A secret at the end of the year: You CAN be happy. You just need low expectations. Then you’ll often be pleasantly surprised.

Take Storrow Drive, for example. A few years ago it seemed possible that Boston could get a gorgeous, ceremonial, street-level entrance to the Esplanade. But as is often the case in these matters, high hopes were dashed. The plan neighborhood groups and the state’s Department of Conservation and Recreation eventually put forth for repairing the Storrow Drive tunnel turned out to provide no benefit for the Esplanade and, at the end, actually threatened it.

So DCR went with Plan B—well, actually, more like Plan G—and “temporarily” fixed the tunnel. Everyone thought it would take forever and be a mess. Instead, it took only 13 months, $15 million and drew raves from neighbors for the work’s efficiency and low noise level. There will be a time in Boston when parks and residents’ habits of walking will be valued over cars, but this isn’t it. This “temporary” fix will work until we can design something worthy. How nice to have a better outcome than we expected. Continue reading →

If you celebrate Christmas you may have a few people left on your list. Since my shopping is complete, I thought I’d offer a few suggestions to those of you who don’t yet have things under control.

These are all books, since I’m assuming that your family and friends read. They are not new—you can find recommendations for new books everywhere else. These are tried and true, but some are a bit obscure. I’ve pointed out who might be most interested.

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Just when you think you know everything about Boston, you discover some hidden secret.

Who knew there was a Clover Club, filled with powerful and prestigious men who gather for dinner, poker, speakers, skits, and other guy activities and don’t allow women into their ranks? I checked with a few savvy types, and they didn’t know about it either. And it’s been around for 126 years, according to the Boston Globe.

The club’s notoriety came about last week when it was reported that Deval Patrick canceled a talk at a club dinner because women were excluded from membership. Come to think of it, since the Globe described the club as Irish, they might not have allowed Patrick into the group either.

The lack of women seems so 1950s. Even that bastion of women—garden clubs—in downtown Boston have included men. Gardens for Charlestown and the Garden Club of the Back Bay have several male members. The Beacon Hill Garden Club had a man in its ranks in its early days.

But I was so taken with the anachronism of a single-sex group excluding the other group that I wondered if my book club could qualify as a Clover Club. Continue reading →

Bill Rouvalis died, and our first thought was how sorry we are for him. Given the American life expectancy of 79.2 years, according to the Economist’s “Pocket World in Figures,” Bill, at 69, got cheated out of about 10 years.

In addition to feeling sorry for Bill, we feel sorry for ourselves. Long-time business owners are rooted in our community. They provide necessary goods and services, but they also provide satisfaction, stability and security. Their loss shakes us up. “What am I going to do now?” you’re probably asking yourself if you have been a customer. It’s at a time like this when you realize how important each individual is in a community. Continue reading →

Be careful what you wish for.

Most Beacon Hill, North End and West End residents were eager for Whole Foods to come on the scene. The vegetables are 100 percent better than the unidentifiable floppy objects the erstwhile Stop & Shop used to offer. If there were going to be any problems caused to other businesses by Whole Foods, we were afraid it would be for J. Pace’s, Savenor’s, DeLuca’s and the North End’s small markets.

It turns out, however, that while those establishments may have suffered a decline in business, they are still viable.

Those hurt most by Whole Foods turn out to be Cambridge Street restaurants. Eli Nakhoul, whose family owns Phoenicia, says that Whole Foods’s tempting take-out bazaar and catering business has hurt every restaurant along the street. That’s not good for those of us who like Phoenicia’s distinctive offerings. Continue reading →