Lowell

Hot Last Minute Gift Idea

The word downtown is that Steve O’Connor’s collection of short stories, “Smokestack Lightning,” is one of the hot local gift items for last minute shoppers. It’s a little big to go in a stocking, but fits nicely under the tree. Available at Barnes and Noble, Brew’d, Dharma Buns, Welle’s Emporium,…

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Shri Hindu Temple, Lowell, Mass

Tony Sampas photographed the Isso Shri Swaminarayan Temple at 1705 Middlesex Street during last night’s snowfall. This building formerly housed a Good Will warehouse facility and might be a familiar sight to anyone who has spent some time at the Edwards Street soccer field.

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Traffic Report

It seems somehow appropriate that on this, the first day of winter, we finally got some snow. Certainly there’s not much of it – just a dusting. But at least it’s visible. Last night I began to wonder if the weather forecasters had messed up with their nonchalant predictions. On…

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Oranges at Christmas

This essay was first heard as a radio essay on the “Sunrise” program of WUML, 92.5 FM, at UMass Lowell. Executive producer Chris Dunlap assembled writers in the area for the daily essay feature, a  popular component of the morning public affairs show. I shared this essay with rh.com readers last…

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