Flowers and Flags

We really enjoyed our Memorial Day weekend this year though we stayed close to home. Memorial Day weekend for us has traditionally been used for one of two things. We either work outside around the house or we take a short trip. Last year we went camping but this year we did the yard work. We worked very hard Saturday and again on Monday making our yard look as nice as it has in a long time and probably as nice at it will look all year. The lawn is mowed, the flower beds weeded and bushes trimmed. Everyone pitched in, though it was hard to get Maura motivated on Saturday morning.

On Sunday we took the day off from our labors to visit friends. We went to a barbecue on Sunday evening where we enjoyed the company of friends old and new as well as plenty of great food outside in perfect weather. There were dozens of people at the event so I found it stressful. I’ve always been a shy person and I’m not always comfortable around strangers, particularly when I meet many at once. Maura, fortunately, is not shy and she had a great time. She makes friends wherever she goes.

On Monday we had more work to do but first Maura and I went to the Town of Weymouth’s Memorial Day Parade. The East Weymouth Congregational Church, where I am a member, is directly across the street from the small park where the parade route begins. As a public service the church offered water to the parade participants and also made our restrooms available to any who needed them. I was there to pass out water. Maura came along to help but she was mostly interested in watching the parade. She waved a flag as it went by. It was good to be at the ceremony at the start of the parade that commemorates those who lost their lives fighting for our freedom. We stood respectfully while the flags were raised, taps was played on a lone bugle and a salute was fired. It can be easy to forget the meaning of the holiday amid the sales and barbecues but this simple ceremony helped us remember.

The church lawn is not a bad place to view a parade. The parade route starts there so we can see it all before it starts moving. There was a small contingent from the National Guard, the police and firemen in their dress uniforms, local veterans’ group chapters and service clubs, the high school marching band and the Boy Scout and Girl Scout troops, led by Boy Scout Troop 2 with a spectacular, and loud, flag and drum core.

After the parade it was back to work. While we were there Jennifer had gone to buy plants and they had to be put in the ground. She bought tomatoes and herbs. We’ve had good luck growing both of them in the past and they will add great flavor to our summer and autumn meals if we are as successful this year. The herb garden is in the spot recently occupied by Maura’s sandbox which she had stopped playing in. We’ve laid it out to be attractive as well as useful. The varying greens of the different herbs are set off by a ring of blooming marigolds, which also help to keep rabbits away. The garden is decorated with a fairy house made from an old chimney pot. Maura made furniture for it so the fairies should be quite at home there. The garden is guarded by a concrete cat, always poised to pounce on anything that might make trouble. Maura helped with the planting, particularly of the marigolds, and so far she’s been doing a good job of watering every day.

Mother’s Day Adventure

Mother’s Day was Jennifer’s day and after breakfast we went where Jennifer wanted to go. She chose a trip to the SoWa Open Market. Open Sundays 10 to 4 from May to October, the Open Market is a showcase for artists and artisans. It is located in a parking lot off Harrison Avenue in the South Washington neigborhood of Boston. There are all manner of original artworks and handmade goods on sale to match almost any taste. Food is provided by an array of Boston’s gourmet food trucks, with enough variety to offer lunch for almost any taste as well. In the next parking lot is a concurrent farmers’ market and the SoWa Vintage Market, selling antiques and vintage clothing, is indoors next door. Also nearby are a collection of artsy stores and galleries, most open for business during the market.

Jennifer and Maura enjoyed the trip immensely. They both enjoy shopping and there was plenty to look at. Jennifer particularly enjoys knitting and textiles. Jennifer looked at clothing that she could use in a Steampunk costume. Maura likes anything that features cats. She found a set of handmade magnets with cartoon cats on them that she liked and could afford to buy.

I mostly looked for a place to sit down but I didn't find one. In a perfect world I would fill my space with cool handmade items but as things stand I can’t. When I’m not able to buy I find shopping a bit depressing. I get no thrills from looking at cool goods for sale that I can’t possibly afford. For me the highlight of the day was a snack of hot dill pickles from the Grillo’s Pickles Cart. We buy them at Whole Foods to eat at home but they are every bit as good on the street. I hope I didn't bring Jennifer down by being unenthusiastic about shopping. It wasn't my intention to throw a wet blanket on her fun day.

Saying Goodbye to a Friend

Mother’s Day was last Sunday but I’m not writing about that this week. On Saturday there was a sad occasion that marked my weekend more. We had to say goodbye to a beloved family pet.

Our cat Elmo had been with us since long before Maura was born. He was an affectionate and usually gentle animal who liked people and was often to be found on someone’s lap. Most often the lap was mine. Elmo was 16 or 17 years old (we aren’t quite sure) and had been sick for months so we knew the end was coming. It was still hard on Saturday morning when it was clear his condition had taken a turn for the worse. We took him to see the vet, half hoping that she would tell us that he would respond to treatment and improve. We were not surprised when she told us that he was unlikely to get better and the best thing we could do for him was to have him euthanized. He was clearly suffering; the decision was not difficult.

I stayed with Elmo until the end while Jennifer took Maura to the garden store to purchase a plant. It is a family tradition to mark the final resting place of pets with a planting. Elmo is now under a lilac bush. It is small now but it was already covered with flowers when we planted it and if it thrives it will add beauty to our yard in the spring. Not far away is the maple tree we planted over the ashes of another departed friend which gives great color to our yard in the fall. On a happier occasion the planting would have been a fun family activity. We have gardened together before and it is usually very enjoyable when we all work as a team. The weather was perfect and it was better to be outside than indoors.

We are all missing Elmo now, especially me, because I am home alone much of the time. Our remaining cat Houdini has his affectionate moments but he is not as much of a snuggler as Elmo was. It has been lonely around here this week. It won’t be for long. We have room in our home and hearts for two cats and we have already been talking about getting another. Elmo can’t be replaced but there are lots of cats looking for good homes. If one doesn’t come to us from a friend or acquaintance the way most of our cats have over the years we will adopt from an animal shelter, probably before the end of the summer.

Ice Show 2011

Maura has stayed busy since we came back from vacation. She hasn’t competed in figure skating recently but she hasn’t stopped skating. In fact she’s been skating more than ever the last two weeks. A few weeks ago she tried out for a synchronized skating team. We haven’t heard whether she will be on the team or not but Maura and I are both hoping that she will be. I think it would help her get better at her individual skating because she would learn to skate with precision, which she doesn’t always do now. She will have more time on the ice, which would help her improve even if she learned nothing new. She would also have a chance to make more friends at skating. Maura is a very friendly girl but she has only made a few close friends at skating so far. I’m sure that as time goes by she will make more but she is likely to get close to her teammates more quickly than to girls she doesn’t spend as much time with.

This last week Maura performed in the Rockland Rink’s annual ice show. She spent lots of extra time at the rink. The show was last Saturday Night but she’d had three rehearsals during the previous week to get ready. The dress rehearsal was on Friday night and I took her so I saw the show twice.

This year’s show was Broadway themed. The routines were all performed to music from Broadway shows. Maura was in two group numbers. One was “Strangers Like Me” from Tarzan and the other was a song from Hairspray. She had a great time and did a fine job skating. The Hairspray number was the most fun. She wore a sparkly shirt and a pink wig that matched the big smile on her face. She got to keep the wig and she plans to wear it to school on Friday.

We had a full contingent of Maura fans in the audience to watch her skate. Julie Tittler came to watch and so did Rheannon Swire and her parents. We took up a whole row in the bleachers. We had gone to see Rhea skate in competition earlier in the day and watched her take first place in her group. Rheannon is one of Maura’s idols and Maura was very happy that Rhe was there to see her show. Maura could certainly pick a worse person to idolize; Rhea is a great role model—not the least because she has done many of the things that Maura wants to do over the next few years of her life.

The ice shows that Maura has skated in so far have been her only experience with skating in a group but she seems to do it well.  I think she will enjoy skating on the synchro team if she makes it. I’ll get used to the extra hours in the cold.

Williamsburg Again and Yorktown

Our vacation continued on Thursday, April 19th. After breakfast we headed back to Colonial Williamsburg. Our first activity was an audience with George Washington in 1775. The people in the audience played the part of the people of Williamsburg and he addressed us as a member of the House of Burgesses and delegate to the Continental Congress. The war hadn’t started yet so he wasn’t yet General Washington. He gave a great picture of Virginia on the eve of the American Revolution and took questions without ever breaking character or forgetting his moment in time. I was very impressed. He kept everyone’s attention, even Maura's. She had been worried she might be bored. After the audience we spent the morning in Colonial Williamsburg visiting houses and shops. We had lunch at Chowning’s Tavern, which we enjoyed.

After lunch we went back to pick up the car at the Cedars and headed down the Colonial Parkway for Yorktown. It was a very pretty drive. It would have been nice to take it slowly and stop to enjoy the scenery but we were in a bit of a hurry because we needed some time to spend at Yorktown before everything there closed. We stopped at the Visitor Center to pick up Maura’s Junior Ranger book for Yorktown and then took a whirlwind tour of the battlefield. We didn’t really have enough time to explore but we did get to hit the highlights. The siege works were very impressive, particularly the remains of the British works which were repaired by the Confederate forces during the Civil War. Maura learned about the American victory at Yorktown which convinced the British to give up trying to compel the colonies to return to their allegiance and resulted, after long negotiations, in the recognition of American independence and peace between the United States and Great Britain. Maura got her paperwork in for her Junior Ranger badge just before they locked the doors. It was the second she earned on the trip and she was proud of it. Despite the rush we did get the chance to learn some interesting details. I hadn’t known that a German speaking regiment in the French Army had attacked a position held by Germans in the British service.

We drove through the town of Yorktown after our battlefield tour. We stopped for a short time at the monument commemorating the victory but nothing else in the town seemed to be open. There was much we might have seen had we been there earlier in the day. Yorktown is another place we will have to visit again if we ever make it back to that part of Virginia. Afterwards we headed back to Williamsburg for dinner and a night’s rest.

The next day was our last day in Virginia. We spent in the whole day in Colonial Williamsburg and there were many things there that we didn’t have enough time see. We had had tentative plans to visit Busch Gardens, which is nearby, but we convinced Maura to forego that part of our trip by promising a visit to an amusement park in New England over the summer. We started on the third day with another visit with a historical character. This time it was Patrick Henry, firebrand orator and first governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia. The man who played Patrick Henry had a very different style than the man who played George Washington just as Henry and Washington had vastly differing styles. He stayed in his character very well but didn’t stay in his time period, which I believe was 1778. He answered questions that were a bit anachronistic. I might have to read a biography of him. He was certainly a strong character and an important creator of public opinion in Virginia and throughout the Colonies in the time leading to independence. We all agreed that we preferred the audience with Washington however.

We spent the rest of the day exploring the Colonial Williamsburg. In the morning we explored the gardens of the governor’s palace, the gunsmiths and the print shop. We had lunch at the King’s Arms Tavern and we enjoyed it thoroughly. The taverns generally were less crowded at lunch time and we did not need reservations like we did in the evening. They might be busier during the high season. After lunch my parents left us to go visit some old friends who had moved to Virginia and lived an hour or so away from Williamsburg near Richmond. We went on exploring without them. We saw a working kitchen with a newly built bread oven, the courthouse, a blacksmith, and a book bindery. At the guardhouse Maura participated in the militia drill with a two smaller children. Sticks filled in for their weapons. They all had a bit of trouble telling right from left so they got posted to awkward squad.

We wanted to purchase some souvenirs so we walked to the Visitor Center to spend some time at the gift shop and bookstore. On the way we found one more of the highlights of Colonial Williamsburg, the Good Hope Plantation, which gives the visitor an idea of the environment in which most of the people of Virginia lived—on plantations in the backcountry. It had a slave cabin and a tobacco barn They raise hogs and chickens there the way they did in the 18th Century and smoke hams in their smokehouse. They also have a saw pit where they were preparing timbers for use in construction in Williamsburg. The town is as realistic as it can be but by itself it doesn’t give a very complete picture of colonial society in Virginia where the plantations were the source of the wealth that built the town and the home of most of the people, white and black.

We bought our souvenirs and headed back to the main part of Colonial Williamsburg. Maura chose a wooden hoop for the hoop and stick game she had learned on the Palace Green earlier in the day. She had fun with the game and wanted to bring it home. I bought a t-shirt, my usual souvenir. Jennifer brought home cookbooks so we could duplicate some of the food we had eaten in the taverns.

Our last activity in Williamsburg was a talk the Native American actors who played the Shawnee characters in the Revolutionary City program we had seen on Wednesday. We didn’t ask many questions but the answers that the actors gave to the questions that other people asked were fascinating. It always enlightening to get a chance to see the world through other people’s eyes and the Native American point of view is one that the rest of us need to try to understand if we want to further justice in our society.

On Saturday our vacation was over. It just remained for us to drive home. We went back via the Chesapeake Bay Bridge on several people’s advice. It probably would have been faster to go back Interstate 95 because the traffic was very slow through Maryland and Delaware. Crossing the bridge was neat though and the countryside of the Eastern Shore of Virginia was pretty but very flat. It was late when we arrived back in Weymouth but we’d very much enjoyed our days in Virginia.