Bob’s Clam Hut, Kittery Maine
Yesterday, Peter and I drove home from Maine where we were visiting my brother and his family. Since we were near the coast, Pete had done a quick search of fried clam possibilities. It is the off season so we weren’t sure what would be open. A search of “fried clams southern maine” turned up one that looked promising. So from Scarborough we headed south on the 95 and ended up in Kittery at Bob’s on Route 1.
It is really great; by far the cleanest and nicest of all the clam shacks that we have frequented. And the woman who took our order was so nice. You can see her on the right scooping out my chowder.
I had been feeling a bit poorly the day before and I wasn’t sure if fried clams at 11.45 in the morning were such a good idea, so I had the fish chowder. It was perfect. Not gloppy like some that use thickener or too much heavy cream. The broth was milky and buttery with lots of fish.
Peter was going to get a small, but I figured I could eat a few so we got the medium box. So the verdict is, highest marks to Bob’s. It is now in our top two along with Farnham’s in Essex, MA. I think the clams at Farnham’s are just a bit juicer, but Bob’s chowder is superior.
The Changing Face of What is Normal
For much of last week Stephanie Bailey from the Exploratorium in San Francisco has been at the museum picking out objects for the exhibit that will be also featuring my suitcase photographs. I went out to Rotterdam on Saturday to meet her and help out a bit. Karen Miller and Craig Williams were there as well. Details are mostly in place, and while there isn’t much information available on the web as of yet, the title of the exhibit is “The Changing Face of What is Normal”. In addition to my photos, there will be a number of Karen’s poems and around 15 of the suitcases themselves. I have seen the design for the display and it is going to be amazing. It will open on the 17th of April when the new Exploratorium itself opens in the Embarcadero on (I think) Pier 15. I will be there for the opening which should be a huge event. At some point in mid May I’ll come back out for some programming to do with the exhibit. And we are hoping to set up an “artists talk” sometime in the Autumn.
Some of the cases that are traveling to the exhibit were new to me and it was nice to see more of the possessions of the patients.
Madeline was a French teacher before she came to Willard. This is a very beautiful copy of an illustrated Petit Larousse.
Her little coffee pot is nice too. / It is amazing to me that some of the personal possessions of Willard patients will be shipped all the way across the country to be seen by a huge number of people. As I have tried to handle the objects with great care when photographing them, the Exploratorium is showing great sensitivity in the way they are preparing the exhibit. I really think it is going to be amazing. As I know more about the timing of things over the next few months, I will post updates. This will be an incredible and rare opportunity to see the cases up close. The exhibit will run for at least six months, and we are hoping to have it extended for a full year.
Stadium Thing
I am not really sure what to call this post. Just now when I uploaded the photograph, I saw that my shorthand for it was “stadium thing”. I guess I’ll go with that. I believe that it was built to sell snacks during UMASS football games, but I have never seen it in use. If you look to the right of the photo you will note that there is a second one just to the south. I have spent a lot of time around sports venues and never seen anything like it. Oddly beautiful though.
Paperwhites (Narcissus papyraceus)
Hey Cris! The paperwhites are blooming. They smell great and are awaiting your return.
Dr.Harvey Cushing / Yale
I was at Yale in November speaking to Jessica Helfand’s class about the suitcase project. I had done it last year and it was a great experience again this time. At lunch Jessica introduced me to Joanna Radin who teaches in the Med School and she mentioned that some of Dr. Harvey Cushing’s artifacts were in a small office in the library and offered to take me to see them. Last year I visited the Cushing Center to see the brain collection and I was excited to learn more about him.
Cushing was an incredible diarist and photographer. His entire life is documented to a degree that is almost incomprehensible. The above volumes contain his World War 1 journals and correspondence.
The correspondence during this period gives a fascinating view into the minutia of a wartime surgeon. Volume after volume of military records. This guy saved everything!
I only had a short amount of time and could have spent weeks photographing the collection. I wonder who the “Southern gentleman” referred to was. Clearly someone who wasn’t much liked by his peers.
A big thank you to the folks at the School of Medicine Library for giving me access to these materials. They have a great website set up where it is possible to view some of the collections that have been digitized. Check it out.
Emancipation Proclamation
On the first of January bells were rung around Massachusetts at 2 pm to commemorate the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. I had heard that Pelham was going to join in and we went up to the historical society to have a look. This building used to be a church. It was built in 1839 when the government made the town move the worship area out of the town hall due to separation of church and state. The town hall (built 1743) is right next door and is interesting in that it is the oldest town hall in continuous use in the United States. The October town meeting is convened in it and then moved down to the school to be able to hold everyone. Pelham is also interesting in that it is the home of Daniel Shays. It is worth reading about him if you are interested in American history. His story is amazing.
Anyway, we arrived at the historical society and a few folks had shown up to participate. The single bell in the belfry was cast in England in the 1830s and has been out of service for a long time. Somehow enough money was found to conduct an engineering assessment of the structure to make sure that if it were rung the whole thing wouldn’t just collapse. It checked out OK (as they say); a new pull rope was attached and it was ready to go. We all took our turns and it was a surprisingly moving experience.
Mary Janes
Cris and I have had a long running joke about these candies. I put these into her Christmas stocking this year and yesterday she placed them on my nightstand before leaving for a couple of weeks in Dhaka. They will probably be there when she gets back. Neither of us seem to like them that much. Chocolate on the other hand, wouldn’t last nearly that long.
Standing Quarter
Well, it happened again today (click on the “it”). When I posted a similar occurrence last year, my friend Alex reminded me of a “Twilight Zone” episode where a guy threw a quarter into a newspaper vendor’s box and the coin stood on its edge. All the rest of the day he had the power to read minds. As was typical of that program, it didn’t turn out so well. I was in the process of putting a quarter into a parking meter this afternoon and it dropped into the snow and landed this way. I wasn’t able to read minds, but it did make me happy.
More Pearl
A bit of “karma congestion” lately. So as a default I feel like doing a Pearl post. We never let her up on the furniture until about a year ago, but now she seems to have claimed the center section of this sofa. It is really nice to have the wood stove going with her asleep next to you.
Cris was putting some wrapped presents under the tree yesterday, and Pearl went right to this “Mega P’nut” dog treat. She got an early gift.
Peter is home from DC and he and I took her for a walk today. I know I have posted a similar photo, but for some reason this still gets to me. She wants to carry her leash everywhere.
This past year has been monumental in many ways, and next year could be equally interesting. My very best wishes to all of you who follow this blog. I’ll get back to some serious stuff soon, but in the meantime, ’tis the season to be thinking about friends and family and have lots of love in your hearts.
Cheers, Jon
Ithaca, NY
Here’s a shot I took from the top of the Ithaca parking garage a long time ago. It was around this time I started to become interested in motion. I really like the movement of the arm reaching out to the mailbox. / Sorry for the dearth of posts lately. My cold really knocked me down. Finally feeling somewhat healthy again.
Jon Crispin's Notebook 
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