Wednesday, November 9, 2011

The Edge of Arnold Mills — A Photo Essay


An Indian summer brings two days of consistently warm and glorious sunlight in which to ramble the oak, pine and chestnut-lined streets of my neighborhood. Yesterday, I strolled along the roads at nearly two o'clock in the afternoon when the sun is ordinarily high in the blue, yet it seemed to list a bit too far to the west, a reminder that all the worlds' (save for a few renegade countries) time pieces were set back an hour this past weekend, so I was, in actuality, walking and photographing fall scenery in three p.m. sunlightif that makes sense at all.

Today, I set out earlier, at about noon-time, to capture more iPhone snapshots in one o'clock sunlight. (Is it too obvious that I'm wrestling with the one hour adjustment and that I'm smitten with the Hipstamatic application?)


The town in which I live was settled nearly four-hundred years ago by a bull-riding Englishman, William Blaxton (Blackstone), who was the the first farmer to cultivate Rhode Island apples. His Yellow Sweeting was the first American apple to be named. (Blaxton was also the first to plant an orchard in neighboring Massachusetts.) His orchard, like so much of the old farmland in this town, was later developed for non-agrarian use.

Braxton was known to journey into Providence on the back of his commuter-friendly white bull, tossing apples to children along his way. Imagine waiting for the Apple Man, his pockets stuffed with Yellow Sweetings, to breeze by on his snowy bull each Wednesday afternoon. Yet the gregarious man, supposedly, sought solitude in this once bucolic town.


The street on which I live, I've been told, is an old gravel pit, which is hard to imagine as abundant fern sprouts along the brook that passes through my backyard (that is not my back yard, above) and among the broad tracts of wetland in this northern pocket of land. The yard borders an area known as Arnold Mills, which many years ago was surely a mix of forest and farmland, dotted with ponds and streams. Though much of the town is rocky, and white quartz is easily found in its park. (Diamonds! the children shout.)

Years ago, good portions of the southern part of town were industrialized with mills and iron works, especially along the Blackstone River. Cannon balls were once forged here for the French and Indian War, as well as the American Revolution, and the first power looms for American woolens were made in a local machine shop. Here, was the original home of the Valley Falls Company, an old textile manufacturer and precursor to Berkshire Hathaway.


The mills (except for retail operations) and iron works have since closed, so when this old bridge was in need of refurbishment a few years back it was shipped to New Hampshire for proper restoration, and the road was closed for nearly a year. It's one of two beautiful wood and trussed bridges adorning the quiet country road on which I meander.

From the now near barren woods below, which border the country road, you can almost see my home.


I want to run through the old pines and deadwood. But I don't. I'm still thinking about the empty Adirondack chairs placed in the side yard of a pretty colonial, wondering about the father and son that might have been sitting in them, freeing chestnut's from their spiky pods. I wonder if they made weapons of them, or roasted them in a prematurely-lit Sunday afternoon fire.

I'd better haul some wood inside. Indian summers are sublime, but fleeting.

26 comments:

  1. You took those with a phone? They'd make great cover art!

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  2. beautiful! i bought a couple of adirondack chairs on clearance in september and can't wait until spring to assemble and admire them.

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  3. That last photograph is very appealing, on so many levels. You've done very well with these images, Jayne (no matter the 'actual time.')

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  4. Such a beautiful place you live in and I love the photos you've posted too. WB sounds like quite a character.

    How wonderful to get some Summer warmth in November.

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  5. Great pictures, I can't believe you took those on your iphone.

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  6. A history lesson as well as a guided photo session tour. You live in quite a splendid place, Jayne. Enjoy those colors before winter closes its icy grip!

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  7. Awww....that was such a cool little pocket sized guide to an area obviously very rich in historical significance. I often wonder when doing similar forays, what would the detritus of our past say if they could be given words?
    Who crossed that bridge? Who tramped through this part of land? Who received an apple? Stuff like that.
    I know its fancy but giving life t inanimate objects is kinda fun...and you have pulled it off again...great post! :)

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  8. Milo- I did! Late bloomer that I am, I only recently got the iPhone 4, and then, within weeks of my purchase, comes the newer version, with Siri--everyone's favorite personal assistant--and an 8 megapixel camera with better optics. Imagine the photos from that baby! Should-a waited, huh? ;)

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  9. Billy- Love those chairs--especially when they're brightly painted. How about tomato-red?

    Be careful putting them together--don't want to hear of any more mishaps. ;)

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  10. Suze- I quit like it, too. Only the trees look a bit sadder each fall.

    It's 5:00pm and pitch dark. Not liking this. :(

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  11. SF- Yes, wouldn't you have loved to know a guy like that?! This town is actually quite diverse, but because of its protected wetlands and reservoirs, the northern part of town, where I live, is a bit greener.

    The best part of living here is that I'm close to the city! (No, I won't ever get used to suburbia.)

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  12. Elizabeth- My now outdated iPhone. Impossible to keep up with technology isn't it? At least for me. ;)

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  13. Beer- You caught my first, and probably only, photo essay. A little bit of a departure, but I want to make good use of my iPhone! ;)

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  14. Dan- Thanks you. :) The third photo down was at one time, as I understand, the sight of a gristmill. There are two streams on the property and along the stream not pictured here, there's a house with a water wheel attached. I don't know if that's just for show, or if at one time it was actually utilized for power. It's pretty cool, though.

    I think the past detritus of this town would be disappointed with the zoning by-laws. At least there is still one working apple orchard--and a small winery, for that matter!. (If only I liked blueberry wine.) ;)

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  15. Dreamy . . . it looks as if you could keep walking from your town right into the wilderness.

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  16. Jayne, this was fascinating. What a gorgeous trail to walk. I left just two days after the snow storm but I can see that the Indian Summer has erased any signs of it.
    Did you really take those photographs with your iphone? They're beautiful. I'm actually thinking of getting an iphone. was looking at them today. I'm going to wait until my daughter is ready for one and then we'll go together for our upgrades...this way she can teach me how to use it;)
    I really enjoyed this post my dear!

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  17. What a pain. As if the writing's not already good enough, you've gotta go and supplement it with great photos.

    Well, young lady, just tread lightly. All you're doing is adding fuel to the fire -- the heap of burning questions which all ask, in one way or another, What the hell's she waiting for? An invitation? WHERE'S HER BOOK?!? :)

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  18. great evocative pics Jayne - makes me want to go there...

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  19. Penelope- Oh I wish it were that dreamy! Lots of wooded area here but I don't think one could get lost in it. Sooner or later, you'll stumble out to a major highway. Hopefully, not while still dreaming. ;)

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  20. Leah- You know how quickly weather can turn in New England! Aren't you lucky you got a taste of that while you were visiting... ;)

    I did, I did! Yes, with my iPhone! It's feels very strange, actually, to be taking halfway decent photos with a phone--like I'm cheating. I used to be very involved in photography--took classes and learned how to develop my own film back in the day of real film. But, well, as much as I try, I can't resist technology.

    You'll be picking up the new iPhone 4s then! It has more megapixels and better optics than mine (you lucky dawn) --just wait 'til you see what you can do with that baby! And yes, my kids, who don't even own an iPhone, have given me plenty of tutorials!

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  21. JES- Ha! Do they really count as legitimately great photos if I've taken them with a phone and spruced them up via photo application?

    Oh hell, does it matter?

    Ack, burning questions, burning decks, burning boys! Oh, dang, the book, the book. Is that burning too? Yeah, maybe an invitation to the bonfire would work (and lots of extra time!)--I'll bring the wood. And some marshmallows.

    Look what you've done now, you've got me all verklempt. ;)

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  22. David- Spoiler Alert: Here is not a destination. Though I am pleased that the photos enticed you so. Now if the apple flinging guy who road the white bull was still around, then Here might be a destination. ;)

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  23. My favorite "boy stood on the burning deck" poem, for probably obvious reasons, went like this:

    The boy stood on the burning deck;
    His head was in a whirl.
    His eyes and nose were full of smoke,
    And his arms were full of girl.


    If that's what it takes to get you off the dime, then yeah, I'm glad to have verklempted you. (Which has such an obvious rhyme that I can't bring myself to include it here.)

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  24. Weee! So very happy to see the beautiful hipstamatic visions! More, more!

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  25. JES- That's a lovely burning boy vision, er, version.

    Oh rhyme--I'm terrible. I have to get out the old rhyme dictionary. Hmm... Verklempted.... Tempted?

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  26. Maria- Someday I'll upgrade my camera and really have a go at it. Then we can shoot together, too! ;)

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