Old North Church, an island within a touristic sea

    The Old North Church of  Boston, Massachusetts, USA floats as a mecca to the hundreds of thousand of vistors to the city each year.  Known as Old North Church, this structure, as well as the surrounding campus, is Christ Church in the City of Boston , a thriving congregation within the Episcopal Church of Massachusetts.  Every school child in America should be well versed in the Longfellow poem, ” The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere”.  As it goes: ” Listen my children and ye shall hear…”.  Located on the narrow colonial streets of Boston’s now famous Italian North-End, the 193 Salem Street location is accessable to all.  The church really is floating in a sea of tourists.  Yearly, one half million vistors make the trek and enter the grounds. Fifty thousand children in groups convene for education at the Old North.  On Sunday, during religous service, the church fills with worshippers, while lines of guides and groups and families of tourists cue up for the chance to learn of the mystic of the most visable icon of Revolutionary History. The church is visable from most parts of  Boston proper.  A journey up Salem Street or Hanover Street will direct you to the church or the Prado walking mall and the Statue of Mounted Paul Revere.

The Old North Foundation, in partnership with the Friends of the Prado and the Cyrus Dallin Museum will be participating in events celebrating the 150th anniversary of Dallin’s birth.  Paul Revere, Jr., who, as a child, witnessed the installation of the Revere statue in the Prado in 1940.

On May 17th, 2012 at 7:00 p.m., Old North will host lectures about the Paul Revere statue and the Prado by American Art Curator Rebecca Reynolds and local historian Alex Goldfield.

Old North is ramping up to prepare for the celebration of the 300th anniversary of the church.  2023 is just around the corner.  If you are in the area and can visit for worship or to explore the church and grounds, know that the clergy, vestry and historic caretakers will welcome you. And, as always, your generous donation, regardless of size, will be welcomed to maintain this treasure.

Oil and Water do mix for this Artist

 Nicholas Read finds tranquility on a small treasure.    

Nick Read finds Monhegan Island, Maine, USA as a summer retreat not to unwind but to get serious. Oil painting is not his hobby but a passion. Forty years of this craft have honed his talent toward some simple themes, many overlooked by others.  The island intensifies the subject matter onto a one mile square outcrop of rock, glade, beach and path to find the objects and scene that make the canvas sing.  Ten miles at sea from the nearest port can isolate the emotions and meditation is inevitable.  No cars and twelve miles of trails lend to a peaceful, simpler style of human interaction.  Locals and visitors co-exist and the pristine village and trailside remain.  Today the Island is owned by a Land Owners Association Trust from the 1950′s and about 65 folks are year-rounders.  Summer opens the sea to a few ferryboat companies and the inns and guesthouses fill.  Twelve establishments with rooms or cottage rentals abound. Day trippers from New Harbor, Maine on the Hardy Boat Cruise Lines roam the village and eat and shop. The commercialism flavor is “on light”.  Lobstering is a big part of the business of the day. The local industry wraps around the sea.  Boothbay Harbor, Maine  sends the artists over to find their place on the cliffs and shore. Painting flora and fauna is much of the draw. Monhegan has earned itself an international reputation as a birdwatching Eden. Puffins and other seabirds draw nature hunters and seals and the occasional rouge whale are just offshore in the summer months.  So, 35,000 to 40, 000 visitors per year have figured it out.

“How this one-mile-long by half-mile-wide island could hold enough magic to beguile … hundreds of painters over the years truly amazes me.” asks Jamie Wyeth, artist, from the foreword of The Art of Monhegan Island.  Nicholas Read spends a couple of weeks each year on the island.  Maybe the light is just right?  This is the first place in the United Stated that catches the rays of the rising sun; we do not count Cadillac Mountain on Bar Harbor.  Artist watching is as much of an activity as any in the peak season. The hidden trails and coves, driftwood beach flotsam and the character in the faces of the locals reach out and find the artist. At sundown, when the day trippers are long gone, the fog rolls in and the few remaining gulls voice their approval in the small harbor.

Nick’s artwork is mostly oil on canvas or board.  Watercolor might find its way, too, as many artist use that medium on Monhegan.  His landscapes and shoreline scenes snap with color in a Cezanne or Poussin kind of light. The dramatic sea and the rocky outcrops remind one that the next stop to the east are the cliffs of Ireland and Scotland. We do not need to imagine those views, we have the artists of Monhegan Island.

                                                                                                                                                                                                        

Swiss Chalets in affordable Greek Alps?

Vitina in the Arcadian mountain range of the Peloponnese Peninsular of Greece rises to winter pleasure.

I have travelled the countryside of the Greek mountains in the summer months and can relate the pleasure of discovering a wealth of culture aroung every bend in the road.  The northern mountains in the center of Greece provides a touristic path that gets overrun in all seasons.  I have discovered in the winter that the  southern mountains give the traveler the chance to view a  region unphased by the hassles effecting most Europeans today.  Ski resorts and the groomed mountain trails can be found on the Peloponnese.  My destination is to the villages that  support the winter trade.  Vitina is one of these villages with less that 1000 residents.
Food and drink is the important focus of this village and the church and family really support the infastructure with  real service to the visitor. The freshest dried herbs, homemade greek noodles, rounds of cheeses and dried sausages are offered by craftsmen in the very tiny shops.  White and red wines from local vines are bottled and line the shelves.  Olive trees in groves line the roads to the village of Vitina.  It goes without saying, but I will, that the first cold press of the oil is the finest and the woods of the trees make their way to lathes and the carver hands of the villagers.  Some shops specialize in the most unique crafts. Need a walking staff with a sheep head in olivewood?  When the temperature is Zero C. and the light coating of a night flurry remains on the northern facing red tiled roofs, the lunchtime gastric juices flow.  The hardwood charcoal ovens of the local tavernas whaife the aromas of the local specialty meats in the narrow pedestrian streets.  Wild boar, hare, rooster, baby lamb are on the menu.  Field greens (horta) are still hearty and grown on the southern facing glades and those tender leaves bathed in lemon juice and olive oil, touched with salt and tossed make the meal zip. I particularly like the Taverna called Paradosiaki, a comfortable, nicely decorated family enviroment with great staff and menu.

A drive to this village from Athens takes less than two hours.  The route is quite simple as you head toward the Corinth Canal and on E65 towards Tripoli.  Before  the route narrows, yet after the fantastic mountain tunnels, and tolls, the right cutoff on road E55 and then 74 toward Olympia directs you to Vitina, also spelled Vytina.  The snow topped peaks loom over the hillside passes.  It is dramatic in winter.  Many small hotels and Bed and Breakfasts abound in the village. Larger hotels are along the access route. Finding  these gems is a joy; experiencing the benefits of each is the reward.

Shaken, Not Stired

Caribbean Bird Watching, an Aston Martin & Vodka Martinis

I love all the above.  The Peterson’s Guide to NorthAmerican Birding was the part of the reason. The book series by Ian Fleming: James Bond, and the ensuing countless films of the Queen’s Secret service agent, Bond, “James Bond”, found a place that will enthral me forever.

Birds of the West Indies, written by, yes, James Bond, is also one of my favorite books.  Bond was a remarkable man living and working in Port Antonio, Jamaica, West Indies.  Bond was a birder and illustrator, and became a friend of  Ian Fleming.  Fleming was an avid birder and keenly aware of Mr. Bond, American ornithologist and the book published in 1936. As a masculine unasuming Anglo-Saxon, Mr. James Bond was the perfect image to  model the character Agent Bond.  Agent 007 was born. 

Now, James Bond, the birder, started research in the 1920s in the area of Cuba and Hispanola, then Cozumel and Belize, and throughout the Antillean regions. I have carried the book to these places, as there is no better reference.  The color plates of parrots, hummingbirds, pigeons and doves are remarkable.  I recall a walk at dusk on El Portillo Beach, Samana, Dominican Republic and hearing, Woc- Woc.  Looking closer, I recognized on a low branch the long yellow legs, rich plumage back and stately crown of a Yellow-Crowned Night Heron.  This handsome bird was in the book and quickly checked on my list.  Then, some years later, I was priviledged to Scuba Dive off of Lyford Key, Nassau, Bahamas on the underwater wrecked frame of the Stealth Bomber of “Thunderball”, one of my favorite Bond films.

For me, each film and each tropical bird link the two Bonds together.  What Fleming film links them for you?

Seraffyn, Cruising the seas with angelic blessings

Cruising in Seraffyn by Lin & Larry Pardey is one way to live your unfinished dream. Known as the pioneers of castaways for greater life experiences, they have made their mark and cut their trail on our planet.  This book is celebrating its twenty-fifth year in publication. The book has sold over 50,000 copies in five editions and three languages. Their visions of practical and affordable dreams lure the reader into a mystical realm distant to 99.999% of us. Enticing?  Yes. Duplicated by others?  Yes. Why are these folks special?  Many try and few complete the Pardey’s life goals.  They were able to cast off the economic chains and put a plan to work that continues to be successful today.  And along the way Lin & Larry stayed true to their quest. They are considered the deans of Cruising the seas in a small wooden boat under sail.  They are experts to all who voyage to hidden ports and explore unknown peoples. Think of a romantic vision of Magellan.

Today they continue to travel; though land based in happy New Zealand, with roots in California and Canada. A pickup truck and camper serves as another home away from the sea. Spartan by most standards, Lin and Larry travel without much want, as their reputation proceeds them worldwide.  Writing and Publishing to share their life experiences and offering a glimpse into the lifestyle of open ocean life engulfs much of the year.  The rest is searching for the next anchorage or port on one of their other vessels in New Zealand.

See, Seraffyn is not the kind of yacht that many vision on the silky Caribbean Seas. Seraffyn is historic and represents a boat that those in the know, those that understand sailing and those that build vessel are keenly aware: it is Twenty-Four feet long and with one mast, has no motor or electricity. For that matter it has no toilet.  Think 24 feet for a moment.  That’s eight adult strides in a line. Try this: 3 Smart Cars bumper to bumper!  Now think this: Twenty-four foot seas, at night in the open Indian Ocean under sail, (no engines). Yet, the beauty of  Mediterranean and tropical islands were on their charts every new day. Two people sailing around the earth and visiting distant ports where Westerners have never touched is incredible.

Larry is the builder. Larry built Seraffyn to the specs of the Lyle Hess, Bristol Channel Cutter, a formal working boat.   This sturdy shallow draft vessel from hardwood and teak and brass was made to withstand the high seas, yet give comfort to the Pardeys.  Larry is the expert in the techniques of open sea cruising. The broad deck and the ample spaces below deck were enhanced by Larry’s designs.  These plans are available to all sailors. Lin is the scribe and her skills in putting the human spirit into their quest is magical.  One feels the rolling swells beneath the hull and the warmth of the smiles of children in the coves and bays from her words. Several books document their years on the waters. Their DVDs give us the knowledge of their decades of determination. In meeting and knowing the Pardeys and while sailing on Seraffyn, I have grown to respect their accomplishments  and embrace the books of their travels. The angels surely are looking over Seraffyn. The boat is owned by a caring seaman, in New England, who maintains the highest care over this fantastic vessel. The Pardey’s books are published by Paracay Publishers.

Cape Verde sending the yearly Tropical Waves

The Little Engine that could… is the best way to describe the source of the African Continent hurricane activity in the Caribbean Basin and points north. Considering that the 16th parallel on that land mass churns out the massive storms from an area that we can think of as desert and barren lands, the patterns are precise.  From June 1st to October 31st the nations of the West Indies are under the gun for tropical waves from Africa.  Spaghetti Charts ( I love these words) clearly indicate the track of theses tropical waves.  Senegal, Mauritania, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Western Sahara, Gambia and Mali all contribute to the pressure cooker driving the storms. Though, for Cape Verde, drought has ravaged the region for decades, driving food shortages.

As the hurricane season develops, the waves begin to roll off the western coast and form toward the borderline of status on the south of the islands.  Each one is numbered as TS # 13, for example of a Tropical Storm, or  94L to denote a Depression Wave.

Hurricane Katia as of Sept 2, 2011 in the Atlantic as cat. 1 , LOCATION…17.5N 52.4W

The patterns are like clock-work toward the Leeward Islands of the Caribbean Sea.

 Mariners  use services to plot and track all storms.  NOAA  and HURDAT, http://www.aoml.noaa.gov/hrd/index.html offer many tools.

I use http://stormcarib.com/guide.htm , because the depth of the Island data is linked to ground watchers and pleas for help are incorporated after disasters. Special local hurricane correspondents report from the Caribbean Islands about the situation with regards to threatening tropical systems daily.

Each season brings it’s own challenges, and the 2011 Hurricane Season is no different.  As I prepare to negotiate the next Wave off the Cape Verdes, my eyes are on the Leeward Islands I love so much. Field assignment September 9th, 2011 Punta Cana, DR,  just grazed by Irene 8/24/2011.  Peace.

Beautiful, Dangerous, Invasive, Tasty! The Jamaican Lionfish

Non-indigenous Lionfish Overtakes Jamaica’s Waters and the Executive Chef’s Sauté Pan

As I prepare to “giant stride” into the deep off the fantail of my dive boat, Swept Away, lurking right below is my favorite fish.  The Lionfish is populating the reefs of Jamaica, the Bahamas, and Turks.  Some think the release of this Asian and South Pacific indigenous species occurred in the Caribbean Sea basin in 1992 after Hurricane Andrew destroyed the land and dispersed the reef fish in South Florida aquariums. Jamaica has been most affected by the lionfish, having no known natural predator to the region.  Jamaican fishing industry spokesmen refer to the fish traps or “pots” empty of snapper and full of lionfish.  The fishing industry and the tourist industry both rely on abundance of fish from the rich waters off the coasts. The lionfish will eat anything and is a voracious predator. They are graceful, almost hypnotizing, floating in between the fan corals and reef  ledges. Diver beware: the dorsal spines are a enticing camouflage of disabling toxin.  These spines will produce an extremely nasty reaction in humans, needing medical attention.  I still love the lionfish, just not the venom. 

Lionfish can be eaten, and with the proper training in removal and handling, is not likely to cause a problem with persons getting stung from the spines,” said Dr. Dayne Buddo, lecturer and academic co-coordinator with the National Lionfish Project at the marine lab, which is run by the University of the West Indies.  His articles to inform the nation appear in The Gleaner and more at  The Jamaican Observer.   Dr. Dayne Buddo is spearheading the National Lionfish Project, educating the nation on reducing the threat.

 Chef Anthony Miller, Executive Chef of the World acclaimed Couples Resort at Swept Away, Negril, Jamaica and the representative for Jamaica at Taste of the Caribbean Culinary Arts Competition, knows the Lionfish.  One of his restaurants: Feathers at Swept Away features this extraordinary entre item. 

In April 2011, Executive chefs from The Culinary Federation of Jamaica and respectful patrons of the food and beverage industry on the Island of Jamaica, came together in Montego Bay.    They came together to highlight the cause for “Eat what you Grow”, and Miller presented a Lion Fish action station with a great response from distinguished guests and The Minister of Tourism, Mr. Edmond Bartlett.  Some items from Chef Miller were spoons of Escovitch of Lion Fish, Curry Lion Fish, and Sautéed Lion Fish -Lemon Grass butter.

The barb-like spines are removed with wire cutters.  Chef meat cutting gloves are used. The fleshy filets are carved off the fish. They are soaked in iced water, dried and lightly dredged in rice flour. In a sauté pan, clarified butter is heated and the lightly salted and white-peppered filets are browned for three minutes, while basted in the butter. Toast-points support the filets and all is drizzled with a beurre blanc with a hint of lime.  What, no Lionfish in the supermarket fish monger case? Substitute filets of North Atlantic Flounder, (smaller is better).  The flavor is very close and the texture is right on the mark.  Notice the lack of poisonous spines?  Try the real thing at Couples Swept Away and enjoy.