23.12.21

Therefore a person shall so square the circle
And circle the square as not to injure, not to impede:
The glow of life shall not daze,
Yet shall guide.
~Lao Tsu

Hello Dear Readers All!

That glow of life is inside us, all around us, even in the long dark nights.  The small flames of candles, the pulsing breath of embers in a fading cozy fire, the glimpse of the far flung stars in the darkest of night skies, the light in our eyes, all of us, seeing the light in each of us.  Let it shine!

For many years my family sang Christmas carols around my mother’s piano.  She played; we all knew the words, even some harmonies.  The one that often made me cry so much I could not sing was “It Came Upon A Midnight Clear.”  This verse broke my voice, breaks my heart, for it still haunts me:

“And ye, beneath life’s crushing load,
Whose forms are bending low,
Who toil along the climbing way
With painful steps and slow,
Look now! for glad and golden hours
Come swiftly on the wing; –
Oh, rest beside the weary road
And hear the angels sing!”

Though I have not been able to muster a full belief in angels, I love to imagine they hover at some great, all-seeing heights; they care; they inspire hope; they send love.  Their power might be in the flicker of a butterfly’s wing beginning a cascade of events that changes a whole world.  They might be silvering the lining of the dark clouds over us now.  They are circling the square and squaring the circle.

For those who work to bend the arc of the moral universe toward justice, it is useful to imagine helpers, to shape their powers that we may form our plans, find our resources, make our connections with like-minded people.  Imagining angels inspires us to raise our eyes to the sky, and thereby see the infinite while our feet are still planted firmly on the ground.

A few weeks ago, when I was swimming in a pond, I noted the mid-afternoon sun so much further south on the horizon.  It was the first time I really felt the earth tilting away from the sun, seeming to give it a backward glance.  The light gets thinner, more fragile, a shimmer, not a ray.  Onward to embrace the dark, and savor the light wherever we find it!

Wishing you all a new year full of hope, good health and great success in your good work~

Rachael

23.09.23

Hello Dear Readers,

The Autumnal Equinox occurred at 2:50 am Eastern Time in the Northern Hemisphere.  It is likely that many of you were sleeping.  I was.  So that point of balance passed without much notice, a moment in the cycle.

Irving House has been busy, as it should be.  Visitors arrive new to the city to begin the next phase of their lives, or return to enjoy their familiar haunts, to see friends and family.  The thickening density and complexity of greater Boston is felt everywhere during a few weeks’ time.  This is familiar, very reassuring, and always inspires nostalgia.

It was in September 49 years ago that I first came to live in this area.  As the media is now fully reminding us, that fall was when Boston began bussing its students around: from white to black and black to white neighborhood schools.  It was by court order: a lame, costly, dangerous, cynical, desperate attempt to de-segregate the Boston schools. This was my first impression of my adopted home.  It was not pretty; it impressed me then, and continues to do so.

I am pleased to see that there is some new fuller telling of this ugly history.  We need to remember, to keep it in mind. And know that even as de-segregation has been a painful, stupid haltingly slow plod, our true goal should be integration.  Then we could just savor and celebrate the delights of our diverse humanity.

In the garden, late summer blooms still offer their bright beauty, still lure the pollinators.  Their earlier blooming neighbors, now gone to seed stand dry and brown on stiff dead stalks.  This is the garden’s balance.  I have not clipped the dead stalks.  They have their beauty too…
~Rachael

Irving House front desk is just his day-job…Bill Kelle is a book lover too!

Bill has worked at Irving House for . . . a long while. Most of this time, he has also worked with Červená Barva Press where he has designed many covers for its books of poetry.

          

This year Červená Barva Press celebrates 18 years of publishing. Founded in 2005 by Gloria Mindock, editor and publisher.  Červená Barva Press has published over 245 books of poetry, fiction, and translations.  All cover designs are by William J. Kelle, who works at Irving House behind the desk. He is also the webmaster of the press. Červená Barva Press has twelve writers on staff and offers numerous events every year such as:  poetry and fiction readings, book launches, poetry roundtables, translation roundtables, Pastry with Poets, Portrait of an Artist and Poet, Červená Barva Press Reads Around the World (a reading series with readers from different countries throughout the world), collaborations with the Interpoezia reading series in NYC and a monthly newsletter. The press is offering a poetry and fiction summit for the first time this year. Visit their website at: www.cervenabarvapress.com

Sweeney Todd is coming to Harvard Square!We have for some time been awaiting the reopening of the lovely small theater at 2 Arrow Street.  Now, with a production headed to a bigger stage, you can enjoy some of what makes
Our Fair City so much fun!

The history of innovation in Cambridge is celebrated with a guided tour:
Put on your walking shoes, grab a curious friend!
Recently named the Best Walking Tour on Boston Magazine’s esteemed Best of Boston list, Innovation Trail is the way to see the sites.
Cambridge Innovation Tours

Little Amal visits Harvard Yard:

As we look to our quieter months,
we savor our two favorite specials for the month of November: 

Now light holds darkness
Feeds us all, shows us the way
Breathe, and smile brightly

23.06.21

Dear Reader,

Oh, yes!  Summer has arrived!  This is, in many ways, my favorite time of year.  After the students leave for their summer adventures, Cambridge hosts many big and small events that celebrate our rich diversity.  See “Our Fair City” for some of them.

Recently I had the opportunity to attend a show of “The Gaaga” staged in Harvard Square by the Arlekin Players.  This is just the kind of very special event that makes Cambridge a world class city.   This play is a wild satire about dark events set in a dark place.  There are so many complicated themes and characters my mind is still reeling with the richness of the story:  It is set in a bomb shelter, a fantastic telling of Putin on trial for war crimes in Ukraine.  If you ever hear of it coming to a theater near you, take that rare opportunity to see it!

Sadly I note the untimely passing of  Chandler O’Leary whose artwork has long graced our guest rooms.  The Solstice and Equinox banners (see above for her Summer Solstice banner) we have been using since 2020 are also hers, commissioned by me.  She took this project as seriously as she did all of her work.  Each block for each letter illustrates the terrestrial or celestial elements of each season.  She has left a beautiful legacy.

We also note the passing of Daniel Ellsberg, the whistleblower whose conscientious work against nuclear weapons and misguided wars continued throughout his life.  He was one of my childhood heroes.  He was a guest at Irving House when Harvard University brought him to speak. I was honored to be able to thank him for his very good, important and courageous work.

Near to home, another luminary of Harvard Square has left this planet. Mary Catherine Deibel who for decades  welcomed thousands of happy diners to Upstairs at the Pudding and then Upstairs on the Square with her warm hospitality was a dear friend to many of us.  This article gives some glimpse into her life.

With gratitude for their uplifting legacies and the continuing beauty of the world, I leave you with an image Zoia captured of Old Orchard Beach at sunrise.

Yours sincerely,

Rachael

We have some new swag for your sipping and sending pleasure! coasters & sippy cups ~~~ and a new post card so your far flung dears can know just where you are!

All over town there is fun to be had! Cambridge Carnival is spreading itself over several months in several places.  Even if you cannot make it to their big event in September, you can enjoy pieces of it this summer! 2023 Cambridge Schedule of Events Saturday, June 24, 5 – 8pm – From Log to the Drum Jamboree, Magazine Beach Park Nature Center, Cambridge- Log off your computer and listen to the voices of the trees speaking through the sound of the log drum. Cambridge Carnival  International will bring you the sweet vibe of the log drum. Come out and experience this new musical genre of South Africa called AMAPIANO  (FREE) Sunday, July 23, 2023, 1 – 6pm – Taste of Carnival, The Foundry – Join us for a taste of what to expect at this year’s Cambridge Carnival. You’ll experience, taste and jump up Carnival style in anticipation of an amazing Carnival to come. Wednesday, September 4, 2023 –  Pre-Carnival Jamboree, Lafayette Square, Central Square (FREE) Sunday, September 10, 2023 – 29th Cambridge Carnival International, Central Square (FREE) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If you have a hankering to learn about inventors and inventions, take the Innovation Trail to see who was making what and when. For a local explanation, visit Cambridge Day’s article on the Cambridge part of the tour Follow the Entrepreneurs’ Walk of Fame, see where critical work was done to get us to the moon (Draper Labs), or get us mRNA vaccines (Moderna) or learn about Cambridge contributions instant pictures and candy factories. And there are good restaurants all along the way… ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ But if you want to focus on food,  Off the Beaten Path Food Tours can take care of you! Is it chocolate? Public art and delicious dishes? History and food?  So many yummy options! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Looking for July 4th excitement? Take a Charles River Boat Cruise for the best view of the fireworks. This two-hour event will include scenic views of downtown Boston and the best view of the fireworks in the city. Guests can purchase drinks from our full service bar on board. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ And as we have noted before, the spiciest offerings are to be found at the Boston Jerk Fest

“The Storm is Passing Over
Courage My Soul”
~ Charles Albert Tindley

My Dear Readers~

Early this month I attended a concert of the Mystic Chorale under the direction of Nick Page.  This was his last concert conducting the Mystic Chorale, a chorus he founded in 1990, the same year I started Irving House.  He is retiring, and so am I.    His work has lifted our spirits and brought transformative joy to thousands of us who have sung in the Mystic Chorale or attended his concerts.

Renee Loth of the Boston Globe recently captured some of the sense of this amazing man, Nick Page and his wonderful legacy. Here is what Nick had to say about singing:

“Singing is a deeply spiritual experience because you are connecting to the universe, and that’s not just a metaphor.  Einstein said that atoms are made up of resonance; when one atom vibrates, the atoms of the universe vibrate. It’s a physical feeling but also a consciousness.”

The above quote is from the first song on the program.  It speaks to the release of tension,  perhaps the surviving of crisis, or torment, most of us have been feeling in recent weeks. and months and maybe years.  In the repetition of that sentence, “The storm is passing over,” sung by a chorus of fifty strong, I began to feel the passing of a wild and terrible collection of events.

Storms will return.  The skies will cloud  up again.  But just now, in this moment, we can take a breath, smile at each other, feel the calm and gather our courage for whatever else is to come.

If you have a chance to sing, alone, in a chorus, in some cozy living room or out in the night air, raise your voice!  It’s good for your health.

We all wish the simple delights for you all, wherever you are~

Rachael

At Irving House, we have again been able to share the benefits of a good year with our employees.  We also decided it was time to hold our holiday party again as it has been three years since we last gathered to share food and good cheer.  We invited all the employees who were with us in 2020, some of whom have moved on to retirement or other work. This included employees of Harding House, and it was lovely to see them again!  Here are some of us who shared the joy.

November 2022

“The miracle is this:
the more you give, the more you have.”

– Leonard Nimoy

Hello Dear Readers,
   I hope this missive finds you well.  I had not planned to send another issue, as you are, we hope, spending time counting and sharing your blessings with loved ones and your community.
      But Zoia has been busy taking pictures that seemed worthy of sharing. We enjoyed a full house for the Harvard-Yale football game, and are looking forward to the arrivals of our Thanksgiving guests and Community Servings’ pies!
We wish for you all good health and lovely holidays in your circle of loved ones.

~Rachael

The city of Cambridge planted a new tree in front of our house!

Yale beat Harvard and took the Ivy League Crown at the celebrated match last weekend.
Here are some Bulldog fans who stayed with us for the fun.

Winter Deal!
All winter long, for YOU subscribers:
20% off for your stays
December 2022 ~ March 2023
Request by email or phone.
CODE: BRRR

Our mailing address is:
24 Irving Street
Cambridge,  MA 02138

22.09.22

Hello Dear Readers,

These autumn days are just splendid.  This is the time of year I first arrived in Boston forty-eight years ago.  At that time I had no idea I would stay.

But as guests stop by the office after breakfast (three this morning already!) conveying to me their happiness with their stay here, I think I found the right place to make my life and work.

And now as I am settling in to retirement ~ only here one day a week ~ this newsletter is more and more prepared by the managers.

Zoia Krastanova knows all the doings of the house, and her photographs capture the little happenings that keep us all cheerful so that we Wish You Were Here.  Briana Pearson keeps tabs on the community and so finds what is happening in Our Fair City.

~Rachael

a full day beckons
as long as the sun is bright
lightness holds the dark

22.06.22

Dear Reader,

Good morning on this longest day of the year~!

Yes, summer days are here, inviting, encouraging, full of growth and, I hope, some lazy hours, some good company, some fine adventures for you, for all of us.

While much has been made of Juneteenth, presenting it as a celebration of emancipation, I think of it more as a moment to reflect on why this date, two and a half years after the Emancipation Proclamation is so important:  Because it took US troops arriving in Galveston, Texas to deliver the word that had been the law of the land for two years. And the proclamation hardly provided any pathway to any kind of equality for the newly unenslaved people then, and has not still.  I am reminded, we should ALL be reminded, that the ugliness of white supremacy persists.  There is still so much work to be done to make the USofA a more perfect union….

This year, Harvard & MIT combined three years of commencement ceremonies and reunions into one four day stretch.  Our Fair City was fairly bursting at the seams.  Irving House was as full as it could possibly be.  All hands on deck!  And even now, in the relative quiet, with moving vans emptying graduate student housing, travelers are still arriving for all sorts of reasons, with all kinds of plans.   So, while we are not officially out of the pandemic, maybe we are getting back to some new kind of normal.

It is gratifying to see that a steady stream of subscribers are signing up through our web site. Welcome new readers, wherever you are!  We are happy to receive your questions and suggestions…

We still wear masks in common areas and keep a respectful distance from those not in our family circle.  We still encourage vaccinations and booster shots of same to keep up with the variations that will now always be circulating widely.  This is our new normal.  And we count ourselves fortunate to have all the medical knowledge and services to get us through this.  We hope the same is true for you all.

And we hope to see you around Irving House some time!

Yours sincerely,

Rachael