Glimpses of Eastie: the harborwalk.

If you follow me on Instagram, you’ve seen my photos of the East Boston Harborwalk: I go running there all the time. The Harborwalk writ large is a 43-mile collection of not-quite-continuous pedestrian and bike paths along the waterfront in Boston. It starts in Eastie, three miles north of where I live, and extends all the way to the Dorchester/Milton line, where I used to live (and where I fell in love with running).

My section of the Harborwalk is a small one: it picks up at the tennis courts down the hill from my house, and curves around past several buildings belonging to the Massachusetts Port Authority, all the way down to the Hyatt hotel on the point. It’s a smooth paved path bordered by trees and tall white hydrangeas, and it’s the starting point for many of my morning runs.

For me, running is mainly about two things: moving my body in a way I enjoy, and moving through the landscape (preferably one I enjoy). One of my favorite things about running the same several routes all the time is observing the subtle changes in familiar places.

On the Harborwalk, I’ve watched the trees and shrubs bud and leaf out (and lose their leaves, last fall). The water is always changing: the tide comes slowly and inexorably in and out, creating a landscape of mud flats or rolling blue water in the harbor basin. These changes differ depending on the time of day and year, and I love noticing how it looks each time I’m out there. The brick buildings remain the same, but the light is always changing, too: I’ve taken dozens (hundreds?) of photos of the Boston skyline, with its ever-shifting skyscape of clouds and sun and even stars.

 

On my way home, I sometimes go through the Navy Fuel Pier park, which was redeveloped as part of the Harborwalk project (it used to be an actual fuel pier). In June, it’s dotted with purple iris and heady with the scent of wild beach roses. And the gravel sidewalk has sea glass embedded in the concrete: a nod to the area’s maritime history, which looks different than it used to, but is still being written.

My guy and I have plans to bike other sections of the Harborwalk this summer, and discover where they lead. I’m looking forward to that, but I’m also very grateful for this small part of the whole that belongs to me.