Waterfire

 Last Saturday Brown University sponsored a "Brown Loves Providence" event on the Providence River to thank the city for its help during a terrible event on campus last December, when a former grad student opened fire in the engineering building.  He killed two students and injured more.

Brown President Chris Paxson spoke to the crowd, thanking the first responders, neighbors, businesses and community partners who supported the campus through the aftermath of Dec. 13. 2025.  Dean Jain of the medical school thanked the health care professionals who stepped up to save lives.

“WaterFire is really special; it brings us together to reflect, connect and share in a common light,” Paxson said. “Tonight, the fires burn in deep appreciation of everyone who protected and supported our campus in a time of great need.”

Launched in the mid-1990s by Brown graduate Barnaby Evans, WaterFire has been a powerful work of art and a symbol of Providence's renaissance. During each full lighting, more than 80 bonfires and music from around the world entertain tens of thousands of people strolling nearby streets and sidewalks.

Avon Congregational Church

Leaving Avon, Connecticut, after my visit to the house and garden tour, I stopped  beside Avon Congregational Church.  I was gobsmacked by the clouds and the light.

The Avon Flower House's Kitchen

 

Shells, shells and more shells.

Off to the side there is a desk with an antique bas relief on the side and antique farm tools ahead.

And, here shells are mixed with a ram's head and some unusual masks over the door.

Quite a place!  The upstairs were also open, but I had seen enough.

Inside the Avon Flower House

 The Avon house whose gardens I showed yesterday was also open for visits inside.  

I have NEVER seen a house as densely filled with artifacts.  Where do you think the owners sit?  Where do they eat?  Where do they watch television?

There are many stuffed animals displayed.  There are signs saying that they oppose killing animals for taxidermy; every animal in the house is an antique that was killed and preserved long ago.

They are the only people I have run across who display dead rodents.

Sorry, I'm not sitting on this loveseat.

Garden Open Day in Avon

This garden is the second one I visited last Saturday during the The Garden Conservancy's Open Day.   It is on a main street in Avon, a Hartford suburb.  I saw it often when I lived in West Hartford.  Then it was full of colorful plants like the ones in front.  Since then the owners have planted many conifers.

A young girl chose a good time to run through.

Yes, the gardens are stunning.  But wait until you see inside the house tomorrow!!!

Garden Open Day in Canton

Last Saturday I visited a home in Canton, Connecticut, with magnificent gardens.  It was open for visits as part of the Open Day program of The Garden Conservancy.

The garden is densely planted with unique floral plants.

I knew the owner, Sue, when she had a photography blog focused on her previous home and garden in Wethersfield, Connecticut.  She married Dave and moved to his house in Canton a decade ago.  All of this lush garden has been created in just ten years!

Sue is in green, beside her friend Deanna.  Good work, Sue.  Your gardens are stunning.

Murals on the Noah Webster Library

 

I May be the First Woman

But I won't be the Last

The new dawn blooms as we free it

For there is always light

If only we are brave enough to see it

If only we are brave enough to be it.

This 2021 mural by Corey Pane is on the side of the Noah Webster Library in West Hartford, Connecticut.

Linked to Monday Murals.

West Hartford is proud of its native son, Noah Webster, a Yale graduate who wrote the "Blue Back Speller" and the predecessor to the Merriam-Wedster Dictionary.