we spent yesterday afternoon in Lowell, visiting Beth's cousin. he moved there recently, to a place right in the centre. Lowell's not far away but doesn't seem to be in a direction we go much. Beth's cousin lives in sight of Town Hall. atop the Town Hall is a bold eagle for a weathervane. for a city that has been utmostly seedy, it is making a comeback. those abandoned textile mills are now seen as condo conversion resource, or at least rentable to stores and brewpubs. the Lowell Spinners have a nifty new stadium: minor league teams are a sign of potential economic health for a town. we didn't really tour much. I'm sure there's a regular plgrimage to Kerouac's homestead. the scroll for On the Road is touring the country, and I can only expect it to make a stop in Lowell. Kerouac t-shirts were at the Barnes and Noble, which is really just Umass Lowell's bookstore. lots of big stone edifices fill the landscape. Beth's cousin lives in a former bank, above a bakery and a bar. we ate just down the street in an Indian resaurant. I believe Lowell has the largest Cambodian population outside of Phnom Penh. I also believe that Thoreau wrote about his adventures paddling down the Merrimack, and Concord, even this far and further, whilst ensconced at his Walden cabin. a trolley runs from the trolley museum to points unknown, at least by me. at intersections a man in the trolley hops off and waves a red flag to encourage cars to stop (of course this is only a suggestion). at one intersection a very cool, or out of it, young fellow, unhesitatingly crossed the street with no concern for the traffic around him. either that's god tempering the wind for the shorn sheep or, more likely, the power of drugs. all over the place are hip and/or ethnic restaurants. bare midriffs are the fashion no matter what the temperature. yesterday was a springlike, albeit breezy, day. a few weeks ago when Erin's mock trial team competed here, it was much colder yet the fashion held. I understand that some of the granite used locally (perhaps moreso in nearby Lawrence), for curbs and such, were taken from ancient standing stones in the area. some ways north in New Hampshire is a place called American Stonehenge (where the banshees live and they do live well), which still possesses some of the remaining standing stones, 1000s of years old. those elected war-funders haven't quite caught on about the distressing shape of the economy, so it is nice to see the grassroots effort to find vitality. or just get fucked again.