Reconsidering the seagull

BY VIRGINIA BUCKINGHAM

“Rats with wings.” That’s the common derogatory descriptor about that common sea bird, the gull. Last summer, one wily airborne rodent grabbed an entire overflowing lobster roll from my hand just as I was taking a first bite. Darn rat! Mostly though, gulls are a casually observed but uncontemplated part of our daily landscape. We might notice one pecking at an unlucky crab or perched on a neighbor’s chimney. But we don’t give their presence a second thought, even seconds later. Unexpectedly for me, the merely observed recently became the deeply contemplated.

I was given the gift of a week staying in a friend’s apartment overlooking Boston Harbor. It was a respite from construction at home, as well from the frustration of a mobility-reducing broken ankle.

Dreams of wandering the city though became the reality of mostly staying put and staring at the view out the apartment window. And oh, what a view! The only object between the oversized glass windows and the water was the flat roof of the federal courthouse. I figured my gaze would be held by the fuel-filled tankers moving through the harbor, the daily commuter ferries, the ubiquitous coast guard craft, the distant Tobin Bridge. In fact, though, it became the courthouse roof itself which held my fascination. Or rather, the late afternoon and evening arrivals on the roof. Starting at about 4:30 p.m., gulls of all shapes and sizes, from all directions, began appearing, descending directly like graceful drones as opposed to the glide path of planes landing on a runway. At first, there were just a handful — three gulls from this direction, two gulls from that. They each arrived alone, some purposeful about choosing their landing spot, others circling above as if checking out their options.

Then as the light started to fade, dozens more arrived, then tens of dozens and then seemingly hundreds. It was as if every gull from Chelsea Creek to Castle Island had been summoned to a mandatory family meeting. Because I have the sense of humor of a third grader, I chuckled out loud as I imagined them exchanging gossip from the day. ‘Hey Fred, did you see all the mussels broken open on the dry dock by the Design Center? I did that!’

But mostly, I just watched. The first day. The second. Until I made a point of being at the window at the same time each late afternoon that week. Without effort, the watching transformed into something else, more akin to meditation, conscious of each gull instead of each breath. One early evening, something, a strong gust of wind, or a loud sound, sent all of the gulls back into the sky — some flying so high they looked like black specks about to alight on the emerging stars. The disrupted gulls circled at varying heights, as if contained by an invisible

RE: Living within your budget....

TO THE EDITOR:

I would like to echo concerns stated by Mr. Jack Buba in last week’s letter (Feb. 22).

Evidently, many town citizens (and administrators) need to be reminded that since 1995 the Marblehead Community Charter Public School (MCCPS) has been successfully operating on a fixed state-funding budget based on a per-pupil expense (PPE).

For 28 years, 230 students per year, in fourth through eighth grades, have been receiving a firstclass education without incurring deficits and/or overrides. How does that happen, and why isn’t that possible for all our public school districts?

The Massachusetts Education Reform Act of 1993 changed how the Commonwealth supported, administered and funded the education services of our public school students in local school districts. The fact that many MCCPS students go on to high school in advanced placement classes and receive scholarships to funnel, hundreds calling out, a dance and a song of their own creation. Eventually, each settled back on the roof. In their exact same spot, like a reserved parking space? Impossible to know, but I wished I did. By dawn, they were gone, I never was up in time to see the departures, to know whether it was a reverse of their arrivals, first a few, then dozens and then tens of dozens flying east or south, all directions of the compass. Passing their day mostly ignored, until they were summoned once again to the roof by the fading light. There was a majesty to their movement, a purpose to their presence. The common sea gull had not only been reconsidered, it had been transformed.

Here are a few other items for reconsideration from my week in the city:

The Tobin Bridge

From my Seaport vantage point, the Tobin looked like a piece from a Thomas the Train toy set, a child’s hand having cantilevered it at the narrow neck of the inner harbor. Unlike its nearby cabled, Springsteenanointed cousin the Zakim, there’s a faded elegance about the Tobin, its green metal profile a relief from the gray and brown winter landscape. I won’t oversell it, it’s no Golden Gate, but it’s cool. And it will be a lifeline for the North Shore when the Sumner Tunnel closes seven days a week this summer.

The Embrace

I’d read the reviews of the newly installed tribute to Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King. Many were bluntly unimpressed. I was blown away. The meticulously recreated buttons on his jacket cuff. The bracelet on her arm. The wrinkles on his hand. The nail beds on her fingers. The diversity of people gazing up at it, walking under it, touching it. The handmade memorial to Tyre Nichols nearby. The craftsmanship of The Embrace is extraordinary. The simple message of the power of love was profound.

Cabs

My Uber app was only working intermittently, and as mentioned, I wasn’t walking anywhere fast. I needed a cab. Where were the cabs? What happened to the cab stands? I hobbled from The Embrace to the corner of School and Beacon Streets, a long hobble, because that’s where the cab stand I knew used to be. It was empty. Technology has decimated cabs. I used to not consider what that meant to city life. I’ve reconsidered. What can we do to support traditional cab drivers?

I have no larger meaning to impart from these reconsiderations. It was just a good reminder to myself that looking at something from a different vantage point is, in its own small way, transformative. And I wanted to share that thought with you.

Virginia Buckingham is a member of the Current’s board of directors. Her column appears weekly.

North Shore private high schools enhances the reputation of a public school education administered and operating within budget constraints. Perhaps our town finance and school committees et al. need to be “schooled” on how to manage expenses within our citizen taxpayer means?

R.A. EBETTA CHESTNUT STREET

Cross-pollination is critical

TO THE EDITOR

Just got through reading Virginia Buckingham’s column, “Bringing Back a Bookstore,” and I could not agree more about the void that Spirit of ‘76 left in our community by closing. It cut right to the core and spirit of Marblehead.

Marblehead has been faced with years and years of small businesses opening up and closing their doors, almost to the point now where our streets are lined with real estate offices and the dentist office that occupies our former bookstore.

Yes, a bookstore sounds like a touching new option for someone to open, but it’s rough out there.

Never mind the challenges of the internet, but Marblehead needs to re-define itself as a destination in terms of a total experience.

Throughout the greater North Shore, it is not known as a place to go for a total shopping experience.

The Massachusetts Express Grant Program is designed to provide small-to-medium size businesses the tools they need not just to survive, but succeed. It would certainly make a lot of sense if several of the small businesses would consider taking full advantage of this opportunity.

To take it to another level, I would imagine the Express Grant Program could help design a strategy to help the town of Marblehead.

By the way, the Spirit of ‘76 formerly operated stores in Swampscott, Andover, Newburyport and Marblehead — now only in Andover.

If a store is going to survive, my opinion is it has a much better chance if all the stores are strong. Cross-pollination is critical. Shop owners need to pull their resources together to give people a reason to shop in Marblehead.