Sunday In My City - #1...There's a City Over There

Well, I had big plans for this weekend...cleaning, of course, that oft-ignored chore of mine. But lucky for me as I was chopping up veggies for a chopped salad yesterday afternoon, my trusty Wusthof knife revolted and, well, I nearly chopped my thumb off.

So maybe that's not lucky...I don't know, I guess it depends on how much you hate housework.

And maybe I exaggerate ever so slightly...I cut my thumb, but not enough to need stitches, so I guess it's not that bad.

Just enough to get me out of any really heavy-duty cleaning! So, yeah....let's call it lucky!

Today was the day two of a rather dismal, drizzly, cool spring weekend here in Massachusetts, the eve of the esteemed Boston Marathon which I won't be running this year due to my injured thumb (and the fact that, well, I don't run....) and although I'm reading a really good book right now, "Water For Elephants" by Sara Gruen, I was feeling kind of bored. And it wasn't just me...someone else had a touch of cabin fever, too...

So, off we went for a ride, not knowing where to go or what to do. I did have my camera with me, and as we headed north I remembered Joanna from The Fifty Factor participates in a really cool feature called Sunday In My City, inspired by Unknown Mami's Sunday In My City. I always thought it was a cool idea! So, there it was settled - I would set out to do my own "Sunday In My City" post.

Only thing is....I don't live in a city. I live in a town. And while I live in the pretty much residential side of town, near a city, the further north you go, the more rural it gets. I'm talking quaint farmland, unspoiled forest and herds of buffalo roaming the fields.

Oh, you don't believe me?

Here, take a closer look!

Yes, just north of here, off a winding rural road near the center of a small New England town is the Alta Vista Bison Farm. It started out as a dairy farmed nestled on a hillside in Rutland, MA but a while back they sold all the cows and started raising bison. It's a neat place, with a little gift shop that sells bison meat, chicken, fresh eggs as well as Native American crafts and music. I make a pretty mean bison burger, but have not cooked a whole lot with other cuts of meat yet. Visiting the farm made me realize I should do that, supporting a local business and expand my horizons a little bit.

Anyway, it's a quaint little farm with a breathtaking view, even on a gloomy day...

We left the farm and headed back to civilization. I think I'm liking this "Sunday In My City" idea, but my little two-horse town (Seriously. Their names are Lexi and Brandy) surely isn't enough fodder for a weekly blog post, so maybe in the future I'll travel to neighboring towns or cities and capture what's going on there!

Next stop was another quaint New England town, Princeton. This is one of my favorite New England towns - it has the prettiest town center, scenic roads, lots of conservation land, places to hike and even a ski resort at Mount Wachusett. Although you're only 40 miles west of Boston, Princeton takes you back in time when you visit.

In the center of town is a wide, grassy common near the junction of several scenic roads. The shot above is from the top of the common near the library and town hall.

This is the town hall....

...and this is the library.

Isn't it gorgeous? There a lot of granite buildings here in New England - nearly every town or village has a church or historic municipal building built with granite from New England. The bell in the clock tower chimes every hour (we learned that about 7 minutes after that photo was taken).

Across the street from the library is a church.

I don't attend church that often, but churches are perhaps my favorite type of building, particularly old ones like this. The combination of architecture and spirituality always warms my heart.

As you cross the common, there's a gazebo - they do use it for band concerts in the summer time. Today, the only visitors were me and Grace.

Beyond the gazebo there's another church. perched on the side of a hill.

I always liked this one, too. It may be small in stature, but the view behind it is very cool.

Today I could just barely make it out with my eyes - you probably can't see it in this photo - but off in the distance is the Boston skyline. On a clear day you can easily make out the Prudential Center and sometimes even see teeny little birds (airplanes) take off and descend towards Logan Airport.

Funny how my daughter and I could be the only two people standing on a town common, looking at a city 40 miles away where one of the most famous marathons, the Boston Marathon, will begin in less than 24 hours.

That's one of the things I love about where I live. Nothing is far away.

What's your Sunday like? Head over to Unknown Mami and join the fun!