Culture for Maura

Last Sunday we took Maura to a concert given by the Dedham Choral Society. The program was “Christmas in Spirituals and Jazz!” It consisted of jazz settings of Christmas music by three contemporary composers and “Shout for Joy (A Suite of Christmas Spirituals)” by Robert DeCormier. We chose to attend this particular event because our good friend Julie Tittler (Auntie Julie to Maura) is in the chorus but for me it was much more than an opportunity to support a friend. I greatly enjoyed the concert. The music was interesting and, to my limited knowledge, very well performed. Hearing it put me in the holiday spirit for the first time this year. The experience for me was worth every penny of the price of the ticket.

Bringing Maura was worth every penny of the price of her ticket, too. I think it is important to expose children to as many experiences as possible. There haven’t been nearly as many chances as I would like for her to experience live musical performances. I don’t know if Maura enjoyed the concert as much as I did but I’m pleased to report that she was very well behaved so she must have gotten something from it. A bored six-year-old is an antsy and noisy one. She had a little trouble sitting still but so did I. The pews of Saint Mary’s Church, where the concert was held, are not the most comfortable seats and it was hard for either of us to sit in one position on them for very long. Even had the seat allowed it, we would have sat still. The strong rhythm of the music called out for movement in time to it.

Maura was certainly fascinated by the architecture and decoration of the church. Because she is part of an interfaith household (Maura and her mother are Jewish, I am not) Maura is probably more aware of religious differences than many six-year-olds. She has a great deal of curiosity and often asks questions about religious imagery that she sees. Her questions are not always easy to answer. Nevertheless I am glad she asks them. My hope is that her curiosity about other faiths helps her become a tolerant and understanding person.

Natural Wonder of Weymouth

Sunday was a perfect Indian summer day here in Weymouth. The weather was sunny with little breeze. The temperature was warm enough that I was comfortable outside without a coat. The weather won’t be better before spring. Jennifer decided that instead of her going to the gym the whole family would take a hike. I couldn’t have agreed more. Because I was late getting home from church because I had meetings to attend after services we decided to stay close to home. We decided to take our hike in Great Esker Park, which stretches along the Weymouth shore of the Weymouth Back River.

We had a lovely hike. The leaves left on the trees were in their fall colors of yellow and russet and the trails were carpeted with the leaves that had already fallen. We hiked over the esker, the long sinuous hill deposited by a long ago glacier that gives the park its name. Then we made our way down to the shore of the tidal Back River. Walking along the gravel beach that separates the open river from the salt marsh behind we got great views of the birds that feed there. Out in the river a flock of diving ducks were feeding, each diving one after another to feed in the depths of the river. A moment later they popped up to the surface, still in line. Behind them a great blue heron fed in the shallow water by an exposed sand bar. Overhead a marsh hawk flew.

Jennifer gave Maura the task of finding all the colors of the rainbow on our hike. She found them in order—red, orange and yellow leaves, green cedar trees, blue sky and purple berries still uneaten on the cat briar.

Great Esker Park is a jewel that the people of Weymouth should be proud of. The esker itself is a rarity. Many eskers have long since been mined away for gravel or leveled for building. The long stretch of undeveloped shoreline is equally rare in a populated area, especially so since the opposite shore in Hingham is also a park. Great Esker has many of the problems of urban parks. It is both neglected and heavily traveled. The paved trails are crumbling and graffiti covered; the unpaved trails are eroding. The busier parts of the park are strewn with trash. It is unfortunate that people don’t appreciate their park more. Perhaps then they would be inspired to keep it clean. Still enough of the natural beauty shines through to make Great Esker a natural oasis in a mostly man-made world.

Taking Maura to the Polls

Maura was out of school Tuesday for the election so when I went to vote I brought Maura with me. While my decision to bring Maura along was made for me by a lack of alternative child care arrangements, I am glad that she was with me when I went to cast my ballot. Though Maura won’t be old enough to vote for twelve years I believe it is important that she learn the importance of voting now. By seeing her parents vote and discussing with us the importance of voting I hope that Maura comes away with an appreciation of the fact that participation in elections is a basic duty of all citizens regardless of their political beliefs and affiliations.

I am not very politically active. In fact I detest politics and outside of the voting booth I would rather avoid it all together. I have never contributed to a political campaign or volunteered my time to a political cause. I don’t plan on doing so in the future. I do believe in the duty of all citizens to come to the polls and vote. The right to vote is the most basic political right in any representative government. In the ballot box all citizens are equal (or at least they should be) and each vote carries the same weight. Voting is the fundamental way that citizens influence the behavior of their government. To not vote is to resign yourself to living with a government that does not represent you. While I have often lacked enthusiasm for the candidates among whom I was called to choose, I have chosen to exercise my right to vote in general elections since I was first able to do so.

While I am sure that I will not instill any enthusiasm for politics in my daughter since I have none, I hope that when she is of age she goes to the polls at every election out of duty, if for no other reason. If, unlike me, she finds excitement in politics, then I wish her the joy of it.

Walking with Maura

As the month of October gets close to its end it has been difficult for Maura and me to get out, even on the weekends. Times are tough and there is little money to go new places. We still spend time together, though. One journey we make together almost every day.

When Maura started first grade at the beginning of September I decided that as long as it was practical we would walk to school and walk home. It’s just over a mile and a half each way. I thought it would be a good idea to save gas and both of us can use the exercise. We’ve walked at least one way almost every day since the beginning of the school year.

I’ve really enjoyed my daily walks with Maura, even though we don’t get to talk much. The traffic noise makes conversation difficult. Maura keeps talking but she’s always looking down and away from me to avoid stumbling while she walks and I miss a lot of what she says. Still, just spending time with my daughter makes the walks enjoyable for me.

I am also very proud of her. She walks further every day than many parents would ever ask their six-year-olds to walk and she does it without complaint. I think she enjoys it almost as much as I do. She agrees that the walk is good exercise and as long as we walk I’m not much worried about Maura getting too chubby. As much as she would like to sit in front of the TV when we are home, I know she is getting a fair amount of exercise.

I know Maura especially enjoys the days when we stop on the way home for a treat, usually at the donut shop that is about halfway between home and school. A hot drink and a donut make a nice treat on raw days, and once we left the house early and shared a good breakfast on our way to school.

We may not be walking often for long. Soon we may largely give it up until spring, though I plan on walking in good weather into November, at least in the afternoon. We’ve already mostly given up walking in the mornings. It’s been chilly and it’s hard to get up in the dark to be ready a half-hour early so there is time to walk. For now we’ll keep walking in the afternoon, at least on dry and pleasant days. Soon enough the winter cold will be here, and the winter darkness. The shadows will already be getting long at 3:30 when we are walking home from school and the sidewalks will be icy after snow. Then we will stop walking because it will not be safe or pleasant. I will be eagerly awaiting the light and warmth of spring, and I think Maura will be too.

Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway, Saturday October 4th

Saturday was the official opening of the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway on the site of what was once the elevated expressway. We went down for the outdoor events that took place all day. We had a great time. The weather was nearly perfect for early October and there was plenty to do and see along the Greenway.

Maura and I headed down after her soccer game in the morning. Jennifer was already downtown and met us outside of South Station around eleven, after we had come in on the Red Line.

We decided to do a treasure hunt. By finding the clues to answer a set of questions that in turn gave us letters to spell out a phrase we could win a prize. It was an excuse to wander up and down the Greenway and explore while we searched. Along the way we sampled some food (quite enough for a good lunch), heard some music, watched some dancing and learned a bit about Boston. Maura was able to make several art projects while I tracked down the clues. The neatest project was a flag for a flag tree. Flags made by visitors to the Greenway Opening were hung on lines from a pole. Together they made a very colorful display which grew throughout the day.

At the North End end of the Greenway we saw a display on Boston’s archeology and heard a fife and drum band perform. The Archaeological Institute of America is headquartered in Boston and had a booth where they were highlighting the finds that were made during the construction of the tunnel running under the Greenway. They were also giving away copies of their magazines and Maura picked up a copy of Dig, which is their kids’ magazine. It would make me very proud if she took an interest in archaeology. It wouldn’t surprise me, though. She seems to enjoy many of the things that I do.

From the North End we walked back down the Greenway to the other end, in China Town. In the beautifully landscaped park at the edge of China Town they were putting on dance and martial arts demonstrations. While Maura and Jennifer watched, I finished the treasure hunt and left Maura to collect the prize. I headed home on my own to be sure to make it in time to get to work by four.

There will only be one official opening of the Greenway but I hope that the Greenway continues to see lots of use and that the opening event is a model for things to come. The Greenway needs to have people on it to be fully appreciated. Empty it is still an improvement over the shadowed wasteland that was there before the highway was buried but without events to draw people it could quickly become a place to cross and not a place to stop.

Fall Pilgrimage, Sunday, September 21st

With the school year in full swing and me working on Saturday, Sunday is our day for family outings. This week we headed out to the Nashoba Valley Winery and Orchard in Bolton, Massachusetts, for our annual fall visit. Jennifer and I have been going there every fall since before Maura was born and Maura has made the trip every year of her life so far. Besides having and orchards where you can pick apples and other fruits in season, Nashoba also has a winery that makes excellent fruit wines, a micro brewery and a licensed distillery where they make their own brandy. They also have a restaurant. Nashoba Valley puts on a festival in the fall each year. This year it was Family Day, with less emphasis on their alcoholic products and more on apples and children’s activities. We were joined on our trip by our good friends, Andrew and Julie Tittler and their son Peter.

The trip to Bolton from Weymouth took about an hour, with a quick stop in Dedham to drop off our contribution to the evening’s supper at the Tittlers’. We arrived in Bolton at about one thirty. We started our festival experience with lunch while we waited for the Tittlers to join us. We had hot dogs with shared sides of beans and red cabbage coleslaw. Everything was delicious.

Once everyone had gathered we headed out into the orchard to pick some apples. The apples had some hail damage so it was a challenge to find good ones. Maura played with Peter and picked mostly for the Tittlers’ bag while Jennifer and I filled ours. We picked a peck of Liberty apples, since they seemed to be the best cooking apples that were ready for picking. They make great apple sauce and are crisp and tasty for eating fresh as well. I haven’t made any pies but I plan to try this weekend.

After apple picking we took a rest at the picnic field. A bluegrass band played live and several kids games were set up around the field. Peter wasn’t feeling well so the Tittlers headed home, but we stayed a while longer to enjoy the music and to watch a juggler perform. We shared a fresh made caramel apple and enjoyed the nearly perfect weather.

The only downside to the trip for us came on our way home. We ran into a bad traffic jam on the highway. It took us as long to go five miles to the bottleneck as it had to drive all the way from Weymouth earlier in the afternoon.

A Quiet Day, Tuesday September 16th

Maura had no school on Tuesday. It was state primary election day and our school system always schedules a teacher development day on election days for the safety of the students and the convenience of the voters. We decided to make a trip to the Children’s Museum. Because of our membership the outing would be very inexpensive. The cost of the museum visit was already paid for, as was Jennifer’s transportation and six-year-olds ride the T for free. Only my T fare had to be paid for, though we had trouble scrounging enough money for it and still leave enough for a few gallons of gas in the almost empty tank of the car.

Once we determined that there was enough money for my T fare we headed for our bus stop. We thoroughly enjoyed the rest of our morning. Maura loves the Children’s Museum any time. Weekdays during the school year are the best times for adults to tag along. The museum wasn’t crowded and the noise level was much lower than it is with a crowd. I was saved a headache and Maura didn’t have to wait to have a turn at many of the exhibits. Even the art studio wasn’t packed, though we did have to wait a few minutes when it was closed for lunch. Maura enjoyed her usual favorite exhibits and especially the art studio, always one of the highlights of our visits. On this trip we made paper beads from old magazines. They were easy and fun to make and in no time we had enough for a fairly long string of colorful beads. The only down side to our trip was that Maura was tired at soccer practice and wasn’t in the mood to run or pay attention to her coach.

The MFA, Sunday September 7th, 2008

Maura started first grade on Wednesday so our season of frequent outings is over. We’ll be limited to weekends and infrequent holidays until Winter Break begins in December. Maura loves school so she’s happy to be back. I will enjoy the quiet and the lack of interruptions when I’m working but I will miss her. Of course, she’ll only be gone weekdays from 9:00 to 3:00.


We still have weekends, of course. Weekends are even better for outings because the whole family can come along. Jennifer—my wife, Maura’s mom—has a regular Monday through Friday job. This weekend we chose to head to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, aka the MFA. Since it was the first weekend of the month and we are Bank of America customers we took advantage of the Bank of America Free Museum Weekend and get in free of charge.


As always when we go into Boston, we took the T, though we drove to the closest T-station to save time. There are few busses on Sunday. There is a conveniently located Green Line stop right in front of the museum.


Once in the Museum we headed for the Egyptian galleries. Maura likes Egyptian art and is fascinated by hieroglyphics. We moved on from there into the Classical Galleries which interested Maura less though she did really enjoy the mosaic floor. She’s working on a mosaic at home, a tile by number affair with stick on tiles. She also enjoyed hearing my story about helping to excavate a mosaic in Greece when I studied archeology in college.


After a quick pit stop we headed across the museum to see some of the collection of American Art that Jennifer likes, including the museum’s large collection of John Singleton Copley’s works. We took a rest and had a snack in the museum's courtyard garden, then finished with a trip to the museum’s collection of musical instruments. Maura was curious about the instruments and drove her mother crazy asking what each one was called.

High Tide, Tuesday September 2nd, 2008

Tuesday was Maura’s last day of summer vacation and I wanted to make it fun and memorable without driving far or spending much of money. Since it was warm and sunny we decided to go to the beach. We packed a bag and headed for Nantasket Beach, a short drive from home in the town of Hull, Massachusetts.


The first thing we noticed when we got to Nantasket was that there wasn’t much beach. The tide was high and there was more surf than I had seen at Nantasket Beach before. Near the parking lot the waves reached the boulders that line the seawall. We walked along the beach past the recently renovated bathhouse and picked a spot where there was a strip of dry sand between the water and the wall. I set up my chair while Maura stripped down to the bathing suit she wore under her clothes.


While Maura played in the sand I relaxed in the shade by the seawall. I kept an eye on Maura but I didn’t worry much. She didn’t go in deeper than her knees or go far down the beach. Though there weren’t any other kids her age around she was clearly having a good time without getting into trouble.


I amused myself by watching people and occasionally by scanning the water with binoculars to watch the ships on their way in and out of Boston Harbor. I saw a Coast Guard helicopter hovering over the sea. Something was raised and lowered from it but it was impossible for me to tell if it was a rescue or a training mission. After the helicopter headed for shore I shifted my gaze to a container ship that was headed out of the harbor. I imagined what might be in the containers it carried.


Suddenly I was hit by a wave that came all the way to the seawall. I was soaked. So were Maura’s clothes and the beach bag. The legs of the beach chair were festooned with seaweed. Maura’s beach toys were washed away and now were racing back and forth in the surf.


I quickly put down the binoculars. Maura, a few yards down the beach, hadn’t been hit by the wave. We chased her beach toys through the surf until we caught them all. It was a good thing they were bright colored plastic. Then it was time to leave. I didn’t want to stay on the beach if the tide might still be rising.

Harbor Islands Adventure, September 1st, 2008

Monday was Labor Day and we decided to end the summer with a trip out to the Boston Harbor Islands for a day of sea, sun, history and nature. We we joined on our excursion by our good friends Andrew and Julie Tittler and their three-year-old son Peter.

Our adventure began at 9:20 in the morning when we sailed from the Quincy ferry terminal in brilliant sunshine. We had brilliant weather all day long, warm without being hot, sunny with a nice breeze. Twenty minutes later we arrived at George's Island, site of Fort Warren, built in 1833 to protect Boston from attack from the sea. Some of the fort is crumbling today but much of it is safe to walk around in and open to the public. Though built for war the fort today is a peaceful place, especially just after the first ferry arrives. We got Maura's DCR passport stamped and Peter acquired one, which was also stamped. Then we headed inside. We had the parade ground in the center of the fort almost to ourselves. We found a shady spot beneath a tree and kicked a soccer ball around for a while. It was fun.

When we got tired of soccer we split up for a time. The men and boy went off to explore the fort for a bit leaving the ladies on their own. We were in search of the dark tunnel, which the rangers guide tours through without lights, usually after telling the story of the Woman in Black, the ghost of the wife of confederate soldier who was killed trying to break her husband out of prison in Fort Warren during the civil war. We didn't find the tunnel but in searching I found my way into an ordinarily locked gallery which was truly frightening. It was completely dark, except for in one spot where some dim light shown down from somewhere above. The walls were irregular and hard to follow and sound did not help because the hard walls at odd angles made confusing echoes that seemed to come from every direction at once. I was happy to find my way out, though I was separated from the rest of my party.

Eventually the whole group got back together and we headed off to visit our second island of the day. We took the water taxi from Georges Island to Spectacle Island, closer to Boston. The two brush covered hills of Spectacle Island offered fantastic views of the city and the harbor, but little in the way of shade. The natural hills of Spectacle have been made higher with landfill from the city, including material dug out of the Big Dig. We climbed high on top of one of the hills, now habitat for birds and butterflies with brush and wildflowers and small trees that some day may give shade. We enjoyed a picnic at a pretty picnic area high on the southernmost of the two hills and then rushed down to catch the boat back to Georges Island but missed it. The hour wait for the next boat was rather enjoyable. I bought the kids ice cream sandwiches and Julie treated Jenn and I to coffee from the snack bar, which was weak but tasted good.

Back on Georges Island we all set off to explore the fort some more. Maura was at first afraid to enter anyplace even slightly dark or mysterious she got over it a bit after we coaxed her into going down the stairs with us into the demi-lune, an outwork designed to protect the gate from attack. It wasn't really very dark or scary in there. After that Maura went everywhere, even through the Dark Tunnel when we finally found it. I didn't take her through the gallery that I had found frightening. I think that might have been too much for her. We made our way back to the wharf along the outside of the fort. I'd hoped to explore some tide pools, but it was high tide, and there was nothing to see. We rested again before catching the ferry back to Quincy. We were fortunate that we allowed plenty of time to get to the ferry because it was crowded and had we arrived at the dock late we would have had to wait for the next one. We all were all pretty tired by the time the ferry landed in Quincy and everyone at our house slept very well that night.

Quincy Shore, August 26, 2008

Maura and I made another short trip in a our quest to fill her DCR park passport. A quick drive over the Fore River Bridge brought us to the Quincy Shore Reservation. We parked along Wallaston Beach and walked over to Tony's Clam Shop for lunch--fried seafood. Maura had shrimp, her very favorite food. We took a short walk along the beach to the headquarters of the reservation where we got a stamp for Maura's book. Then we moved the car, a rather difficult undertaking, to a lot on the other side of Quincy Shore drive at the south end of the beach. Maura spent some time at the nearby playground and then walked down to the edge of the Black's Creek Estuary to do some birdwatching. There, in the middle of Quincy, is an excellent spot to watch shore birds feeding at the edge of the salt marsh. Maura couldn't get a good look at the laughing gull, the willets or the Great Blue Heron because her binoculars weren't strong enough and she couldn't get the hang of focusing mine. Both of us got a wonderful view of a Great Egret as it fed on the mud flats near us and then flew away across the river. Both of us agreed it was the highlight of our day.

Party with the Animals, Sunday August 24th

Sunday afternoon was Maura's birthday party at Dalby Farm. Maura and her mother and I were joined by many of her friends and relations for more birthday celebrations. Everyone had a wonderful time on a nearly perfect afternoon.

Dalby Farm, located in Scituate, Massachusetts, keeps rare breeds of farm animals including goats, sheep, pigs, geese, ducks and chickens. They breed some of the animals to help preserve the endangered breeds. They also keep some more common chickens for eggs. The very friendly folks who run the place gave children and tag-along parents a tour of the farm. We got to feed the goats and Maura chose Pepper, the Nigerian Dwarf goat as her party animal. We all got to pet him. He was remarkably calm and gentle with all of the children, including the grown up ones.

After the farm tour we retired to the party barn for cake and ice cream. The kids didn't eat much of the cake so there were plenty of scraps to feed the chickens. I sneaked off to watch them eat. It was one of the highlights of the day for me. Chickens don't have very good manners and the mess they make of chocolate cake is rather comical.

After desert the kids had a haystack hunt. They got to dig through a pile of hay for treats. Finding the goodies in the hay was harder than it looked. It was easy to find a few things but tough to find all of them. The kids really enjoyed themselves and they all came out of it with full bags of goodies. They didn't want to stop looking. When we left Maura got a picture of Pepper and a T-shirt from the farm as parting gifts to help her remember her trip to the farm.

Everyone at the farm was amazingly friendly. They seemed to be having almost as much fun as we were and clearly enjoyed their work on the farm, both with the animals and their human visitors. Cheryl, who introduced us to the animals, even sent us a note to thank us for coming.

Six, Wednesday August 20th, 2008

Wednesday was Maura's sixth birthday. We celebrated it with a family outing of Maura's choice. What she chose was a trip to the Boston Science Museum, a Boston Duck Tour and dinner out at Addis Red Sea, an Ethiopian restaurant in the South End at which we had eaten to celebrate my birthday. We had three generations of the family along. Maura's mom took the day off from work and my parents came for a visit from Indiana. They like to visit their only grandchild on her birthday.

The Science Museum is almost as much fun as the Children's Museum for Maura and it is a lot more fun for me. Most of the Science Museum exhibits are hands-on mini experiments that encourage curiosity and wonder. We spent several hours there and didn't see nearly everything. We had to leave in order to get dinner before Maura's bed time but I think she could have handled another hour at the museum without getting bored. I could have easily handled another hour. While there was a good crowd for a Wednesday the Science Museum is much larger than the Children's Museum and the average age of the visitors is a bit higher. The ambient noise and chaos are much more bearable.

One thing that Maura doesn't like at the Science Museum is the lightning show where they demonstrate static electricity using the giant Van de Graaff generator. Maura is a bit sensitive to loud noises and she remembered being frightened of them the last time we visited the museum.

We took two hours out of the middle of our museum visit to take a Boston Duck Tour. We rode the Haymarket Hannah piloted by Admiral Amnesia. He didn't forget much except for his pants. The tour was a lot of fun and as far as I could tell information was good. Since I used to be a tour guide in Boston I do know a bit about the city. When we left the streets of the Boston for the waters of the Charles River the kids on board got to take a turn driving the bus. Maura enjoyed her turn at the wheel.

Our final activity for the day was dinner at Addis Red Sea. We had been there once before and Maura wanted to share the restaurant with her grandparents. The restaurant is a lot of fun. It has lots of neat touches, including serving meals on Mesobs, traditional low basket tables. Ethiopian food is exotic and flavorful and eaten with the hands using thin spongy injera bread. We were able to sample a variety of dishes with five people at the table. There was one alarming incident at the end of the evening though. My dad paid for the meal with a credit card and the waitress dropped it on the way back to the table. The card was found but it could have been a problem.

Trailside, Thursday, August 14th, 2008

Maura and I took advantage of a day of nice weather to get outside and enjoy nature. I was also looking for something that wouldn't cost much after Wednesday's expensive lunch. We packed a picnic lunch into my day pack and headed for the Blue Hills Reservation, Metropolitan Boston's largest park and a real gem. The only costs for the day were gas and food, and both were already paid for. The gas was in the tank already and the food was scavenged out of the refrigerator.

Our first stop was the Trailside Museum, an exhibit on the environment and wildlife of the Blue Hills run by the Massachusetts Audubon Society. Because we are member of Mass Audubon we get into the museum for free. The Trailside Museum is home to many live animals that live or once lived in the Blue Hills. Most are rescued animals that could not survive on their own in the wild. We enjoyed watching turtles and the bees that inhabit an indoor hive between two plate glass windows.

After our visit to the Trailside Museum we took a hike from the museum to the Reservation Headquarters where Maura could get a stamp in her DCR passport that she got Tuesday at the Children's Museum. We stopped along the way to enjoy our picnic lunch while we sat on a fallen log by the side of the trail. On our way out we chose an easy, nearly flat trail and headed back by a slightly longer and more challenging route. We spotted two small toads by the trail as we climbed a steep path over the top of a rock hill and as we were returning to our car spotted a whole flock of goldfinches that were feeding in a field of wildflowers.

The Children's Museum, Tuesday August 12th, 2008

With a steady rain falling, I drove Maura and I to the T-station, stopping on the way to purchase a small umbrellas, since we didn't have one handy and it promised to rain all day. As it happened, the rain stopped and barely used the umbrella, but we probably would have needed it if we hadn't had it.

After a quick stop by the building where Jennifer works to deliver a forgotten lunch we headed to Quincy Market to get lunch for ourselves. It might not have been a good choice. We had a fine lunch of clam chowder followed by gelato bought from two of the many food stands inside the central market building. I let Maura pick what we would have and she was not disappointed. I was a bit shocked, though, by how much we spent. The food was delicious and the service wasn't bad despite the crowds and the fact that we were eating at a lunch counter, but the bills seemed high even for Boston.

When lunch was over we deviated from out original plan of visiting the Old State House and headed for the Children's Museum instead. Since I got a membership the last time we went the Children's Museum won't cost us any more for the rest of the year. It was a few extra blocks but Maura doesn't mind walking and I don't think she was disappointed.

At the Museum we enjoyed a few special events. We saw a demonstration of Chinese martial arts put on as part of Boston's China summer of Chinese related cultural events on the occasion of the Beijing Olympic Games. The demonstration was fascinating, to Maura as well as to me. Afterward we picked up a Department of Conservation and Recreation Park Passport and a poster of the stamp designs for it, signed by the artist.

Shortly after that we headed home. I was finding the noise and chaos of the Children's Museum a little hard to deal with and was starting to get a headache. Maura wasn't ready to leave but she didn't give me any trouble. She's starting to learn that complaining doesn't help and knows that I will take her back again.

Cape Cod Road Trip, Sunday August 10th, 2008

This Sunday the whole family got into the car and headed for Cape Cod to visit some old friends who had invited us to a barbecue at there home. My wife Jennifer and I shared the driving and Maura came along for the ride.

It was great for the adults to see old friends and Maura had a wonderful time meeting new people. She always does. She got into a game of touch football and she and I had a good time trying to play horseshoes. I managed a few ringers but Maura never to get the hang of it. I'm uncertain whether she is big enough to pitch the horseshoe the whole distance but she enjoyed trying, not the least because her daddy was trying with her. It didn't really matter to either of us whether she could ever hit a ringer.

We were lucky with the weather. It's been rainy on Cape Cod this summer as it has been in the rest of Massachusetts. It didn't rain on the barbecue though. We did hear a storm in the distance that made Maura nervous and we drove past another on our way home as I negotiated the Sunday traffic heading back towards Boston from the Cape.

Visiting the Old House, August 7th 2008

Today Maura and I took our second research trip. We hopped the bus from Weymouth to the neighboring town of Quincy, Massachusetts, home of John Adams and his descendants. We stopped in at the National Park Service Visitor Center in Quincy Center, across the street from Quincy Center T station and bought our tickets. The price was very reasonable. Adults pay $5 for a two hour tour and kids 16 and under are free.

The tour visits three houses owned by John Adams and lived in by him and generations of his family. The first two houses are the Adams' birth places, the house where John Adams was born and the house next door where he lived with Abigail and his young family before the Revolution and where Abigail lived during his long absence during the War of Independence. This was the house that John Quincy Adams was born in.

While we were in the birth places Maura was interested and paid attention. We had a junior ranger book and we trying to fill in some of the pages. I think she was learning and enjoying the experience. The tour then took us to the house John Adams bought when he returned to the United States after he was minister to Britain following the War of Independence. He called it Peacefield and later generations of the Adams family called it the Old House. It was bigger and had a lot more stuff to look at and Maura started getting bored. Maura probably likes history much more than the average almost six year old but I don't blame her for getting tired of looking at old paintings and furniture and hearing about people who died a long time ago. I think she also had to go to the bathroom and there wasn't one handy.

After we caught the trolley back to the Visitor Center and she used the restroom there we got some lunch. Maura picked the restaurant from the many choices in Quincy Center. She picked a Mexican restaurant called Acapulco's. Maura enjoyed her taco but decided that next time she wanted to try what I had, enchiladas. We had a good lunch before catching the bus home.

Our First Trip, August 5th 2008

We waited until 9:30 when rush hour was over before leaving the house for the day. A short walk brought Maura and I to the nearest MBTA bus stop. I plan to make as many trips as possible using public transportation. Parking in Boston still costs more than gas and I don't like to swear in front of my daughter, which are two excellent reasons for taking the T.

Our destination was a familiar one and one of Maura's favorite places since she was two--the Boston Children's Museum. It took us a little less than an hour to get there by bus and Red Line train, including the two block walk across the Fort Point Channel from South Station. In the plaza in front of the Museum we sampled bamboo shoots, which Maura didn't care for, and considered how we would spend our day. Then we went in to buy our tickets. I opted for a membership, partly as an early birthday present for Maura who will be turning six soon. We'll need to go seven times during the next year to get our money's worth and Maura will appreciate the more frequent visits then we've made during the last few years.

The purpose of the day's visit was to begin doing research for our book and we had come armed with notebooks for recording the day. I let Maura mostly pick our itinerary at the Museum. As usual she climbed the three story climber that graces the Children's Museum's lobby and then spent some time in the crowded and noisy exhibits near the museum entrance. Raceways, which teaches physics and the scientific method with rolling golf balls on various tracks, has always been a favorite. After a while we move to the slightly quieter and less chaotic exhibits upstairs.

At around 12:30 its lunch time. We're both hungry and I could use a while off of my feet. We buy hot dogs at the Hood Milk Bottle, now run by the Au Bon Pain restaurant in the Children's Museum. While we eat our lunch we enjoy watching the sparrows steal food right out of the pigeons beaks.

After lunch we pick up free tickets to the next Kidstage showing of The Three Little Pigs. Maura's seen Kidstage shows before, but this was my first. It was an audience participation skit where the most of the cast was picked from the audience and the whole audience had lines. Maura and I had a good time repeating "Not by the hair of my chinny chin chin," together.

After the show we headed back upstairs. We checked out the new (and temporary) China exhibit, the Children of Hangchow which features kids from Boston's sister city in China. Maura dressed up like an actress in a Chinese opera and enjoyed looking at stereo pictures of Chinese sites and at the model water buffalo and the video about a girl's visit to the country where she learns how to plant rice.

Our visit would not be complete without the obligatory visit to the art studio. On this trip Maura made a picture with water colors and crayons. She learned that if she painted over crayon the paint wouldn't stick to the crayon.

We left the museum at about 3:00 and headed for home. I wanted to be sure that I had time to make dinner after we got home but before I had to be at work in the evening. I also wanted to beat rush hour. I had made a list of questions to ask Maura after the trip but I never did. I was too tired and needed to rest. We'll be back at the Children's Museum again soon.

A Journey Begins.....

About six months ago, fresh from the triumph of landing my first paid writing job since I was in grad school in the '90s, I started considering what to do next. I was working on a travel book and was interested in doing another one. I needed a local topic, since I don't have the money to actually travel, so as with my as yet unfinished first book, I would cover the Boston Metropolitan Area, where I live. I looked around for a fresh angle that would set my new book apart from other Boston travel books on the market. I found my daughter, Maura.

Maura is five years old. She plays soccer and does gymnastics. She likes Poly Pocket and My Little Pony. She loves doing almost any kind of art project and she writes and illustrates her own stories. She also enjoys outings with her mother and I. We take her hiking on local trails. We take her out to eat (she like calamari) and we take her to museums, which she loves.

Since Maura enjoys museums almost as much as I do I decided to write a book tentatively titled Maura's Guide to Boston Museums for Kids (and Their Parents). I'd enlist Maura's help as research assistant and begin by visiting as many museums in the Boston area together as we could. Maura is enthusiastic about the project and has told all her friends that she's going to write a book with her Daddy. Now I have to do it.