1. Archie reports.
2. Editor Response.
1. Archie reports.
CHARLES RIVER MEMORIES, PART VI
By Archie Mazmanian
Heading downstream beyond the Mass. Avenue Bridge the Charles continues to widen as we approach the lagoon and continue on to the Esplanade and the Hatch Memorial Shell. What a magnificent venue for music or just enjoying life on a fine summer?s day. The sailing pavilion provides a wonderful outlet for youngsters to enjoy the waters of the Charles. There is something for everyone to enjoy.
The Fourth of July Boston Pops extravaganza ran too late for our young children, however, so they would watch it on TV in their PJs. We could hear the fireworks at our Cottage Farm home. One Fourth of July we decided on the spur of the moment shortly before the fireworks display to take the children to the nearby BU Bridge to watch from upstream. Many others had the same idea as the bridge was thronged.
This was an opportunity to explain some high school physics to the children about the differences between the speeds of light and sound as the fireworks burst brilliantly followed moments later by the booming sounds (sometimes stifled by winds). But the sight was beautiful reflecting on the river below. A few years later, the children were old enough to make the trip for the entire celebration of this Fourth of July event enjoyed by many thousands in person and millions via TV.
We always played a lot of jazz tapes at home. But listening and watching live jazz is much more exciting. The Charles provided such musical events during daylight hours from time to time, introducing our children to live jazz in outdoor settings. This was our Newport, just a short walk from home. And of course there were the usual food concessions to fill our bellies.
The sailing pavilion staff would train children to operate sailboats safely. I know our children enjoyed solo sailing on the Charles in what seemed an orderly fashion, memories to be carried for the rest of their lives.
The Museum of Science was yet another Charles River venue for our children with its educational programs of nature and science.
As the children got older, they developed many interests and attended to them on their own. So trips along the Charles waned. But every once in a while, I would go solo to enjoy the solitude of the Charles surrounded by others presumably doing the same, serving as a non-prescriptive tranquilizer.
There is much more to the Charles than I had imagined. Over the years, planners looked ahead to improving the river, much of which was accomplished before my trips along the Charles. And there has been continued planning, some of which has been postponed for budgetary reasons. An Internet search recently led me to “New Charles River Basin” by the Metropolitan District Commission published in March 1995 and revised July 1999 and June 2002. Caution: be patient downloading and printing. But WOW! Yes, the Charles River Basin extends beyond the dams to Boston Harbor that should be explored. I don't know how much of this has been accomplished or what the future holds. Hopefully this jewel will continue to be polished.
[Geographically, the Charles River divides communities but they are reunited by bridges, the topic of Part VII forthcoming.]
2. Editor Response.
What passes for planning must be recognized within the context that (1) the bureaucrats do a lot of lying, (2) the nonstop propaganda leaves the public in the position of believing that “they would never stoop so low.”
The Master Plan for the Charles River called for Magazine Beach to be a meadow to the water, and the apologists run around screaming for swimming.
The bizarre wall of bushes which has been introduced walling off Magazine Beach from the Charles River totally contradicts the supposed intentions for Magazine Beach.
Plans are to destroy hundreds of trees between Magazine Beach and the Longfellow Bridge. My count was 449 to 660 through various projects. I will follow with photos of an excellent 105 tree grove intended to be decimated at the Memorial Drive split.
Dumping of poisons on the river banks at Magazine Beach and near Mass. General are actions totally contemptible within the supposed goals of the bureaucrats and their friends in Cambridge and the cheerleaders. But it is done. Destroying playing fields to put in a drainage system to drain off poisons which not be dumped in the first place is a symptom of a very sick bureaucracy at the state and a “reprehensible” (to quote a civil rights judge) government in Cambridge.
Heartless animal abuse of the beautiful Charles River White Geese falls into the “They would never stoop so low” category, but they do.
The goal very clearly is to kill off all animals living on the Charles River Basin. The euphemism “parks” translates into “no animals need apply to live here.”
The very basic problem is the normal assumption of minimal competence and environmental decency. Such an assumption is flat out false when dealing with the state and with Cambridge. The problem is exacerbated by the massive, lying, organization active in Cambridge, combined with the tendency of the destructive organization to join all over the place and spread their falsehoods to decent people.
