City Hikes: Field Notes

Most of these prose skteches were written when I returned home after regular Sunday walks in Lowell, Massachusetts between 2009 and 2011. Sometimes I had companions, but usually I walked alone, carrying a notebook and pen. I would go out for an hour or two. I wanted to see what I could see and look and listen more closely to life on the streets. Also included here is a summary of the popular Lowelk Walks program initiated by Richard P. Howe Jr. in 2015. For several years, the guided tours on an array of subjects averaged 100 walkers and as many as 200 a few times. Since the start of its innovative industrial era, Lowell has been seen as a national city where everything that happens resonates beyond the city limits.

--Paul Marion