Waiting for Phil

In case you are wondering, Phil is a snow day. He hasn’t come to Weymouth even once this year, though last year it seemed Phil had taken up residence for the season. The name comes from lines in a song Maura sang in her school’s Winter Concert this year: "Snow Day… gonna call him Phil." It’s out of context—Phil is supposed to be the name of a snowman—but it’s fun to tease Maura with it now and then.

I’m beginning to think we might not see Phil at all this year. It’s mid-February already and we’ve hardly had enough snow to build a snowman much less cancel school. Winter is not over but the coldest and snowiest parts of a typical winter will soon be behind us. Maura is disappointed. She looks forward to sleeping in, lying around the house in her pajamas all morning, and dressing in her warm clothes to spend the afternoon playing in the snow with her friend Dominic from across the street.

I’m glad Maura hasn’t missed school this year because of weather but in a strange way I’m disappointed, too. In past years I’ve always enjoyed the surprise vacations I got courtesy of the weather. The storms themselves were exciting and unpredictable but the best part was the extra time I got to spend cuddled up with Maura and (if the weather was particularly bad) Jennifer. We couldn’t go anywhere unless we wanted to drive on the badly cleared roads but there was always time to spend together. We could share a cup of cocoa, play a board game or watch one of our favorite movies on DVD. We’ll have some time to spend together next week when Maura is out of school on her February break. We won’t be cooped up in the house the whole week unless the weather changes. The trouble is vacations are predictable. Part of the charm of a snow day is that it is never expected.

Wii, Wii, Wii (and mostly stay home)

Maura and I haven’t been traveling much of late, even over the Christmas holiday. We did a bit of shopping one day and on Christmas Day we visited with friends. We also went to the movies twice. It’s one of our Christmas traditions. We saw Tangled on the day before Christmas and Tron Legacy the Monday after. Both were thoroughly appreciated, but not very far from home. There were no visits to museums or other attractions.

We’d planned some, at least a trip to the Science Museum in Boston, but early in the week after Christmas the weather was lousy (a blizzard hit during the night on Sunday) and then Maura came down with a fever so we wanted her to get plenty of rest and we didn’t want to expose too many other people to something that might be contagious. A call to the pediatrician convinced her mother and I that the fever wasn’t very serious and it was gone by New Year’s Day but it kept us at home for most of Maura’s vacation.

During the days Maura felt fine so we all played together at home. There were new Christmas gifts to play and play with. The gift that kept Maura busiest and given lots of fun to the whole family was the Wii game system that Maura’s grandma and grandpa gave her for Christmas. All three of us in the Ellett home have been spending much of our free time in front of the TV waving around the Wii remote.

I’m a bit worried that the Wii might aggravate Maura’s tendency to spend all of her time in front of the TV but provided we can keep that under control the Wii is a good game system for Maura, and me for that matter, to be playing on. We don’t have Wii Fit, which is designed for exercise, but many of the games we do have are active enough. They’re best played standing up and some of them can get your heart racing. Many of them are fun for the whole family to play together, so unlike the games we play on our computer, and many other video games, they are not isolating. On the whole I think playing on the Wii is healthy in moderation and it’s certainly fun. I’m not planning on making Maura stop (and I’ll play now and again myself). Next time Maura has a break, though, I hope the weather and our health give us a chance to get out and do something outside the house. If we never leave home I might have reason to worry.

A Day Out in Boston

Last week was Maura’s February vacation from school. She had the whole week off with little to do but watch TV and play with her friend Dominic who lives across the street. For the most part that was enough for her. Though she generally enjoys school she also enjoys her time off from it. By Friday, however, we were both ready to do something different and with cash in hand from our weekly trip to the ATM we headed to Quincy Adams Station and from there to Boston by T-train.

Other than to spend it in the city we had no very definite plans for the day and that worked out just fine. I knew I wanted to keep the cost down if I could but we started with a bit of shopping. We got off T at Arlington Station and strolled through the Back Bay. The weather was very fine for February, breezy but not cold. We walked down Newbury Street and back through the Prudential Center and Copley Place, stopping for lunch on the way. While we ate we sat in the window and watched people on the street. In the Prudential Center Maura bought a pretty rhinestone barrette from a very helpful sales clerk. It helped to tame her unbrushed hair blown wild by the wind as we crossed through the plaza at the Christian Science Center.

After shopping we went back outside at Copley Square and it was time for culture. We visited the Boston Public Library, taking in the current exhibitions which were interesting and free. Maura wasn’t as excited as I was by the Edgar Allen Poe exhibit discussing the troubled relationship he had with his birthplace but the exhibition of street photographs by Jules Aarons. Mostly taken in the North End and West End of Boston during the 1950s and 1960s they fascinated both of us.

From the library we headed up Boylston Street to the Public Garden. Walking through the Garden we stopped to take in the "Make Way for Ducklings" sculpture and then walked across the Common to the Massachusetts Statehouse, where we joined a free tour to learn more about the history of the building and of the Commonwealth. We joined the tour late so I never caught our tour guide’s name but he was very knowledgeable and friendly and the tour was excellent. We saw the chambers for the state House of Representatives and Senate and the public rooms of the Statehouse where Massachusetts receives visitors and honors heroes. Maura had been to the Statehouse before but it was the first time she had taken the tour and she enjoyed it as much as I did, asking questions and looking at everything there was to see.

We’d already had a full day but it wasn’t over. After the Statehouse we made our way to the building where Jennifer works and met her for dinner and an evening trip to the Science Museum. Dinner was at one of my old favorites, Durgin Park. The food is traditional New England cooking, the service is always friendly and the atmosphere hasn’t changed much since the 19th century when the place served the workers in the city’s main market. Jennifer and I had corned beef and Maura had fish. No one was disappointed.

At the Science Museum we went to the new Identity exhibition. It explores the different aspects of human identity—physical, mental and social. Most of the displays are interactive, allowing the visitors to explore their own identities as well as the question of identity in the abstract. Some of the exhibits were also research studies themselves. I was glad to participate in them while Maura played a game that explored how identity changes when we interact with others.

After an hour or so at the museum we were all worn out. I’d been on my feet too long and had done in my knees so it was painful to walk down stairs and Maura was showing the signs of being tired. We were all happy to be heading home thoroughly satisfied by our day out.