Lee Toma

Boston skyline

The John Hancock Building weather beacon is back to blue

The last moments of a glorious sunrise in the skies over a Boston park and houses

The sun rises reflected in Dorchester Bay, with solar panels and a windmill providing modern contrast to the LNG tank on the waterfront

Good morning Boston!

The roads are still wet and covered with small branches and slippery leaves but the storm has moved out and it left us with a beautiful sunrise

New England’s final coal plant shuts down years ahead of schedule Poor economics drove the aging New Hampshire plant offline three years early, even as the Trump administration pushes to revitalize coal.

New England’s final coal plant shuts down years ahead of schedule.

Poor economics drove the aging New Hampshire plant offline three years early, even as the Trump administration pushes to revitalize coal.

grist.org/energy/new-e...

#Coal #Energy #Solar #Wind #Climate

Buildings in Boston viewed from the rail line next to the Turnpike

As the nor’easter slowly winds down the John Hancock Building weather beacon reports rain ahead.

"Steady blue, clear view;
Flashing blue, clouds due;
Steady red, rain ahead;
Flashing red, snow instead."

#Boston

The only thing that ever felt threatening to me in Chicago is all the cars.

DJT peeks in the cockpit: How high can this thing go? Take us up to 100,000 ft. That’s a nice big number.

Pilot: Yes sir, right away.

Co-pilot: But we can only go to-
Pilot: SHUT UP AND SMILE!

Co-pilot: … 😬

‘Tis the season

I’ve been thinking about moving away from Evernote because they haven’t fixed the text selection bug on mobile for months. It’s so frustrating.

I sometimes switch to Apple notes but I’ve been thinking of using OneNote for personal notes much like I do for work notes.

Aerial view of the intersection (left) before the change in 2018 shows Rt 28 (vertical) with four lanes north of Chickatawbut Rd (horizontal). A conventional proposal (center) would have added turn lanes. The recent proposal planed for construction would have a two-lane roundabout with pedestrian crossings a short distance from the roundabout.

I think it is encouraging that this may also allow the hotly-debated Chickatawbut Road roundabout proposal to change from two lanes to one, which would make it less hazardous for people hiking and biking in the Blue Hills.

I checked it out last week and it appeared that the rush hour traffic backups had already adjusted to normal levels (Thanks Waze!) and people were driving safely. Plus, neighbors were able to pull out of side streets into traffic more easily.

MassDOT rendering showing two road diet sections of Route 28 in Milton. At top is a view with two lanes separated a wide median and flex posts, and below is a view with two lanes and a center turning lane

A photo of the intersection of Chickatawbut Road and Route 28 in the Blue Hills Reservation. Where once Route 28 had four lanes it now has two with a center turn lane

A photo of Route 28 showing an intersection with 'do not block the box' striping to allow neighbors to pull out into the roadway

A photo by a person riding a bicycle showing the bicycle handlbar while traveling in the shoulder of the roadway. Presumably the shoulder is not marked as a bike lane because the road speeds are too high. However, the road does have sidewalks on both sides.

Rt28 in Milton has been one of the most dangerous stroads in metro Boston. It had four lanes; drivers speed and caused many severe crashes. A couple years ago CTPS and the town coordinated on a study of the corridor, and last week MassDOT implemented a 6 month pilot program to evaluate a road diet.

Sometimes I think about how absolutely wild it is that drivers think they're being oppressed when they get punished for breaking the law

Open Streets Boston Mattapan (Blue Hill Ave.) happening this Saturday, October 18th from 10:30 am to 3 pm!! 🎉🚶🏻‍♂️🚶🏻‍♀️🚲🛴🛹

boston.gov/open-streets

Walkers pause at horrible Ukraine Way intersection

Simple repaving not enough to make Hyde Park Avenue safe, Forest Hills residents say
www.universalhub.com/2025/simple-...
#Boston #JamaicaPlain #Roslindale #HydePark

Photo of a woman riding a cruiser bicycle in front of a corrugated metal wall.

Actress Diane Keaton

#RIPDianeKeaton

Selfie in a bike helmet on a stroad highway beside Boston Harbor

I enjoyed a few minutes of #OpenStreets Morrissey Boulevard this morning as the Firefighters 5k/10k road race was winding down

Colorful foliage behind the Harvest River Bridge linking the Neponset River Greenway trail between Milton and Boston Massachusetts

Colorful foliage behind the Harvest River Bridge linking the Neponset River Greenway trail between Milton and Boston Massachusetts. A person is riding a bicycle across the bridge

Colorful foliage and sunset skies behind the Harvest River Bridge linking the Neponset River Greenway trail between Milton and Boston Massachusetts

Colorful foliage behind the Harvest River Bridge linking the Neponset River Greenway trail between Milton and Boston Massachusetts

The fall foliage appears to be at or a bit past peak, so check it out soon if you haven’t already!

#NeponsetTrail #HarvestRiverBridge #foliage #NewEngland #Boston #RailTrail

High tide floods a beach

High tide floods a beach parking lot

High tide floods the Neponset River Greenway trail

A beach scene

It’s twenty minutes before high tide and Tenean Beach is mostly underwater

A pink Brompton bicycle in front of a subway station sign in Boston

A subway station sign - Shawmut - in Boston, describing local farming and industrial history

THE FIRST GRIST MILL WAS STARTED ON THE DORCHESTER BANK OF THE NEPONSET RIVER BY ISRAEL STOUGHTON IN 1634; OTHER MILLS FOLLOWED INCLUDING WALTER BAKER & Co., THE CHOCOLATE MANUFACTURER. SHIPBUILDING BEGAN ON THE RIVER AS EARLY AS 1640.

A new subway car approaches a station, with a bicycle leaning against a wall in the foreground

Greetings from Shawmut Station in Dorchester - on the walls they display a bit of local agricultural and industrial history

#MBTAbyBicycle

Crystals of ice dot small green leaves on a chilly morning

A colorful roadside scene where the morning sunlight peeks through the trees and sidelight a frosted grassy area

Grass, some of which has gone to seed, is frosted on a chilly morning. It is illuminated by the morning light against the dark background of the trees behind it.

Crystals of ice line the edges of an oak leaf and the grass around it

First frost - a few frames from this morning’s #bikecommute here in scenic Massachusetts

A view of seats in a passenger train, with a lake and trees visible through the windows

Lake Cochituate in Natick

‘Holy Hydrophilic Empire’ 😂
Also, might as well add in Ceuta and Melilla and buffer zones around them too

Stainless steel fare gates partially installed at South Station in Boston

Stainless steel fare gates partially installed at South Station in Boston

Stainless steel fare gates partially installed at South Station in Boston

Fenced off areas of the South Station platform beneath the South Station Tower arches, illuminated in purple light before dawn

Today’s status update on the South Station fare gates installation process.
#MBTA #MBTACR #Boston

The President of the United States is living in an alternate reality and it's long past time for media outlets to start talking about it.

We're beyond "Trump said without evidence." Trump is governing a world that only exists in his warped mind.

The literal reading of this statement is Pam Bondi is planning extrajudicial executions of random protesters.

Posobiec claim: Antifa is so clearly real that it “has been going on for almost 100 years … going back to the Weimar Republic in Germany.”

Analysis: it’s… difficult to position yourself as the good guys if you’re aligning yourself with the Nazis in your historical analogy.

(or someone just like him)

I know that guy!

Breaking and entering should be legal if it’s to replace a smoke detector battery

A new Amtrak Acela Avelia Liberty train at South Station in Boston

Front view of a new Amtrak Acela Avelia Liberty train at South Station in Boston

Side view of a new Amtrak Acela Avelia Liberty train at South Station in Boston

A new Amtrak Acela Avelia Liberty train at South Station in Boston, with a Brompton bicycle standing on the platform in front of it

I haven’t seen the new Amtrak Acela Avelia Liberty trains doing trial runs since they launched into service but I do occasionally see them preparing for the first daily departure when I head to work early.