and slightly negatively, by this ancient neighborhood of Weymouth. It has so much history, such deep roots, that I think I was looking for inspiration. What force of history made Plimoth Plantation one of the largest attractions in the northeast, when a place equally as historic like Wessagusset is simply a suburban neighborhood?
The beach here, along the Fore River, is short and rocky, definitely a river beach and not an ocean one. There is a wrack line, there are gulls, and there are lots of boats of varying sizes. There's even a small replica of the statue of liberty standing atop of house on the shore.
Fishermen and ex-fishermen live here, if it can be termed that way. I think, after walking these streets today, that fishermen live on the water and only come ashore to crash once in a while. More than one house had an old boat in the yard, completely overgrown by weeds and in danger of rotting away to dust.
There's plenty of open space here, a marsh, some woods that were nevr built upon. You'd be amazed at how much the "teakettle, teakettle, teakettle" of a Carolina wren sounds like "cheeseburger, cheeseburger, cheeseburger" an hour after you've taken your thyroid pill and are starting to feel the hunger that's been building all night. I swear they were chasing me from street to street.
Pleasantly surprisingly, I found a park I didn't know existed. Small, wood-chipped trails wound through a small section of woods, where several markers commemorated the early days of European settlement here. It wasn't smooth , by any means. Natives died and settlers died. Myles Standish even beheaded three Native Americans in a show of force. The guilt and pain has lingered through the centuries, coaxing someone to place a stone with the following quote:
"On October 21, 2001, these puddingstone memorials were dedicated as symbols of hope that the souls of the first inhabitants of Wessagussett, the Massachusetts Indians, and the first settlers of Weymouth, the Weston colonists, have reconcliled their differences and found peace."
Wow.
Time: 33 minutes.
New species: (Wildflowers in Bloom) Asiatic dayflower (114).
Stranger hellos: None.
What else is happening: lunch with my mother, sister, Michelle and Anthony; work, work, work; finished reading A Tale of Two Cities: The 2004 Yankees-Red Sox Rivalry and the War for the Pennant.
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Yes, getting the "silver" medal instead of the "gold" in history only makes you conveniently forgettable. Wessagussett has made its own history however, first as a cottage community on the way to Nantasket, and now as a seaside suburban community for the locals. Nice walk.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely true. That's sense of place in a nutshell. It's amazing how the forces of history continue to shape and twist and redefine neighborhoods.
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