Skaters on the Boston Common Frog Pond.
— Photo by Tkperlman
“I don’t believe in seeking sheet music
by Boston Common on a snowy day, don’t believe
in the lighting of malls seasonably
When I’m sleeping I don’t believe in time
as we own it, though some of the others might….’’
— From “Veteran,’’ by Fanny Howe (born 1940), a Boston-based poet and essayist
“Boston Street Scene (Boston Common),” by Edward Mitchell Bannister, a depiction of the street and Boston Common area in 1898–99
1890 map
“Boston Common at Twilight” (1885–86) (oil on canvas), by Childe Hassam, at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
A silence slipping around like death,
Yet chased by a whisper, a sigh,
a breath; One group of trees, lean,
naked and cold,
Inking their cress 'gainst a
sky green-gold;
One path that knows where the
corn flowers were;
Lonely, apart, unyielding, one fir;
And over it softly leaning down,
One star that I loved ere the
fields went brown.
— “A Winter Twilight,’’ by Angelina Weld Grimke (1880-1958), a Boston poet
Plowing up Boston Common before planting vegetables in a World War II “Victory Garden’’ during wartime rationing. I’ve been thinking of Victory Gardens lately as COVID-19-caused supply-chain problems lead many people to consider planting new gardens to supplement their food supplies.
— Robert Whitcomb
BOSTON
The Boston Common hosted not one, but two of the 600 March for Science rallies held around the world on Earth Day, April 22. In addition to the featured rally, a separate Kids' March drew about 1,000 youngsters and adults. The children’s event hosted science experiments and activities, and its own list of speakers at the park's historic bandstand.
On the main stage, Gina McCarthy, director of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under President Obama, spoke briefly about President Trump’s efforts to block billions of dollar in funding for climate-change research and science-related programs.
“Actions so far in Washington have made clear that not only are they intent on denying inconvenient science, they are out to stop doing science. Period and full-stop,” McCarthy said.
The April 22 science rally drew a crowd of at least 5,000, many wearing white lab coats. The crowd was a mix of college students, biotech employees and retirees, many of whom attended the Women’s March and other protests organized after Trump’s inauguration, which came on Jan. 20.
Even before he took office, Trump has been an unabashed opponent of research and climate-change science. He’s appointed members of the fossil-fuel industry to his cabinet and installed them to run federal agencies.
Of its many actions against science, the Trump administration removed the word “science” from the mission statement of the EPA’s Office of Science and Technology.
Protests against Trump's efforts to purge the government of scientific truths continues next Saturday, April 29. with the People’s Climate March in Washington, D.C., and around the world.
Painting by SAM VOKEY, at the Guild of Boston Artists.
The quintessence of Boston Common in the winter -- beautiful, in its way, but also forbidding.
