On the Mill Stream at Newburyport Massachusetts, Alfred Thompson Bricher, press to enlarge.
I found this absolutely gorgeous painting of what must be the mill stream out by Curzon Mill.
The painting is called “On the Mill Stream at Newburyport Massachusetts,” the date is unknown, and it is by Alfred Thompson Bricher, who lived from 1837-1908.
Bob's Red Mill Tapioca Flour
I find gluten free bread to be gross, even Udi’s, and there is no nutritional value. I’ve given up on GF bread bread, in fact I gave it up way long ago. And I have been searching for some sort of solution. A friend of mine gave me Brazilian Cheese Balls, which are gluten free, about an inch and a half round and yummy, and made with tapioca flour. So I decided to go on a hunt for Brazilian Cheese Ball recipes. But what I really wanted was something that tasted like the Brazilian Cheese Balls but was flat.
So after mucho experimentation I came up with this recipe. I have never, ever baked until I got on this gluten free diet thing, and I like easy recipes, and this is easy, otherwise I wouldn’t do it.
The “bread” smells like buttery bread, tastes a little bit like a flat chewy croissant, and I eat it for a snack.
And since people come to the Newburyport looking for Gluten Free stuff, and the Almond Meal cookie recipe (see earlier post) has been a hit from all over the US, I thought I would share this recipe as well. (Anything to make folks who are on a gluten free diet lives more enjoyable. This is my gluten free comfort food. And finding GF comfort food ain’t easy.)
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Brazilian Cheese Flat Bread
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (in a package, make sure it is Gluten Free, check what is used to make sure it doesn’t gum up, hopefully something like potato starch)
2 eggs
1 cup milk (can be lactose free)
1 1/2 t salt
1 t GF baking powder
1/2 cup canola oil
3 cups tapioca flour (I use Bob’s Red Mill, see photo above)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix cheese, salt, baking powder, eggs, milk and oil (can can use a fork). Add tapioca flour, mix with spatula. (If the consistency is too runny, add a little more tapioca flour a tablespoon at a time, flour consistency sometimes differs with each package.)
Cover a cookie sheet (roughly 15″ x 10″) with parchment paper, cut so that there is about half an inch of parchment paper sticking up all the way around.
Take half mixture and spread as evenly as possible, making a rectangle, leaving about an half an inch to an inch of space between the mixture and the edge of the paper.
Cook for 15 to 25 minutes (temperatures of ovens vary). Watch closely, and remove when light brown all over, including the middle. The edges will brown first.
Remove the cooked bread still on the parchment paper and put on the counter to cool. The bread will puff up during cooking, and then flatten as it cools. Cut into 12 (more or less) pieces and freeze. I put pieces in a plastic tub and separate them with wax paper.
Heat up in microwave when hungry. I like it a little warm and chewy, not completely cooled (my own personal taste).
It can also be lactose free. Mozzarella chess does not have sugar, and is lactose free. And I use a fortified lactose free milk, lots of vitamins. (You can also try it with other kinds of cheese.)
I’ve only make the flat bread with reduced fat mozzarella and 1% milk, so I don’t know what it would taste like if made otherwise.
Smells like buttery bread. Tastes like a chewy croissant. Makes a great snack. Don’t need to put anything on it.
It could be tweaked to make a good pizza dough (but haven’t gotten that far yet).
Newburyport Postcard, Calm Diggers and their Shanties "Joppa," press image to enlarge.
I’ve been going on another fun hunt, finding Newburyport postcards that are in the public domain. Here are two of the clam shacks, one of the clam shanties with a trolley, and one with the clam diggers and their shanties at “Joppa.” Joppa is on the water in the South End of Newburyport.
Newburyport clam shanties with trolley, press image to enlarge.
Salt Marsh Hay by Martin Johnson Heade
Martin Johns Heade, 1819-1904, Salt Marsh Hay, c.1865, Oil on Canvas, 13″ x 26″, Butler Institute of American Art, Youngstown, Ohio
The Newburyport Blog has been on a hunt for marsh paintings by Martin Johnson Heade, who painted the marshes around Newburyport. I love this painting of the marsh during a storm.
One of the remarkable things that we have all around our country is the small and art-rich museums. This particular painting comes from the Butler Institute of American Art in Youngstown Ohio. And it’s not just an artist like Heade that is represented, but also painters like Winslow Homer and Edward Hopper.
Not all of us from New England can get to Youngstown, Ohio, but you can vistit the Butler Institute of American Art here.
Frank Thurlo,1828-1913, watercolor of Newburyport's Chain Bridge
Every now and again the Newburyport Blog goes on a fun hunt. In 2007 I went on a hunt for all the stuff I could find about Newburyport’s historic gardens. And in 2012 it looks like I’m going on a hunt for Newburyport historic paintings. How fun.
And in my hunt, I found another painting by Frank Thurlo, a watercolor of Newburyport’s Chain Bridge. And you can see the same boat that Frank Thurlo had in the previous painting (see previous post), as well as the birds.
And Frank Thurlo was what we would call a true “native.” Frank Thurlo was a descendant of Richard Thurlo, a native of England, who held land in Rowley, MA in 1634 and moved to Newbury in 1651. He was the son of Moody and Ann (Little-there’s that old name again) Thurlo, and went to the Brown High School in Newburyport.
Frank Thurlo lived from 1828-1913, and lived and died in Newburyport, MA . And all the images of his paintings are in the public domain.
Frank Thurlo, 1828-1913, watercolor on paper, Plum Island River, 4 1/8″ x 12 1/8″
Thurlo is an old Newbury name, and in my search for paintings in the public domain of Newburyport I came across this painting.
The Painting is by Frank Thurlo who lived from 1828-1913. It is a watercolor on paper, of Plum Island River and Marshes, 4 1/8″ x 12 1/8″. And it is signed lower right. You can click the image to enlarge.
And now for something completely different.
Bob’s Red Mill Almond Meal/Flour at Market Basket and Natural Grocer in Newburyport, click to enlarge.
A lot of people arrive at the Newburyport Blog looking for “Newburyport, Gluten Free.” I get emails from folks wondering if there is a Newburyport gluten free support group. Nope, there isn’t, but I’ve sure have learned a whole lot about good old gluten free stuff, including the wonders of Almond Meal, incredibly good for you (whether you are gluten free or not), if you click the thumbnail of the back of the almond meal package, you’ll see.
The wonders and nutritional value of almond meal, press to enlarge.
Bob’s Red Mill Almond Meal/Flour can be found at Market Basket here in Newburyport as well as Natural Grocer. It’s magic. Aside from easy to bake cookies, that have changed my gluten free life, it’s also an amazing coating along with parmesan chess on things like fish, it has its own oil. Who knew. Now the readers of the Newburyport Blog know. The frogs wish that almond meal had come into their lives decades ago (were they around decades ago, I don’t think so. Frogs!!).
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Vanilla Almond Meal Cookies (and variations)
(Adapted from Elana’s Pantry, elanaspantry.com, Elana Amsterdam, website and cookbook)
1 ¼ cups blanched almond flour (Bob’s Red Mill)
Dash pumpkin spice or cinnamon (optional)
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon baking soda
3T – ¼ cup oil, canola or grapeseed oil (each has slightly different effect, I use canola oil)*
3 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon water
2 teaspoons GF vanilla
*When mixed the dough should not be too “runny.”
(There is also a more detailed almond meal-flour chocolate chip recipe here.)
It is possible that only Tom Salemi could approach the whole Newburyport’s Local Historic District (LHD) thing with humor, marked with wisdom and humility. (Alas, the Newburyport Blog‘s experience is what my fellow blogger recommends in his Newburyport Today article, that we be “a community” and “stay classy,” might not actually be possible in what has been dubbed, and what I thought had disappeared, but has seemingly been resurrected, “Cannibal City.”)
A bagel
Tom opens his article with his experience of being aggressively approached in front of Abraham’s Bagels by one of the “Say No to LHD” folks on their anti-LHD campaign, at 8:30 on a Saturday morning, as he was trying to get some breakfast (great bagels from Abraham’s Bagels, a thumbs up from this born and raised in New York, New Yawker, who knows from bagels, a “blow in,” a “newby,” moi, who has “only” lived here, in Newburyport, for 31 years) for his family.
In his piece in Newburyport Today, Tom Salemi (the author of the well loved blog, Newburyport Posts) writes, “But let’s all do this right. Let’s handle this with the same grace that we’ve employed with the IBEW protests. We don’t need to roll in the mud.”
And I agree with Tom, what is necessary is “an informed and engaged public,” Tom’s words.
And what Tom Salemi points out with grace and dignity, is at this point, the “Say No to LHD” folks are giving people information filled with inaccuracies and omission of the facts.
And, yes, this makes it difficult to have an informed and thoughtful discussion.
I guess aggressively handing out information in front of Abraham’s Bagels was not enough. The “Say No to LHD” folks have made a mass mailing-2,700 pieces of mail (which one of my neighbors, when they received the mailing, thought was going to be an anti-drug missive), including the flyer handed out in front of Abraham’s Bagels, full of misinformation, scare tactics and omission of the facts.
As one friend said to me, on one of my many walks around my beloved historic city, “It’s hard to get a positive message out there when the default reaction is ‘No,’ and you are dealing with lies” (their word, not mine).
You can read Tom Salemi’s article at Newburyport Today, February 16, 2012, “Take the Bagels, Leave the Petition,” here.
The online petition in favor of Newburyport’s Local Historic District (LHD) can be found here.
From what I can make out, and George and the other “political consultants” to the Newburyport Blog can make out, there are two groups of folks who are against Newburyport’s proposed Local Historic District (LHD).
The “Say NO to LHD” folks, who appear to be Tea Party folks, who are misrepresenting and distorting the facts (see previous posts here and here).
And it also appears that the opposition, also often very hostile opposition, which might be the “masses” that Newburyport City Councilor Dick Sullivan was referring to in his quote in the article on the Local Historic District by Brenda Buote in the Boston Globe that can be read here.
The film “A Measure of Change”
There is an amazing film made about Newburyport in 1975 called “A Measure of Change” that can be seen here. I think two of the comments below the video sum up what some of the more “silent” opposition to the LHD are feeling.
“…our heritage replaced by tourist traps, overpriced specialty shops, higher taxes, impossibly high rents for working-class citizens… I loved the old town, but it wasn’t rebuilt, it was essentially destroyed, and replaced with some architectural designs that our ancesters would never have tolerated. Why do you think so many former Newburyporters ARE former Newburyporters?? They can no longer afford to live there. The city has been taken over by special interests from out of state… This pathetic attempt to put lipstick on this pig won’t make it acceptable to me, for one.”
And another commentator in reply:
“You said it in a nut shell! I was born and raised there, but by the time i was 30ish my parents had to put their house on the market because they could no longer afford to live there. And they both grew up there as well, and hated to leave. They spend the rest of their day in NH.”
And from one of the opposition LHD petitions.
“…tell the do gooders to get a life and get out of ours.”
“Work in town. This is a really bad idea. Old time nbpter, not a blow in.”
“Another layer of socialist bureaucracy, by a board of permit komaczars who answer to no one with unlimited autocratic authority…And to think this whole nonsense began because some newby didn’t like the way his neighbor kept his property. Disgusting!”
Lots of anger there.
But at this point, and it could most certainly change, the pro-LHD petition now has 300 signatures, mostly from “blow ins,” who “blew in” 30 to 40 some years ago, to more recently. And the two anti-LHD petitions, one has 24 signatures, and the other has 4 signatures (I don’t think “Oecpexgrmu” counts).
So the “masses” that Dick Sullivan has referred to, might be the folks who are not “blow ins” or “newbies” or “do gooders,” but “old time Newburyporters” (“nbpter”).
I’ve been told that local historic districts don’t create friction in the community, but they do bring to the surface the frictions that already exist.
Martin Johnson Heade Sudden Showers, Newbury Marshes, c 1865-1875
Martin Johnson Heade, “Sudden Showers, Newbury Marshes,” c 1865-1875, Oil on Canvas, 13.25″ x 26.31,” Courtesy of the Yale University Art Gallery, Yale University, New Haven, Conn. (Press image to enlarge.)
Another amazing painting of the Newbury marshes by Martin Johnson Heade, thanks to Wikipedia (see previous post). The image is in the public domain.
I‘ve spent decades painting the marshes around Newburyport, and Heade is one of my all time favorites artists. And this reminds me of the marshes along Rt 1A between Newburyport and Rowley. A real treat for the Newburyport Blog.
Sunlight and Shadow: The Newbury Marshes (c. 1871-1875), Martin Johnson Heade
Sunlight and Shadow: The Newbury Marshes (c. 1871-1875), Martin Johnson Heade, Oil on canvas, Size: 12″ x 26.5″ John Wilmerding Collection (The National Gallery of Art (Washington, D.C.) Press image to enlarge.
How gorgeous is this painting by Martin Johnson Heade, who did a number of paintings of our local marshes. This is via Wikipedia, so the image must be in the public domain, and I don’t think I was aware of this painting either (see earlier post).
People end up on the Newburyport Blog all the time looking for pictures and photographs of Newburyport. And it is always so much fun to find another extraordinary image of this beautiful place.
"Hunter in the Meadows of Old Newburyport, Massachusetts" by Alfred Thompson Bricher, click to enlarge
(If you click on the painting by Bricher, the image will enlarge)
I have never seen this gorgeous painting of a “Hunter in the Meadows of Old Newburyport, Massachusetts,” by Alfred Thompson Bricher c. 1873. It’s oil on Canvas, 22″ x 44″ and the image is courtesy of Wikipedia, and is now apparently in the public domain. What a treat.
“The scene appears to be in the vicinity of the Little River. Route 1 offered the major overlook easily accessible to artists. In the far right can be seen the ridge of the right bank of the Merrimack over which High Street runs. Cattle have been turned into the marsh for pasture, a practice still allowed on some marsh farms of the area.”
I‘ve written a Letter to the Editor in favor of Newburyport’s Local Historic District (LHD). It hasn’t appeared yet.
And after seeing the thrashing that takes place (often very personal) in the comment section of the Newburyport Daily News to people who write pro-LHD Letters to the Editor, I am feeling a certain amount of dread.
One of the things that I imagine will be pointed out, because it was pointed out about another couple who wrote in favor of the LHD, is that, at the moment I do not live in an historic home. At the moment I live in 1950’s infill, and my home is not in the proposed LHD.
Yesterday when I was walking and talking, someone asked me why I am bothering to support Newburyport’s proposed LHD.
In 1999 MassHighway almost destroyed historic High Street, and I was part of the fight that stopped MassHighway from harming the roadway. It was through that process that I became passionate about the historic quality and beauty of High Street and learned, for the first time, about the possibility of an LHD, and how a Local Historic District would help to preserve the beauty and historic quality that not only enriches my soul, but also as the gateway to Newburyport, is vital to the city’s economy.
I have had the privilege of living in 2 historic homes, both are included in the prosed LHD. And I thought to myself, how would I feel if I was still living there, especially if I had not been involved in or followed Newburyport’s civic process.
I think my first reaction would be one of panic, I get this, that someone was going to control where I lived, my home, my personal sanctuary. Then, when I calmed down, I think I would want to know exactly what was involved, what “they were going to do to me.” I would go to the city’s website and read everything about the proposed Local Historic District.
And then when I read the draft and the guidelines, there would be somethings that I would agree with and somethings that I would not agree with. I would and do disagree about not being allowed to have skylights in the proposed LHD ordinance. I think that the ordinance needs to reflect how people live today, and in an old home, the attic is a place where families can expand, and a skylight allows expansion without changing the roofline of the home.
The other major question I would have is windows and lead paint. I love old windows and the wavy glass, but what about the price and possibility of actually removing lead paint from historic windows? That would be a real concern of mine.
And hopefully, I would contact the LHD Study Committee at lhdsc@cityofnewburyport.com and contact my Newburyport City Councilor with my specific concerns, go to the public hearing and express those specific concerns, and trust that the City of Newburyport and the Local Historic District Study Committee is sensitive enough to public opinion to not only listen to those concerns, but to actually do something about them.
The comment section of the Newburyport Daily News on the pro-LHD Letters to the Editor–Oy Vey!!
I’ve been told that when real names are required, that people are a lot more civil. In fact I was told this my my fellow blogger Tom Salemi over at Newburyport Posts, who is a master at the whole comment thing.
I would love it if the Newburyport Daily News would require real names and and check them the way they do with Letters to the Editor. I think the “conversation” taking place would be a lot more constructive.
Would people be so nasty and sometimes just downright vicious if they had to put their real (verified) name and maybe a real photo, so people would know what they look like?
Would the folks who make those less than civil remarks, make them to the people’s face, in front of other folks, let’s say on the street, in front of witnesses?
I’d like the commenters that comment on the pro-LHD Letters to the Editor (as of today there have been 20, you can count them here), to “man-up” and not hide behind anonymity.
Ok, it’s a little dated. I drew it back in September 2007 for the Newburyport Blog and I’m too lazy to draw another one. Paris Hilton, who?? Probably to be replace by Kim “let’s get divorced” Kardashian. And super-duper cutting coupons (boy, did I get flack for that one), now a major cable TV show. And “poverty,” is that on anyone’s radar anymore??
But the basic premise is the same. So little interest, much less overall civic passion, in our local Newburyport elections/governing stuff.
And it has been a goal of mine to try and make local government in some small way engaging. And, actually, not to brag, but to brag, someone actually told me that they became involved in Newburyport civic involvement because of The Newburyport Blog. I said to myself, “Say what?” But truth be told, a got a little teary, really, at making a difference in just one person’s life.
And I’ve been giving a lot of thought to the Newburyport Republican Committee’s decision, at least for this last election, to actively sponsor and support local Newburyport candidates. And their invitation to vote for 1 or 2 Newburyport City Council At-Large candidates, instead of all 5.
I would say, and I’ve run this by a fair amount of people, that this involvement and suggestion created a certain amount of anxiety in almost all the candidates running this week for Newburyport City Council At-Large, and also some odd version of hostility that I haven’t seen before. In Newburyport City politics, hostility has often been us –vast understatement (we’ve been referred mega times as “Cannibal City” after all), but it’s always been issues, and sometimes, sadly, personalities, but always non-partisan. And in the last few years, things have become more civil, to the point, where one often thinks that the calm almost drove the Undertoad to higher peaks.
This involvement and suggestion by the Newburyport Republican Committee, certainly created some buzz, at least for maybe 5%-1.5% of the Newburyport population. Whether to get party politics overtly involved in Newburyport elections, not illegal, not a crime, but a wise decision for the good of the City of Newburyport? One wonders. And if that decision stays, it will definitely create a new dynamic.
A very big “thank you” to my fellow Newburyport bloggers for such a warm “welcome back” as I return from a blogging sabbatical. Especially to the P. Preservationist and my fellow blogger Tom Salemi, who writes the Newburyport Posts.
And also for the nice “thank you” on Facebook from fellow bloggers Ed Cameron and Ari Herzog, who are both running for Newburyport election, Tuesday, November 8, 2011, as City Councilor At Large.
George Cushing Political Consultant to The Newburyport Blog
One of the great things, among so many great things in Newburyport, is that if you don’t want to read an “editorial” blog, such as this blog, with a frog as a political consultant (ie George Cushing, political consultant to the Newburyport Blog), or P. Preservationist or the Newburyport Posts, we have Newburyport City Councilors who blog, so you can go right to the source.
Along with Ed Cameron, and Ari Herzog, Bob Cronin, Newburyport City Councilor running unopposed in Ward 3 updates his blog on a regular basis and in a very thoughtful manner. And we also have Allison Heartquist, Newburyport City Councilor for Ward 1.
And all these blogger want you to go out and vote on Tuesday, November 8, 2011.
I had a reader who wrote to me who said that as a Celiac they had “divorced” bread.
And a year or so ago when I was diagnosed with Celiac disease, I tried every gluten free bread out there, including highly recommended bread by people at the Newburyport Farmer’s Market who knew from bread.
They either tasted like sand or a combination of glue and sand. Discouraging doesn’t begin to describe it.
I had heard the “buzz” about a gluten free bread that didn’t make a person cry. Udi’s White Bread from Denver, Colorado.
And I found out yesterday, that Market Basket in Newburyport carries it.
So today, with great trepidation, and ready for major disappointment, I went on a hunt. And yes indeed, at Newburyport’s Market Basket, in aisle 16, across from the produce, nestled in between the frozen bagels, were 3 loaves of Udi’s White Bread.
I took a loaf home. The real test of a gluten free bread is if you can microwave it, and then eat it with a little butter (like regular people). And Eureka! Udi’s white bread pasted the test…Gluten free, Celiac’s out there, it actually tastes good, maybe better than good. No nutritional value, but hey, it’s one great big huge start. The more we ask for it, the more Market Basket in Newburyport will get it. For Celiacs everywhere, this is one huge breakthrough.
Newburyport et. al (“et. al”=abrr Latin, et. alii=”and others”), “two steps forward and one step back.”
“Two steps forward and one step back,” according to Wikipedia, “Is a catchphrase reflecting on an anecdote about a frog trying to climb out of a water well; for every two steps the frog climbs, it falls back by one step, making its progress arduous.”
George loves this. George being one of the political consultants to the Newburyport Blog. Finally, after all this time a reference to “frogs.”
George extremely happy that frogs are once again being “taken seriously” on the Newburyport Blog.
George, btw, has been lobbying for his own “Fan Page” on Facebook, as the consultant to the Newburyport Blog. (I might just do it, to show him that his “fans” are most likely froggy few and far between.)
And for this “Liberal Democrat,” the election for the Massachusetts Senate seat is most definitely “one step back.” (A lot more than “one” step.)
And in my funk, (I am most definitely in a funk about the result of the Massachusetts special election), I’m thinking that the “two steps forward and one step back,” applies to almost every political attempt at progress, whether it is from a Liberal, Democrat, Republican, Progressive, Conservative, Rightwing, Independent, whatever point of view.
It’s just how stuff works. The Democrats made huge history, giant leap forward, with the election of an Afro-American president. In the cyclical nature of things, at least “one” step backwards probably could have been expected.
And in Newburyport, MA, the election of 2007 ushered in one of the most “progressive” Newburyport City Councils that I have ever seen. The mantra was for “hang on to your hats,” “full speed ahead” with a progressive agenda.
Election 2009, for a myriad of reasons, a progressive Newburyport Council, not so much. And why this should surprise me? It should not. In Newburyport, it has been my observation, that from whatever point of view, the path is never linear, it always seems to me to be, “two steps forward, one step back.”
One of the things that I think Mother Nature definitely got right, is as the days grow shorter, and the sun is low in the sky, to make sure that the leaves fall from the trees, thereby letting in lots more light.
And in Newburyport, there comes a time in the fall when I am actually glad to see the last of the, by then, translucent, often yellow leaves float down to earth, letting oh, so much more light shine through into my dwelling, as the winter time frame for light becomes more and more undersized.
And there is always a point, sometime in the fall, when the light changes. It is a subtle change, but the hue is different.
And in the winter morning, as the sun rises later in the sky, the light touches the tips of the now leafless trees, and ignites them in a yellow-crimson light, that makes them luminous, and they glow in a way, that they never glow any other time of year.
And my discovery, as I sit in a reading chair one Sunday afternoon, after a Newburyport snow storm. The sun as it goes down around 4:30, lights up the now retreating clouds. And my neighbor’s 3rd floor windows facing West, hidden by trees in the summer, becomes an astonishing deep pink, yellow, blue color.
The windows are so bright that I wonder if my neighbors have done over their third floor, or gotten some exotic light fixture. But the color of their windows slowly changes to a dark and penetrating purple and then finally fades to black.
No, it is not a new decor, but a spectacular Newburyport winter light show, for free, put on by none other than Mother Nature.
I’ve lived here in Newburyport, MA a year shy of 3 decades now. Not to brag, but Newburyport City Councilor, Tom O’Brien, called me “an almost native.” May seem weird, but this really and truly is a big, huge compliment (I’m actually not kidding here).
And driving on Rt. 1A after a New England snow storm, one could always tell when one was entering a new town because of how the roadway was plowed. And for 3 decades, Newburyport, in the roadway being plowed department, has always stuck out, not in a good way. Definitely in the not as well plowed department. And after 3 decades, I’m beginning to think it’s just a Newburyport systemic thing.
I have found over the years, that calling the Newburyport Department of Public Works (DPW) and requesting better plowing on my street has worked wonders. At one point, I even sent them a “thank you” note, which they promptly pinned to their bulletin board. I think that they said that it was to boost moral, and that it might have been the only thank you note that they, the Newburyport DPW, had ever received.
During this recent snow storm, the first of January 2010, I called to say that the plowing job on my street was the worst I had seen in 13 years. The foreman (I believe that’s who it was) showed up on my street within about 15 minutes, and we had a very nice chat. Really, it was very nice.
Apparently, in its hope to do a good plowing job last year, the plows got too close to people’s property, and lawns and driveways were damaged (I believe that this was the gist of the informed information that I received). So this year to compensate, the folks (a lot of new folks apparently) were told to be very careful, the result being, plowing very far away from the Newburyport curbs.
I explained to the gentleman from the DPW who came for a visit, and the very nice and patient lady who answers the phone at the Newburyport DPW, that my neighbors and I were snow-blowing and shoveling our street, which, I was pretty sure was not the goal. They agreed.
When the plow returned to our street to finish up the job, it did one spectacular job. And I was impressed. So a big thank you from me to our Newburyport DPW.