Huron Village, Cambridge, MA, Summer 2014. (c) DE Wolf 2014.

We have been basking in the glory of a beautiful New England summer and privately acknowledging that we deserve it after the cold and severe winter of 2013/2014.  Well, bad news people!  I heard on the news this morning that this mild summer with only four 90 + days, so far, is really only a continuation of last winter’s cold trend.  Thank you, Mr Weatherman.  Thank you for raining on my parade.

Still it has been spectacular, and so on a particularly mild, sunny, and gorgeous day my wife and I set out to explore a little bit of Belmont and Cambridge.  As if by magnetic attraction we ultimately found ourselves drawn to what is known as “Huron Village in Cambridge,” one of the “neat and desirable neighborhoods” and home to one of the best cheese shops in the state, “Formaggio Kitchen.” I know what I’m having for breakfast tomorrow morning.

As I wandered around with my camera enjoying the soft sunshine, I came across the facade of the Magic Beans Toy Store, Figure 1 In these dog days of summer it did not seem so incongruous.  Neither did the beans hanging in the window boxes.  They could, indeed, be magic beans. But when snow is about, these vivid, even blinding, California (or are they Miami?), colors will seem transported in space from an alien world.