Romeo and... Bootz

I found this last month when I had to feature-hunt by foot on a rainy day in while my car was in the shop. It ran big-- the entire length of the cover of the local page. Bootz's owner acted like he knew she was destined for fame. "I've been waiting for you guys to come and put her on the front page," he told me.

Ryan Rheaume talks to his dog, Bootz, outside their home in Penacook on Friday, April 16, 2010. Bootz, an Alaskan Huskie, got her name because all four of her paws are white from the joints down. (Concord Monitor photo/Sarah Beth Glicksteen)

A field

In case you were wondering where helium balloons end up when you let them go, this gorgeous field in Poughkeepsie, Ny., is one destination. Poor Mickey Mouse was far from home.




(Disclosure: My friend found the balloon first, kicked around until he could identify it, and then walked away before I came over and shot the photo. Vignettes occurred naturally in-camera, and I decided to keep them.)

[ALSO: What happens in the meadow at dusk?]

Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture

I spent the weekend visiting a friend in Poughkeepsie. We spent much of Saturday at Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture in nearby Pocantico Hills, New York. Neat place.

Sara Worden, a farm apprentice, waters root vegetables in a greenhouse. "Usually I use the irrigation system," she said, "But I wanted to give them a little extra love."

Also, a very large chicken coop.

Babies are cute...

... But lambs are cuter.

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Napping

I noticed Art soaking in the sunshine at a rest area as I was driving back to the newsroom after an assignment last week. He'd just delivered his first book to a bookstore downtown, and was bouncing some ideas around for his second. Over the summer he'd taken his Harley, Rosemary, through 35 states, visiting old friends he was excited to have found on facebook. I imagine that his is the last generation to get really excited about reconnecting in this way. I really enjoy staying in touch with old friends, but I can read daily dispatches from their lives online now, and I can't picture myself taking a road trip to catch up. But, maybe I should.

Art Desmarais, of Northwood, relaxes on his Harley, which he named Rosemary, while riding around in the sunshine on Friday. He said he and a friend used to always take in the scenery in this rest area on Dover Street in Epsom. Since his friend passed away, he stops here by himself to reflect every time he passes it on his way home. "You know how tough life is," he said, "It doesn't take much to mess it up." (Concord Monitor Photo/Sarah Beth Glicksteen)

Culture Show

Kerina Dahal, 3, from Nepal stands with her aunts as she enjoys a dance performance. Hundreds of people attended a cultural show of Bhutanese/Nepalese song and dance at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church in Concord on Friday, March 26, 2010.
(Concord Monitor Photo/Sarah Beth Glicksteen)

Books and Ballerinas

I went to this ballet demonstration in the public library with a picture in my head that I was sure I wanted to get. It was the second picture you see here. I ended up liking the first one better, though. I guess even a well-planned event in a familiar place can turn out to be unpredictable.

Ballerinas (from left) Alicia Sanders-Zakre, 14, of Concord; Hannah Durant, 15, of Hopkinton; and Flannery Black-Ingersoll, 13, of Concord, relax as they prepare to offer children a sneak preview of Petit Papillon's upcoming production at the Concord Public Library on Saturday, March 20, 2010. (Sarah Beth Glicksteen/Concord Monitor Photo)

Aspiring ballerina Emma Larson, 4, came straight from her dance class to enjoy a ballet presentation at the library with her mother, Erin Larson, of Concord. Teenage ballerinas from dance company Petit Papillon offer children a sneak preview of their upcoming production at the Concord Public Library on Saturday, March 20, 2010. When The Root Children Wake Up, an original ballet based on an old German folk tale, will be at the Audi Theatre in Concord on Saturday. Tickets at $10/$6 are available at Ballard's, Gibson's, and the door.
(Sarah Beth Glicksteen/Concord Monitor Photo)

Busy, Busy, Busy

I made a quick trip to Boston for my one-day weekend yesterday. It was a warm, sunny day packed with celebration and some of my favorite people. I lived there for too long and I took for granted how much there is to do there all the time. Then I got back to Concord, bought some things without paying sales tax, and noticed how many stars I could see in the sky.

Things one could do in Somerville: photograph strangers putting up signs in Davis Square; see the band Death and the Dance Machine at the suggestion of guitarist/harmonicaist/vocalist James Force (pictured).