At UMass today there was this display to encourage students to vote.
Until the votes are counted, what else is there to talk about? Well, here's some pictures I took in Springfield yesterday. From downtown, I caught the State-Boston Road bus.
I got off by Saint Michaels's Cemetery in my old neighborhood of Pine Point.
Across the street, where this holy roller church is now, was the scene of a terrible crime in the 1970's.
It used to be a convenience store and the clerk was shot and killed in a robbery. It shocked the community, as this was before such crimes had become commonplace.
In the cemetery itself, where I went to visit some friends and relatives, there is lots of history, such as this cannon from the Spanish-American War.
Coming out the backside of the cemetery, I took this photo across the pond showing the old Picknelly estate, which is now a child care center for MassMutual.
Across Wilbraham Road, at Watershops Pond (sometimes called Lake Masasoit) I saw this example of Yankee ingenuity. An old willow had fallen into the water, so someone attached a picnic table top to it in order to create a platform for fishing.
Walking up Wilbraham Road, I soon came to Duggan, in my day called a "junior high" but nowadays called a "middle school."
I hated Duggan. At first everyone was mean to me until a group of hippies took me under their protection as their pet queer. They taught me the gentle ways of the Deadheads, but they also taught me to take drugs, which would cause a lot of trouble in the years to come.
Across the street is a liquor store I used to frequent during a particularly alcoholic phase of my life. Next door is the abandoned property that used to be the Big Y supermarket where I used to work in the meat department.
I walked around back where the meat department loading dock used to be and where we used to hang out at breaktime in the summer. It was completely bricked up and graffitied.
The only original business at that strip mall from the Big Y days is the old Gateway Barber Shop. It was so-called because it was next to the Gateway Hardware Store that long ago relocated to Boston Road.
Heading down Breckwood Boulevard, I soon came to the spot where I often stopped on my way to Duggan to look at the Mill River where it flows away from Breckwood Pond.
This is Putnam Street, which cut Snake Woods in half and which I noticed for the first time now has sidewalks.
Here is Doyle the Twig Painter gathering twigs in Snake Woods in the late 1970's.
Here is how the World Famous Thomas M. Balliet Elementary School appears from Breckwood Boulevard.
This sign over the doorway leading to Our Lady of the Sacred Heart School reflects the gender segregation of yesteryear.
This is the tragic state of the former Russell's restaurant.
Next door is Handy Variety, which was once owned by Jay Libardi's Uncle. That version was located in a now demolished structure that stood in front of the current one.
Across the street is the vacant space where Angelo's Fruit Mart once was.
My Uncle Wallace Devine once ran Wally's Fruit Stand on that site, before Angleo bought him out. When Angleo later became a millionaire off that business, I asked my Uncle whether he regretted selling it. His simple reply was, "I never look back."
All is not shuttered shops in Pine Point. This new computer and appliance store is located where a day old bread store and truck storage place used to be. Definitely a step up!
The intersection of Breckwood Boulevard and Boston Road was expanded in the late 1990's. The renovations made it safer for cars, but more dangerous for pedestrians.
This sign on the corner of Wilton Street has been announcing a new church for at least five years.
Across the street, construction of a church started last year, but appears to have stalled.
The newly vacant spot next to the Pine Point Library was once the site of Parmenter Auto Parts.
Oh well, everytime I go back to Pine Point something has changed, be it large or small. I leave you with this short video I made yesterday in Doyle's art gallery.
Is it too late for a Halloween joke? Of course not.
TOP TEN REASONS WHY TRICK OR TREATING IS BETTER THAN SEX
10) You are guaranteed to get at least a little something in the sack.
9) If you get tired, you can wait 10 minutes and go at it a gain.
8) The uglier you look, the easier it is to get some.
7) You don't have to compliment the person who gives you some.
6) It's OK when the person you're with fantasizes you're someone else, because you are.
5) Forty years from now you'll still enjoy candy.
4) If you don't like what you get, you can always go next door.
3) It doesn't matter if the kids hear you moaning and groaning.
2) Less guilt the morning after.
AND the No. 1 reason why trick or treating is better than sex -
YOU CAN DO THE WHOLE NEIGHBORHOOD!
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