Practicing Active Meditation

Thoreau stamp 2017 (200th year of his birth)

In his 1861 lengthy essay titled "Walking," Henry David Thoreau wrote "I think that I cannot preserve my health and spirits, unless I spend four hours a day at least,--and it is commonly more than that,--sauntering through the woods and over the hills and fields, absolutely free from all worldly engagements."

Thoreau added "I am alarmed when it happens that I have walked a mile into the woods bodily, without getting there in spirit. In my afternoon walk I would fain forget all my morning occupations and my obligations to society. But it sometimes happens that I cannot easily shake off the village. The thought of some work will run in my head, and I am not where my body is,--I am out of my senses. In my walks I would fain return to my senses."

While in this modern era we should not necessarily aspire to walking four hours per day (!!) for our mental health, we should aspire to bicycle, kayak, walk, swim, stand or sit for at least 15 minutes a day without being connected to civilization. Far too often people are walking along the Assabet River Rail Trail, or even in the woods, but with ear buds. Or sitting on a park bench, head-bent, staring at their phone. Right places - wrong actions. 

It shouldn't always be the phone

Even without any of these external stimuli, we are prone to be caught up in "discursive thinking," defined as a stream of interconnected thoughts that involve memory, analysis of past events, planning for future events, internal dialogue about one's own mental state, and so on. While normal and sometimes productive, an excessive reliance on discursive thinking can lead to stress, anxiety, and a disconnection from the present moment, making it beneficial to cultivate the ability to quiet this "storytelling mind."

However, we - citizens of the twenty-first century - are no longer good at doing nothing. In one study, people were asked to sit in silence for 15 minutes. Roughly half reported they did not like the experience. In a follow-up experiment, the researchers gave the participants the option of giving themselves mild electric shocks as a diversion. Sixty-seven percent of the men and twenty-three percent of the women did so. It wasn't because they felt "tortured by quietude," but rather they became bored with their own thoughts. Meditation takes practice!

August Rodin's The Thinker used as a model the prizefighter Jean Baud.
The first bronze casting of this sculpture was put on exhibit in Paris in 
1904; there are 27 other full-size bronze castings on display elsewhere
in the world, plus innumerable replicas of varying sizes.

In South Korea, the act of doing nothing has become a competitive sport. A popular, annual "Space-Out Competition" selects 80 contestants from thousands of applicants to sit on yoga mats amongst the others in a public place for 90 minutes. Monitors show whether they are able to lower and control their heart rate, while the judges observe their ability to minimize movement and maintain an unfocused facial visage. (Falling asleep disqualifies, likewise checking phone, talking, eating...) The winner gets a replica of Rodin's sculpture, The Thinker. 

In lieu of resting meditation, many people find that "active meditation" is easier to achieve and apparently equally mental health beneficial. Unlike traditional meditation, which involves sitting still and focusing inward, often with conscious breathing or repetitious verbalization (prayers, mantras), active meditation incorporates physical movement and sensory engagement - back to Thoreau wanting to leave thoughts of the village behind. A nuance here - competitive sports such as golf or tennis, or even group activities such as a running group or cycling club excursions - do not count. In a similar vein, health monitoring via a heart rate monitor or bicycle speedometer/odometer can be counter-productive. Even walking a dog or working in one's own garden may default to discursive thinking linked to chores and schedules. One has to be away and alone and unplugged.

Maynard offers several woodland trials wherein it is possible to be away from the sights and sounds of civilization. The Assabet River National Wildlife Refuge provides walking trails - some open to bicycling - with a parking lot at the end of White Pond Road.  See https://www.townofmaynard-ma.gov/DocumentCenter/View/160/Maynard-Open-Space-and-Trails-Map-PDF for trail and park maps provided by the Town of Maynard. (If brushing up against greenery just remember to do a body tick check afterwards.) Ice House Landing provides parking and a dock to launch kayaks or canoes.  

Assabet River Rail Trail 2025

The north end of the Assabet River Rail Trail (ARRT) encompassing Acton and Maynard, 3.4 miles, is approaching its seven-year anniversary. The south end, spanning Marlborough and part of Hudson, had been completed more than ten years earlier. The gap in the middle, Stow and part of Hudson, may be years away (or never). In the interim, it is possible to do two miles west from the Maynard/Stow border on a privately owned dirt road ("Track Road"), to Sudbury Road in Stow, then two miles on roads – Sudbury Road and Route 62 – to reconnect with the south section of the trail, in Hudson. From there, it is 5.8 miles of paved trail to the Marlborough trailhead. The Hudson trailhead also provides access to an almost-completed portion of the Mass Central Rail Trail (www.masscentralrailtrail.org).

A recent walk on the Acton/Maynard portion found the asphalt in almost entirely excellent condition. There is one crack developing about 50 yards west of Florida Road and a series of small cracks about 50 yards east of Ice House Landing which may in time need preventive maintenance, i.e., crack filling. Paved trails typically last for 15-20 years before repaving needs to be considered. Given that the south end was completed in 2005, those towns are coming up on some seriously expensive maintenance. It is not clear whether state or federal funds can be available for repair. 

Questionnaires sent to trail managers by the Rails-to-Trails conservancy in 1996, 2005 and again in 2015 led to reports on how trails are being maintained and what organizations are paying for that work. Per those reports, the cost of maintaining an asphalt-paved trail averaged $1,971 per mile per year. This encompassed work done by town employees and a value put on volunteer labor. Collectively, the 2015 report tallied this as about 13.5 hours of labor per trail mile per year. (Ha!). The Assabet River Rail Trail organization, incorporated in 1995, had provided volunteer efforts involving trail clearing to create a walkable path before the paving began. Volunteer work continues on the paved trail. Most recently, this involved adding a bicycle/bicyclist sculpture in Maynard, across from Ray & Sons Cyclery.     

The nature of work – town-paid and volunteered – includes litter removal, repairing vandalism and removing trash dumping (old car tires, etc.), mowing plant growth bordering trails and combating invasive plant species. Trees fall on trails, or else are standing dead trees threatening to do so. Drainage ditches bordering trails need to be kept clear of plant debris or else their function is compromised. Some towns will operate leaf blowers in the fall, and snow plowing in winter. Maynard and Acton have decided to not clear snow. Towns may choose to plow trail parking lots, thus providing parking for people who want to ski, snowshoe or hike in winter. There are also information kiosks, benches, signage and in Maynard, two trash receptacles managed by volunteers.

Click on photos to enlarge

The 2015 Rails-To-Trails report also noted, surprisingly, that 60% of the questionnaires returned by town/city governments did not confirm a written maintenance plan. While personal injury lawsuits are very rare, the report went on to suggest that towns should have a process to regularly inspect trails, correct unsafe conditions, and keep records. Signage of rules and regulations and hours of operation need to be posted at trailheads and other access locations. Not everyone is aware that ARRT’s signs include “Maximum Speed: 15 mph” and “Give an audible warning before passing,” but the signs are there. Guidelines for what organized volunteer groups can and cannot do need to be established, for example allowing clearing of invasive species, but forbidding using herbicides or power tools.

As for what was observed during a recent Acton/Maynard walk-through, there was remarkably little litter along the trail, with the exception of downtown Maynard, and only a few instances of graffiti. Kiosks provide information about town events. Both towns’ Department of Public Works mow the trail’s shoulders. In both towns, there are standing dead trees that in time may fall on the trail. ARRT volunteers have replaced wooden railings that were broken by fallen trees or large branches. Dozens of the hundreds of trees that were planted as part of the trail landscaping in 2017-18 have died, and were removed by volunteers. Looking forward, consideration should be given to combating invasive plant species such as Oriental bittersweet, Tree-of-Heaven, Japanese knotweed, Garlic mustard, and Purple loosestrife, the last beginning to appear in the wetter sections of drainage ditches.

Dedication ceremony, May 2023

Acton recently added two benches that were paid for by the Assabet River Rail Trail organization in memory of long-time president Thomas Kelleher and secretary Duncan Power. Maynard has three 'pocket' parks adjacent to the rail trail. The oldest is Tobin Park (1979), by the trail's bridge over the river, followed by Ice House Landing (2002), off of Winter Street, which has recently been revitalized, and now offers kayak rental and a launch dock, and as of 2023, the Marble Farm Historic Site offering a daffodil and tulip bonanza every spring, near the north end of town. All provide benches and shade.

Kousa dogwood in Tobin Park

Trail of Flowers (www.trailofflowers.com), a volunteer organization, operating under ARRT’s auspices, has since its inception in the fall of 2018 been planting flowering bulbs, shrubs and trees along the Assabet River Rail Trail, mostly in Acton and Maynard, but expanding to Hudson and Marlborough. As of early 2025, TOF has raised and spent more than $12,000 for plants, mulch, tools and website management. Students from Acton-Boxborough Regional High School have participated in annual planting events as part of Senior Student Community Service Day. Maynard Community Gardeners contribute unsold plants from the group’s annual plant sale. In 2024, Maynard Scout Troop 130 conducted a planting event at High Street as a scout’s Eagle Scout project. Years earlier, volunteers planted nine Kousa dogwoods along High Street, with mixed success, as two died from rabbit damage to the trees' trunks this past winter (now growing back from the roots), and one recently had all its leaves die from an unknown cause. These dogwoods can live 50-100 years.

Thoughts on getting older

 Appreciation for the many websites with funny quotes about aging

Every part of your body has a medical specialist - you just have not met them all yet.

You hit 65 and your 'check engine' light turns on.

It's upsetting to realize you are the same age as 'old people.' 

New-found skills include tripping while walking up stairs, having a coughing fit from taking a drink of water, and getting to a room only to forget what it was you wanted there.

I am not afraid of dying - I just don't want to be there when it happens.

When you drop something on the floor, you pause first to decide if you really need it...

   ...then, you figure it can stay there until one of your kids visit.

There comes a time when you stop lying about your age and start bragging about it.

Some people say that wisdom comes with age, but sometime age shows up all by itself.

Stop complaining about being old when the alternative is being dead. 

You accept you are old when you realize that your childhood toys are now valuable collectables (except your mother threw them out).

You can't remember how many teeth you've lost.

You are shocked that your children are middle-aged.

You realize that once you are over the hill you begin to pick up speed.

You know you are old when your birthday cake has only one candle...

   ...and your family is thinking "Let's see if she can blow it out."

Your most recent tattoo is DNR for "Do not resuscitate."

Sculpture installation for the Assabet River Rail Trail

Bicycle/Bicyclist sculpture, 5'5" long, installed
next to the Assabet River Rail Trail, Maynard, MA

Text of a speech that was given the morning of July 19, 2025, at the dedication of a bicycle/bicyclist sculpture installed in Maynard adjacent to the Assabet River Rail Trail and Main Street, across from Ray & Sons Cyclery. An estimated 70 people attended the event.

Welcome all. Our thanks for coming here today to state Representative Kate Hogan, Senator Jamie Eldridge, Select Board members, Maynard Cultural Council members, Erik Hansen's family, and any idle bystanders who have wandered over from the Farmers' Market this Saturday morning.  

To paraphrase a well known quote - Never doubt that a small group of people with too much time on their hands can change the world in a small way. 

Inspired by Erik Hansen's efforts to bring public art to Maynard - "Maynard as a Canvas" - which began with the 2018 murals on both sides of the Murphy & Snyder building at the corner of Waltham and Parker Streets, subsequently, public and privately funded murals have blossomed on the walls of El Huipil restaurant, the Excelsior games store, the mill complex, the 'Bee Meadow' behind what had been the ArtSpace building on Summer Street, the Boys and Girls Club, and the wall behind Memorial park. For historical completeness sake, prior to "Maynard as a Canvas" there had been graffiti-themed murals on the Gruber Furniture warehouse building, circa 2008 and 2012, lost when the building was demolished.

Sculpture, not so much. Along the Assabet River Rail Trail, the communities of Acton, Maynard and Marlborough had no public art. In contrast, Hudson has seven sculptures and three murals. In August 2023, the Bee Meadow Committee - given that ArtSpace had vacated the Fowler School building - offered six artist-painted posts from the Bee Meadow to the ARRT organization. These were installed in Maynard along the Rail Trail on the section north of Summer Street. In addition, sculptures of a daffodil and a tulip are temporarily placed at the Marble Farm Historic Site/Park each spring when the flowers are in bloom. The flowering plants and shrubs there and elsewhere along the Rail Trail are from the efforts of Trail of Flowers, a volunteer project started fall of 2018.

Erik Hansen (1943-2024)

In the fall of 2024, what grew in time to a gang-of-eight, composed of Priscilla Alpaugh, Ellen Duggan, Lee Eyler, Erik Hansen, David Mark, Andy Moerlein, Steve Smith and Lynda Thayer, began having meetings to discuss how to bring a sculpture project to fruition. Lee moved away, and sadly, Erik's unexpected death in late 2024 reduced us to six. 

Ideas were bandied about: a bicycle, a person on a bicycle, a sheep on a bicycle (symbolic of Maynard being a wool factory town for 100 years), or a person walking a dog. For budgetary reasons, the group approached the Metal Fabrication shop at Assabet Valley Regional Technical High School to explore whether this could be a senior class project. The school's policy on public works is charging for the cost of materials plus 15%, but not design time or labor. With the school tentatively committed, the group sought and received a green light from the Town of Maynard Select Board, followed by funding at $760 from the Maynard Cultural Council. A site was selected to be visible from both the Rail Trail and Main Street. Everything was falling into place!

Dedication event photo by Brion Berghaus

Christopher Wittmier, the Lead Metal Fabrication Teacher at Assabet Valley, had the students submit designs.  A drawing by student Ben Thresher - an abstract of a person on a bicycle - was selected as being both attractive and feasible, given the students' skills and the shop's equipment. By April 2025, individual pieces were being shaped and welded together. By early June the welding was completed and the sculpture - nearly six feet long and tall - was turned over to the Auto Collision and Refinishing shop for painting. The finished sculpture was picked up on June 20th. 

Meanwhile, progress was being made on a plaque, or actually, two plaques. The group reached a decision that one plaque would honor Erik Hansen, reading:

"Dedicated to the memory of ERIK HANSEN (1943-2024), photographer 

and artist whose concept of 'Maynard as a Canvas' sparked the creation of public art in Maynard." 

and a second to acknowledge the contributions, reading:

"This sculpture was made possible by a grant from the Maynard Cultural Council and the efforts of the students and faculty at Assabet Valley Regional Technical Vocational School District"

A bid was solicited from a commercial sign company and the proposed cost came back as more for each plaque than the cost of the sculpture!  Assabet Valley to the rescue!! For no more than cost of materials, faculty member Marcus Fletcher from the Advanced Manufacturing department used a computerized laser to etch the words on stainless steel plates.

Concrete base, poured 6/27/25

This story is almost complete. A concrete base for the sculpture was poured on June 27th. Installation was completed two days ago. The entire project came in under budget, and here we are today!! 

Again, thank you for joining us today for this dedication event. The sculpture group (and the Town of Maynard) now have to decide if this was a one-and-done effort, or can Maynard become home to more public art. For if the goal is Making Maynard Interesting, we are making great progress.

click on photos to enlarge

Maynard's largest trees (prove me wrong)

The "Buttonball" sycamore in
Sunderland, MA

This will be a work in progress, especially as more tree species are identified and competing trees are nominated for what is already on the list! 

Determining how large a tree is actually has a formal definition involving girth, i.e., circumference in inches at 4.5 feet off the ground, plus height in feet plus 0.25 times average spread measured in feet, 'average' coming from adding widest spread and smallest spread and dividing that by two. The end result is a point score referred to as "Tree Points." Massachusetts actually maintains a big tree registry, for which it is possible to nominate trees and a field inspector will visit the site to verify measurements. See https://www.mass.gov/guides/massachusetts-legacy-tree-program#-is-your-legacy-tree-a-champion-tree?- I suppose barring any expectation that a Maynard tree is the state's largest, I can purchase a clinometer and a measuring tape, and start stalking trees on other peoples property. However, for the moment, for the trees listed here, the listing is based on my unmeasured eyeballing: 

Golden Chain Tree

Paper Birch: back yard of 10 Maple Street

Eastern Redbud: side yard of 10 Maple Street

Golden Chain Tree: back yard of 10 Maple Street

Sugar Maple: back yard of 12 Maple Street

American Dogwood: front yard of 12 Maple Street

European Copper Beech: side yard of 80 Acton Street

American Sycamore: corner of Nason and Main streets

These are by no means the largest in the state. For example, the beech tree on Acton Street has a diameter of 6.7 feet and the state's largest is reported at 8.4 feet. The "Buttonball" sycamore, Sunderland, MA, has a diameter of 8.1 feet and height >110 feet. Its age is estimated at ~400 years.

Boston's Record Snow Winters

 This is a repeat of a 2015 column that acknowledged 2014-15 being a record snow winter for Boston. Since then, most were in the normal range of 30-50 inches, but the 2022-23 winter was a near-record low of 11.6 inches. As of Feb 10th, Boston has had 22.5 inches for 2024-25.

History shows a very wide range between high- and low snow winters

There are winters wherein February sees the first crocuses of spring, but it is not this year. There are years wherein the first returning robins are already arriving, but it is not this year. There are years the snow blower goes untouched, the snowmobile trailered to Maine, but not this year. This year we struggle against the white, the ever recurring, ever piling higher snows of the winter of 2014-15. By all that you hold dear on this frozen earth, you must shovel, women and men of Massachusetts.   

This winter's snow is rapidly closing in on setting a new record for Boston, for Worcester, and for points in between. These cities, each with 125 years of weather data, average 44 and 64 inches, respectively. The snowiest winter on record for both cities was 1995-96, at 107.6 and 132.9 inches. As of February 23rd, Boston is at 99.8 inches and Worcester 107.7 inches. This winter already ranks second for Boston, with every expectation that it will finish as the snowiest winter in recorded history. Worcester is currently fifth snowiest.  

Snowfall measurement methods are described in great detail in a document from the National Weather Service. Briefly, if snow is falling continuously, depth in the measuring device is measured every six hours, the device emptied and set out again. Results are added up.   

One reason for this record-breaking season is that all snow is not created equal. Wet snow means that 6-8 inches converts to one inch of water, but the northeasters that have been repeatedly sweeping through our area have been cold enough to generate powdery snow that is averaging 17-18 inches per inch of water. Telling here is that the thirty days of storms that put so much snow on the ground will in time melt to only five inches of water - not much above average for this time of year.  

Parking meters near CVS

Other reasons are meteorological. Weather forecasting professionals toss about terms such as North Atlantic Oscillation, the "Ridiculously Resilient Ridge" and Polar Vortex.  The net result was that over a short period of time the storms were colder, larger, and every storm dumped on eastern Massachusetts, with little melting in between.       

Whatever happened to global warming? The short answer is that New England is getting wetter faster than it is getting warmer. For Boston, over a 120-year period the average temperature has gotten one degree (F) warmer, but 10 percent wetter. As a result, winter is two weeks shorter, but six of the top ten snowiest winters have occurred in the last 22 years. As storms track up the east coast the warmer (and thus wetter) air over the ocean blows inland over/atop cold air, resulting in snow, snow and more snow.

At some point in the future this will mean more winters of wet snow, sleet, ice storms and rain. Portland, Maine has already experienced the crossover: weather records dating back to 1870 show two degrees of warming, a 15 percent increase in total precipitation, but a decrease in annual snowfall from 75 to 65 inches. When it comes, the crossover will affect Boston before it impacts the inland cities and towns.

The first paragraph of this column was a riff on the "But it is not this day" pre-battle speech in The Lord of the Rings movie, The Return of the King. Other fictional pre-battle speeches to outnumbered, underdog troops include those from movies Braveheart and Independence Day, and the progenitor of them all, the St. Crispin's Day speech from Shakespeare's play, Henry V. That speech gave us five repeats of "...this day..." and also the line "We few, we happy few, we band of brothers..." See below. 

NOTES

The Lord of the Rings/The Return of the King (Lord Aragorn speaking)

Sons of Gondor, of Rohan, my brothers!
I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of me.
A day may come when the courage of Men fails,
When we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship,
But it is not this day.
An hour of wolves and shattered shields when the Age of Man comes crashing down,
But it is not this day!
This day we fight!
By all that you hold dear on this good earth,
I bid you stand, Men of the West!

Henry V (King Henry V speaking)

What's he that wishes so?
My cousin Westmoreland? No, my fair cousin:
If we are mark'd to die, we are enow [enough]
To do our country loss; and if to live,
The fewer men, the greater share of honour.
God's will! I pray thee, wish not one man more.
By Jove, I am not covetous for gold,
Nor care I who doth feed upon my cost;
It yearns me not if men my garments wear;
Such outward things dwell not in my desires:
But if it be a sin to covet honour,
I am the most offending soul alive.
No, faith, my coz, wish not a man from England:
God's peace! I would not lose so great an honour
As one man more, methinks, would share from me
For the best hope I have. O, do not wish one more!
Rather proclaim it, Westmoreland, through my host,
That he which hath no stomach to this fight,
Let him depart; his passport shall be made
And crowns for convoy put into his purse:
We would not die in that man's company
That fears his fellowship to die with us.
This day is called the feast of Crispian:
He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,
Will stand a tip-toe when the day is named,
And rouse him at the name of Crispian.
He that shall live this day, and see old age,
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,
And say 'To-morrow is Saint Crispian:'
Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars.
And say 'These wounds I had on Crispin's day.'
Old men forget: yet all shall be forgot,
But he'll remember with advantages
What feats he did that day: then shall our names.
Familiar in his mouth as household words
Harry the king, Bedford and Exeter,
Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester,
Be in their flowing cups freshly remember'd.
This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remember'd;
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition:
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.

 

 

Yucca as Assabet River Rail Trail Plantings

Yucca and other flowering plants at Maple & Brooks

In eastern Massachusetts, if you’ve seen a low-to-the-ground plant with very long, very stiff, ‘sword-shaped’ leaves that come to a sharp point it is most likely a species of yucca known as Adam’s Needle. More than a dozen have been planted in Maynard adjacent to or near the Assabet River Rail Trail, courtesy of unsold plants from the Maynard Community Gardeners annual plant sale, donated to Trail of Flowers (www.trailofflowers.com). Look for a couple of nice specimens at the intersection of Maple and Brooks streets, fronting a stone wall. The wall itself is not a historic remnant, but rather a twenty-first century build.

Yucca is a genus of some 40-50 species of perennial shrubs and trees notable for their rosettes of evergreen, tough, sword-shaped leaves and large terminal panicles of white or whitish flowers. They are native to the Americas and the Caribbean in a wide range of habitats, from humid rainforest and wet subtropical ecosystems to the hot and dry deserts and savanna. A few species are winter hardy and popular as landscape plants.

Trail of Flowers signage, north of Summer Street

Adams’s Needle (Yucca filimentosa) is native to the southeast – Virginia to Florida – but is winter hardy to Zone 4, meaning it can prosper well up into Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. Plants grow to about three feet tall and wide. Each plant has a central core from which the leaves radiate symmetrically and also near-vertical to flat, so the plant can be thought of as roughly hemisphere-shaped. Leaves are kept through winter. New cores emerge inches to a foot away from the original plant. As years pass, leaves closest to the ground turn brown and die, but are still firmly attached to a core. In time the cores rot, and entire dead plants can be removed by hand, leaving more room for the adjacent younger plants.

This species prefers full sun and well-drained soil, as shade will stunt growth and wet soil rot the roots. In time, it develops a large, fleshy, white taproot with deep lateral roots. Once planted and established, it is difficult to remove, as any remnant roots keep sending up new shoots.

In addition to the green-leafed native plant, Adam’s needle comes in colorful cultivars: Bright Edge, Color Guard, Golden Sword, Blue Sentry, Garland's Gold and Excalibur. For all, the leaves bear tiny thread-like filaments around their edges, which appear as if the plant is peeling. Images can be found via internet search. Nurseries carry cultivars or can special order. Beyond the first year, the plants are drought-resistant and do not need fertilizing. Plants can live up to 50 years.

Yucca clusters can put up 
multiple flowering stalks

Once well established, Adam’s Needle plants produce flower stalks decorated with bell-shaped flowers. The stalks can exceed eight feet in height and will display dozens of waxy, off-white-colored flowers. The flowers last for several weeks. The stalks die, and need to be cut. The flowers are considered edible, either raw, added to salads, or added to broth-type soups, akin to using unopened daylily flower buds in hot-and-sour soup or Thai Pho. (Do not eat Easter lily buds. All parts of Easter lilies are extremely toxic for domestic cats, causing acute kidney failure. Evidence for toxicity for dogs and humans is vague, but to be on the safe side, don't.) 

Not here, but in native areas in the southeast, Adam’s Needle flowers are pollinated by yucca moths. The moths transfer pollen from the stamens of one plant to the stigma of another, and at the same time lays an egg in the flower; the moth caterpillar then feeds on some of the developing fruit/seeds but can leave enough seeds to perpetuate the species. Each flower develops a fruit that is about two inches long, edible raw or cooked after the bitter seeds are removed. In the southeast, Native Americans split the leaves to make ropes, fishing nets and baskets. Peeled roots, pounded between rocks and mixed with water, make a lather than can be used to wash hair (A related species, native to the southwest, has the common name "soapweed".)

Other winter-hardy species that may be available for purchase from nurseries are Soapweed, Banana Yucca, Beaked Yucca, Spanish Dagger and Dwarf Yucca. These can flourish in Zone 5, which includes eastern Massachusetts.

 

Maynard Automobile History

Dr. Frank U. Rich and his daughter in his second automobile

The men of Maynard were not just buying a car - they were buying cars! Dr. Frank U. Rich is pictured in his second car, and he bought a third steam-powered car in 1909. The Harriman brothers went through multiple cars, with selling their slightly used cars to Stow or Maynard residents. New cars came with more horsepower and new features such as steering wheels, fenders and headlights.  

The first automobile owned in Maynard, a Stanley Steamer, was purchased by Dr. Frank U. Rich in 1899. He bought another Stanley Steamer in 1906. Rich lived in a house on Summer Street that was later moved to the north end of Florida Street (still standing) to make room for a new school around 1915. A photo in the collection of the Maynard Historic Society shows Rich in a Waltham Steam car (his third car), at his house, with his family and John Adams, his chauffeur, the first African American to live in Maynard.

The Stanley Motor Carriage Company was started by twin Stanley brothers in Watertown, Massachusetts. Until around 1912, steam car technology was superior to internal combustion engine gas technology despite the inconvenience of having to heat the boiler (with non-explosive kerosene) before starting the car. The Stanley brothers even advertised that their cars were safer than “internal explosion engine” cars. But the technology of the latter kept improving, so that the steam car era came to an end in the 1920s.

Rich (1857-1912) had been involved in an interesting murder case. Chester S. Jordan was convicted in May 1909 of murdering his wife in 1908. Just days after the conviction, Willis A, White, one of the jurors, was committed to an insane asylum. Jordan’s lawyer appealed on the grounds that White was insane during the trial. Rich testified that as White’s family physician, he, White’s wife and neighbors agreed that White’s mental health had been failing for some time, perhaps a consequence of an earlier head injury. Countering this, the prosecuting attorney interviewed the other 11 jurors, who testified that White had participated in all aspects of the one day of jury deliberation that it took to convict, without any indication of a deteriorating mental state. The verdict stood. Jordan was executed in 1912.

Persons' 1904 Ford Model A on Main Street. Note trolley tracks
and in the background, the Naylor Building before it burned in 1917. 

Charles H. Persons, Town Clerk, member of the House of Representatives, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, president of the Assabet Savings Bank and owner of C.H. Persons, Pianos, Organs and other Musical Instruments, purchased the first Ford in town in 1904. This was a Ford Model A, equipped with an 8 horsepower gas engine and providing a top speed of 28 mph. Photos in the collection of the Maynard Historical Society show the car as driven by Fred Persons (brother? son?) wearing a cloth cap while Charles is in the back seat, sporting a bowler hat. Unlike the later Model T – initially available only in black – the Model A was available only in red. Ford reused letter designations, so that A (1903-04), B (1904, a luxury car) and C (1904-05, an economy model) came before the famous Model T (1908-27) and the subsequent popular Model A (1927-31).

Persons’ car bore the license plate numbered 5986, issued in 1904. Massachusetts first began issuing licenses and registration plates in June of 1903 as a result of Chapter 473 of the Acts of 1903.The first plate, featuring the number "1" printed on it, was issued to Frederick Tudor in 1903 and is still held as an active registration by a member of his family. The same law also required that drivers have a driver’s license. 

The Harriman brothers, of Harriman Bros. New Method Laundry Co. also initially went in for steam-powered vehicles, but gas engines were a coming thing. Frank and Rowland, sons of John and Harriet Harriman, had an ice cream shop in their father’s building on Main Street, where Bud’s Variety store is now located, then in 1890 launched their ‘dry cleaning’ laundry business. Over time they expanded until it employed 75 people and completely occupied all 15,000 square feet of the three-story building. Dirty laundry was picked up by horse-drawn wagons, later gas-powered trucks, at households, then delivered a few days later cleaned, ironed and folded.

Frank and Rowland were big fans of cars. Frank is recorded as purchasing his second car in 1903. Rowland bought a car in 1904, two in 1906 and another in 1910. Frank is mentioned as being car sales agent for E.M.F. automobiles in 1909. The brothers later sold the laundry business and moved to Florida.

By 1910, there were two car dealers in town, repair shops, gas stations, car rental businesses, attempts to control speeding, and the first reported accident (Frank Harriman driving, small boy hit, bruised but otherwise unharmed). By 1925 the town’s annual report numbered 879 motor vehicles in Maynard. The horse count had dropped from a peak of 256 in 1899 to 70. A few horses were still in Maynard into the 1950s. As of 2025, there are two used car dealerships, two rental businesses, four gas stations and several car or truck repair and parts establishments. No horses.

Leapin' Lena, in repose

An article about automobiles cannot be complete without mention of Leapin’ Lena. Residents with long memories can tell tales of a tricked out car that participated in Maynard parades from the 1927 into the early 1960s. Lena was built through the efforts of Frank Parks, Ray Carruth, Joseph Dineen, Eddie Johnson and other men associated with the local American Legion Post #235. Frank and Ray had been inspired by a stunt car they saw at a performance of the Barnum & Bailey Circus. The American Legion crew started with an open-topped Ford Model T. The wheelbase was shortened. The car body was shifted back. Concrete was used to add weight to the rear, and steel skid plates were bolted to the underside of the back end.

With two people seated in front and three in back, Lena was so carefully balanced over the rear axle that a bit of acceleration combined with the occupants leaning back would pop her nose up to a twenty-degree angle. She could be driven a short distance in this nose-up position, then be slammed back down to the pavement with a touch of brakes. Hard on the occupants! Over years of hard-pounding parade performances many of Lena's original Model T parts failed and Model A parts were spliced in as replacements. The frame became a cross-cross of welds over welds. Motors burned out and replacements made. Lena spent the World War II years in hidden storage to avoid being swept up in the war's metal drives.

Maynard's Lena had the words "Original Leapin' Lena" painted across the back. As it turns out, quite a few American Legion and Shriner parades featured modified Model T cars - almost always named Leapin' Lena or Leaping Lena. But Maynard claimed to be first. A prolonged restoration led to a last attempt at a public appearance for the 1971 Maynard Centennial Parade. She performed well in a Crowe Park rehearsal, but broke down partway through the parade. Somewhere, parts of Lena may remain to this day, but like Humpty Dumpty, unlikely she can ever be put back together again.

Addendum: The Maynard Area Auto Club was founded in 1988 and at one time had more than 200 members, a newsletter, events, logo jackets, patches and other 'merch'. The Maynard Historical Society archives has photos of numerous items found via a search on "auto club". It appears that the club's existance came an end in 2019, although confusingly, the Massachusetts Association of Auto Clubs continues to list events for the Maynard club in 2025.