Water, water everywhere, nor any drop to drink

If it's not one thing, it's another.  Over the weekend, Boston's water supply was disrupted due to a catastrophic failure of a pipe.  65 million gallons (about 800,000 baths-full) leaked out and they had to divert untreated water from the Chestnut Hill reservoir into the system to maintain pressure.  So, Boston and its neighboring MWRA communities have to boil their water.

We're not affected here, of course.  Everyone in Carlisle has their own well and water treatment system.

But it's going to be interesting to hear all the accusations and recriminations going on in the next few weeks.  As with the Big Dig project (a tunnel ceiling tile fell on a car killing the passenger), there are going to be questions.  Was the design at fault?  The construction?  The materials?  It's interesting to note that the failure occurred in equipment only seven years old.  The old pipes which have been there for about 100 years are doing fine, although they are in the process of being upgraded for use as a back-up system.

Meanwhile, the "bugs" have arrived.  We went for a really nice hike at the weekend to Royalston Falls (North central Massachusetts).  We were so energetic, we decided to walk to New Hampshire.  Actually, it was only about half a mile to the line.  But, despite DEET, I got many bites from black flies, which seem to be bigger than ever this year.  But, no mosquitoes.  Until yesterday, that is.  Now, the squadrons have reformed and they are out to kill.  Me especially.

If we can ignore the bugs, the lovely azaleas down by the Greenough pond are out at the moment and they have a pleasant, delicate scent. I believe they belong to the species rhododendron canescens.  Common names for this include Honeysuckle Azalea, Hoary (or Woolly) Azalea, Wild Honeysuckle, Sweet Mountain Azalea.  They're not really native to this area (the southeast is their stronghold) but they are similar to R. roseum with which they're known to hybridize and which is native.  Or they could have been planted.

For those of us on the hike, we did 3.3 miles in total and about 400' of climb.  Here are the map and profile:

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