Part one of my reintroduction mentioned that I was busy with the fundraiser, but I’ve also had a lot of other stuff to keep up on. Babies, weddings, work and whatnot. You know how it can be. It’s a double edge sword, you want enough to do in your life to stay interested but when you’re writing about it, you also need time to write about it all!
This last week was jammed packed. Maybe everything should be broken up into different posts, but hey, I’m just getting back after a hiatus and need to ease into everything. This weekend wasn’t really supposed to be that full of activities, we were just going to a wedding and the folk fest was going on.
That all changed Thursday. I was sitting at the desk job, and good old VanyaLand (love that blog, check it out) had an article about the Acro-Cats and I recognized the act from an Animal Planet show. Turns out, they were in town! Obviously, we had to go!!
I don’t remember a time when I have laughed more. Seriously. The show started with simple tricks by a few of the cats but the three ladies running the show added great commentary between everything.
The audience were also participants, laughing and shouting for all the cats as they went through hoops, climbed poles and darted across the stage. A few times, the cats joined us in the seats! My favorite tricks included the applause sign which was lit when one cat would hit a button and when they would climb up above six feet and hop down onto the back of the trainers.
Tuna was the star of the show, but the other cats were equally adorable. Above is Tuna on the cowbell and the rest of the cats up close. There was a meet and great after the show. Most of the cats don’t like to be pet, but one cat was gracious enough to let us snuggle.
There were a lot of kids in the audience so the show wrapped up pretty early, which was nice since Mr. Richard and I had to get to a wedding the next day in Western Massachusetts.
The wedding was beautiful. A work friend, we went for the groom and his now wife planned a wonderful day. Every detail was covered for the entire day; it was like a twelve hour day! We ended up leaving early, with me feeling that it would best to get a little of everything and do more than burn out on one thing.
Sunday, we woke up early to get back in time for the Lowell Folk Fest. I was a little upset, we were only about forty-five minutes late and still missed the pierogis! We parked by the Swamp Locks in the canals so our walk over to the festival was really pretty.
We also managed to catch the trolley and have a scenic ride over to the food. The food! Oh my goodness, the selection of food is overwhelming. We immediately got in line for the Polish tent and I had Mr. Richard wait while I got drinks and samosas. We ate those while we waited but unfortunately, as I mentioned, the pierogis were gone.
It was sad, but I instead filled up on some Greek dessert, a fried dough with honey and nuts while Mr. Richard had some spinach pie. We topped everything with ice cream. It was a delicious mixture! My little cousin works the ice trucks and had a gyro which looked amazing as well.
After feeling stuffed, we walked down the artist way, and this year had some fantastic artists, particularly the fabric arts. I really fell in love with the different textiles. It was a beautiful contrast to have traditional African or Caribbean fabrics contrasted with the North American styles Lowell is known for.
Of course, they do demonstrations and you can purchase items if you’re so inclined!
At the end of the walk, we were at Boarding Park Stage and it was an Armenian act. They really got the crowd going, a lot of folks got up to dance and celebrate the culture. I don’t know how many times I can say it, I love Lowell for it’s diversity and this folk fest is really the perfect example of it all.
Before we headed back around, we managed to catch a talented act out of a Brookline, MA Indian dance school. These girls were incredible! I took a ton of pictures and videos because all of it was stunning. The hair, make up, saris and of course, the dance moves were all gorgeous.
See, they were amazing! I do try to keep it all different and interesting, so make sure you check out the social media pages like Facebook and Instagram for even more footage.
As we headed back to the canals for the tour, we found some really great spots for taking pictures, I hope to go down there next weekend at some point for a little side project. We also learned a lot about Lowell, including the original settlers, the immigrants that maintained what the settlers started and how we got where we are today.
The tour also focused a bit on the environment. Due to the industrial nature, the river was so polluted but now it’s up to a class B which means you can now swim in it. I remember how it worked it’s way up! The river used to be absolutely horrible.
The whole day was really informative but I was exhausted by the end of the entire weekend. I spent Sunday catching up on some TV with my feet up, somehow trying to write some posts. Tonight when I get home though, I plan on doing some cataloging so everything catches back up to steam by mid-week.
Part of the blogging hiatus was spent planning how the blog would look coming back. I’ve broken down the “Things Randomly Related to the Collection” section into even more. It was a lot of work on the backend of things so it’s not super noticeable but do check out the category section on the right or bottom of any post to explore!
There’s sections now! Life Updates, Concerts, Record Stores and more. It’ll be easier to find anything you’re looking for, well, that’s the goal anyway! What else? I hoping to include a weekly events schedule on Sundays too so you can catch local Boston music too.
My Dad's Albums 