Outdoor Activities ...

As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).

When in North Commons, we use the following websites to find information relevant to North Commons and the surrounding area.

• Weather ...
  • Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
  • The National Weather Service forecast for North Commons

• Astronomy & Satellites ...
  • Whether using binoculars, a small telescope or the naked-eye, the Heavens-Above website can help you to find your way around the night-time sky. In addition to detailed sky charts, their website will help you find planets, asteriods, comets, satellites and their tracks across the sky.
  • To give accurate results, Heavens-Above requires the latitude and longitude of your location. As a starting point, when we link to Heavens-Above, we pass this GPS location for North Commons:
  • 42.247322, -71.016160
  • Once you're on the Heavens-Above website, you can improve its accuracy by giving a more precise longitude and latitude as your actual position.
  • Open the Heavens-Above website centered on North Commons

• Bird Watching ...
  • We enjoy finding new spots for bird watching and we use the eBird website for local sighting reports and to help identify hotspots.
  • The eBird website is organized on a county-by-county basis. We have selected Norfolk County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Norfolk County
  • Since North Commons is near Suffolk County and also Plymouth County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Suffolk County
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Plymouth County

• Waymarking ...
  • Looking for somewhere out of the ordinary? Find a unique place and want to share it with others? Then it's time to visit Waymarking.com:
  • Open the Waymark.com report for North Commons

Curious and Interesting Names Near North Commons ...

As we travel, we always see a community with a name that gives pause. While there are names which are interesting or familiar, some catch our attention or strike our fancy. We always wonder about such a name. If time permits and the community is not too far, we'll usually try to make a side-trip.

• Braintree
  (Less than 2 miles to the southeast)
  • Braintree is located in Norfolk County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Braintree
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 37,074 people
• Cedar Grove
  (3 miles [4.8 km] to the northwest)
  • Cedar Grove is located in Suffolk County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Cedar Grove
• Fields Corner
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Fields Corner is located in Suffolk County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fields Corner
• Five Corners
  (Less than 2 miles to the south)
  • Five Corners is located in Norfolk County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Five Corners
• Idlewell
  (3 miles [4.8 km] to the east)
  • Idlewell is located in Norfolk County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Idlewell
• Meeting House Hill
  (4 miles [6.4 km] to the northwest)
  • Meeting House Hill is located in Suffolk County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Meeting House Hill
• Merrymount
  (Less than 2 miles to the northeast)
  • Merrymount is located in Norfolk County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Merrymount
• Milton Center
  (3 miles [4.8 km] to the west)
  • Milton Center is located in Norfolk County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Milton Center
• Old Boat Point
  (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • Old Boat Point is located in Norfolk County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Old Boat Point
• Post Island
  (2 miles [3.2 km] to the northeast)
  • Post Island is located in Norfolk County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Post Island
• Rock Island
  (2 miles [3.2 km] to the east)
  • Rock Island is located in Norfolk County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rock Island

How Far From North Commons to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as North Commons to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in North Commons and extending to:

• Dedham, which is the Seat of Norfolk County, lies just to the West.
• Boston, which is the State Capital of Massachusetts, lies just to the north northwest (NNW).
• The White House (Washington, DC) is 391 miles [629.3 km]<1> to the southwest (SW). If you could drive a straight line from North Commons to White House, with an average speed<2>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take most of a day to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 23 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take 16 days.
• The shortest distance<3> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,506 miles [8,861 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<4>
• The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,212 miles [9,997.2 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<5>
• The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,089 miles [6,580.6 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<6>'