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A Good Sign
“Imagining how the world ought to be, and then fighting and rehearsing for that world, demands a great deal of the human psyche. People need new, transformative stories to embrace in place of the false narratives they must let go – or that are being ripped out from under them.”
Drive Less CT Climate Challenge: Week Five
This week’s reason for participating in the CTrides Drive Less CT Climate Challenge: opportunities to participate in feats of strength, or, as some call it, the Carry Shit Olympics. A story:. I’ve ordered trees from the Arbor Day Foundation in the past. They’re clear about the size and how...
Free Love, Free Joy
I don’t know who to credit for the artistic arrangement of free pallets beside unmown grass. Additionally, I want to tag this as “Sidewalk Scenes” except that there are no sidewalks on this portion of Pope Park Hwy #4 near Pope Park West. No, I won’t shut up about it until the sidewalks happen.
Hazardous Hamilton
I know exactly what the intersection looks like without consulting anything beyond my memory of having crossed through the area countless times on my way to the grocery store. Vehicles speed up and down Hamilton Street, using it as a highway. I wish I were exaggerating about the speed. It’s...
The Realness of Birds
If you spend enough time walking around downtown with eyes open — specifically, near the buildings that make up the Constitution Plaza mistake — you will encounter more dead birds than feels normal. Sometimes, you may jump to avoid stepping in one. I would name names, except that I have seen them laying dead beside any structure made of glass, whether we’re talking tall buildings with lots of windows or the bridge and plaza railings that contain glass panels– a choice that feels odd, dated, and kind of dangerous if you’re a bird.
Drive Less CT Climate Challenge: Week Four
Bike West Hartford just wrapped up its #BikesMeanBusiness campaign, a four-day effort to teach local business owners that customers bike, walk, and use the bus to reach their establishments. It became clear that the awareness needed raising when several West Hartford Center business owners worked to block safety improvements that would have directly benefited their customers. One went as far as saying, on the record, that he didn’t really think cyclists were that big of customers at his store.
Humans: May 10, 2024
This week’s photos have everything, and by that I mean harsh shadows, a weird filter effect from unintentionally using wrong setting for half the day, but also so many people posing near tulips that I only kept a few of the more interesting shots. But, I’m not trying to win the Internet here, just trying to show that people exist in Hartford.
Drive Less CT Climate Challenge: Week Three
You’d think more people would have taken to heart one of the “lessons” from Ted Lasso — be curious. Life is more interesting when lived in the spirit of curiosity, and, when it comes to expanding and evolving your transportation modes, curiosity leads to more enjoyable and even easier travels.
War Is Self-Harm
This is true on every level. War pushes people in the direction of dehumanizing others — whoever the others are this time around. This allows for bottomless depths of cruelty. Succumbing to that, we injure ourselves morally, spiritually. War uses violence as if that has ever solved a thing...
Humans: May 3, 2024
I keep getting asked what downtown Hartford is like these days, and it’s obvious that people are willing to believe the hype put out there by those who have a real strong motive to require employees return to in-building work full time. I almost don’t know what to tell...
Safe Streets Connecticut: April 2024
Drivers killed five pedestrians in Connecticut last month, which brings the death toll for the year to (at least) 22. Both of the pedestrians killed in New Haven, so far, this year have died on Route 10. When I talk about these being preventable deaths, and typically predictable deaths because of negligent road design, this is exactly to what I am referring.
Creating a Future for Peace
Last week’s Humanity Vigil in New Haven was restorative, and as far as I know, only the New Haven Independent covered it, though with their competent and thoughtful reporting, it may be for the best that this is as much ink as the event received. The organizers of this...
A Little Something (May 2024)
Here’s your curated Hartford event calendar for May 2024. What makes this list? Events that I would either attend or recommend to a good friend. Review events with the host/venue to confirm details have not changed since publication. ADD TO CALENDAR. ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE HAPPY HOUR: The Connecticut Roundtable On...
Drive Less CT Climate Challenge: Week Two
I said I would provide a different reason each week for why you may want to participate in the CTrides Drive Less CT Climate Challenge. This week, I present 30 reasons for why you may enjoy replacing car trips with rides on public transit – specifically, The Bus. It’s...
Constructing Higher Expectations
The annoying construction in Bushnell Park is made less annoying because of a few things that should happen for every project:. 1. There was communication about this via email to those who have found themselves on the Friends of Bushnell Park mailing list. Before any trucks or other equipment showed up in the park, people were notified.
Suburban Nonsense Continues West of Hartford
On the Saturday before Earth Day, West Hartford held their celebration of it in Blue Back Square. They had Hila the Earth rapping about compost and carrots, lots of free wildflower seeds, information about pollinators, and made this happen by converting a redundant street to people-only space for the occasion.
Drive Less CT Climate Challenge: Week One
The annual CTrides Drive Less CT Climate Challenge began yesterday. I promised to give a reason for people to participate, so here it is:. Riding the bus is good for you. I know some don’t find buses as sexy as trains, or at all, but in a game of date, marry, and divorce my choice would be date the train, marry the bus, and divorce the car. Why? Of these three, the bus is flexible enough to meet most daily needs while remaining a generally responsible and reliable choice.
Earth and Awe
Earlier this month, we gathered. Alone in our backyards, out in the streets with neighbors, in city parks, on library patios. We came bearing punctured sheets of paper and spaghetti strainers. We let the leaves do their magic, casting shadows. We put our faith in thin film held in place by cardboard, inhaling deeply and hoping these were enough to protect our vision while we stared at the sun.
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Life in Hartford, Connecticut, and beyond. Exploration, wandering, transportation, transit, art, and environment.
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