My DO NEW got rained out in a torrential downpour that had me pull off the road. By the time it passed the destination's office was closed. I will save it for another time and in the meantime I will start organizing and packing for the great NEW adventure in MAINE.
Stay tuned............... :0)
Thursday, June 7, 2012
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
FORE !!!!! THE LOVE OF GOLF
The sun shown for a little while today. This made everyone happy including the area's golfers. The greens may still be a bit muddy to play right now so I am not sure if many golfers were out hitting their little white balls around. I can tell you one thing though, they weren't having cocktails in the lounge. When I stopped off at the William F. Connell Golf House the receptionist had to unlock and light its museum for me. She was very gracious, the facility is gorgeous and the energy is just superb.
So you might be wondering, "There's a Golf Museum in Massachusetts?" Yes there is and if you are into the sport I highly suggest putting it on your TO DO NEW list, for a rainy day of course. I learned a lot. Such as "American Golf Began in Massachusetts." It says so all over one wall so it must me true. There were trophies and clippings, media presentations and much more including beautiful color photography of some of Massachusetts' finest courses. It actually made me, for one moment, want to learn to play golf. This feeling passed quickly.
To find this NEW place just go to Norton and take the exit for the Tweeter Center. That is if the concert facility is still called the Tweeter Center. I can't keep up with the branding of America. To me it is still Great Woods. Also it is Foxboro Stadium and The Boston Garden. Tradition is important.
This new, first-of-its-kind museum in Massachusetts pays tribute to
the people and moments — both past and present — that have created our
state's rich golf heritage.
Massachusetts Golf Museum
300 Arnold Palmer Boulevard
Norton, MA 02766
Hours: Monday–Friday, 10am – 5 pm
Wheelchair accessible: Yes
Admission: Complimentary
For More Information Call: (774) 430-9100
So you might be wondering, "There's a Golf Museum in Massachusetts?" Yes there is and if you are into the sport I highly suggest putting it on your TO DO NEW list, for a rainy day of course. I learned a lot. Such as "American Golf Began in Massachusetts." It says so all over one wall so it must me true. There were trophies and clippings, media presentations and much more including beautiful color photography of some of Massachusetts' finest courses. It actually made me, for one moment, want to learn to play golf. This feeling passed quickly.
To find this NEW place just go to Norton and take the exit for the Tweeter Center. That is if the concert facility is still called the Tweeter Center. I can't keep up with the branding of America. To me it is still Great Woods. Also it is Foxboro Stadium and The Boston Garden. Tradition is important.
********************************************
Massachusetts Golf Museum
300 Arnold Palmer Boulevard
Norton, MA 02766
Hours: Monday–Friday, 10am – 5 pm
Wheelchair accessible: Yes
Admission: Complimentary
For More Information Call: (774) 430-9100
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
PONCHOS AND BOOTY CAMP PANTIES
It was raining today. That is nothing NEW. In fact it is getting really OLD. As I have nothing really waterproof to wear in the rain (no slicker, no poncho, just a windbreaker and it is not enough) in between a client meeting and a meeting my finance guy I headed over to the Army Navy store in Stoughton. It isn't a big place but it has some cool stuff such as BOOTY CAMP PANTIES, No I didn't buy any. I just shot the photo to keep my male readership levels up. Shameless I know :) not to mention the possible pun.
Anyway...I opted to purchase a NEW 4 way vinyl poncho in camouflage colors. It was a dollar more than the other colors but the vinyl seemed more durable. With two of them you can make an emergency tent, a sleeping bag or a foul weather ground sheet. Cool. And with just one I can be INVISIBLE. I haven't been invisible for a long time. I tested the camouflage out in the backyard. It seems to work. I blend right into nature as long as I am wearing the hood. I'll need to remember the dates for hunting season around these parts. Sometimes being bright orange in the woods is a better idea.
A poncho is a necessity for the trunk of my car. I am a native New Englander. We have been trained since early childhood to have everything we need for emergencies. The kids of my generation grew up with parents that always had extra canned goods in the cellar of the house, C sized flashlight batteries, toilet paper, oil lanterns and maybe a cord of wood in the back for when we got snowed in. I am daddy's little girl with a fully loaded SEARS Craftsman toolbox in my trunk, plenty of duct tape, tire sealer, emergency flares and a car blanket. After the mouse invasion the car blanket is sealed in a plastic storage box along with my gloves, ski hat, super warm wool sweater, windbreaker, headlamp, flashlight, sleeping bag and liner, ski suit and boots. I don't mind being invisible but I DO hate being COLD.
It was tempting to stay longer and chat with the owner but I was on the run and still am. There is more to DO NEW today. Perhaps the DO will not be DO NEWs worthy but at least I will be warm and dry,
As a final note I want to I salute all you DO NEWers out there! BOOTY CAMP U-TROU wearers get an extra 10 points for diligence and dedication to the cause of not being boring. You can get your NEW pair at...
Anyway...I opted to purchase a NEW 4 way vinyl poncho in camouflage colors. It was a dollar more than the other colors but the vinyl seemed more durable. With two of them you can make an emergency tent, a sleeping bag or a foul weather ground sheet. Cool. And with just one I can be INVISIBLE. I haven't been invisible for a long time. I tested the camouflage out in the backyard. It seems to work. I blend right into nature as long as I am wearing the hood. I'll need to remember the dates for hunting season around these parts. Sometimes being bright orange in the woods is a better idea.
A poncho is a necessity for the trunk of my car. I am a native New Englander. We have been trained since early childhood to have everything we need for emergencies. The kids of my generation grew up with parents that always had extra canned goods in the cellar of the house, C sized flashlight batteries, toilet paper, oil lanterns and maybe a cord of wood in the back for when we got snowed in. I am daddy's little girl with a fully loaded SEARS Craftsman toolbox in my trunk, plenty of duct tape, tire sealer, emergency flares and a car blanket. After the mouse invasion the car blanket is sealed in a plastic storage box along with my gloves, ski hat, super warm wool sweater, windbreaker, headlamp, flashlight, sleeping bag and liner, ski suit and boots. I don't mind being invisible but I DO hate being COLD.
As a final note I want to I salute all you DO NEWers out there! BOOTY CAMP U-TROU wearers get an extra 10 points for diligence and dedication to the cause of not being boring. You can get your NEW pair at...
763 Washington Street
Stoughton, MA 02072
Just look for the Wooden Indian. If it is raining he will be wearing a poncho. Today he was in very fashionable lime green.
Monday, June 4, 2012
ANOTHER CUP OF JOE AND THE BOSTON GLOBE
Today's rainy no-work DO NEW challenge is to stay awake. Blame it on the barometric pressure, the solar eclipse, tomorrow's Venus transit or WHATEVA this quiet, gloomy, wet day calls for an extra cup of java to stay awake and do some research on New England. I have lived here most of my life and I have not chipped away at even 1000th of DO NEW - NEW DO possibilities. This area is RICH with history, attractions, nature and much more. From shore to mountain, city to town New England has plenty and the Boston Globe is a godsend of information.
Today I am tossing another plug into the KEURIG coffee machine, putting on some classical music and delving in. If I move to the sofa I should be asleep in about 20 minutes (hahaha). I have clients and meetings tomorrow and with this rain I don't feel guilty at all. The cats and dog are perfectly fine with napping. I can leave my puritanical work ethic behind today. Reading is enough DOing. The rest can wait. (That could be a pun but somehow it doesn't fit.)
So not NEW - not much DO - but I am learning about NEW England. That's sufficient.
(The papers are crinkled as I tend to shove them in my hiking pack for when I have some spare time to read under a tree. I will take the kitchen table today. It is much drier.)
Today I am tossing another plug into the KEURIG coffee machine, putting on some classical music and delving in. If I move to the sofa I should be asleep in about 20 minutes (hahaha). I have clients and meetings tomorrow and with this rain I don't feel guilty at all. The cats and dog are perfectly fine with napping. I can leave my puritanical work ethic behind today. Reading is enough DOing. The rest can wait. (That could be a pun but somehow it doesn't fit.)
So not NEW - not much DO - but I am learning about NEW England. That's sufficient.
(The papers are crinkled as I tend to shove them in my hiking pack for when I have some spare time to read under a tree. I will take the kitchen table today. It is much drier.)
Sunday, June 3, 2012
HAPPY TRAILS AND IT IS OK TO TALK TO STRANGERS
Following on the wake of National Donut Day on June 1st is the less delicious but always fun for me, NATIONAL TRAIL DAY on the 2nd. Unfortunately in this neck of the woods the weather was not very inviting for taking to the trails for a hike yesterday. It was pouring down rain leaving paths a swampy mess. I opted for taking a rain check/date and postponing a day and I am glad that I did. Today was cooler but clear and a wonderful opportunity to plug in the address of Massasoit State Park into the GPS and take a drive.
Massasoit is a 1500 acre state park in Taunton with a big lake and some smaller ponds. It is NEW for me and I was a bit disappointed that there were no trail maps at the closed reception area. I don't like hiking into trails that I don't know well without a map so I stuck to the paved road today. As I was walking I passed a fellow and his three sons at a picnic table chowing down of bags of Doritos (mom came later). Their fishing poles we laying on the ground so I called over and asked how the fishing was. They replied they had caught a pike. I asked them where it was as I wanted to take a photo but they had caught and released it. They invited me over to take a seat and chat for awhile. I told them I was working/playing with a NEW project, the DO NEW CHALLENGE, that I had just gotten back to New England after six years in South America and that I am ALWAYS interested in learning NEW stuff. They told me some great NEW STUFF! I am so excited! They told me about LETTERBOXING. As they explained the concept to me I said it sounded like a cross between a treasure hunt and getting my Camino de Santiago Passport stamped as I waked THE WAY in Spain. The kids loved LETTERBOXING and were so animated telling me about their adventures. I have to check it out.
I continued to hike later catching up with them again near the parking lot. They had to leave so the boys were giving another fisherman their unused bait. I thought to myself, we are not supposed to talk to strangers but I have so much FUN chatting with people. As I hiked the path the boys and their father had told me about I passed a few more people. I thought about the old question, "How do you know that you are approaching a New Englander?" And the answer, "When you get close enough to make eye contact he looks down and keeps walking." I tested that "theory" out the rest of the afternoon and only one fellow looked down. Perhaps trail walkers are a different sort of New Englander.
So here is the second and last question of the day, "When was the last time you went to a state park and took a nice long walk?" Please don't wait until National Trail Day 2013. Nature and Strangers are here waiting for you to DO NEW.
Happy trails to you, until we meet again. Happy trails to you, keep smilin' until then. Who cares about the clouds when we're together? Just sing a song and bring the sunny weather. Happy trails to you, 'till we meet again.
Saturday, June 2, 2012
FEEDING THE BOOK STARVED SOUL FOR 99 CENTS
This is not a NEW DO thing for me but it is a NEW place to DO something that I love, paw through books and making great discoveries. I braved the elements and headed to a NEW Salvation Army store in Brockton. I actually was looking for a raincoat. Maybe raincoat is not the right word. I was really looking for a type of raincoat, a slicker or SLIKAH in New England lingo. I was also looking for some MUCK boots so that I can get down and grubby in the back woods of Maine. Buying new doesn't make sense for one time experiences when you have no place to save and store things. I have been with a backpack for 11 months now. I have downsized - a lot.
BOOKS, READING. I love the Massachusetts library system. I utilize it a lot. But when I cross state borders I can't easily return my borrowings. Picking up used books on the cheap is a great way to have the enjoyment of reading. I can give the books away later or leave them behind for other travelers to enjoy. When I was in hostels in Chile I would go to the shelves to see what gems others had left. Most were written in German. I was not about to try to tackle a third language. When I told friends in the USA that I have been starved for English language books for almost a year they were surprised. "Aren't there English books in South America?" Yes but not a great selection and they are expensive. "Why don't you just order them from Amazon and have them shipped to Argentina?" Oh, well, in these times in Argentina imports have been banned. Expats like me thirst for English language books. Whenever a friend is moving out of Argentina or downsizing for any reason we hover around their giveaways with our mouths watering hoping to grasp a hold of something wonderful to read. "So what about a KINDLE?" I am old-fashioned and tactile. There is nothing like curling up with a good book, holding it your hands and turning the pages. It is part of the experience.
So today at my NEW Salvation Army store I was in Joy Joy. BOOKS. A hodgepodge of romance novels and classics, self help and history and a couple of odd ball things like the very clever book for bio-chemistry students, a book of lyrics put to old melodies to better remember the lessons. I didn't buy it but I did have to shoot a photo.
I picked out my lot. Six books to keep in my car for WHENEVA I have some moments to stop and enjoy reading at a state park, a road stop, a shoreline or a mountain. I am not one for fiction. University destroyed my love for fiction in huge classroom theaters and dull professors dissecting the meaning of Faulkner's words, Hemingway, Steinbeck and more. Such a pity. Give me a good Herriot or Mayle book or something enlightening. I always enjoy that.
DO NEW - NEW DO - NEW OLD BOOKS. GOOD.
BOOKS, READING. I love the Massachusetts library system. I utilize it a lot. But when I cross state borders I can't easily return my borrowings. Picking up used books on the cheap is a great way to have the enjoyment of reading. I can give the books away later or leave them behind for other travelers to enjoy. When I was in hostels in Chile I would go to the shelves to see what gems others had left. Most were written in German. I was not about to try to tackle a third language. When I told friends in the USA that I have been starved for English language books for almost a year they were surprised. "Aren't there English books in South America?" Yes but not a great selection and they are expensive. "Why don't you just order them from Amazon and have them shipped to Argentina?" Oh, well, in these times in Argentina imports have been banned. Expats like me thirst for English language books. Whenever a friend is moving out of Argentina or downsizing for any reason we hover around their giveaways with our mouths watering hoping to grasp a hold of something wonderful to read. "So what about a KINDLE?" I am old-fashioned and tactile. There is nothing like curling up with a good book, holding it your hands and turning the pages. It is part of the experience.
So today at my NEW Salvation Army store I was in Joy Joy. BOOKS. A hodgepodge of romance novels and classics, self help and history and a couple of odd ball things like the very clever book for bio-chemistry students, a book of lyrics put to old melodies to better remember the lessons. I didn't buy it but I did have to shoot a photo.
I picked out my lot. Six books to keep in my car for WHENEVA I have some moments to stop and enjoy reading at a state park, a road stop, a shoreline or a mountain. I am not one for fiction. University destroyed my love for fiction in huge classroom theaters and dull professors dissecting the meaning of Faulkner's words, Hemingway, Steinbeck and more. Such a pity. Give me a good Herriot or Mayle book or something enlightening. I always enjoy that.
DO NEW - NEW DO - NEW OLD BOOKS. GOOD.
Friday, June 1, 2012
NATIONAL DONUT DAY IN THE LAND OF DUNKIN'
Here I am in the USA on National Donut Day! Glory Be, Hail Mary and God Bless America. Actually I don't have a sweet tooth so the thought of a free donut with a beverage purchase at Dunkin' Donuts was more of a NEW DO than a MUST DO for me. I don't think you can go a half mile anywhere in the state of Massachusetts without passing a Dunkin' Donuts shop. As a proud American I thought it was my duty and honor to celebrate National Donut Day and where better than at Dunkin' Donuts? I stopped at a location on my way to a new state park somewhere between Raynham and Taunton.
TODAY'S NEW DO... Introducing my very first FROZEN COFFEE COOLATTA with WHIP CREAM. I mean come on, if you are going to do something go all the way, add the whip cream for Christ sakes!
Now I like coffee in the morning (black, no sugar) but the COOLATTA in the afternoon created an extra special high, a stoned out, spaced out sugar buzz. Most likely it wasn't just the COOOOOOLATTTTA as I decided to match the poster's donut photo for my National Donut Day selection. Yes - chocolate and sprinkles.
As many of you may know (coffee/sugar junkies that you are) Dunkin' Donuts's new slogan is "America Runs on Dunkin'." Keeping with the busy American theme I decided to take my FUEL on the GO. I headed over to Watson's Pond (not the same as Watson's chocolate shop from the peanut butter bug post). Watson's Pond is a State Park. I thought I could sit in peace by the shore, have my donut and "coffee" and look over my state park map. Only a few moments passed before the geese started to swim closer to the shore. I think they wanted my donut. I am pretty sure that my pre-diabetic coma tremors kept them at bay.
Well there you go. I had other DO NEWS today but the photos weren't as near as colorful. Let's leave it with this for a Friday. I hope you find something NEW to DO this weekend. And take note sleepy heads - you still have a few hours to get your FREE DONUT. In fact, if you take your receipt from this morning's coffee purchase back to Dunkin' this afternoon you can get a $.99 Medium Hot or Iced Coffee. We wouldn't want to let AMERICA RUN OUT OF FUEL would we?
buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz ENJOY !
TODAY'S NEW DO... Introducing my very first FROZEN COFFEE COOLATTA with WHIP CREAM. I mean come on, if you are going to do something go all the way, add the whip cream for Christ sakes!
Now I like coffee in the morning (black, no sugar) but the COOLATTA in the afternoon created an extra special high, a stoned out, spaced out sugar buzz. Most likely it wasn't just the COOOOOOLATTTTA as I decided to match the poster's donut photo for my National Donut Day selection. Yes - chocolate and sprinkles.
As many of you may know (coffee/sugar junkies that you are) Dunkin' Donuts's new slogan is "America Runs on Dunkin'." Keeping with the busy American theme I decided to take my FUEL on the GO. I headed over to Watson's Pond (not the same as Watson's chocolate shop from the peanut butter bug post). Watson's Pond is a State Park. I thought I could sit in peace by the shore, have my donut and "coffee" and look over my state park map. Only a few moments passed before the geese started to swim closer to the shore. I think they wanted my donut. I am pretty sure that my pre-diabetic coma tremors kept them at bay.
Well there you go. I had other DO NEWS today but the photos weren't as near as colorful. Let's leave it with this for a Friday. I hope you find something NEW to DO this weekend. And take note sleepy heads - you still have a few hours to get your FREE DONUT. In fact, if you take your receipt from this morning's coffee purchase back to Dunkin' this afternoon you can get a $.99 Medium Hot or Iced Coffee. We wouldn't want to let AMERICA RUN OUT OF FUEL would we?
buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz ENJOY !
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