It's about time for a Simpsons reference

Back in MA. Was great to see young master Liam and his proud parents (pics on blog soon), and we were able to visit with just a few other folks during our short visit. We plan to return to Minnesota for a longer stay in mid-June, after the end of the school year, and will definitely have more time to connect with people then.

Heidi headed off early yesterday morning for an anthropology conference in Philadelphia, a 5-hour train ride from the nearest Amtrak station in Springfield. Will return on Saturday.

Yeah, Springfield – 30 miles south of us, it’s the nearest metro area (150,000 people, plus a few small suburbs), birthplace of basketball and the Indian brand of motorcycles, and home to the Basketball Hall of Fame and Dr. Seuss – but beyond these the city’s reputation is less than stellar. Crime, slow economic development, and underperforming schools are part of the equation. Several former city leaders have been convicted of a variety of corruption charges, and the city’s financial situation was so dire a few years ago that a state-appointed Finance Control Board was brought in to provide strict oversight for all mayoral and city council actions. A bit sketchy, indeed, though a slow turnaround does seem to be in progress.

However, there’s definitely some positive buzz about that town these days, too: article from 3/25 edition of the Springfield Republican, the city's daily newspaper.

- jbc

Call him Uncle Jay

Two weeks after his due date, our nephew decided to quit being stubborn and join the world! (A stubborn Bauer? Imagine that...) Heidi's sister Cindy gave birth to a healthy baby boy Sunday night. Named Liam Ryan, we are told he has quite the cone-head and is already the center of attention. We are excited to meet the little guy, and I'm sure pictures will be posted soon.

We are finally headed out to Minnesota later tonight. We were scheduled to fly out Saturday morning but our flight was canceled due to the big snowstorm. We went to the airport Friday night in the hopes of getting a stand-by flight later on Saturday--after 12 hours in the airport we gave up and came home. The first flight we could get confirmed seats on isn't until tonight, so we have been trying to enjoy the start of our spring break here in town, since we can't do anything about all the stuff we are missing back in Minnesota. I think we are finally coming to appreciate the fury of the infamous Noreaster...

Nor'easter strikes!

Big snowstorm in progress. From Spring back to winter, just as everyone heads out of town for Spring Break....

For kicks, here's a live web cam view of Smith College's Campus Center. (This link seems to work best if you're viewing with Firefox rather than Internet Explorer...)

- jbc

Spring has sprung

Low 60’s and sunny in the Valley today – really nice to be outside, as long as you don’t look at or step in the muddy slurry that’s coming out of the snowmelt.

The warm weather means the buskers are out in force in downtown Noho. A diverse assortment today: a few guitarists, a sax player, and -- an exciting new addition -- a tuba and banjo combo accompanied by a woman hula-hooping.

- jbc

Get yer grub on!

By this point we have several "favorites" among the endless restaurant offerings in the valley, so our "Get yer grub on" postings will become more of a challenge. We have found another great Thai place, Thai Garden, with locations in Northampton and Brattleboro. Now we can have great Thai food in the north and the south! We would love to take our Thai-food dining companions, Katie and Grant Weeks, to either location, followed by a long walk around the downtown to check out the fun and funky shops. Mmmm, massaman curry...