We named our team The Turkeys. This proved prescient. Despite much heckling on our part, Karen’s dispatch of a glass of wine to the floor, and much more laughter than justified by our performance, we squeaked out a place somewhat above last. But, as the saying goes, much fun was had all around.

Trivia Night at The Spotty Dog - Enid doing the work while we goofed.

According to Wikipedia ramp is  Allium tricoccum. And further, we are not the first to have a Ramp fest.

We had plans to reach the California and visit various family and friends. This turned out to be unobtainable while still allowing for some sight seeing and side trips along the way.

We set up a separate website for this event: OldDodgVan.com. Lots of pictures, stories and a map there.

We entertained ourselves as we usually do on Sunday evenings with a visit to our favorite watering hole, Swoon, where Dave knows to set up two Dewars on the rocks when we walk in the door. Much to our surprise, given the rages outside, the place was jumping.

When we walked home at about 8 pm there was already 5 or more inches on the ground or blowing around in the air.

Here is what things looked like this morning:

View out the back door

Fortunately for me, my timing was just right. Two neighbors came to my rescue with their snow blowers. So I had a relatively  easy time with the fluffy stuff.

Down Warren St. before snow clearing

Steve progressing up the street with his snow blower

Then, I noticed the overhang.

adjective

• of undisputed origin; genuine : the letter is now accepted as an authentic document | authentic 14th-century furniture.
• made or done in the traditional or original way, or in a way that faithfully resembles an original : the restaurant serves authentic Italian meals | every detail of the movie was totally authentic.
• based on facts; accurate or reliable : an authentic depiction of the situation.
• (in existentialist philosophy) relating to or denoting an emotionally appropriate, significant, purposive, and responsible mode of human life ((definition adapted from Dictionary Version 2.1.1 Apple, Inc.)

In part because of the vigorous discussion in the various “Signage” postings in the Hudson Business Coalition discussion group and other discussions I have had recently about Hudson, I have come to think that a major feature of Hudson is authenticity. Hudson demonstrates authenticity in all four senses described in the definition above. People who own businesses here, whether in antiques, art, music, and many more, do so from some central personal passion. Visitors experience this directly. Visitors must digest the experience and make it their own. And, many times businesses receive direct feedback about their passions from visitors and not in frequently new perspectives and information about their passions.

Just pay a visit to some of our B&Bs to see authenticity in action. For example, compare The Inn at Hudson and The Country Squire Bed & Breakfast. Just a hundred yards apart, but completely different experiences, each personal and real.

This is no Disneyfied, corporate version of  life, no predigested, cleaned up tourist consumable. A visit to an art gallery here is a visit to the owner’s interests in art. The same goes for the antiques. The burgeoning music scene is filled with lots of local music. The streetscape is authentic, even the maligned Columbia-State St. streetscape. The diversity of the population is authentic and, for a town of seven thousand, quite amazing.

I hope that Hudson continues to develop, in its chaotic unplanned way, with an eye on authenticity. A strong commitment to preserving the streetscape is one obvious strategy. How to encourage and maintain authenticity in other dimensions is not so clear.

A deeper problem is the moment when we reach the tipping point and developers decide that Hudson is hot. As Jane Jacobs wrote about in The Death and Life of Great American Cities (1961) success in the real estate world leads to the death of the social world. It is one of the seemingly inevitable consequences of private property rights that the “highest and best use” (for private property owners) always wins out over any social values.

During my thirty five plus years living in Cambridge MA I watched the death of Harvard Square and its conversion into a social wasteland dominated by large institutional and corporate interests. Everything funky, fun, disruptive. original, everything that made Harvard Sq. a destination for locals and youth, were driven out by large buildings filled with a parade of corporate logos and institutional uses. The only authentic use remaining in Harvard Sq. is the gathering of teenagers, all from the suburbs, around the entrance to the T.  In contrast, Central Sq. in Cambridge might be a good case study of a neighborhood that has largely escaped this fate, though its is just a long half mile from Harvard Sq. It has somehow remained quite indigestible.

So, before what turned out to be a less than completely satisfying trip to the movies to see the new George Clooney vehicle, The American, we stopped at American Glory. Even at 5:30 the ground floor was a bit too noisy with piped in music. We trotted upstairs and found ourselves in a spacious room with a high tin ceiling and booths and banquette seating. It was much quieter. The service was good and the food serviceable to quite good for slightly up scale bar cuisine. Karen had a bowl of chili and some crab stuffed deviled eggs. Keeping in mind that we have a rather forgiving sense of food values, we rate American Glory as a keeper for future visits.

For the uninitiated it is important to know that this parade and associated hoopla is the major public event of the year. Warren St. is filled end to end. The parade lasts for over two hours and the whole event is capped off with fireworks that run on and on a la Boston’s Fourth Fourth of July boondoggles.

Here is a link to Karen’s movie on the Davis Orton Gallery website.