Thursday, October 30, 2008

Halloween


My neighbors are ready for Halloween. Many houses are decorated, occasionally with a certain overlap with politics:


Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Income tax, marijuana and greyhounds

What do have income tax, marijuana and greyhounds in common? All three are topics of ballot questions in Massachusetts at the election next week.

I'm particularly curious whether MA voters will vote in favor of eliminating the 5.3%income tax. This would wipe out 40 % of the state budget and I can't imagine how MA then will pay for police officers, firefighters, teachers, social services, health care......On the long run, if approved, I expect property taxes and sales taxes to go up.

Ballot question 2 is about decriminalizing marijuana possession: If approved by voters and then also put into law, a person stopped by police with one ounce or less of marijuana will face only civil penalties instead of criminal penalties. It would be then more like a traffic ticket and nothing will show up on the criminal record.

And with the third question, MA voters get the opportunity to ban greyhound races. This was tried twice before but always defeated.

If the polls are right, there will be a NO to question 1 and a YES to question 2. Question 3 is too close to call.

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Farmers Market

Today, I was at the Farmers Market in our town. It was a little sad, because the cold temperatures today reminded me that the weekly Farmers Market will soon be over. The farmers only come from June to end of October.

I love going to the Farmers Market. It's a bit like my former life in good ol' Europe.

In addition, the products are locally grown and much fresher than in supermarkets. One can also get a greater variety of fruit and veggies.




For example apples: It's almost impossible to find Spencer, Brock, Shamrock, Northern Spy, Melrose or Russet apples in a supermarket these days. It's just MacIntosh, Macoun, or Mutsu. Not even Baldwin apples are easy to find.

The only downside of the Farmers market in our town: The prices are considerably higher than in local supermarkets. That is different to what I'm used to. In Austria, buying directly from farmers also means saving money.

Well, nevertheless, I stocked up on apples, red cabbage, onions and leeks to fill the storage bins in our basement. Next week, I will buy more apples, pears and cabbage and then we will be all set for the long winter.

To find farmers markets in your state, go to Farmersmarket.com

Monday, October 20, 2008

Sad day for Red Sox nation

Today was a sad day for Red Sox fans. Their beloved team had lost yesterday night the final game against Tampa Bay and the American League Champion title goes this year to the Rays.

I'm still not used to the extent to which people here root for their team, whether it's Red Sox, Patriots, Bruins or Celtics. Yes, we do have team sport in Europe, too and yes, people root for their local soccer team. Still, it's different.

Here in Massachusetts, most people seem to own something Red Sox and/ or Patriots related and they even wear their jerseys or t-shirts to their workplace and to college. During play-off-season almost all of my students, whether young or middle-aged, male or female, displayed proudly their Red Sox loyalty. (Now, after the defeat, I'm curious how many students will wear Red Sox stuff tomorrow in class.)

But to get the real feel for true Red Sox fans, one need to be among them when the team plays; either at Fenway, the Sox's ballpark or in one of the sport bars around Fenway. My husband and I went Saturday night for the first time to such a bar. The team played game 6 of the play-off series against the Rays in Florida and the Rays were leading 3:2.

First, we were surprised about the long lines at the entrance of most sport bars. For us, it was way too cold to wait for an hour outside in line, hoping that enough people would leave so that we could get in. Close to giving up, we finally found a bar a bit further away from Fenway. No lines, inside however already crowded. The game had already started and loud cheers greeted us. Beckett had just struck someone out.

Watching a game among 200 hundred excited, loudly cheering and beer drinking fans is totally different than watching it at home. For me - here comes the true psychologist- observing the crowd was more interesting than the game. Some seemed to be oblivious to their surroundings, and others used the occasion to meet other people (favorably someone of the opposite gender).It was a fun experience for us and we had a good evening.

Friday, October 17, 2008

Fall Foliage Trip/ New Hampshire

Last weekend, we went leaf peeping in New Hampshire. It was a gorgeous day and hundreds of people had the same idea. We still enjoyed the trip to Kancamagus highway and Flume gorge. Originally we had planned to stay for one night in a motel, however everything was sold out. Columbus day weekend seems not to be a good time for sponaneuos ideas....

If you want to go on a fall foliage trip, check the weather.com website for the best places.





Thursday, October 16, 2008

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Where to find Pick-Your-Own Fruit

A few days ago, we visited again an orchard. Now it's high season for apples and pumpkins, but I wanted something else.


I was looking for fall raspberries and I didn't mind that it a takes awhile to pick three pounds. The weather was beautiful, I was with a friend and we enjoyed being outside:




To find a pick-your-own farm, I look for ads in my daily newspaper, or I ask the farmers at the weekly farmers market in my town for an address. Another option is of course the Internet.

Links for Massachusetts:
http://www.pickyourown.org/mass.htm
http://www.mass.gov/agr/massgrown/pick-your-own.htm
http://www.farmfresh.org/food/pickyourown.php?zip=01373

Nationwide:
http://www.lgyp.com/Pick-Your-Own-Farms-in-.htm
http://www.pickyourown.org/
http://www.state.nj.us/jerseyfresh/searches/pyo.htm

For Christmas trees:
http://pickyourownchristmastree.org/