A friend told me recently that during Covid, with no students and many beloved businesses closed, she finds Harvard Square so depressing that she no longer wants to go there. I have a different take.

It is true that early in the pandemic the Square was desolate.

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But since the Phase I reopening last summer, I’ve gone there almost every day.

After running on the Charles River, I often head to Henrietta’s Cafe for coffee, outdoors–yes, it’s freezing– but the wonderful staffers there have pretty much gotten me through the year. (Their number is sparser now: with limited seating and very few customers, several servers have been laid off, others work just one day a week instead of their previous five, and those who returned to college in the fall have not been brought back, at all). But those who are there graciously ask me about the book I’m working on, and even laugh at (some of) my jokes.

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A few weeks ago, I took a longer look –camera in hand. Yes, Dickson Brothers is closed, the “Dewey Cheatem and Howe” office of public radio duo” Click and Clack” is gone, as are tea shops, coffee shops, and stores like Staples that I’ve frequented for years.

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The Red House, once my favorite restaurant, still serves great food but mostly, since even before Covid, it’s a pot shop. Book stores-turned- clothing stores have been turned into banks; the former Au Bon Pain is now the Harvard Student Center; Legal Seafoods has been shuttered and sold; the iconic Out of Town News has closed, and the newstand that once stood on the corner, opposite, is now a milk bar.

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Walking around, I tried to imagine riding a bike into the Square or eating at Charlie’s Kitchen in a plastic hut.

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I was pleased to see that Cardullo’s has survived, along with national chain stores like CVS, Starbucks , Peets Coffee, and the Gap…

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At Citizens Bank , I was welcomed like a long lost friend. (In the summer, they cheered me on when I showed up with the pool noodle I carried for social distancing…or, perhaps, they were just overjoyed to see a customer–or any human face) .

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By now, the Charles Hotel has been remodelled–It still has its fancy modern exterior, but inside, the lobby has been divided into smaller, cozier rooms with a historic, bookish feel.

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The Coop is under construction; as is the block where Curious George, Deluxe Tea, Urban Outfitters and Dickson Brothers used to be.

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I found myself rushing to capture as much of the present as I could before it became the past. In the near-wreckage, I came across this mural signed “by Dennis.”

Around another corner, while I shot photos of pictures of the old Square superimposed on what will be walls of the new , a construction foreman yelled out, “You’re not allowed to do that!” I asked, “Why not?” He said, “Just kidding,” and insisted on taking my photo, with my phone (Covid be damned!), alongside a construction truck.

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After that, I spritzed on some hand sanitizer and headed home –feeling not depressed but, rather, elated…. by the people, by the energy, and by the beauty of the changing scene: its light, its lines, its colors, its shapes. Snapping photos, I had become part of that scene, experiencing my own transformation, excited to see what the world will look like after Covid, after Trump, after this difficult winter, as we create new futures for ourselves and for one another.

–Anita Harris is an award-winning writer, photographer and communications consultant based in Cambridge, MA.
-New Cambridge Observer is a publication of the Harris Communications Group, a PR and digital marketing firm, also in Cambridge, MA.

For some unfathomable reason, in the Peoples’ Republic, folks either do not know or do not care that the city’s covid rules now require both face masks AND social distancing, even in parks like Fresh Pond–with a possible $300 fine.

Running on Fresh Pond this morning before 7 a.m., I found that many people were respecting the order, but several runners ignored the requirement.

Social Distancing
A couple with white hair insisted on staying two abreast in the center of the path, refusing to budge when I asked them for some distance. They went so far as to tell me both that I should not have stopped on the path and that I should walk slower, until they got ahead of me. I am usually mild-mannered, but I confess, I lost it–resorting to the F-bomb–before I turned and sped up my pace in hopes of out-distancing them.

When I asked another woman –nicely–for some distance, she laughed at me .

Masks
When I reminded a twenty-something couple that masks are required, they ignored me; when I asked if they knew they could be subject to the $300 fine, the guy told me I should be heading clockwise. True, that’s a guideline, but it’s not a requirement, because not everyone goes all the way around the pond. I said, “I can’t make it all the way around.” He said, “That’s not our problem.”

Soon after that, I ran into a dog friend I’ve nicknamed “Smiley.” His human asked me how I was doing; I mentioned some of the above. She said she goes out even before 6:30 because “After 7, it’s too anxiety provoking. ” She added, “I don’t understand why people won’t help; we’re all in this together.”

I don’t “get it,” either. Yesterday, I asked a man, his wife with baby carriage and two children–none wearing masks– for some distance; they refused to move. He said, “I have a mask.” True….he did have a bandana, but it was around his neck. One day last week, when I reminded a runner (less than 6″ away) that masks are required, he called me a M’fucker. Also last week, a guy walking with his kids in Central Square pulled a knife on a runner who was not wearing a mask.

I’m very concerned about divisiveness and anger that’s plaguing our neighborhood, our city, and our country….but having lost a close friend to the virus, and nearly lost another, I find it difficult to keep calm..and to keep my mouth shut. I go outside a couple of times a day to relieve stress during this difficult pandemic; it’s not working!

Anyway, in case you have’t seem the new regulation, here it is:

Cambridge Face Covering Order

The City of Cambridge issued an emergency order requiring that face coverings be worn in all public places, businesses and common areas of residential buildings. The order takes effect at 12:01 a.m. on Wednesday, April 29, and applies to everyone over the age of five years old, with exceptions in alignment with guidelines provided by the Centers for Disease Control or Massachusetts Department of Public Health. Violations may be punishable by a $300 fine.

“While we are grateful to those in Cambridge who have been heeding our previous mask advisory and taking this issue seriously, we are concerned about the number of residents who continue to shop, walk, run and bike throughout the city without proper face coverings,” said Mayor Siddiqui and City Manager DePasquale in a joint statement. “We must all do our part in flattening the curve and make sure we are preventing the further spread of COVID-19. This mandate emphasizes the importance of wearing a face covering, not as an option, but as a requirement in our effort to combat this pandemic together.”

The order applies to everyone over five years old “without limitation, when on, in or about” public places, defined as:

• Sidewalks
• Streets
• Parks
• Plazas
• Bus stops
• Non-residential parking lots and garages
• Any other outdoor area or non-residential parking facility which is open and accessible to the general public.

The mask requirement also applies to anyone working in or visiting an essential business, as well as shoppers and consumers. Masks must remain on throughout shifts or visits to those businesses. The businesses covered under the order, include:

• Grocery stores or supermarkets
• Pharmacies
• Laundromats
• Dry cleaners
• Hardware stores
• Restaurants, cafes or similar establishments where prepared foods, meals or beverages may be purchased
• Local government buildings
• Commercial office buildings
• All essential businesses defined in Governor Baker’s March 23, 2020 Executive Order

In residential buildings of two or more units when people cannot maintain a 6 foot distance, masks will be required prior to entering any common area, including:

• Lobbies
• Hallways
• Elevators
• Stairwells
• Laundry rooms
• Garages or parking lots
• Walkways
• Yards and other outdoor common areas
• Mailrooms and other indoor common areas

–Anita M. Harris
Anita Harris is the founder of the Harris Communications Group, and the author of Ithaca Diaries and Broken Patterns: Professional Women and the Quest for a New Feminine Identity.

New Cambridge Observer is a publication of the Harris Communications Group, a PR and digital marketing firm based in Cambridge, MA.

 

I often run at Fresh Pond. True,  I have a “running” debate with my exercise app, which sometimes  calls what I do “walking”  but be that as it may… I have struck up a number of very cordial relationships, there, with the dogs and their humans.

 

 

 

Ordinarily,  everyone is quite friendly (though I can get a bit ferocious when a human attached to three dogs on leashes blocks the entire width of running path).

 

 

 

But a  few weeks ago,  I ran into a spate of ungracious humans who yelled at me that I was running on the wrong side of the road, gave me the finger (to be honest, I responded in kind)  and one who even tried to force me off the dirt path. I asked Ranger Jean Rodgers if there are right-of-way rules for the Pond. 

 

Here’s her response.

Dear Anita,

Thank you for taking the time to write and share your experiences here at Fresh Pond Reservation.  I’m sorry to hear you are having some less than civil interactions with other users.  Soft running surfaces are in short supply here at Fresh Pond.  No one has a right to them to the exclusion of others. As with all public spaces, sharing and civility are required however frustrating.   If most people keep to the right as they are able, travel on the Perimeter Road would have a level of predictability.  

The behavior of others as you have reported it is unacceptable for any reason.  I will post some signs in our information boards, the ranger station and at entrances excerpted from the street code booklet that help visitors know that sharing and civil interactions are  expected.

The City has just issued “Street Code, Rules and Etiquette for Getting There Together” to address the need for safe and civil behavior when people are moving about the City’s Public Spaces.  Shared Path Etiquette is addressed on page 16. I plan to post it around the Reservation.  http://bit.ly/CambridgeStreetCode  

Here’s a summary and some links to our Shared Use Plan that was developed a while ago with the public to encourage civil interactions and use of Fresh Pond Reservation:

https://www.cambridgema.gov/Water/freshpondreservation/aboutfreshpond/shareduse

Shared Use Plan 

As the terminal reservoir in the water system that provides drinking water to the City of Cambridge, Fresh Pond Reservation serves as in important buffer to protect the health and water quality of Fresh Pond.  The Reservation is also an important open space for Cambridge residents and visitors. Due to limited space on paths, trails, and open areas, as well as increasing popularity due to restoration efforts, occasional conflicts among users can arise. To address these conflicts, the City sought to engage the public in order to develop a shared vision for future use and a clear implementable plan between the Summer 2010 and Spring 2011. The result of this process was the Shared Use Plan with the intent to accomplish the following objectives (in no particular order):
*Protect the flora, fauna, and overall ecosystem and water supply, 
*Promote a welcoming and safe place, 
*Provide for a multitude of recreational activities, 
*Promote mutual respect and civility among users, 
*Improve communication among users and with those managing the Reservation, 
*Provide for additional education and opportunities to participate in stewardship, 
*Enhance user safety and enforcement through rules that are easy to understand, posted, and enforceable, 
*Provide for enjoyment by current and future generations. 

 

Please feel free to put the ranger phone number (617 349-xxxx) in your phone contact list and call me to come out and assist if you if people don’t settle down and share the space with you.   I do my best to answer the phone whether I’m on or off duty.   If someone threatens you or puts a hand on you, call the police for immediate assistance (911 or at their business number 617 349-3300).

We all matter and we all make a difference.

Jean Rogers
Chief Ranger
Fresh Pond Reservation

Anita Harris is a writer and communications consultant based in Cambridge, MA.
New Cambridge Observer is a publication of the Harris Communications Group, also in Cambridge.