Bridgewater at Carvel Beach

THIS ENTRY CO-WRITTEN BY PAM & JAMES

Prior to our recent trip to Maryland, I (Pam) "Googled" Bridgewater Maryland to see what would come up, and found a link for Bridgewater at Carvel Beach, a new-ish subdivision in Anne Arundel County, whose website might lead one to believe that it is located in an area that is perhaps less industrial than this picture  indicates. We took this photo -- it is not an angle that would be featured in the brochure!

The material in the foreground is actually a good thing. To protect the Chesapeake Bay, Maryland actually enforces very stringent requirements to control erosion from active construction sites. Massachusetts has similar requirements, but nobody seems to know or care how to use them.

The smoke stacks at Wagner Station make it look more like it belongs in the opening credits of The Simpsons. Aside from this view, we found that everything possible was being done to distance the development from its surroundings.


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The development is much smaller than we imagined -- only 35 units at the end of a local street -- and was mostly sold out when we arrived. Read more about the development in the faux news article placed in the Baltimore Sun. We did talk to a Realtor who was representing the development; she was on the verge of selling the model home (a McHenry style).

One thing about building thousands of homes -- the builders have time to figure out what really works for kitchen layouts. This kitchen feels more spacious than ours, though it is smaller, and it was actually designed, so that we can imagine cooking and entertaining very effectively in this space.

We walked through the house and found it to be spacious, but without all the extra (and in our opinion, unnecessary) rooms. For instance, the main entrance opened to an open living/dining area and an adjacent kitchen with no additional dining space. There was no separate family room, although it did have a finished basement. There were a lot of bedrooms (five), more than most families would need, but this would not be the case without the optional third floor. The landscaping of the home had the same look as just about every other house built in the country since the late 1990s -- low-maintenance foundation plantings with a bit of color and a lot of lawn chemicals.

The decor was pure Model Home, also known as "Unique, Like Everyone Else" -- full of items to "personalize" spaces in a generic way. Admittedly, a geography-theme pillow worked its magic on me (James), even though it is not really that geographic and was probably made under deplorable conditions.

If my sales resistance gives out -- and my recent nautical bent makes this a real question -- we do not have to buy the whole house. I can cause an identical bit of individual expression to be sent my way with the click of a few buttons.

New housing developments are designed on templates both for economies of scale in construction and for ease of resale. Selling a home depends on people being able to envision staying in it long-term and at the same time being able to sell it themselves. The monotony is broken up slightly with palettes of choices in various kinds of building finishes. In the basement of a model home, the masonry equivalent of fabric swatches allow buyers to choose bricks that range from red to reddish and stonework across a similar spectrum.

The people who prepare model homes are detail-oriented. The "boy" room had a baseball bat in the closet, and the "girl" room was pink, down to the backpack!

It looks like they are also in cahoots with the wedding-industrial complex.

At this point in the Bridgewaters project, we have seen a range of realities. It was interesting to see the name invoked to sell a bit of fantasy in an otherwise gritty neighborhood.

Isosceles or Scalene?

A student recently shared this trailer for a documentary about the Bridgewater Triangle phenomenon that Pam described earlier in this project. As an active member of the community and follower of local news, it is surprising that I had not heard of the film yet, even though the trailer is six months old, and that I do not recognize any of the people who speak in this clip. I assume that the trailer is part of a fund-raising effort in support of a film not yet complete, but if so, it does not make a direct appeal.

The YouTube account that posted the video appears to be that of a small production company, but no "Trailer 2" is as yet available. The producers and commentators, in fact, seem to be as elusive as the phenomena they are pursuing. I have to confess a certain skepticism of the entire enterprise, though I do admire the inclusion of a stylized locator map in the closing frames (oops -- Spoiler Alert!) that employs a very pleasing color scheme.

Watch the clip to make a comparison with this more detailed map from Cryptmundo.

Click to enlarge.

Bridgewater Film Festival - North

During our trip to Bridgewater, New Jersey we learned that the Bridgewater Commons Mall was one of the filming locations for North a goofy movie of the "cute kid (North) seeks new parents" genre. We had seen this film a long time ago, but only barely remembered it, so we knew we needed to see it again in order to blog about it. It turned out to be more difficult than we expected. The film was not available on Netflix, or even, apparently on DVD, and I wound up requesting a VHS copy through interlibrary loan.

The choice of the Bridgewater Mall seems to have been due to its completely generic look. It really could have been anywhere, and since we never learn where North really lived before going on his quest, this would seem appropriate. The use of stereotypical hyperbole in the rest of the film make clear what his destinations were while searching for new parents - Hawaii, Alaska, France, Texas, etc.

In a bit of a subtle allusion, North stops briefly in Amish country while he considers life without electricity, Kelly McGillis (of Witness) plays his would-be mother here.

A completely predictable ending, but good family fare.

We Band of Angels

Bridgewater, Massachusetts' One Book One Community Steering Committee has chosen Elizabeth Norman's book about nurses imprisoned by the Japanese during World War II as its Community Read for Fall 2013. This book has a strong connection to the town as the story of Helen "Cassie" Cassiani, whose hometown was Bridgewater, is one that is told in this work. Coincidentally, as I was finishing reading this last week, I spotted this obituary for Mildred Dalton in the New York Times. Dalton was the last survivor of the imprisoned nurses. Interestingly, the obituary also mentions Bridgewater, New Jersey.

See You in the Funny Papers, Bridgewater

Jim Meddick's Monty comic of July 4, 2012

One one level, this comic is about a child prodigy with a financial bent, along the lines of the Alex P. Keaton character played by Michael J. Fox. On another level, it is part of our collection of obscure connections to the place name Bridgewater. On yet another level, it is a reference -- on Independence Day -- to the political power of those for whom manipulating markets is both a sport and a livelihood.

A quick search for David McCormick reveals that in addition to his position as co-CEO of the Bridgewater Associates hedge-fund, he is a fellow at the Aspen Institute and a former Under Secretary of the U.S. Treasury. He is part of the revolving door among think tanks, financial institutions, and government agencies that ensure that policy never threatens the interests of the 0.01 Percent.

His partner at Bridgewater Associates finds the phrase "hedge fund" distasteful and Fortune -- in its fawning profile of the company -- seems to agree. By leveraging its financial bets at a ratio of "only" four-to-one, it is considered more staid than its peers. More careful and conservative than Mitt Romney and Baine Capital, McCormick and Bridgewater manage to make even more money. Bridgewater is able to charge its clients hefty fees because its dispassionate (i.e., amoral) investment algorithms provide protection against the fluctuations inherent in a market economy -- fluctuations that affect only the 99 percent.

The Duke of Bridgewater

I recently finished reading Mark Twain's classic tale The Adventure's of Huckleberry Finn. It was the first time in my 48 years that I had read it. I, therefore, had no idea that Huckleberry and Jim met up with two con men, one a snake-oil salesman, and the other a faith-healer who claimed to be the Duke of Bridgewater; and Dauphin (Louis the XVII, son of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinenette) respectively who had both fallen on some hard times. Jim and Huck fall for the two and "set to majestying" Dauphin to make him feel better, which "kind of soured" the Duke. Huck figures out in short order, however, that the two are not who they said, explaining that "If I never learnt nothing else out of pap, I learnt tht the best way to get along with his kind of people  is to let them have their own way."

The Duke of "Bilgewater" shakes hands "Looy the Seventeen"

Read the entire book online here.

Bridgewater, Connecticut August 23, 2012

(Jointly written by Pam & James)
On our way to pick up our daughter from the airport on Toronto, we stopped to visit a good friend in Highland, New York. On the way to that visit, we stopped to visit Bridgewater, Connecticut, a bucolic spot remarkable for its remoteness, so close to I-84 in the northwest corner of the Nutmeg State.

We saw several signs that indicated we were in Bridgewater, but this one was the most geographic.

Yum!

The Village Store sold Bridgewater merch, and also had a deli counter where we ordered soup and sandwiches for lunch. The food was delicious and was served by the super-friendly folks at the store. Also on sale were Bridgewater Chocolate bars. In the interest of "the project" we had to try one, and really could not resist the one made with "coffee crisp" - a sweet, creamy and crunchy treat it was!

We try a lot of coffee/chocolate combination bars, and can assure readers that this is among the tastiest.

Interior shot of the Village Store with Pam's cute purse in the foreground

"Bridgewater 06752"
We used the post office to send back our Netflix.

We noticed something unusual about this plaque -- honoring a large number of people from this small town who served in World War I. Two townspeople were killed in action, with a couple more serving and returning. What is interesting is that the plaque lists three who served in the Red Cross. We will certainly be checking future monuments to see whether honoring these healers alongside the warriors is common practice.

This is a very small town, so its closure on the day of our visit was a routine part of the schedule. It had been closed more dramatically (by the FBI) one day in July, but we heard no rumblings about that fracas.

Librarian Pam doesn't mind taking a "busman's holiday" now and then and stopping in to see a library. The Burnham Library has such an intriguing story about funding, involving the lost will of an eccentric hermit that we made sure to stop in. As a bonus for us, it turned out the library was hosting an Art Exhibit by local artist Karen Cashman which includes oil paintings of Bridgewater scenes.

We spent a few more minutes exploring the village center, featuring a lot of lovely architecture.

Most of our friends know that we met in Baltimore, which has brought many benefits to our life together. Among these is expertise in the area of exterior decor. Specifically, because Charm City is the setting of Pink Flamigos, we bring special skills to the discussion of whether decorative materials constitute "garden art" or "lawn crap." Pam was a Baltimore lifer (until our marriage) and James spent two brief but intense years working on lawns from Dundalk to Owings Mills. With all this experience, we found this tableau to be very close to the line. Pam eventually broke the deadlock, citing the red-white-and-blue lights on the central pole.

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The village center includes lovely plantings around the local businesses and public buildings and an elongated town green that is remarkably similar to the Bridgewater Common in our own Bridgewater. Unlike its Massachusetts counterpart, however, this one does not seem to conform to the biblical dimensions of Noah's  Ark.

Alas, we will not in town for the upcoming Tractor Parade. 

The protection of open space is important to both Bridgewaters, and is signified by this preserve just to the south of the town center. The value of several private properties is greatly enhanced by commanding views of this expansive public space, which also protects water quality and wildlife habitat.

From Bridgewater, it was a short jaunt down I-84 for a lovely evening on the Hudson River.

Lagniappe

Just a few months after our visit to this Bridgewater, hell came to Newtown, an equally idyllic community just ten miles to its south. We were reminded of this on the recent anniversary of the December 14, 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary, as we watched the film Newtown. It was filmed over a period of several years to document how the crime affected the families, and how little Congress has done in response. The politics are important, but the lived experience of these parents, siblings, children, and first responders is even more so.