The MAC.

School is SOOOO close to beginning again, and our ritualized trip to the Macomber Family Picnic happened this week.  The pre-school, kindergarten and now first grade building is open for business this Tuesday.  It is an early evening chance to drop off supplies, (the schools are strapped enough that families are all bringing in bags of notebooks, pencils, folders, gluesticks, etc. and the little ones can’t carry such a stockup in their backpacks and still make it up the steps of the bus!) … but much more importantly, its a first chance to meet the teachers and see the whos who list of future classmates. My six year old talked about the coming picnic for at least a week in advance.  ‘I’m so excited for Thursday, Mom.’  The teachers volunteer their time to meet the kids, the kids play shy with grownups and run crazy in the bubble area.  There is a bus to ride for the first-timers and their families.  **The WES/MAC PTO ( find them on Facebook) had information to hand out, their first meeting is Sept 9, I believe.  The WEF, Westport Education Foundation, (also on fb) also had information as did the CubScouts.  It is really a great beginning to the year for the kids, and the families who are re-seeing the children’s friends, and neighbors.

It is really a lovely time, and it is amazing that so many people volunteer to make it happen. Imagine that, volunteering! 🙂

**The organizations, WES/MAC PTO and WEF are great volunteer organizations, fundraisers, information sources for the town and for the schools.  Support them with your energy, time and money!!  We love this town, we need to show it.

 

I wish I had pictures to add, but I forgot my camera and can’t take pictures of other people’s kids… just can’t.

Hope all is well… the countdown to the schoolbus is on!

High Life

Yesterday the family left to hit the Knubble Beach at the end of the Westport River.  It is an exceptional beauty, and newly public, and quite a doozy for local politics.  Do we pave? Do the neighbors like to share? Is there an environmental risk? I am very happy to be able to explore this beach on a regular basis now, and will wear my beach pass with pride (rear-view mirror style)… it is frequently empty, and it was when they hit it yesterday afternoon.  After all my toddler chasing of the weekend, I elected for some alone, dinner-prepping time, and to that end, the focus of the post: the best corn in Westport, the best corn anywhere, as far as I can tell, within walking distance of my house! walking distance!

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Sampson’s

In truth, they are a potato farm, and all year long you can go to the door of the back barn and get yourself a 50 pound bag. I’m not so much in the market for such a thing, but the smaller bags are available at the local grocer most of the year, and they are delectable.  Everyone is friendly, the stand is usually open 4-6 during the week and most of the day on the weekends. Its on Old Bedford Road, almost as northern in Westport, as a folk can get. almost.

corn silk on the ground,  yellow white and golden, buttery corn on the cob, sweet pop of kernel in the mouth, even the chickens sit around, waiting for the empty cobs.  I don’t know how they do it, but even now, when the corn has every right to be showing its age, this stuff is just AMAZING. It is the best corn I have ever had in my life. ever.

 

also, if you don’t already know it, you should check out SEMAP, its an agricultural partnership for the Southeastern Massachusetts area and will give you all the information for local farms, CSAs, markets, etc… Its an invaluable resource.  (if, poor thing, you don’t live within walking distance to Sampson’s)

Made it, finally

We made it, this week, to the Saturday night version of the Westport Rivers Vineyard and Winery Concert Series.  Toph and Tom were the band, we rolled into a gently attended evening of music and children running down the long vineyard paths..

IMG_5581it was gorgeous, and because it was on a Saturday, and because it was a night that falsely threatened rain, there was much more space to run, to jump, to spread out the adultspace for eating and drinking.  I spent much of the night following a toddler from rock to rock, down the path to the frogpond, astonished by the variety of greens visible in the land as the light started to fade.  Dusk is something to see, when life allows… the toddler was so startled by some swallows that she sat smack down in the middle of the path, and we watched the swoops froIMG_5580m ground level.

 

I was toddler-chasing, but heard that lots of good conversation was had, new people were met, and the boys were gone most of the time, running, doing pullups on the metal bar behind the shed, and hiding in the vineyard.  Gorgeous. Gorgeous.

 

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Watery Westport, part one of thousands. . .

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A nine year old paddling on the West Branch … longest solo paddle of the year…

We spent the morning on the water.  This is not a regular occurence, I am pretty sure you could NOT say that I am a boat person, which is something that means a lot in these oceanside communities.  I grew up in neighboring Dartmouth, and never set foot on a boat until I was at a party when I was 16, unless you count the whale watch or the ferry to Nova Scotia…which you can’t.  BUT, I did marry into a family that collects old sailboats like books. Sailboats, rowboats, canoes, kayaks… you name it, it sits waiting the summertime in a backyard in Wareham.  It does give me a glimmering look into a fascinating subculture of ‘boat people’ and fabulously, allows me access to the water in a whole new way.

And so, THIS morning, I got to be present for a fantastic row, kayak, canoe excursion on the West Branch of the Westport River.  IMG_5561It was crazy beautiful, and we lit out from the Adamsville Landing heading for ‘magic island’ or ‘mushroom island’, depending on which child you ask. IMG_5572 IMG_5574Reachable only by boat, this island may or may not be named, its hard to pinpoint on a map.  I think it might even be conservation property.  I’m hoping, in fact, that it is already preserved.  It is unsigned, with a picnic table, mossy trails, and a lovely beach that disappears in a high tide.IMG_5578

The Westport Land Conservation Trust has the important job of snapping up properties like this, that lend considerable character and pleasure to the town and its visitors.  I’m hoping this belongs to them, but I don’t want to look into it too closely, lest someone tell me not to take my children there.  The boys love to run barefoot on its mossy paths, to imagine stories about its denizens, its likelyhood as a elfin paradise or a pictish stronghold.

We had a lovely lunch of hummous and pita, leftover bbq chicken and boiled eggs.  The kids and their dad went swimming, the 81 year old took an excursionary paddle around the island in his newly acquired canoe… and the landlubber mother stared out at the osprey in their state of bliss.

There was a great article on the ‘local’ osprey revitalization recently in the paper,

http://www.eastbayri.com/news/osprey-baby-boom-on-the-westport-river/   

The article has got some wonderful photos, and information on the happily nesting osprey.  They are such a beautiful bird to see in flight. The light on their plumage is fabulous.  On a side note, I babysat for the volunteers in this article when their son was an infant.  I imagine he must be a family man by now, somewhere in his thirties… ah, age.

Let the nesting continue!  I love this town.

Kayaking the River, oh yes.

East Bay article, part of the Shorelines newspaper group… gets the word out… I myself, use an old school rowboat…

http://www.eastbayri.com/things-to-do/kayak-the-westport-rivers-lower-east-branch/..

The Trustees of Reservations and the Westport Land Conservation Trust (WLCT) are offering a guided kayak trip on the Westport River on Saturday, Aug. 16 between 9 a.m. and noon.

From Hix Bridge to East Beach, the trip will explore the lower East Branch including a stop at The Let Conservation Area and a water view of Rams Head Island and other conservation land that is only accessible from the water. You’ll see firsthand why protecting exceptional properties along this scenic river is a major conservation priority.

Bring water, sun block and water shoes. Kayaks, paddles and lifejackets are provided. $30 for Trustees’ and WLCT members/ $40 for nonmembers. Pre-registration and pre-payment is required. Meet at the Westport Town Farm, 830 Drift Road, Westport. To register online see “Things to Do” at www.thetrustees.org. For more information call 508 636-4693 ext. 103.

 

Missed it!

Oh, the trials and tribulations of a Westporter with too many things to do, I tell you.   We picked up our pizza at Mediterranean Pizza on Rt. 6, and headed out to the Westport River Vineyard and Winery for their concert series.  Its such a great thing, ten bucks a car, picnics, kids running wildly and safely into and out of soccer games, climbing rocks, being scolded not to touch the grapes dangling from the vines…IMG_5513 but we were too late.  We ran a half hour late tonight, saw my mother walking in as the last of the last were allowed through.  It was not to be… Evidently, you can get pre-event tickets online now… maybe if I get myself together earlier next week, I’ll figure it out … this summer brain is no laughing matter.

So, instead, we took our devastated boys (this is stupid, you are stupid, there’s not going to be any kids, can’t we just go back to the beach?) over to park and eat at the Brewery on Horseneck instead… it was similarly gorgeous, similarly stocked with Russell family members, and monumentally less crowded… we ate our pizza on the grass, explored farm vehicles, played catch with the baseball… I took some photos of the skies, and from what I see on facebook, the people at the Vineyard were just as taken with the Westport beauty as I was. . .

 

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so many opportunities to be blown away here… its just non-stop…

Welcome!!

We love this town.  We are townies and newbies, farmers, fishermen, young ones and elders.  We work hard, we summer hard, and we are proud to say that we live here.   We unabashedly support Westport… with our time, our energy and even our money…

We hope this website serves as a Welcome to Westport, a community-building spot for our diverse population to check-in, see whats happening, read reviews, post events, and realize the wide-range of options available to we that live in Westport…

Keep the faith, we’ll be changing it up here pretty regularly as we figure out how best to serve the town with this space.

Thanks…