09/11/2016
Porter Square Station (4:53 pm)
Somerville City Hall (5:09 pm)
Highland Ave starts from the highest point in Somerville - city hall - and gradually runs downhill into Davis Square. The sidewalks are wide and the drivers turn cautiously. This combination makes the road one of my favorites to run along in the area.
On one of my late evening runs, I noticed how the sun appeared to set in an almost straight line down the middle of Highland Ave. I resolved to come out here on another day and look for a vantage point to watch a sunset. Surely, there was someplace on the hill from where I could get a great view over the top of the city and into Cambridge?
On this day, I return. I explore for about an hour but make no headway. The westward view from ground level is blocked by buildings and most of the higher viewing spots are closed off to the public.
I leave a little disappointed. Surely, the view from the top of the library must be spectacular.
09/30/2016
Cambridge Main Library at Broadway / Trowbridge St (4:43 pm)
Union Square - Somerville (5:01 pm)
Somerville City Hall (5:44 pm)
Beacon St at Washington / Kirkland (6:12 pm)
I return once more to Somerville on a wet Friday afternoon. It is a little later than usual for a library trip but Somerville makes it work - for some reason, its main library branch is open until 6pm on Fridays. The other main branch libraries in the area - Boston and Cambridge - both close at 5pm.
I bike over to Union Square, summit one of Somerville's seven hills on foot, and enter the library about a half-hour before closing time. I immediately like the building. Low ceilings and narrow hallways distinguish it from the echoing openness of the Boston Main Library. The many little rooms create the seclusion and privacy lost by the Cambridge Main Library's love affair with glass walls. I do not see many books, however, and I inquire. The books are upstairs.
I walk up a short set of stairs and emerge into the main collection space. I like this floor more than the one below it. The main space acknowledges modernity with four short rows of computers but the room is controlled by the decades of books lining the walls on all sides. There is also a partial upper level, accessible by a short set of stairs. Guests can stroll along the rectangular walkway above and browse the bookshelves pushed perpendicularly against the walls.
I ascend to the upper level and slowly work my around the edges. The setup of the room leaves the middle of the second floor open. The older feel of the room, the open space in the middle, and the cold dreariness outside all come together to remind me of the 1995 James Bond movie Goldeneye. In one scene, Bond runs through a Russian government archive room designed just like this one. As he flees, inept henchmen fire away into his footprints.
Nothing new, right, reader? New movie, same story - after a score of movies detailing such adventures, who would blame Bond for being so confident in his safety? I wonder if the James Bond in the books dodged as many bullets as Pierce Brosnan's interpretation in the movies. Did he wear a helmet to protect himself against the remote specter of a well-aimed bullet? Surely, this would be just the type of place to find those books and see for myself...
A couple of times, I pause my rambling thoughts to peek out a window. Is the view from the library any better than it was from the ground? With luck, maybe I'll see Cambridge this time...
It isn't much of a view, though, and not just because of the rainy conditions. The same buildings blocking my view from the ground are still blocking my view from a couple floors up - different story, same story. You get what you pay for at the library, I guess.
I walk back down to the floor and log on to one of the computers. Quite frankly, the computer doesn't move very fast, even by 1995 standards. At the rate it's moving, three minutes becomes six. I estimate I'll be able to delete one or two emails in the fifteen minutes left before closing. I cut my losses and leave.
The ride back takes me along my running route: down the hill, through a few stoplights, and eventually into Davis Square. There is no bike path and the road is, let's say, 'sporadically maintained'. I learn quickly why drivers turn slowly: the parked cars on both sides make turns at driving speed impossible. Add the rainy conditions and my downward progress is, let's say...more interesting than usual. But just like everyone's favorite spy, I keeping moving straight ahead and every empty threat just misses me.
Despite its bluster about upcoming infrastructure projects and its vision of soon becoming Cambridge's little brother, most locals know Somerville is lacking in bike lanes, reliable transportation, and high-speed public computers. The average person can't even see Cambridge from Somerville's highest point!
Is it possible to get somewhere you cannot see? I, like Somerville, hope it is. The rain is coming down harder now. I keep the bike pointed toward Cambridge which is allegedly somewhere straight ahead. But progress is never smooth, is it? Adding bike lanes might be a good place to start but, for now, all I can do is keep the bike somewhere about a car's length to the right of the fading double line and hope for the best.
