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A Little Something (September 2023)
Here’s your curated Hartford event calendar for September 2023. 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. TURNING RED: Come to Bushnell Park to watch...
The Problem With Single-Use Thinking
While researching the variety of e-bike policies at Connecticut’s colleges/universities, I came across a tiny detail that hints as to why some organizations, and individuals, have such a knee-jerk reaction to them. But first, let’s look at the Trout Brook Trail in West Hartford. According to Google Maps, the...
AITA
For two months during the summer of 2018, the bathrooms on CTrail Hartford Line trains were closed. It is a classic example of someone following the letter instead of the spirit of the law. Listen and learn. Disability Rights Connecticut rightfully filed an ADA complaint with the Federal Railroad Administration...
Re-Create
While sign clutter is real, I love a colorful and informative interpretative sign. This one, in Pope Park, explains the habitat around the pond. From what I’ve been told, unfortunately a bit of the plantings were rapidly destroyed by careless and/or uninformed DPW employees years back. I’ll assume that was before the sign was added. It doesn’t help that instead of expanding this habitat, the city recently went in the other direction, allowing more sports fields to be added nearby. Another result of that has been people deciding not only to drive next to the baseball diamond. Now, you can find people driving full across the park lawn next to other sports fields. This, in spite of the large paved parking lot within Pope Park, the ample free parking on nearby side streets, the convenience to multiple bus routes.
Leak
Years back at the dog-and-pony show known as the annual City of Hartford budget hearing, a friend pointed out how one of the sinks in a City Hall men’s bathroom was leaking. It was not a new problem. It was one that government neglected to address. He opined about the money wasted by not fixing this and other similar issues around town. Maybe it wouldn’t have made that much of a financial dent, but every bit adds up, and when decision makers are talking about chopping the library budget, it does make them look foolish for not being more thrifty in the first place.
Enough
In 1943, a 25 x 40 foot model Victory Garden could be found on the east lawn of the Old State House, at the spot formerly occupied by the post office. It was created and maintained by the Hartford Park Department, and financially sponsored by the Courant. Members of the Federated Garden Clubs of Connecticut staffed an information booth on site every weekday, answering questions about gardening. In the first six weeks of operating, 2200 questions came in, many dealing with how to manage pests or rotate crops.
Retaining Water
The City of Hartford, through its Retain The Rain initiative, gave rain barrels to residents. I was thinking about how this program had potential, but only ran two years, and how that was too bad because unless something is Instagrammable, people aren’t lining up for it straight away. (Rain barrels are not sunflower fields or cookie butter ice creams) There’s lots of reluctance to try “new” (new to them) things, and probably lots of expectation that they’ll have indefinite time to decide. We witnessed with how CT DEEP rolled out the e-bike rebate program that limitations are not always communicated well. With that, lots of people seemed surprised that the pot of money was not unlimited, and that that not everyone who applied for a voucher would get one because of limited supply. I think this comes from the way people tend to not operate with beginners in mind. Something teaching taught me was to always spell out what I thought of as basics but someone simply would not know if they only began or transferred in that semester. It’s applicable to all workplaces, whether people need to communicate about a grant-funded program to the public or explain a quirky annual staff event so new hires can make sense of it.
The Home Team
In “A Talk: Bluesology/Black History/Jaws/The Revolution Will Not Be Televised,” Gil Scott-Heron makes fun of the now-classic blockbuster: “Jaws was in the water. This is where sharks are known to be: in the water. You going to the beach. He going to the supermarket.”. Whether we’re talking...
Blinkah
Occasionally, artwork makes a lasting impression. In the summer of 2015, I was staying at a cabin in Pittsburg, New Hampshire. Most people I’ve spoken to in Connecticut — at least the ones I’m not related to — don’t seem to know there’s New Hampshire north of Mt. Washington.
Butterfly Buffet
I didn’t realize that a certain type of milkweed was controversial, but the two plants pictured here are not that kind. Tropical milkweed was one I stayed away from simply because it was not native to this area. It isn’t, but the problem is not one of the plant just taking over everything else. From what I understand, because it blooms longer, monarch butterflies skip out on their migration . . . which is kind of their whole thing.
Safe Streets Connecticut: July 2023
Unless you spend lots of time looking through the Connecticut Crash Data Repository, you might not think it was interesting that information regarding Tommie Jackson’s death appeared in the database in less than one week. Here’s why I noticed: there are fatal pedestrian crashes dating back to February that...
Beyond Hartford: Greenwich
In previous car-free outings, I’ve questioned a few towns’ decisions to allow terrible roadways to exist around train stations, and I am pleased to say that I do not need to write something like that for Greenwich, at least not for the area around its downtown Greenwich Station. Using Steamboat Road, there’s an easy and comfortable walk to the Bruce Museum. LFor food, exit the station on Railroad Avenue and there are options right there, and many more by crossing over to Greenwich Avenue. You do not have to cross a stroad! Everyone cheer!
Rest
What this day marks is when our consumption of natural resources exceeds what the planet can regenerate in that year. Another way to think about it is that you are given an annual budget. On what day do we collectively blow through it. Not all countries dramatically overconsume. Jamaica, Ecuador,...
Warmer
While some establishments that shall not be named are only serving customers expensive food and drink in cheap, single-use containers with plastic forks, others are making an effort. I would rather give attention to who is doing it right than provide free advertisement for places that aren’t. Bloom Bake...
Queer All Year
. . or at least through the end of July, when I took a photograph of this sign. Want to comment? (1) Take responsibility for your opinions by using your full name (2) Keep it brief (3) Keep it respectful (4) Victim-blaming will not stand (5) Read full article before commenting.
Communitarian
That’s the word Andrew May used to describe his philosophy, and I wanted to ask if it was something contagious. To be honest, it probably should be. If you don’t know Andrew, do you even live in Hartford? He’s holding down plots at two KNOX community gardens — one in Frog Hollow and the other in the West End — busying himself with planting and harvesting around 200 pounds of organic Wethersfield Red onions, which he’s donating to various Greater Hartford food pantries. About 35 pounds were donated to Forge City Works to be given away at The Grocery on Broad.
A Little Something (August 2023)
Here’s your curated Hartford event calendar for August 2023. What makes this list? Events that I would either attend or recommend to a good friend. FULL MOONLIGHT TOUR: Walk through Hartford’s Elizabeth Park at the best time to see it: night. You might find yourself noticing birdsong and the scent of nature much more than during daylight or when there are concerts. Wear sneakers, bring a flashlight, and meet up by the Pond House Cafe at 8 PM on August 1, 2023. Free. // Use the 72 bus Monday-Friday to access Elizabeth Park; there is bicycle parking next to the greenhouse and by the Pond House.
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Life in Hartford, Connecticut, and beyond. Exploration, wandering, transportation, transit, art, and environment.
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