Showing posts with label Worcester's Winter Hill Farm. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Worcester's Winter Hill Farm. Show all posts

Monday, December 9, 2019

Another View of Worcester's Winter Hill Farm

Update December 9, 2019


-- Views of Winter Hill Farm


My memoir, "Worcester's Winter Hill Farm," tells the story of growing up in Worcester in the late 1950s and early 1960s on a farm property that featured horses, sheep, chickens, hayfields and a fun place to grow up.

This photograph is a composite of two pictures taken directly in front of the house at 92 West Chester Street. As of today, the house is still there, but the giant tree and the barn are gone. A house replaced the barn many years after we moved away.

-- Book Cover Photograph


Lily, Marna, and Paige
View from the "lower" driveway
The cover photograph on the memoir is a different angle, which features the side of the house and the prominent "back" staircase. It was this door that we used to go in and out of the house. The front door was only a place to let the mail carrier drop off letters. My sister, Eljay, is the custodian of these photos. She has others as well. 

In this photo, Lily, Marna, and Paige pose with a copy of the book. I dedicated the book to Lily, Paige, and my other niece, Jean Nicole. The three of them are the children of my siblings that grew up on the farm. Some of the stories told in the book may help them understand their parents as well as me. 

You can read more about the memoir on my other blog. Visit:

The Books of Richard F. Wright

You can buy the book on Barnes & Noble or on Amazon.com. 

Saturday, June 1, 2019

Memorial Day Outing, Usual Tuesday Visit, and Golf at Green Hill

Update May 26 to June 1, 2019

-- New Book Distributed on Memorial Day
A signed copy for each.

We hosted a small gathering for Memorial Day, which featured some grilling on the deck, the usual picnic items, and for each of the family members that visited a copy of my new book, Worcester's Winter Hill Farm. I dedicated the book to my three nieces, Paige, Lily, and Jean Nicole.

Paige and Lily may have heard stories about their Dad and me and how life was like on the farm in Worcester, but now they had the book which gives all the details as I remember things. We'll see how Steve remembers things.


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READ my Blog "The Books of Richard F Wright" (Books, Bookstores, Writing)     
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-- Golfing on Green Hill
Patti at Green Hill

Green Hill Golf Course is one of our favorites. They have made some changes and improvements over the past few years which have made the course more interesting. You never forget that it's on a hill and that your ball wants to roll off the fairways as much as it wants to roll off the greens.

It's not a course we would like to walk. Even with the carts, it's an effort to climb some slopes to get to the next shot. The 18th hole is still treacherous. The slope to the left is so severe that it's not possible to keep the ball in the middle of the fairway. It rolls down to the left no matter where you make the ball fly. Another feature of the course is that many of the greens are very small, which makes it tough to get on the green and to stay on them.

But, we're glad it's here and always look forward to playing it.


-- Did Some Baking for the Holiday


Cupcake Anyone?
In the spirit of the patriotic holiday, I baked some cupcakes and decorated them in various flavors and colors. The basic cupcake was a yellow cake. The toppings included nuts, or white chocolate chips, or sprinkles, or plain. Each had its own American flag. The recipe allowed me to make 24 cupcakes so no one went without. We sent many home, with our guests. 

-- Lucy and Olive Make Their Weekly Visit
Olive Gives it a Whirl

Olive and Lucy came on Tuesday as usual, even though they had come over for the Memorial Day party too. Olive has grown enough that when she sits in the whirling chair she has more control than before. She can use her legs to balance herself and to give herself some push-off the floorboard. She needs leverage to give the various buttons and levers a good push. She can make the music sound and she can make the little animals screech and cackle.

This chair is a good alternative to the highchair as we can gather around her on the floor and help her play with the various noise devices. On the highchair, any toys end up being tossed off. Here, the toys are attached and she can't remove them. That saves a lot of shagging, believe me.



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READING UPDATE:
Elia Kazan, A Biography, by Richard Schickel


Mostly famous for his productions of A Streetcar Named Desire, Death of a Salesman, and On the Waterfront, Elia Kazan was also a product and victim of his craft and time in America when it was good sporting fun to look for Communists under the bed. \

Original source material, such as Kazan’s diaries, add dimension and depth that other commentaries about Kazan have missed. There may be no more complex artist to have hovered over the American artistic community for more than half a century.


Saturday, May 11, 2019

Granddaughters Visit, My Book Publishes, We Celebrate My Birthday

Update May 5 through May 11, 2019

-- This Week Thursday Substitutes for Tuesday


Read My Blog About My Books
The two granddaughters who spend each Tuesday with us will come on Thursday instead. Nothing really changes for a visit on Thursday instead of Tuesday, but it does create a two-day void that needs to be filled. For me, that was a chance to catch up on some reading and some writing. My latest book, Worcester's Winter Hill Farm is set to publish this week so I have been busy with some last minute website details. I'm offering the book as a paperback and as an eBook. The eBook costs less and my experience with previous books I have published is that the eBook thing is really catching on.

My travel guide, A Vacationer's Guide to Rural New England Bookstores, did not sell very well as an eBook but did very well as a paperback. Frankly, that's no surprise; a guide book is something you want to keep on a nearby shelf or in this case, in the glove box of the car. My other book, The World's Seven Biggest Liars, sold well as an eBook and not too many paperbacks. I think it's easier to read a controversial book on a tablet and not have it lying around where someone might see it.

-- My Book, Worcester's Winter Hill Farm, Publishes This Week

Although I finished writing the book quite a while ago, it's been a slow process getting it finished and out the door. The book is a memoir about the years between the ages of eight and 13 when I lived on a farm on the outskirts of Worcester. Farm life was very involved requiring a lot of time and attention by all of us in the family. But, especially for me and my brother Stephen.

We had a range of additional chores that most of our friends did not have. We had to wake early to feed chickens, and we had to hurry home after school to muck out horse stalls. We had to clean, package, and deliver eggs that our neighbors had subscribed to buy from us weekly. Most of my friends in school could not relate to what we were doing on the farm. They were city kids; we were not. Now that it's done I can turn to my next book, which to be precise is actually three books. I have a political book, a children's book, and an edited collection of my Dad's newspaper columns in the works. I also have some other writing assignments too.
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READ my Blog "The Books of Richard F Wright" (Books, Bookstores, Writing)     
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-- Thankfully it's now grilling season - so we put the steaks on the outdoor grill

This week the granddaughters came over on Thursday instead of Tuesday and as the weather was nice we decided to cook some steaks. Paige visited with us and so there were four adults for dinner. I had fun preparing the meat and getting the seasoning just right.

Patti took care of the rest of the menu and we had a good time. One of the things we have been getting good at is using the grill to finish off the baked potatoes and for cooking the vegetables. This includes putting corn on the cob in foil and letting them cook right along with the meat. 


-- Patti Suggested Samual Slater's at Webster Lake for my Birthday Dinner

When we went on the lake cruise last year on Webster Lake we heard that a new restaurant was going to open.at Indian Ranch. It's open now and we made a reservation to visit as part of a low-key birthday celebration for me. The restaurant is very comfortable and every table has a nice view of the lake and its small marina. The food and the service were just fine and I'm sure we will visit again. I had the bourbon steak tips and Patti had the veal oscar. Both were good choices.

As we were leaving we stopped at the bar to say hello to a former work colleague of mine who had sent over some drinks for us when he spotted us by the window. It was a very nice gesture. As we said hello to him Patti found other acquaintances at the bar and our exit was extended even more. It was a fun night and we plan to go back many times.

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READING UPDATE: In 1938 the world was on the precipice of a world war - and EVERYONE knew it. Millions tried to pretend it was not going to happen - but they KNEW it was inevitable. Despite that, with an amazing penchant for self-denial, millions refused to admit they had to take action.

In his book, Can Chamberlain Save Britain? author Collin Brooks dissects the roots of why England and its sleepy inhabitants would not could not, respond to the burgeoning crisis. War broke out less than a year after this book appeared in the English bookstores. From reading this book it's possible to further conclude that as a group - human beings are sadly unprepared to be realistic about anything - especially when it comes to their own good benefit.