Lisa Johnson

Spring Is Coming!

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Spring forward! We have more daylight today as Daylight Savings Time begins!

Although spring isn’t officially here until the 20th, I really start to feel it when it’s light at night. Tonight it will be light until 7pm!

It also makes me start to think about things that I’d like to do this summer. I’ve been to Florida and California more recently than New York, which is so much closer! I just learned about an interesting art exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art in New York that I would love to see.

Right here in Boston, I’m interested in getting over to the Institute of Contemporary Art far more often. There are several exhibits I’m interested in seeing. As I write this, I’m sensing a theme. I guess I want to go to museums more often! Years ago, I would go on a regular basis and I really miss it.

But I don’t have to wait until summer to visit more museums. Let me focus on the present and what I can do now. Get myself to some museums! I work just a couple of T stops from the MFA, so I could even go for a lunch break.

Thinking about spring flowers and the end of winter, a passage that I recently read in a poem by Rumi, comes to mind.

That light reveals

flowers growing in this place.

I am so amazed:

where death is,

there flowers also grow.

Laundry Day: Calm Between Storms

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What a week! My mom lost electricity for several days due to the first storm, on March 2nd, so she stayed with me for a few days.

I’m so glad that I had power! Especially living in Quincy, where there was crazy rain, flooding, wind damage and dozens of people had to be rescued by the National Guard. While I’ve often been jealous of those who live closer to the beach, I’ve recently been very appreciative of living on a hill.

Then we had another storm this week. I walked to and from the train for work during both storms and luckily wasn’t hit by any falling trees, wires or debris. I saw a piece of siding ripped off a house and go flying into the air. I’ve already barely missed being hit by a tree and hope my luck continues.

With all the chaos, my laundry has piled up. So today is the day.

While sipping my coffee this morning, I found an article about modernizing your laundry routine. Two sisters from Germany moved to Brooklyn and opened a really cool eco-friendly and sustainable laundromat with a cafe and backyard space. Wish there were a place like that in Quincy!

The sisters are interviewed about laundry and one of their suggestions is to use dryer balls instead of dryer sheets. They are cheaper overall, less wasteful and healthier. Seems like a great idea, so I found a DIY blog post and might make make my own felted wool dryer balls. We’ll see.

Have you tried dryer balls? What do you think?

Well, last I heard, we’re supposed to have another storm on Monday or Tuesday. I haven’t checked again, because it’s too exhausting at this point. I’ll just enjoy the calm between the storms. Have a good weekend!

Boston Black Restaurant Challenge: What You Should Know

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Have you heard about Boston’s Black Restaurant Challenge? It began on the first of February and ends tomorrow.

The challenge is to eat at four black owned restaurants in Boston during the month.

February is Black History Month and a great time to learn about the past. But it’s also a great time to learn about what’s happening now — and take that knowledge and use it to plan for the future.

So what do you do when the month is over? What if you missed the challenge?

Keep on or start supporting these small businesses! Now we have a great restaurant list.

Let’s be real. February is the shortest month of the year. In Boston, it’s filled with snow, ice, cold and generally blah weather. This year, the flu kicked into high gear and many people were sick.

But now we’re moving into March. There’s more daylight. Warmer temperatures. At least for me, the better the weather, the better I feel. So, I’m more inclined to venture out. I’ve tried a few places on the list already and I’m looking forward to trying some more.

Something else to know about the Black Restaurant Challenge is that it’s not just in Boston. Many cities around the country have been promoting Black Restaurant Week for the past few years and more are joining in.

Now this is a tasty trend that I hope keeps growing.

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Image: Boston Black Restaurant Challenge

 

Quincy: Then & Now

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Have you taken a look at some of the old pictures of Massachusetts available online? Digital Commonwealth is a treasure.

If you’re familiar with Quincy at all, you’ve probably been at this intersection in Wollaston. You’d be standing on Newport Avenue looking at Grandview Avenue on the left and Beale Street on the right.

I found the lower picture in the Quincy postcard collection, dated from 1903 – 1976. That’s quite a range of years, but based on the car on the right, I’m guessing it’s from the 1910s or 1920s. Maybe 1918?

As soon as I saw the old picture, I knew I had to take a new picture to compare it with. The upper picture I took this past week. Quite a difference! But you can definitely see that it’s the same place. Just about one hundred years apart. Pretty amazing.

It was shocking to see that the building on the right used to be a drug store. I think it’s a fabric store now.

Grandview used to be a dirt road and now so many trees have grown that it’s hard to see the house behind them. Also, it looks like it was a two-way street. Now it’s one-way. There were no traffic lights back then and way less cars.

What a difference a century makes! Wonder what it will look like in 2118?

 

7 Favorite Podcasts

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Do you listen to podcasts? I love them! They are such a great source of inspiration and information. Plus, listening to them at work helps time fly.

I’ve also found that the more podcasts I listen to, the more I find. So here are seven podcasts, in no particular order, that I’ve been enjoying recently.

If you have any favorites, please share them in the comments. I’m always looking for more!

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A Hungry Society with Korsha Wilson

The Make Light Show with Karen Walrond

The Lively Show with Jess Lively

How I Built This with Guy Raz

The Creativity Habit with Daphne Cohn

Black Girl in Om with Lauren Ash and Deun Ivory

Patriarchy the Podcast (Hiding in the Bathroom) with Morra Aarons-Mele