More than you really want to know about Wellesley, Mass.
U.S. Postal Service’s Toni on her rounds through Wellesley. How could she possibly avoid going through a sprinkler on steamy Wednesday in the Manor and Brookdale Avenue area of town?
Thanks to Anthony Elzein for sharing this photo. He writes: “Some run, some hide…. not Toni in this heat…. She springs to the occasion with sprinklers at her feet. She still delivers our mail without fail… who said Wellesley has snail mail!”
Due to the weather, Mass Hort has rescheduled Arts on the Green to next Thursday, August 2, 5:30 p.m – 8:00 p.m. More info on the event here.
The annual event will be held at Elm Bank Reservation, located on Rte. 16 at the Wellesley/South Natick line.
Some Wellesley businesses and traffic lights went dark for a bit on this hot Monday afternoon due to a power outage. J.P. Licks and Wasik’s were among businesses affected.
Wellesley Police reported that lights were out on Washington Street between Forest St., and Rte. 9 late this afternoon, but had been restored a short while later. The police said they had notified the Municipal Light Plant.
I grew up in Hamden, Connecticut known as “The Land of the Sleeping Giant” for its 738-feet tall popular hiking mountain that, from a distance, indeed looks like its namesake. The Sleeping Giant got a rude awakening last week when an EF1 tornado ripped through the northern section of town bringing with it eight minutes of maximum 110mph winds. It wreaked havoc 600 yards wide and 9.5 miles long, leaving a path of uprooted and snapped hardwood and pine trees. The National Weather Service confirmed that it was indeed a tornado, not just a macro or microburst.
Because I’ve got lots of Sandwich Generation stuff going on right now, I make the 4-hour round-trip to the New Haven suburb with increasing regularity these days. I was almost out the door and on my way there the evening of the event when I got a text from my mom’s neighbor. “House is OK but neighborhood is bad. Possible tornado.”
House is OK? I didn’t know it might not have been OK, such was my ignorance. I wasn’t worried about my mom. Her safety had been ensured a few months ago. Instead of cowering in the basement of her home all alone as a natural disaster swirled around her, mom was with caring people in an area that fortunately was not in the tornado’s path.
“Our street fared well,” the neighbor continued, but Quinnipiac University area got hammered. Know two people who had trees come into their house. Like BAD. Road is blocked off, so don’t even bother heading down. Landscape is changed forever.”
That landscape changed forever part sounded ominous. Now I was itching to get there and see for myself. What I saw a couple of days later was eye popping, and I’ve brought pictures back to share with you. I rolled in just as most of the roads were opening up and the town of 60,000, about a third who were directly affected by the storm, were firing up their chainsaws and clearing away the rubble. Quinnipiac University, which was in the direct path of the storm, carried on with its graduation ceremonies just a few days after May 15th event as if nothing had happened. That’s how you know those kids are going to be just fine out there in the world. Not even a tornado can stop them.
On Wednesday, April 25, Wellesley College will welcome former Vice President Al Gore to campus to speak about the climate crisis. The event begins at 5:30pm in Alumnae Hall Auditorium. The ticketed event is sold out.
Known across the globe for his lifetime of leadership and public service, including his tireless efforts to slow and stop climate change, Gore is committed to galvanizing the next generation to continue the fight to protect the health of our planet and ensure a sustainable future.
As the College’s 2018 esteemed Wilson Lecturer, Gore will engage in a wide-ranging, candid conversation with his friend and colleague Sue Wagner, a Wellesley College alumna and trustee, before responding to questions from the audience. Gore and Wagner will discuss what is at stake in this important moment—one in which environmental awareness and movements are gaining traction worldwide, at the same time that climate change deniers and emerging nationalist perspectives are hindering progress.