greg and i drove up to see my sister saturday morning. it was a quiet drive with little traffic, and the weather was in the low 80's . . so comfortable.
we decided to go for a bicycle ride in wethersfield . . since my bike is in good riding condition now, we had brought it up with us. in this pic it's being transferred to my brother-in-law's car.
hanmer park in wethersfield . .
wethersfield is one of the oldest towns in connecticut having been established in 1634 and hanmer park was once a goose pond, but was filled in during the 1920's. it's named after captain john hanmer who sailed with seventy two soldiers on the sloop ann during the revolutionary war for the battle of brooklyn on august 23, 1776.
cove park . .
where the ships would unload their wares and store them in the building on the left . .
the farmers in wethersfield used to grow onions which they traded for sugar, salt, tea, coffee, spices and molasses from the west indies. along with the farmers, many residents of the town were involved with the trade by building, owning and sailing the ships that took the goods to the west indies. the onions were known for their large size, good flavor and long shelf life.
a fair amount of onion workers were women; some worked the fields for other growers, some grew and sold their own crops.
the very large town green . .
about the wangunk, an eastern algonquin people who lived here when the settlers arrived. they grew maize, beans, squash and pumpkins, fished in the connecticut river, hunted deer and moose and trapped rabbits and perhaps other small mammals. they had many overland trails which they used for traveling and for trading with other tribes.
riding back into the old part of town . .
and stopping in front of the buttolph-williams house which inspired elizabeth spear when writing the witch of blackbird pond. it's an example of early colonial architecture and maybe one of these days when i visit, it will be open. i seem to always ride bikes through wethersfield when it's closed.
the first church of christ, established in 1635, but this is the third meetinghouse which was erected between 1761 and 1764.
the plaque states that the present structure was financed by taxes, some of which were paid by the town's main crop of red onions, rendering this church as "the church that onions built."
we ended with a visit to the ice cream parlor.
and we celebrated my birthday after a delicious dinner of grilled chicken and a salad.
(key lime pie and fun books to read . . )
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sunday morning . .
in the early afternoon we drove to new britain to visit their museum and were caught in a terrible downpour with the street flooding around us and cars getting stuck. fortunately, we were able to pull into a parking lot to wait it out, though we watched the street water creep closer and closer to where we were parked! warren did a good job driving us through it and we arrived safely at the museum. above is one of the specially designed benches commissioned from local artists; this one done in metal in the shape of a bear.
we had a fun time wandering through. they have a nice collection of hudson river artists in addition to contemporary pieces. above is west rock, new haven, 1849, oil on canvas by frederic edwin church (1826-1900).
jaavon and the unknown gentleman, 2011, oil on canvas, by titus kaphar, (born 1976).
mew-hew-she-kaw, white cloud, the chief of the ioways, n.d. oil on canvas, george catlin, (1774-1825).
buffalo hunt in snow shoes, n.d., oil on canvas, george catlin. i'm always intrigued when i see a painting by george catlin as i did a report on him in middle school . . many years ago!
there were so many beautiful paintings . . i took too many pictures.
these benches!
the meeting by daniel ridgway knight (1839-1924)
thomas hart benton (1889-1975),
the arts of life in america: arts of the south, 1932. egg tempera and oil glaze on linen. these were a series of panels on exhibit in a building at 10 west 8th street in manhattan before residing in this museum. you can read more about it
here.
admiring eva lewitt's untitled, coated mesh fabric, 2021.
anila agha's (born 1960) intersections, lacquered steel and led bulbs, 2013.
paradise ii, (mughal gardens - patterned cube) 2022, cnc carving, colored resin.
from above 6, 2022, mixed media on paper (paper cut outs and embroidery with light blue thread).
a painting by esphyr slobodkina who my sister knows from her book caps for sale. (abstraction with red circle, 1938).
preston singletary (born 1963), tlingit, raven steals the sun, 2017, blown and sand-carved glass.
back at the house . . after dinner . . waiting for a dessert of leftover pie and mazzicoto's rainbow cookies and a game of may i.
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monday . .
a day at the lake . . (while greg worked from the house). we drove home around 6:30 pm after having a quick dinner (pizza and more cookies). we were glad it was a quick and smooth drive . . no traffic.
