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Wednesday, May 31, 2023

What's Happening Here

Posting about places we've gone to on road trips is fun, but here's what's been happening at home in Nashua, NH. (There will be a few more posts about our recent anniversary road trip.)
On Monday, there was a parade down Main Street in observance of Memorial Day. It's never a long parade and participants included high school and middle school marching bands, boy scouts, veterans groups, and (of course) politicians. Attendance was surprisingly larger than in previous years spoken from our experience in attending the annual Memorial and Veterans Day parades.
The nearby town of Hudson, NH, has its annual flag display on the town square which we passed by several times last week. It will stay up through the July 4 holiday, hopefully escaping any gusty winds.
Nashua is the only city in the U.S. that hosts an annual international sculpture symposium. This year, sculptors are representing the U.S., Israel, Poland, and Iran.
Work is continuing on four sculptures that will be placed in and around the city with completion set for this weekend. The materials in use are marble and granite. Onlookers are invited to watch the sculptors. They are working outdoors at the Picker Artists studios, an artisan cooperative of nine artists in 12 studios that's within walking distance of the mill apartments. (Spoiler Alert: A future post will have more information on the Nashua symposium.)
It seems that spring took quite a while getting to Nashua, NH, however, within the past few weeks, flowers have been blooming in the garden at Le Parc de Notre Renaissance Française (informally called the French Park or Renaissance Park) near the mill apartments.
This public garden is tended to by neighbors on our apt floor. Their gardening efforts are appreciated by everyone who spends time here. More flowers will be in bloom in a few weeks.
These beauties were in bloom around the mill apartment grounds within the past few weeks.
A definite sign of warmer weather is the increase in
Canada Goose on the Nashua River. This week, there were several families with 3 to 6 goslings in each. Watching them is entertaining as the young ones practice flight maneuvers on the river. However, the presence of so many often makes walking an exercise in dodging substantial droppings along the river walk. 

Unfortunately, many people toss bread products, as unhealthy for goose as for humans. Geese consistently fed bread become malnourished, filling up on junk food and neglecting natural food sources. Extreme cases can lead to a condition known as angel wing which can leave the birds unable to fly. For anyone tempted to offer food, better choices are birdseed, lettuce or other greens, foods just as nutritious for humans.
An evening of severe downpours resulted in this colorful sunset across the Nashua River. The building is Lofts 34 another apartment building that's not connected with the mill apartments. 

25 comments:

John "By Stargoose And Hanglands" said...

I very much like the idea of the public being able to see works of art being created; it usually seems to take place behind closed doors as if it were some kind of secret alchemy!

Boud said...

Thanks for the sculpture info. And the flowers, what an array! You live in an interesting place.

MadSnapper said...

the sunsets and sunrises always seem to be more beautiful after storms. I would love to watch the artists at work. what a great idea. that looks like a really nice parade.

Bijoux said...

My husband took Middle Child to our town's parade and said it was also highly attended, compared to other years. Beautiful flowers and sunset.

DUTA said...

Most artists have become quite interested in the interaction between public- artist. It is good for both sides. The public wants to meet the artist behind the work, and learn at first hand about the process of art making.

Anvilcloud said...

You lie in a great place, and you have a killer view from your apt.

CrystalChick said...

It's nice your parade had more attendance this year!
How interesting about the sculptors working outside for the public to watch. Also, very cool that you have an artisan cooperative so close by. Looking forward to more info on that!
We were just visiting family who have a small lake near their home and they sit out and watch the geese/goslings nearby. Mom/babies were eating in the grass next to the water and dad was standing tall, guarding them all.
Wow, what a dramatic sunset photo. Love it!!
~Mary

Rita said...

What lovely flowers! The goslings are getting quite big. Summer is definitely here. Beautiful sunset. :)

NewRobin13 said...

Love seeing the parade there. The flowers are so beautiful too. Such beautiful springtime colors blooming. Nice to see the geese and goslings too. Love that sunset view. Life looks delightful there!

Sandra said...

Those flowers are stunning! I went to a lot of parades as a child. my grandma loved parades. I would enjoy watching a sculptor work, that's a good idea.

gigi-hawaii said...

Very beautiful pics, Beatrice. I sometimes feed breadcrumbs to the birds, but now I know better. Thanks for the advice.

Christina said...

Those sculptures are going to be fabulous! Your photos are so vibrant, I can almost feel spring and summer in action. It has taken a while here, too but all of a sudden, we are into early summer and I am loving it.

photowannabe said...

Love the hometown parades, especially those with a patriotic feel to them. Great photos and oh my that dark purple iris is gorgeous.
I really like the idea of public maintained gardens.
I love watching the goslings in parade too, but have to agree on the exercise program they create in avoiding their mess...
Sue

Emma Springfield said...

Memorial Day Parades are definitely among my favorites. And I adore the goose family.

Jeanie said...

The sculpture contest sounds interesting and fun. I haven't been to a parade in years -- they ARE fun !

David M. Gascoigne, said...

People tending that public garden provides an ideal opportunity to create a functioning, productive pollinator garden to help restore biodiversity. I hope that people rise to the challenge.

Linda G. said...

I love the variety and colors of flowers that you shared in your blog post. I wish we did, but we don’t, have a Memorial Day parade in our city.

William Kendall said...

Quite a parade.

nick said...

The international sculpture symposium looks interesting. I wish I could be there to take a close look!
The Canada geese are lovely, but as you say, they leave a horrible mess behind them. There used to be loads of them in Hyde Park in London (probably still are) and the mess was unbelievable.

Lee said...

Lest We Forget....

As I turned into this lane after a quick trip to the shop this morning, I spotted ahead a mob of wild ducks....there would have been more than a dozen of them. I really brightened up my morning. :)

Rob Lenihan said...

Love all these beautiful photos!

Polly said...

I like the idea of being able to watch sculptors at work. The celebrations look fun for all the family. I love the flowers and the geese - eapecially the babies :-)

David said...

Beatrice, Great flower photos! We just love the earth's rebirth every year. When it comes to critters, the general public often does things that are harmful. In our area, feeding bears leads to them being put down as they become habituated to human contact and food. I'm happy to see that Memorial Day is celebrated more intensely than in recent years. RIP...my dad who was KIA in Czechoslovakia on May 6, 1945. Take Care, Big Daddy Dave

Carola Bartz said...

A sculpture symposium sounds very interesting! And great to see women representing the other three countries!
Lovely flowers and plants in the public garden. I love places like that. I don't understand why people still feed bread to geese, and I'm guilty of having done that myself 20 years ago when my daughter was still little. I didn't know back then, but I wish I had.

baili said...

what a fun parade !

i enjoyed the glimpse of groups marching ,it always fascinates me :)

heartfelt happy spring dear Dorothy! wow your area seems to burst with spring flowers ,so pretty and filling the eyes and heart with peace and beauty :)

special thanks for Canada goose shots oh i so love seeing them with their goslings :)))

i appreciate your concern regarding people's irresponsible food supply to birds .it definitely can affect their health and natural instinct of flying i agree

i always LOVE to see the river shot no matter which season it belongs to it is joyous to look at it specially the calmness it is showing right now is so comforting :)
hugs!