Simple Gifts

 

 Northampton at 7am on Black Friday. 

photo by d. turcotte

 

A beggar's sign abandoned on a bus stop bench. 

 

 

This cruel bus stop bench in Amherst is designed to make it impossible for a homeless person to lie down. 

 

I like these encouraging posters that have shown up all over UMass. 

 

 

 

I recently visited the Simple Gifts Farm store in Amherst. 

The store is a relatively new addition to the farm. Here is a pig wandering on the exact same spot back in 2012. 

 

Inside the store is a wide array of products. Not much in the way of bargains, but everything is of the highest quality. 

 

 

Next door is a farm house that is one of the oldest still standing in Amherst. The exact year it was built is uncertain, but is thought to be around 1830. 

It has been partially restored in recent years, but for a long time the old place looked pretty run-down. Back in the long ago day homeless people were allowed to live in it provided they worked a certain number of hours on the farm. It was dispiriting to see how few homeless folk chose to take advantage of the housing if they had to do anything to earn it. 

Then again, there were some tempting alternatives to farm work, such as engaging in the non-stop party scenes going down in the woods behind Big Y and in the hidden inlets and coves around Puffer's Pond. 

Here's me at Puffer's Pond in the long ago day wearing very stylish sandals. 

 

 

Springfield as seen from the old Armory hill at sunset. 

photo by michael wiseman

Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney is growing a beard. 

No. Just no.

 

New Hampshire has the best state motto. 

 

Unfortunately, the state's famously independent spirit has been increasingly undermined in recent years by an influx of people who vote fleeing Massachusetts.