Aloha from Massachusetts

[Surfingfarmboy]

Re: Aloha from Massachusetts

Pepperell...I've been there...isn't there a place off the main highway in town that has great apple pies for sale this time of year? I remember bringing one home the last time was in Pepperell...they were sold in a roadside farmer's market kind of place.

Anyway...Aloha, Mask!...Ex Big-I farmboy here...moved to New England, via way of southern Illinois, so I could run the Boston Marathon every year..j/k...though I do run it when I qualify, how I ended up in RI, just quick ride down 495 to 95 from you, is a long story I don't want to subject HTers to.

Best of luck to you on your planned relocation to Kauai. Great island for famboys like me. In fact, I almost moved back to HI to Kauai in late 2004....I accepted an position with an ag outfit in the Kalaheo area, but decided against it. I might reconsider though at some point in the future. BTW, if you're ever over in Hilo once you get settled, I could introduce you to a friend of mine who recently moved to HI from Massachusetts..from Fitchburg(!)..not too far from you at all!

[Kungpao]

Re: Aloha from Massachusetts

Man, they haven't met the insane pink haired driver yet!! hehe I have been told I drive like I live in NY...so is that a good thing or a bad thing??

That depends blue... Do you drive like a NYC tourist or a NYC Cabby lol.

Back on topic though...
Welcome there Mask... I envy your move

[beaker]

Re: Aloha from Massachusetts

Believe me, I try to stay out of Boston as much as I can. I find it to be a cold and ugly town. JMHO

I lived in Amherst/Northampton area for 8 years and only visited Boston (Cambridge, actually) 5 or 6 times. That was enough.

Western Mass is my favorite place. Every day I daydream about being able to return there.

[EastCoastTropics]

Re: Aloha from Massachusetts

Saying aloha from MA as well......Bradford is the area!

[Mask]

Re: Aloha from Massachusetts

Hey mask,

Another native denizen of the Bay State. Grew up in Bridgewater, but lived in Boston most of my adult life.

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but Boston really is a city unlike any other in the U.S. All the history, all the Universities and students, the local music scene really define Boston in my opinion.

Now, if they could just do something about the long cold winters!

Anyway, good luck with the move.

Hi Grasshopper Unit!

Thanks for the welcome. But truth be known, I moved here about 20 years ago and had spent most of my life in New Orleans. A city that (IMHO) is richer by far culturally and gastronomically. Also, as for history. . . . I believe the settlement of New Orleans has Boston beat in age by about a hundred years. But each to their own thing. Either you like a place or not and I'm not crazy about either place. Although I really miss the food of New Orleans. Boston just isn't a patch on the butt of New Orleans when it comes to food. I thought I was going to die of "bland poisoning" when I first moved up here. LOL

[Mask]

Re: Aloha from Massachusetts

Pepperell...I've been there...isn't there a place off the main highway in town that has great apple pies for sale this time of year? I remember bringing one home the last time was in Pepperell...they were sold in a roadside farmer's market kind of place.

Anyway...Aloha, Mask!...Ex Big-I farmboy here...moved to New England, via way of southern Illinois, so I could run the Boston Marathon every year..j/k...though I do run it when I qualify, how I ended up in RI, just quick ride down 495 to 95 from you, is a long story I don't want to subject HTers to.

Best of luck to you on your planned relocation to Kauai. Great island for famboys like me. In fact, I almost moved back to HI to Kauai in late 2004....I accepted an position with an ag outfit in the Kalaheo area, but decided against it. I might reconsider though at some point in the future. BTW, if you're ever over in Hilo once you get settled, I could introduce you to a friend of mine who recently moved to HI from Massachusetts..from Fitchburg(!)..not too far from you at all!

Thanks for the welcome Surfingfarmboy!

I know the place you're talking about. It's about two miles for from my house. Wilkins farm stand. The pies are from a place called Mile High Pies. I hear they're real good.

[Miulang]

Re: Aloha from Massachusetts

Hi Grasshopper Unit!

Thanks for the welcome. But truth be known, I moved here about 20 years ago and had spent most of my life in New Orleans. A city that (IMHO) is richer by far culturally and gastronomically. Also, as for history. . . . I believe the settlement of New Orleans has Boston beat in age by about a hundred years. But each to their own thing. Either you like a place or not and I'm not crazy about either place. Although I really miss the food of New Orleans. Boston just isn't a patch on the butt of New Orleans when it comes to food. I thought I was going to die of "bland poisoning" when I first moved up here. LOL

Hey Mask, since you lived in Boston and NOLA, did you notice that the "accent" of people in NOLA was very similar to the "Bahstan" accent? Some other people claim the locals in NOLA sound like they came from Brooklyn!

As a place to visit and EAT, NOLA beats Boston hands down. Love the muffaletas, the beignets, the etoufee, the andouille sausage, the Hurricanes(cocktails)!... about the only thing I didn't like was the humidity (last time I was there was in the late Spring about 4 years ago) or Emeril. Someday soon, I do want to go back to NOLA though. I especially love the Garden District and up by Tulane.

Miulang

[Mask]

Re: Aloha from Massachusetts

That depends blue... Do you drive like a NYC tourist or a NYC Cabby lol.

Back on topic though...
Welcome there Mask... I envy your move

Thanks for the welcome Kungpao! (like the screen name) I missed the movie though!

As far as the move, it's just a matter of doing your home work and having a good plan in place. (and a safety net)

[Mask]

Re: Aloha from Massachusetts

I lived in Amherst/Northampton area for 8 years and only visited Boston (Cambridge, actually) 5 or 6 times. That was enough.

Western Mass is my favorite place. Every day I daydream about being able to return there.

Hi beaker!

I hear ya about Boston and western Mass. is pretty, but are you nutz!!! You're in paradise!

[Mask]

Re: Aloha from Massachusetts

Hey Mask, since you lived in Boston and NOLA, did you notice that the "accent" of people in NOLA was very similar to the "Bahstan" accent? Some other people claim the locals in NOLA sound like they came from Brooklyn!

As a place to visit and EAT, NOLA beats Boston hands down. Love the muffaletas, the beignets, the etoufee, the andouille sausage, the Hurricanes(cocktails)!... about the only thing I didn't like was the humidity (last time I was there was in the late Spring about 4 years ago) or Emeril. Someday soon, I do want to go back to NOLA though. I especially love the Garden District and up by Tulane.

Miulang

My wife is from Brooklyn and she says that the accent is a Bronx accent.

You have my mouth watering with just the mention of all that great food! And you're right. The humidity is horrible there. I can remember standing in the shade, not even moving and the sweat just dripping off of me.

The next time you visit you may want to go in late October or early November. Those are the dryer months.

[Mask]

Re: Aloha from Massachusetts

Saying aloha from MA as well......Bradford is the area!

Hello and thank you for the welcome. All I can say is it's time to get out the sweaters!!! Brrrrrrr!

[beaker]

Re: Aloha from Massachusetts

Hi beaker!

I hear ya about Boston and western Mass. is pretty, but are you nutz!!! You're in paradise!

Western Mass and Hampshire County will always be my paradise. Nothing else comes close.

I really really miss seasons.

[Surfingfarmboy]

Re: Aloha from Massachusetts

I really really miss seasons.

Beaker, just for the fun of it, have you ever gone atop Mauna Kea after a snowfall up there? Seeing you're from Hilo, and you haven't already done that, you might want to give it a shot to kind of, sort of, replicate, at least while you're up there, a winter wonderland season in Hawaii.

Now it isn't the Berkshires in January, or that day after a snowfall along the Mass Pike that James Taylor sings about in "Sweet Baby James", but it is crisp and as you know, the snowfall can be significant sometime. And if/when you tire of the snow, cold, and altitude (unlike most residents in the snowbelt), you can merely head your vehicle (presumably a 4-wheeler, maybe one rented from Harper's) back down the Saddle Road and in no time find yourself back in the warmth (and rain ) of Hilo. Not too many people in the US, other than those in say, Southern California, can do that!

As for replicating a Massachusetets Spring or Autumn in Hawaii...well, I can offer no suggestions. I will have to admit, that one of the most special feelings I have regarding the seasons is Springtime...after a long, hard winter, it's almost Mother Nature's way of rewarding those who have tolerated the cold winter season with three months of an intensely beautiful re-birth of the Earth. I get "cheeken-skin" everytime I run the Boston Marathon on Patriots' Day and approach the block after block of blooming dogwoods and magnolias along Commonwealth Avenue in the Back Bay..it reminds me when I see those trees in bloom, that not only have I survived running the Boston Marathon, but I've also survived another winter as well.

BTW, I truly believe the winters here are not nearly as bad as they used to be, from what longtime locals tell me. (The longtime "townies" here still consider me an outsider from another planet!) A 65 degree day in January, once a near-impossibility, now seems to happen with regularity. And, being a marathon runner in constant training, I seldom have to don full-winter gear...I'm running in shorts and a sweatshirt in January more than I thought possible. Maybe because it's because I'm in coastal RI...with the ocean so close by, it doesn't get nearly as cold, as say, the infamously cold town of Orange, MA.

[beaker]

Re: Aloha from Massachusetts

Beaker, just for the fun of it, have you ever gone atop Mauna Kea after a snowfall up there?

I work there. It's not a season, just some snow. (It isn't even good fluffy snow - mostly wet mush and ice.) I loved to shovel snow like when I was a kid, so I volunteer for the snow shovelling crew at work. When there's snow (usually about 1 inch of icy crust on top) and a near-full moon it's really neat to walk around the summit in the middle of night in the blue-ish moonlight.

I'm a winter lover. Good solid old-time Minnesota winters with a blanket of sparkling snow from late November through March. Love to snowshoe. As you say, we're in a part of the climate cycle where there has been a warming trend the last 20 years. The winters aren't as cold or nice as they used to be in the 1970's and early 1980's. Warmer winters are bad because it ruins the snow, causes more freeze-thaw icy mess, and more chance of freezing rain. That's why New England's messy icy winters are harder and less enjoyable than colder snowy Minnesota winters. Amherst usually had a month or less of real winter. OTOH, the autumn in New England is glorious on a scale beyond description.

In addition to working on the mountain, I spend my 3 days off a week on the saddle and mountainside. Wish I could live on the saddle.

[Mask]

Re: Aloha from Massachusetts

I work there. It's not a season, just some snow. (It isn't even good fluffy snow - mostly wet mush and ice.) I loved to shovel snow like when I was a kid, so I volunteer for the snow shovelling crew at work. When there's snow (usually about 1 inch of icy crust on top) and a near-full moon it's really neat to walk around the summit in the middle of night in the blue-ish moonlight.

I'm a winter lover. Good solid old-time Minnesota winters with a blanket of sparkling snow from late November through March. Love to snowshoe. As you say, we're in a part of the climate cycle where there has been a warming trend the last 20 years. The winters aren't as cold or nice as they used to be in the 1970's and early 1980's. Warmer winters are bad because it ruins the snow, causes more freeze-thaw icy mess, and more chance of freezing rain. That's why New England's messy icy winters are harder and less enjoyable than colder snowy Minnesota winters. Amherst usually had a month or less of real winter. OTOH, the autumn in New England is glorious on a scale beyond description.

In addition to working on the mountain, I spend my 3 days off a week on the saddle and mountainside. Wish I could live on the saddle.

Here's something to help your craving for fall.