Lydia Likes It

Oh, that view

Sunset over MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts. We never tire of it.

The oldest public park in America

We don't always appreciate what's right under our noses, and Boston Common, the oldest public park in America, is literally right under my 23rd-floor-apartment nose. Founded in 1634, the Common is a 50-acre pentagon smack dab in the middle of the city, bordered by the Beacon Hill, Back Bay and Downtown neighborhoods. The park, maintained by the Friends of the Public Garden, hosts events as varied as the annual Duckling Day, celebrating the famous book Make Way for Ducklings, and protests like the Women's March in 2017, when an estimated 175,000 people packed the park. There are art exhibits, and softball games, and a hemp festival, and scavenger hunts for children, and history explorations, and a Pride party, and free Shakespeare every summer. And the new Embrace sculpture, honoring Martin Luther King and Coretta Scott King. And an historic cemetery where Gilbert Stuart (painter of the image of George Washington on the one dollar bill) resides. And a very popular designated free-range dog area. And a summer beer garden. And pickleball.

Seeing in color {green}

Trust a LEED Gold building to feature eco-friendly art in its lobby. The Living Green Wall, which reflects my apartment building's commitment to a sustainable environment, combines jade pothos, philodendron brasil, and neon pothos plants. It offers a range of benefits, including natural air filtration, VOC (volatile organic compounds) removal, stress relief, and assistance in the building's thermal regulation, and it brings the vibrancy of nature inside. 

Sunsets

My husband Ted's first office in Boston looked to the west, over Beacon Hill and Back Bay and the Public Garden and Cambridge, past the old John Hancock Building with its weather beacon, along the Charles River to the iconic Citgo sign in Kenmore Square and beyond. When we moved to our current apartment, he wanted to have that view again, forty-some years later, and so we do. The sunsets amaze, delight and bless us with their brilliance. (iPhone photo taken through the window, no filter. Please excuse the reflections.)

Seedles

Lady Bird Johnson, first lady of the United States from 1963-1969, turned a good idea into action. Beautify America, her sweeping vision for conservation and enhancement of the built environment, manifested itself in ways that were decades ahead of her time. Among other policy aspects of her program, Mrs. Johnson organized the planting of huge swaths of wildflowers throughout the city of Washington DC, along highways and in parks, in the neighborhoods and downtown. Now you can follow her example with Seedles, colorful balls of non-GMO wildflower seeds that you just place on the ground and water regularly. Each package contains a mix of 50% perennials and 50% annuals, and you can purchase Seedles native to your part of the country. The bees, and your neighbors, will love you. Learn more and order here. Wouldn't this be a great weekend project for kids?