Heritage Gardens and Museums in the Spring

This week is Maura’s spring break from school and we’re taking advantage of it, especially since the weather has so far been very pleasant. Yesterday we drove from Weymouth the Williamsburg, Virginia, but we’ve seen little except the very charming bed and breakfast where we are staying so I’ll save that trip for next week. Monday we did some more local travel so that Maura wouldn’t miss her skating lesson. We drove down to Sandwich on Cape Cod to show Jennifer, and my parents who are visiting from Indiana, the Heritage Gardens and Museums.

We had a very nice day, though it was hot for April. I never saw a weather report for Cape Cod but in Weymouth the temperature was reported to have hit 90 degrees Fahrenheit, though I was never uncomfortable. It was dry and there was a nice breeze. We left early and stopped for breakfast at Persy’s Place, in Kingston. They claim to have the largest breakfast menu in New England and I find no reason to doubt them. We don’t go there often because Kingston is a bit far to go for breakfast but I like the place a lot. It is the only restaurant I know of anywhere near where we live that has hash browns, which are my favorite breakfast potatoes.

After breakfast we drove on down to Sandwich. The gardens were beautiful though not yet in their full glory. There were many blooming daffodils and a few of the hundreds of rhododendrons had started to bloom. Some day we will have to visit in May, when they are in full flower. The crowds were not as oppressive as they had been when Maura were there before, on Free Museum Friday, and we walked the labyrinth almost undisturbed. Maura and I rode the carousel while my parents and Jennifer watched from a bench. I felt like a little kid and a proud dad all at once.

At the antique automobile museum we had a chance to enjoy the air conditioning while we had a leisurely look at the collection. Maura and I sat in the model T Ford that is the only one of the cars in the museum that you are allowed to touch. I imagined what a ride must have been like back then. The seats were remarkably comfortable but the car wasn’t moving so there was no way to know how good the springs were.

After the visit to the gardens we drove to the Thornton Burgess Society’s Greenbriar Preserve not far away. We went to visit the jam kitchen. The kitchen was a popular stop on the Cape before World War Two and hasn't changed much since then. We bought two jars as souvenirs and to enjoy later. I let Maura pick out a jar of orange cranberry rhubarb relish. Jennifer and I agreed on a jar of rhubarb ginger preserves.

Afterwards we rode home in comfort for a short rest before skating and a fine dinner at Stockholders, a Weymouth restaurant we had long been wanting to try. We were not disappointed and everyone agreed that the food and the service were excellent.

Holiday Feasts

Last weekend was a busy one for our interfaith family. Major holidays for both Jews and Christians came almost together. The first night of Passover and Easter fell on the same weekend and we feasted in celebration of both.

Passover began on Friday evening. We hosted a seder—a meal and ceremony in one that tells the story of Passover with a dinner. We didn’t have a huge crowd. It was only the three of us plus my sister-in-law Andrea and her two daughters. Even for a small number of people a seder is a big deal. It needs to be a special meal. Jennifer, as always with holiday meals, did a wonderful job. The kitchen was filled with delicious smells all afternoon and everything tasted just as good. I’ll admit that I wasn’t as much help as I might have been. I had a great deal of work to do for school and I didn’t have much time to assist Jennifer with the cooking. I did do the shopping and some cleaning before and after the event so I won’t claim to have been useless, just busy with other things. Though I am not Jewish the Passover seder has become one of the things that I look forward to every year. It comes at season when I often need a little cheering up and it has also given me some great snapshot moments that help me enjoy my daughter growing up. Each year she gets a little more deeply into the ritual and more adult in the way she enjoys her meal.

Easter was the joyous day for me that it should be. I went to church in the morning and thoroughly enjoyed the service. As always I went alone. The downside to being part of interfaith family is that I can’t share everything that I love with my family. Other parts of our celebration of Easter are generally low key. Sometimes we dye eggs but not this year. Maura did get some chocolate from the Easter Bunny and Jennifer bought some Peeps to share with her. They can have them. Peeps are one Easter tradition I can do without.

In the afternoon we went to our friends the Tittlers’ for Easter dinner. Julie does a dinner on Easter that is anything but low key and I feel privileged to have been invited to share it more than once. Julie cooks a traditional Polish Easter feast and it is a treat. I think I would like to visit Poland someday. I know I would enjoy the local food. Even better than the food was the company. We often get together with the Tittlers but we don’t always have the chance to linger at the table and talk for hours which we did on Sunday. Our friend Jeremy was the fourth guest at the Tittlers’ table and he always has interesting things to say. Along the way we had an Easter egg hunt for the kids. The men hid the eggs in the yard for the three children to find. Maura found hers quickly but afterwards she helped the Tittlers’ youngest find the remainder of hers. She even rehid a few of the one’s she had found when we realized there were not as many eggs as we had thought there were. I was very proud of her when she did that.

The Boston String Quartet at Sanctuary Hall

On Saturday March 31st we went to see the performance of the Boston String Quartet at Sanctuary Hall, otherwise known as the East Weymouth Congregational Church. It was a treat for me to celebrate my birthday which was on Sunday. I’ll admit to being prejudiced in favor of the East Weymouth Congregational Church because I am an active member of the congregation but the truth is that the church is an amazing place to see a concert. The sanctuary is an intimate space with great sight lines and fantastic acoustics. Musicians love to perform there because they sound their best. The ticket prices were another reason why this was a great show to see. Adult tickets were only $10 each and a family ticket was $20 so Jennifer and I brought Maura for free. Home baked goodies were available before the show and at intermission for a pay-what-you-can donation.

The Boston String Quartet gave a great show. They played with energy and style and it was clear that they enjoyed what they were doing. Most of the pieces that they played were from their most recent CD which was recorded in the sanctuary at East Weymouth Congregational. The concert this year was offered as payment for those recording sessions. Most of the pieces that were played were arrangements of pop songs or folk songs from around the world, all arranged by members of the quartet. It was a very eclectic mix that ranged from Michael Jackson to Taiwanese folk songs and included Santana and the Charlie Daniels Band.

You might expect that pop songs played by a string quartet might sound like something you would expect to hear on an elevator but nothing could be further from the truth. All of the pieces were interesting and exciting to listen to. The range of sounds that the Boston String Quartet produced from their instruments was astounding and included many that I wouldn’t expect to hear from stringed instruments. Maura enjoyed the music as much as I did and wanted the CD. We purchased the latest one plus an the earlier one and we’ve enjoyed listening to both of them.

The Boston String Quartet is active in supporting music education and frequently travels around the country working with high school students. A portion of the CD sales goes to support these activities. They will also be in concert at Jordan Hall on April 15 to benefit music education. They will perform with the Grammy winning Turtle Island Quartet, Jeanette Olson from Glee!, the Xibus World Orchestra (composed of students from around the country) and other special guests.

A Lecture and a Concert: Cultural Enrichment for Maura

Jennifer and I believe that it is important to expose Maura to many different experiences and give her many opportunities to learn. The education she gets at school is vital and provides her with basic skills but the world is full of interesting things that she won’t be likely to learn at school. Maura is curious and smart. She takes an interest in most of the new things she is exposed to and her mother and I are comfortable in taking her to events that might not interest many nine-year-olds. This Saturday we took her to two of them.

The first event was a lecture at our local library. Authors Keith Stavely and Kathleen Fitzgerald discussed their recent book Northern Hospitality: Cooking by the Book in New England. The book (and the lecture) discusses the history of cooking in New England through the cookbooks that were used here from the 17th Century to the early 20th Century. Maura likes history and I was fairly certain that she would be interested enough to pay attention to a talk about the history of food. If she was bored she could have gone into the children’s library which is just across the hall from the room the lecture was in. She stayed through the whole lecture and was well behaved so she must have found it interesting enough to hold her attention. I found the topic fascinating. We both enjoyed tasting the plum cake, baked according to a 1796 recipe, that we had a chance to sample at the end of the lecture. Some of other patrons were surprised that Maura would eat the plum cake but it was not a surprise to her mother and I. We have always encouraged her to try new foods and by now she does so as a matter of course. Very often enjoys them. We all liked the plum cake. It was rich and lightly sweet. If we had been at home I would have had a second piece.

In the evening we went to the Cantors’ Concert at Congregation Sha’aray Shalom. Cantor Weiss of Sha’aray Shalom was joined by six of his colleagues who serve other congregations to present a concert honoring the musicians who perform in services at Sha'aray Shalom. The performers came from as far away as California, though the majority were from the Boston Metropolitan Area, They sang a variety of music—a mixture Jewish religious music, pop songs and show tunes. There were several ensemble numbers and each cantor had at least one solo or duet. They all had wonderful voices and had chosen their pieces well. Maura was well behaved but it was a late night for her and by the end of the show she was falling asleep. We stayed at the reception afterwards for a while but it was clearly time for Maura to get to bed so we didn’t stay long. We might have left as soon as the show was over but Maura would have been disappointed.

Happy Spring!

It was still officially winter last Sunday but it wasn’t obvious from the weather which was nearly perfect. Sunday afternoon the temperature was near 70 degrees Fahrenheit with few clouds and a light breeze. It was a day to be out of doors.

When our Sunday morning activities were over we took the opportunity provided by the perfect weather to get out for a hike. We went to the Moose Hill Audubon Sanctuary, in Sharon, Massachusetts. We were joined by our friends Mike and Becca and the younger members of their household, who live in Sharon and had invited us for dinner afterwards.

Our hike took us through the varied terrain of the sanctuary, through upland forest and boggy bottoms, by open fields and past ponds and vernal pools. With three active children (Maura and Becca’s two boys) plus a baby in a stroller, there wasn’t much wildlife to see or hear but it was still a pleasant walk. I tried out trekking poles for the first time in the hope that they would save my knees which have been hurting after long walks. I had received them as a Christmas gift but did no hiking during the winter. They either worked or the walk was not long or rugged enough to cause a problem with my knees. I did find that my arms and shoulders were tired after the hike.

I didn’t see any wildlife except for chickadees and crows, which are everywhere and unafraid of noisy children, but we did hear frogs as we walked by the vernal pools. They were likewise undisturbed by children and loud enough that they could have been heard over a dozen kids. I could only identify the spring peepers but there were also lower notes of another species of frog also breeding in the vernal pools.

The fine weather continues this week. I may go hiking again on my own but even if I don’t I’ll take the opportunity to walk around town. At the very least I will dodge traffic and skirt construction to walk to Maura’s school at dismissal and come back with her in tow. We both enjoy the outdoor exercise and the time together. Suburban sidewalks are not as pleasant a place to walk as wildlife sanctuaries but they are still much better than a stuffy house on the finest days in the early spring.

Maura the Star

Last Friday night was a proud parent moment for me. Maura had a role in the Purim Spiel at Congregation Sha’aray Shalom. For those of you who are not familiar with it the Purim Spiel is a dramatic retelling of the events of the Book of Esther which is presented to celebrate the Jewish holiday Purim, which was actually Thursday.

At Sha’aray Shalom the Purim Spiel is always a spoof of a hit Broadway musical. This year’s spiel was based on Les Mis. Maura played the part of Logo, the little girl from the Les Mis poster. She helped to introduce the show and sang several solos. She did a wonderful job in her part. She had worked very hard in preparing for it and it showed. He lines were clear, audible and delivered to the audience with a smile. When she sang she was on key, which is more than can be said for many people who sing in amateur performances.

The show was a lot of fun to watch, which is part of the point of putting it on. Purim is not a solemn holiday but a celebration of life. All the performers had worked hard and enjoyed their roles. My friend Julie and her son Peter came to see Maura perform with us and had a good time too.

I lost track of the number of people who told me how great Maura was after the end of the spiel. She did do an excellent job but I think people were particularly impressed because she was the youngest person in the show. It’s the second year she has taken part and I wouldn’t be surprised if she kept at it. She might decide she wants to try out for roles in other plays. There are several amateur theater groups in our area that she could join. I would certainly encourage her to try if she has an interest in it. I just hope stardom doesn't go to her head.

Charlestown: The Constitution and Bunker Hill Monument

On Friday, February 24th the Ellett family visited the Charlestown sites on Freedom Trail: the U.S.S. Constitution, the Constitution Museum and the Bunker Hill Monument. It was a long and tiring day but it was fun and we learned a lot. We also got plenty of exercise.

We traveled into Boston by T-train as we usually do. To get to the Constitution, which was our first destination, we surfaced at North Station and walked over the Charlestown Bridge, following the line of the Freedom Trail. It was a nice day for February and we didn’t mind the walk. When we arrived at the museum we checked in and then went to pass through security in time to catch the next guided tour of the U.S.S. Constitution.

I hadn’t visited the Constitution since before 9/11 and the security arrangements were new to me. It had been even longer since Jennifer had last been on board. We had to pass through metal detectors like the ones at airports or Federal Courthouses. It might be a hassle in the summer when there are crowds but in February it was easy and the security personnel on duty were friendly and professional.

Once through security we boarded the ship and took the guided tour conducted by a petty officer serving on the Constitution’s crew. The Constitution is the oldest commissioned warship still afloat in the world. It is unlikely to happen but the ship could technically still be ordered to sea. It was fascinating to have a tour of the ship conducted by a man who has a connection to the naval traditions that stretch back to the days when the Constitution was a significant part of the United States Navy. We learned a bit about how the sailors lived and fought when were taken below to see the gun deck and the birth deck which can only be visited during a guided tour.

After we toured the ship we visited the Constitution Museum nearby. The museum offers a more complete look at what it was like to serve on board the Constitution and at what life in the United States was like in 1812 when the ship fought its most famous battles against British frigates. The newest exhibit was “All Hands on Deck: a Sailor’s Life in 1812” which explored what it was like for the men who served on the Constitution and for their loved ones left behind. It told the story of the ship through the biographies of some of the men who served on her. Much was explained in their own words using material drawn from journals and letters that they wrote. The real people whose stories were told included common sailors, marines and officers. They came from all walks of life and included minorities and recent immigrants who were important parts of the crew. There were many hands on activities to interest children and draw them into the exhibit and plenty to interest adults as well. We spent at least an hour in the exhibit and Maura could have spent more time there.

Both the U.S.S. Constitution and the Constitution Museum are free to visit. Both do request donations and depend on them for a significant part of their funding. For the museum the suggested donation is five dollars for adults and two dollars for children. In my opinion it would be worth paying more to visit this museum so be generous if you do.

After exploring the Constitution Museum we followed the Freedom Trail up Breed’s Hill to the Bunker Hill Monument, the granite obelisk that marks the site of the militia defended entrenchments that British regulars assaulted during the Battle of Bunker Hill. We left the nearby Bunker Hill/Charlestown Museum for another day but we did climb the 294 steps to the top of the monument. We did it because Maura wanted to, though Jennifer and I were both ready for a break. The view from the top was gorgeous but I’m not sure it was worth the pain in my knee. I was limping badly by the time I got down.

After climbing the monument we headed down the other side of the hill in the direction of the Community College T station, looking for a good place to have lunch. We found it in the Warren Tavern, a cozy old tavern built in 1780 and named for Dr. Joseph Warren who was killed at the Battle of Bunker Hill. It was nice to sit down and the food was good. Lunch cost more than we could really afford but the prices were not unreasonable for a sit down restaurant in Boston. After lunch we continued on to the T-station and headed home, tired but happy after an enjoyable day.