Coming to Northampton for Nolose?

• Northampton, Mass., is certainly a distinctive community. Jonathan Edwards was a minister there in the early 18th century, until he was sent packing; Smith College was a product of local philanthropy in the 19th; Calvin Coolidge was mayor in the early 20th. And the town experienced several decades of decline before a 1980's revival. Now it is the thriving home of a variety of outspoken minorities; two of the most visible, Kidder notes, are lesbians and psychotherapists. (A recent census, on which people were allowed to provide their own job descriptions, also yielded a stump grinder, a weapons technician, a fish smoker, a factotum and three millwrights.) Meanwhile, some tension lingers between the newcomers, who call the place ''Noho,'' and the longtimers, for whom it is ''Hamp.''



• You can get outstanding vegan cupcakes at Cafe Evolution in Florence. (But not every evening -- if in doubt, check the hours). In downtown Northampton, the Haymarket, Paul&Elizabeth's and Bela's are vegetarian restaurants (Haymarket is also a popular coffee house), and the best Indian food is at India Palace. I also want to recommend the Polish food at Sofia's Praise in Hadley. And the Mexican food at La Veracruzana in downtown Northampton. (It's true! It's good!)



• It's raining.