Category Archives: Valley Moments

Personal Wellness at a Hillside Town Spa

LEE, MA – I have been on a personal wellness quest and figuring out the best anxiety and pain management for myself. So far I have discovered water or hydrotherapy does wonders for me. During the summer lakeside beaches really are a huge benefit but they are not open year around. I found a place recently that offers holistic baths which are a nice option because hot tub therapies usually require at least two people, which makes it awkward for myself. I was a bit early to my appointment so I explored Lee. A few years ago I visited a cafe that was known for their crepes, ironically called the Starving Artist Cafe but they were unfortunately closed. I took a few photos, so here they are from my experience.

Lifestyle: Travel – Herring Cove Beach Provincetown, MA

PROVINCETOWN, MA – Today my family and I went to Herring Cove Beach in Provincetown. I am on the cape for Labor Day weekend and got lots of fun activities planned. We stopped at the beach to check out the restoration that was done after some damage from a storm awhile ago. These pictures are a reflection of that. They constructed a nice rest area with a concession stand and built up the beach and parking. After that we walked through downtown, ate lunch at Bubala’s, a favorite restaurant of ours. Before heading back I went to Wampum, etc. and purchased a replacement wampum ring finally. I had one a few years ago that broke overtime. Overall a really fun and relaxing day, perfect weather too!

 

Personal Wellness at a Lakeside Beach

BELCHERTOWN, MA – I initially got my apartment here because of several things, most I am sure most people wouldn’t have considered. One of these amenities is a public beach not too far (walkable) distance from my apartment. However, I have been here two years and this month it was my first time visiting. While a little small, it was a quiet place to getaway for a little bit. They also had a concession stand and some amenities (bathrooms, and boat launch). Earlier this month I took a few photos and was excited to learn they will remain open throughout September!

 

 

List of Opposites

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A
absent – present
abundant – scarce
accept – decline, refuse
accurate – inaccurate
admit – deny
advantage – disadvantage
against – for
agree – disagree
alive – dead
all – none, nothing
ally – enemy
always – never
ancient – modern
answer – question
antonym – synonym
apart – together
appear – disappear, vanish
approve – disapprove
arrive – depart
artificial – natural
ascend – descend
attic – cellar
attractive – repulsive
awake – asleep
B
backward – forward
bad – good
beautiful – ugly
before – after
begin – end
below – above
bent – straight
best – worst
better – worse, worst
big – little, small
bitter – sweet
black – white
blame – praise
bless – curse
bold – meek, timid
borrow – lend
bottom – top
bound – unbound, free
boundless – limited
boy – girl
brave – cowardly
bright – dim, dull
brighten – fade
broad – narrow
build – destroy
C
calm – windy, troubled
can – cannot, can’t
capable – incapable
captive – free
careful – careless
cheap – expensive
cheerful – sad, discouraged, dreary
clear – cloudy, opaque
clever – stupid
clockwise – counterclockwise
close – far, distant
closed – ajar, open
clumsy – graceful
cold – hot
combine – separate
come – go
comfort – discomfort
common – rare
compulsory – voluntary
conceal – reveal
contract – expand
cool – warm
correct – incorrect, wrong
courage – cowardice
courteous – discourteous, rude
create – destroy
crooked – straight
cruel – kind
D
dangerous – safe
dark – light
day – night
daytime – nighttime
dead – alive
decline – accept, increase
decrease – increase
deep – shallow
definite – indefinite
demand – supply
despair – hope
dim – bright
disappear – appear
discourage – encourage
diseased – healthy
down – up
downwards – upwards
dreary – cheerful
dry – moist, wet
dull – bright, shiny
dusk – dawn
E
early – late
east – west
easy – hard, difficult
empty – full
encourage – discourage
end – begin, start
enter – exit
even – odd
expand – contract
export – import
exterior – interior
external – internal
F
fade – brighten
fail – succeed
false – true
famous – unknown
far – near
fast – slow
fat – thin
feeble – strong, powerful
few – many
find – lose
first – last
float – sink
fold – unfold
foolish – wise
for – against
fore – aft
forget – remember
fortunate – unfortunate
found – lost
free – bound, captive
frequent – seldom
fresh – stale
friend – enemy
full – empty
G
generous – stingy
gentle – rough
get – give
giant – tiny, small, dwarf
girl – boy
give – receive, take
glad – sad, sorry
gloomy – cheerful
go – stop
good – bad, evil
grant – refuse
great – tiny, small, unimportant
grow – shrink
guest – host
guilty – innocent
H
happy – sad
hard – easy
hard – soft
harmful – harmless
harsh – mild
hate – love
haves – have-nots
healthy – diseased, ill, sick
heaven – hell
heavy – light
help – hinder
here – there
hero – coward
high – low
hill – valley
hinder – help
honest – dishonest
horizontal – vertical
hot – cold
humble – proud
I
ill – healthy, well
immense – tiny, small
important – trivial
in – out
include – exclude
increase – decrease
inferior – superior
inhale – exhale
inner – outer
inside – outside
intelligent – stupid, unintelligent
intentional – accidental
interesting – boring
interesting – dull, uninteresting
interior – exterior
internal – external
J
join – separate
junior – senior
just – unjust
justice – injustice
K
knowledge – ignorance
known – unknown
L
landlord – tenant
large – small
last – first
laugh – cry
lawful – unlawful, illegal
lazy – industrious
leader – follower
left – right
lend -borrow
lengthen – shorten
lenient – strict
less – more
light – dark, heavy
like – dislike, hate
likely – unlikely
limited – boundless
little – big
long – short
loose – tight
lose – find
loss – win
loud – quiet
love – hate
low – high
loyal – disloyal
M
mad – happy, sane
major – minor
many – few
mature – immature
maximum – minimum
melt – freeze
merry – sad
messy – neat
minor – major
minority – majority
miser – spendthrift
misunderstand – understand
more – less
N
nadir – zenith
narrow – wide
near – far, distant
neat – messy, untidy
never – always
new – old
night – day
nighttime – daytime
no – yes
noisy – quiet
none – some
north – south
O
obedient – disobedient
odd – even
offer – refuse
old – new
old – young
on – off
open – closed, shut
opposite- same, similar
optimist – pessimist
out – in
outer – inner
over – under
P
past – present
patient – impatient
peace – war
permanent – temporary
plentiful – scarce
plural – singular
poetry – prose
polite – rude, impolite
possible – impossible
poverty – wealth, riches
powerful – weak
pretty – ugly
private – public
prudent – imprudent
pure – impure, contaminated
push – pull
Q
qualified – unqualified
question – answer
quiet – loud, noisy
R
raise – lower
rapid – slow
rare – common
real – fake
regular – irregular
rich – poor
right – left, wrong
right-side-up – upside-down
rough – smooth
rude – courteous
S
safe – unsafe
same – opposite
satisfactory – unsatisfactory
scatter – collect
second-hand – new
secure – insecure
separate – join, together
serious – trivial
shallow – deep
shrink – grow
sick – healthy, ill
simple – complex, hard
singular – plural
sink – float
slim – fat, thick
slow – fast
sober – drunk
soft – hard
some – none
sorrow – joy
sour – sweet
sow -reap
start – finish
stop – go
straight – crooked
strict – lenient
strong – weak
success – failure
sunny – cloudy
sweet – sour
synonym – antonym
T
take – give
tall – short
tame – wild
them – us
there – here
thick – thin
tight – loose, slack
tiny – big, huge
together – apart
top – bottom
tough – easy, tender
transparent – opaque
true – false
truth – falsehood, lie, untruth
U
under – over
unfold – fold
unknown – known
unqualified – qualified
unsafe – safe
up – down
upside-down – right-side-up
upstairs – downstairs
us – them
useful – useless
V
vacant – occupied
vanish – appear
vast – tiny
victory – defeat
virtue – vice
visible – invisible
voluntary – compulsory
W
war – peace
wax – wane
weak – strong
wet – dry
white – black
wide – narrow
win – lose
wisdom – folly, stupidity
within – outside
wrong – right
Y
yes – no
yin – yang
young – old
Z
zenith – nadir
zip – unzip

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WQ: Pioneer Valley Coral and Natural Science Institute Lab Visit

AMHERST, MA – The week before I travelled to Greenland, I reached out to the Pioneer Valley Coral and Natural Science Institute to see if they’d be interested in working together to establish and art and science initiative based on the research I am doing visually in Water Quality/Treatment. A woman name Lily reached out to me and we connected at Amherst Coffee.

After my experience in Greenland, I recently reconnected with her to do a lab visit and to take some photos. We then briefly discussed the next step and ideas that we’ve generated since last meeting. We have some idea and plan of how we vision this to pan out and our next meeting is in two weeks!

Below are some of the photos I took of the visit, and I’m excited to notetake and keep track of the progress of this new venture! I was literally beaming on the way home from the visit as this is WHY I originally moved out to the Pioneer Valley!

Brassicaceae textile patern

I have been really liking the idea of making impressions from the ground or of some plant material source as a way to make an image. While this technique does not have any cultural or scientific significance and it’s purely artistic — yet, I am enjoying the versatility of this.

Before I left, I had a vision of taking the impression project all the way to something more completed and more final and that was doing some sort of textile project. I decided on a t-shirt or pillowcase as a final project.

Below is an impression of a plant from the Brassicaceae family or the mustard family, most likely brought over from the Danish explorers. During my planning, I had looked up potential PR stories and one of the subjects was the ‘old and the new’ co-exist here. The contrast of these two plants Mustard and Labrador Tea visually depicts this.

While there’s been significant developments with this project, it’s no where near to the point of an exhibition or some bigger final piece.

Project: Textile Pattern with Impressions
Year: 2019

Exploration: GeoHotel and Blue Lagoon

GRINDAVIK, IS – On my stop over on the way home in Iceland from Nuuk, Greenland I stayed at Geo Hotel in Grindavik. I ended up being super thankful for the transportation services offered at Geo Hotel as my flight from Nuuk was delayed half an hour and I missed my car rental pick up. 

If you are on your way or visiting Iceland Geo Hotel makes it super easy to travel to Blue Lagoon or to the airport via Blue Lagoon. It was easy to call them to schedule a pick up and then a ride to the Blue Lagoon transfer station. 

Due to miscommunication at Blue Lagoon I had missed my transfer bus to the airport but it ended fine as I had two hours at the airport to go and checkin and go through security. 

Geo Hotel offers a comfortable room at an affordable price within a quint town in Iceland. They also offer free breakfast starting at 6 am which allows enough time for a 7 am Blue Lagoon reservation. 

GeoHotel graciously extended a double room for my stay and I am happy to include them on this blog however I haven’t had the time to take pics of the room while I was there or explore the town as much as I would’ve liked so the pics posted to this blog are owned by GeoHotel.

Labrador Tea textile pattern

I have been really liking the idea of making impressions from the ground or of some plant material source as a way to make an image. While this technique does not have any cultural or scientific significance and it’s purely artistic — yet, I am enjoying the versatility of this. 

In Greenland I was introduced to Labrador tea, a favorite of the Inuit with its cultural significance and interesting shape, I made an impression from a flower, as well as did microscopy and Kirlian photography. The digital pics I got of the flower unfortunately did not turn out well. But Labrador tea was one of the plants I decided to ‘study’ and make images of. 

Before I left, I had a vision of taking the impression project all the way to something more completed and more final and that was doing some sort of textile project. I decided on a t-shirt or pillowcase as a final project. 

While there’s been significant developments with this project, it’s no where near to the point of an exhibition or some bigger final piece. 

I was also able to take this technique way out into the countryside of Kapisillit and make an impression on the spot on the tour. Doing this gave me a better idea of how to conduct my artwork in this setting. If I could, I would’ve gone to the countryside myself but clearly much safer with a tour guide in Greenland. I only had to wait a half an hour for the putty to cure to get the impression.

Project: Textile Pattern with Impressions
Year: 2019

Activities: What to Eat in Nuuk

Considering that Nuuk is more of a destination where people travel to with a purpose, it’s relatively small in regards to finding places to eat. However, I was able to find some ‘must dos’ from my planning that I WAS able to do. 

Cafétuaq in Katuaq

The first was Cafétuaq in downtown Nuuk at the cultural center Katuaq. From its’ website, “The café in Katuaq is an oasis of culture universe. The cafe is a meeting point for many, ranging from local families to tourists, artists and musicians who perform or exhibit in Katuaq. 

CaféTuaq serves a variety of hot and cold dishes, mostly based on Greenlandic ingredients, with a hint of flavors from around the world. All our dishes are prepared on order, so they retain optimum flavor and freshness, which helps to enhance the culinary experience. If one does not want to eat, you can also enjoy a selection of hot and cold beverages while reading the newspaper or just enjoy the art on the walls and the vibrant life passing by outside.” 

I had the Greenlandic Tapas dish which was a dish that had a variety of Greenlandic delicacies such as smoked salmon, white fish with caviar, smoked scallops, ox meat, fish sticks and a fish ball as well as reindeer meat. 

The second location is Inuk Hostels. The cuisine is surprisingly American but a much better version. Fresh meat and vegetables with a hint of European flavor. Café Inuk is a must for the views and the food.

Café Inuk

Our Café is famous for the magnificent view. While watching birds, whales or seals, you can enjoy your breakfast, your lunch, your dinner, a glass of wine or a goodnight-beer. We serve the season’s greenlandic specialities, like meat of reindeer, musk-ox, south greenlandic sheep and fish are served all the year.