Author Archive

Snow begins

I didn’t expect the snow to begin until later this morning but at least an inch had fallen by 5 am. I’ll either update this post or add others as the storm progresses. Please send you pictures and observations to me at DickHoweJr@gmail.com or leave them here as comments.

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“No school, all schools in Lowell”

Many decades ago there was a local radio announcer whose name I now forget who boom out across the airwaves “No school, all schools in Lowell” on days when the weather cancelled school for the day. (Maybe someone can help me with that name). Modern technology has given us Jay…

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Chinese food on New Year’s Eve

Chinese food on New Year’s Eve. For several years I’ve been intrigued by this practice. It’s certainly common around here but is it just a Lowell thing? Or is it a New England tradition? What are the origins of this tradition? Why do people do it? Where do you get…

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The new route to Logan Airport

Yesterday I drove to Logan Airport for the first time since last Friday’s closure of the Callahan Tunnel which will remain closed until the end of March. From Lowell I took Route 3 south to Route 95/128 south to the Mass Turnpike east. I stayed on the Turnpike, passing through…

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Celebrate with care

As this story from the Daily National Intelligencer (Washington D.C.) on New Year’s Day 1847 reminds us, be careful out there tonight and tomorrow: FATAL ACCIDENT AT LOWELL. — The Lowell Courier of Saturday states that a young man named HALL fell from the sixth story of the large Middlesex…

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Goodbye to recycling boxes

Yesterday morning I lugged my green rectangular recycling box out to the snowbank that serves as a curb and plopped it down on a level surface lest it slide away. The weight of accumulated newspapers and torn-up wrapping paper helped to hold it in place. A half dozen cardboard tubes,…

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