Noah Webster

The Noah Webster House doesn't permit photography inside the house, but they grudgingly let me take a quick photo of a bust of Noah Webster at the information desk. 

Another well known literary resident of greater Hartford -- Mark Twain -- wrote "Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow mindeness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts."   I will be traveling for two weeks, returning on May 7.  I will have limited time and internet access to visit your blogs, but I do have posts lined up here.  I hope you will continue to visit. 

Who knows?  I might even interrupt the scheduled posts to show off an elephant or giraffe or daughter.

The Dawn's Early Light

Walkers are out at all times of the day in my neighborhood.  I saw this woman

a few blocks away when it was dark and then again in Elizabeth Park

at the dawn's early light. 

Tulips in the early morning

The tulips in Elizabeth Park's annual garden are always gorgeous in the first light of the day.

Yesterday several people commented that the library's reading room was empty.  That is deceptive.  I was there soon after it opened, and I went to the third reading room, which had not yet filled up.  The library is actually a very busy one.

Reading Room at the West Hartford Library

To me, this looks like a prototypical reading room at a prototypical public library.  I am curious how my viewers will feel.  Then again, I have lived in New England for a long time.  Austere windsor chairs and pine tables are pretty normal around here.

New Books

You have seen the Hartford Public Library many times before, but I don't think I have shown you the  inside of the Noah Webster Memorial Library (i.e., the main public library in West Hartford Center).

Did you notice how smoothly I transitioned from yesterday's "reading" post to today's library picture? 

Read a Book or Pay My Taxes?

Reading a good book would be so much more enjoyable than paying taxes, but I have procrastinated long enough.  Today is the day.

I received an email from Matt Wood, the designor/director of the Torrington Mural shown a couple of weeks ago.  He tells me that it was a project for an After School Arts Program (ASAP) in Washington Depot, a small town near Torrington.  All of the people portrayed in the mural were student artists participating in the project.  And, the large "negative head" image is of Polly Doremus, an elderly lady who was active in the area and who co-founded a shelter for battered mothers.

It is always a pleasant surprise to hear from people who come across photos featured here.  And, even more, it is always fun to learn about the positive things that people do in their communities.  Not everyone is a Scrooge.

Some Like It Hot

Some people get very suspicious when they see you taking pictures of their restaurant.

I was driving down New Park Avenue, the street that divides Hartford and West Hartford in the southern part of town.  I saw banners saying that the restaurant in an old diner had won some awards from Zagat and a local newspaper's reader poll.  So, of course, I stopped with my camera. 

A rather hostile chef stared from the front door and asked what I was doing.  I don't think he believed me about a daily photo blog, but he warmed up and posed for a photo.  Then, he invited me inside, showed me the menu and told me to come back for lunch some day.  I will.