New Bedford
Most of my elementary school trips were to either the Whaling Museum or Plimoth Plantation, both of which were pretty boring as kid. Half a century later, with no teacher's or lesson plans, it is pretty fun to get up early and watch the Mayflower sail through New Bedford's Harbor and the Hurricane Dike and its way back to Plymouth.
For the last several weeks I have been immersed in the world of yellowfin tuna, artistic tunas, that is. Hours and hours spent with the 42 fish for this year's Art Drive. This morning I needed to be a bit closer to the world of real fish, so I took a stroll along the New Bedford waterfront. Monday is a busy day as boats get ready to journey out.
Dodging around rigging trucks and watching welder's sparks fly, I saw a most unexpected sight....tomato plants. On the deck of Nell, a small barge piloted by Ray were four tomato and one cucumber plant. Every year he plants his crops in five gallon buckets and lashes them safely aboard.
"I got all this sun all day... Why not?" he says with the smile.
Ray may earn his keep on the sea, but he is a born gardener.....
Recent news about further catch limitations on George's Bank has the New Bedford fishing community in an uproar.
Mid week and the harbor was filled with working boats with nowhere to go. A forlorn quiet in one of the country's
biggest fishing ports.
Under the watchful eye of the city's prominent cupolas, the Earth Day Parade
got organized, and managed to complete most of its route before the rain returned.
Serious pencils in downtown New Bedford.