Lydia Likes It

Elevated Access

Let's face it: women's health care just ain't what it used to be a few years ago. Those of us who live in the Northeast, who have access to quality care and the resources to afford it, are luckier than we can imagine. In much of the US, women's reproductive health care is either no longer available, or so restricted that it's available only to those wealthy enough to work around the restrictions. For women in need of reproductive health care or gender-affirming services, Elevated Access, an all-volunteer corps of pilots using donated private planes, transports women at no cost to get the care they need. The services of this young nonprofit organization are available all over the country. They accept referrals from case workers, direct-support organizations, and health care providers to evaluate the need and try to locate a pilot to handle the flight. Pilots, thank you for your service.

Pick-up line

The city of Newton sits adjacent to Boston; it's a vibrant suburb, home to several colleges and universities and shopping malls and many restaurants and ample green space. Some time in 2025, Ted and I plan to move to a brand new senior independent living community in Newton, and it's occurred to us that we don't know much about the city at all. Most of our activity -- cultural, medical, volunteering, and our previous work life -- has been centered in Boston. Imagine my delight to learn that Newton has a city-sponsored on-demand ride service called New Mo: Newton in Motion. NewMo, which operates Monday-Friday, costs just $2 per ride, anywhere in Newton, and works just like Uber or Lyft. (If you are age 60 or older, the NewMo Senior Service offers some additional benefits, like door-to-door and Saturday morning service and the ability to prebook for medical appointments.) Affordable, sustainable, easy to use on your phone: I can't wait to try it.

Local deliciousness

Every Thursday, my husband Ted picks up empty 50-pound paper flour bags from Flour Bakery's commissary, and delivers the bags to Bikes Not Bombs, where volunteers use them to pack bicycle parts to ship to nonprofit organizations in Africa and Central America. Flour Bakery is famous citywide (worldwide?) for its over-the-top amazing sticky buns. I spied this sign on the door of their delivery van when I tagged along with Ted this week. If you've ever had a Flour sticky bun, you know why they need this sign!

Seeing in color {turquoise}

Turquoise, the color of stones in beautiful jewelry made by many Southwest Indian artists, seems completely at home on this old pick-up we saw in Raton, New Mexico. 

All aboard

I am a train person. I've made the train trip from Boston to New York City to Washington DC dozens and dozens of times, and I've done some longer train travel, too. What I love most about train travel is staring out the window, letting my mind wander, getting totally engrossed in a good book, and writing. Seems I'm not the only person who feels this way. Amtrak's nascent residency program for writers began with an idea floated by one author on Twitter. Now Amtrak is putting together a more formal program to offer free or low-cost train trips to writers; here's the official application. One caution: read the guidelines carefully, as there are some issues with retaining copyright to your work, including the writing you submit as part of your application. (Thanks to Mary C. for reminding me to share this with you.)