Lowell Memories

I was out driving the other day with really no direction when it struck me that I want to hold on to as many memories as possible. And that there is no better way then by photograph. So as I went around Lowell I encircled areas that meant a lot to me as a child, teen, and even now as an adult. Below are some of my favorite places, places where memories emerge from the back of my mind, memories that are repressed, and memories that are as clear as crystal. Enjoy!





The photo above is the "Six Arch Bridge." This is a popular swimming place in Lowell which leads directly into the Merrimack River. Frankly, I never jumped off, I was too scared for many people came up with split shoes or gushing blood from hitting some type of trash down below. That never interested me!

There are a few memories with this particular bridge though. My first job was at a Dunkin Donuts that was about a 15 minute walk from my house. My friend Meghan and I both worked there one summer. My mother always worrying told me not to walk on the tracks by we never listened that was the thrill of it all. We would walk, talk, smoke cigarettes because it was the cool thing to do, and just talk about life, love, friends, family, happiness, sadness, the future. It was a walk of unwinding from the present days troubles or the troubles to come for we often opened. There were sometimes even that that walk freaked me out. Because it was on the tracks there was a old abandon train cart which people used for all different things, drinking, drugs, sex, hanging out ect... so you never knew what you were going to see or who was going to be around the conner. Now that I recall that was not the safest move Meghan and I did in our lives. I recall seeing homeless folk living in that cart early in the morning sometimes when Meghan and I would leave extra early to smoke a butt with out being caught. I remember we said don't look just keep walking, but I couldn't help but look. I remember I always felt sorry for them and wanted to know about their lives. Sometimes that was a conversation Meghan and I had... we would discuss how they possibly got there and what their family was like. Those conversations never lasted long but none the less they occurred.



This picture is of this random stream behind the condo's in Lowell. Now there are many condo's in Lowell but this stream represents the set in my direct neighborhood, at the end of Epping St. My good friend growing up B.J. and I used to hunt around the woods building forts with our 3 nails, looking for salamanders, snakes, you name it we caught it. I remember this one time we were out salamander hunting and we came across the greenest snake we have ever see... it was a radio active snake or something. But I remember he was like quick run back to my house and get a bucket. We were a street away and for some reason we though that there snake was going to be there when we returned. I of course took the short way to B.J.'s house I crossed yet another set of tracks that I was not supposed to go on and cut through someones yard again something I was not supposed to do... but hey I was a kid. And of course when I got back to Stratham Park and ran to the back of the woods that there snake had gone slithering away. I was shocked that B.J. didn't just grab hold of him!











Above are all shots from the Stratham Bridge this was the set of tracks I needed to cross in order to get to B.J.'s faster... spent many days walking, cutting across or placing pennies on the tracks to get them flattened by the next train. Often times like this time there was a train sitting on the tracks. The doors were often open on the carts and I always wondered how many people rode upon those trains or slept inside as they went town to town. Every so often we had to cross over the connector of two carts to get to the other side and I was filled with fear and excitement that the train would start to move although it never did thankfully.

Well thats it for tonight. Hope you have enjoyed this jog of my memories as much as I have!

Grace!