Blogging A to Z Challenge Favorites (so far…) #AtoZChallenge

So we are halfway through the Blogging A to Z Challenge.  I’ve been trying hard to read, like, and comment on other people’s A to Z posts, but as there are 1758 of you out there, I’m just scratching the surface.

I decided that I would highlight some of my favorite A to Z projects that you may to read.  Please let me know of the great blogs I’m missing out on!  There’s a lot of great work going on.

• A. J. Sefton introduces us to fascinating people of the Dark Ages
• If I Only Had a Time Machine opens  a 1970s time capsule
• Introvert Playground shares a short work of original fiction each day
• Metals and Alloys that Changed the World is a fascinating and accessible guide to well, metals and alloys that changed the world
• Mixtapes and Cupcakes is about songs and memories
• Mott’s Ruminations explores phobias in haiku form
• New England Momma makes a checklist for your next family camping trip
• The Sound of One Hand Typing brings together a collection of portmanteau words
• TanGental provides a local’s perspective on London
• Tossing it Out is doing a great examination of Manhattan

Put a link to what I’m missing in the comments, and don’t be shy about sharing your own blog!

JP A to Z: M is for Monument #AtoZChallenge #JamaicaPlain

M is for Monument

At an island at the fork of two of Jamaica Plain’s “main streets” – Centre and South – stands a prominent landmark, the Soldier’s Monument, known to many as just The Monument.  Dedicated in 1871, the Monument is a memorial to the 23 men of West Roxbury (as Jamaica Plain was part of the Town of West Roxbury at the time) who died fighting for the Union in the American Civil War.  A smaller plaque remembers the locals who died in the Revolutionary War cause.  The Monument still serves as a place of memory and reflection, and is frequently decorated with flags on holidays and solemn occasions by local activist and Boston Marathon bombing hero Carlos Arredondo.

A few years back the Monument was restored and at the rededication ceremony they read off the names of the soldiers who died in the Civil War, all of whom are buried in the South near the battlefields where they died.  Several of the men are buried in Williamsburg, VA where I went to college and lived for seven years, making the Monument extra resonant for me.

Soldier’s Monument

The soldier stands vigil atop the 27-foot monument.

Revolutionary War dead also remembered.

The Monument on Memorial Day.

The Loring-Greenough House (1760) across the street.

The Monument is surrounded by prominent buildings including the First Church in Jamaica Plain Unitarian Universalist, Curtis Hall (once the town hall for independent West Roxbury), the Jamaica Plain library branch, and the Loring-Greenough House.  A colonial-era milestone by the Monument marks five miles distance from the Old State House in central Boston.

Post for “M” in the Blogging from A to Z Challenge.

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