Ghosts of Halloween Past

Watching Maura grow up is a source of great pride and joy for me. She is smart, empathic and good at many things. Every day she is a bit more accomplished, sophisticated and poised. Soon she won’t be a little girl anymore but a young woman. I’m looking forward to that day but I am also dreading it.

There is some sorrow in watching Maura grow up as well as joy. Each stage seems to go by so fast that there is hardly time to enjoy it before it is gone. I don’t miss changing diapers but I do miss pushing Maura on the swings at the playground and walking her to school. The day will come when we go sledding together for the last time, when she no longer wants to be read a bedtime story, when her daddy isn’t the most important man in her life.

I spent most of yesterday working on an assignment for the web graphics course I’m taking—a Photshop project I’ve titled “Ghosts of Halloween Past”. I found old pictures of Maura in her Halloween costumes and put them together in one image with me in the middle. Each younger Maura is more faded just as those younger Maura’s are fading in my memories.

A Weekend of Festivals

We decided not to go camping over Columbus Day Weekend as we had tentatively planned. I had an event to attend at church on Saturday night and schoolwork that needed to be done. We did the take the time for some family fun, attending festivals on Saturday and Sunday afternoons.

On Saturday we drove down to Marshfield for the South Shore Celebration, a sustainable living festival at the Marshfield Fairgrounds. It was an enjoyable afternoon for everyone. We learned about green practices, ate some tasty local food and wandered around a bit. I parked myself near the music stage to listen to the music provided by Boston area band Melloteen. They played great high energy rock music—a mix of originals and well-done covers, many with environmental themes. Their show also featured a bicycle powered sound system. It worked very well as long as they had a few enthusiastic peddlers to keep it going. Near the stage a vendor was selling handmade hula hoops and she had a dozen or so out for people to try. Maura spent about an hour learning how to hula hoop and now she wants to get one for herself. The fun of the afternoon was worth the ten dollars per family admission. It would be an even better deal for a larger family.

On Sunday we headed into Boston for the Local Food Festival on the Rose Kennedy Greenway. It was a much bigger event than the one in Marshfield and admission was free as it always is for events on the Greenway. It featured local food producers, distributors of locally grown produce, restaurants that use locally produced food in their cuisine, and food related non-profit organizations. There was live music on several stages to give the festival a soundtrack. We had a wonderful time. Our visit was a wandering open air lunch. We sampled a great variety of foods ranging from pumpkin crab apple soup to locally produced chocolate. Some of what we ate was free samples and some we bought, though the prices were reasonable. We all enjoy eating a variety of foods so the festival was great fun. For me the highlight was trying raw oysters. I had them for the first time since I was six and Maura tried one for her first time ever. Maura enjoyed her oyster, which is no surprise since it came from the sea. Maura loves all kinds of seafood. I also enjoyed mine. It was a very different experience for me than the first time I ate a raw oyster. Then I definitely did not enjoy it. Of course, now I know that raw oysters are swallowed whole and not chewed.

Family Games

Last weekend was busy and tiring but we didn't do much out of the ordinary and very little worth writing about. Rain cancelled any plans we might have had to get outside on Saturday and I was very behind on my sleep and nearly exhausted on Sunday. On Saturday night I had run an odd job that kept me out until 3:00 am and I had already had trouble sleeping during the previous week. Partly for that reason we stayed home on Sunday. Our usual Sunday evening gathering with friends was cancelled. Instead we stayed home for a family game night.

Jennifer and I have played games together ever since we met twenty years ago and Maura has enjoyed playing games with us since she was old enough for Candy Land and Chutes and Ladders. We have a pretty good selection of games that we all like to play. They range from classics like Clue and Yahtzee to more recent games such as Apples to Apples, Carcassonne and Settlers of Catan. The list could go on—we have dozens. The collection is ever expanding as games are favorite holiday and birthday gifts. This year Maura received Lemming Mafia. Laugh if you want, but it is a fun game for adults to play with middle grade kids. Check it out online if you are in the market for a good game to play with your ten-year-old. Sometimes we will play for hours with each member of the family picking a game in turn so we get to play all of our favorites.

This Sunday we only played one game after dinner. Maura chose one of her favorites, Cannibal Pygmies in the Jungle of Doom, the B-movie card game. As always, all three of us played to win. Once Maura understands a game Jennifer and I never go easy on her. She wins her share of most of the games we play so I don't feel too badly about beating her. I know she’s happy when she beats us. Teaching Maura how to be a good winner and a good loser is one of the reasons why Jennifer and I play games with her. Of course, the biggest reason we play is to have fun. We could watch TV or a movie together but the games offer far more opportunities for interaction. Sometimes we can even have a conversation without interrupting the game play.

Corn Festival

On Sunday afternoon we had a family outing to the Corn Festival at the South Shore Nature Center in Norwell, Massachusetts. The festival featured local crafters, corn themed crafts and games for kids, food featuring more corn, live music, corn tastings, hayrides, animals brought by the local 4H clubs, a bake sale and the Nature Center itself, along with the woods around. There was an admission charge for the festival but it wasn’t excessive, especially since it included admission to the museum which is well worth a visit. Some of the attractions at the festival cost extra, though except for food and a few inexpensive items purchased at the crafters’ booths we kept our wallets closed once we had paid our admission. Except for the museum, and the bake sale and corn tasting which were inside, the festival was outside. The weather was almost perfect—warm in the sun but not too hot. It was a great day to be out.

The crafters’ had their booths set up closest to the entrance so we spent some time shopping when we first arrived. Jennifer and Maura always enjoy shopping, especially when the merchandise is hand made. I’m often board by shopping but I had a better time than I usually do. One of the crafters present was demonstrating weaving on a small table loom and I tried it out. It was very relaxing and I’m considering getting one for myself. Jennifer knits and is teaching Maura but I don’t think I have the dexterity for it or the patience to learn. Weaving has a rhythm to it that I think I would enjoy. Taking up a fiber art of my own would make visiting yarn stores and fiber festivals with Jennifer much more fun.

After shopping, Maura and I had lunch. Jennifer had already eaten so she didn’t join us. We both had corn chowder which was very good. So was the corn muffin we split for desert. Later we all split some homemade caramel corn.

After lunch Maura went to the kids’ area to do some crafts and Jennifer stayed with her. I went with them for a bit but then found a seat near the music. There was a singer with a guitar who was often accompanied by a mandolin player and occasionally by the sound-man on a banjo. His repertoire was a mixture of old rock songs, folk songs, country and bluegrass. I enjoyed his performance and would happily go to see him again; unfortunately I never caught his name. There was nothing posted and if he had introduced himself I arrived to late to hear it.

Busy

Now it is a busy time of the year, though every season is. This season is busy but offers little to write about. Maura is settling into her routine of school and practice and the little traumas of the first weeks are behind us. There is plenty to do and little time to do it. In addition to school, Maura has lessons or practice or religious obligations every day but Tuesday. There isn’t much time for us to take trips. Last week we had planned a trip to Cape Cod on Saturday but we had forgotten that Maura’s first soccer game was at 10:30am, much too late for us to go visit the Cape Cod beaches afterwards.

The big event this last week for Maura was the celebration of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. She spent Sunday evening, and much of the day on Monday and Tuesday in services with her mother. For me the days were ordinary. Because I am the member of the household who is not Jewish I stayed home alone. I stay home alone almost every weekday. I know I would have been welcome to attend services but I feel more comfortable staying away at the holiest times for a faith that is not mine. Somehow it seems more respectful.

Maura made a trifle for after the service on Sunday night. It was tropical fruit flavored, with mango Jello, crushed pineapple, banana pudding and shredded coconut sprinkled over whip cream on top. Jennifer told me that people didn’t believe that Maura had made it. Jennifer helped her with it but the trifle was Maura’s creation. I was lucky to get a taste of it. I can’t wait for her to really find her feet in the kitchen. I expect she will make some very creative dinners and I will enjoy eating them.

A Fresh Start

Maura is back in school now. This time of year is a time of new beginnings for both of us. This year it sees more beginnings than ever before. Maura is in a new school for 5th grade—the Abigail Adams Campus of the Weymouth Middle School. She’s taking the next step in her figure skating career by joining a synchronized skating team and taking on new responsibilities at home.

School may be the smallest change for Maura. She hasn’t changed school systems and much remains the same as it was in her elementary school. There is a larger pool of students as every 5th grader in the Weymouth Public Schools is at Abigail Adams but her class isn’t much larger and she stays with the same people throughout the day. None of her close friends from elementary school are in her class but she is staying in touch. She walks to school without me and sometimes her friends join her. So far she seems to be enjoying her new school. She doesn't complain and she gets out the door without any fuss in the morning. Her mother and I will be meeting her teacher this evening and I expect that we will hear that Maura is doing well so far. Time will tell if Maura has trouble adapting to the new school but I don’t expect her too. She enjoys learning. I hope that never changes.

There are some big changes in skating this year. Maura has joined the Winterettes, the United States Figure Skating synchronized skating team that is affiliated with the Winterland Skating School where she takes lessons. There are actually five teams separated by age and ability. Maura is on the Beginner 3 team. She is the youngest and least experienced skater on her team so she has some catching up to do but I expect that she will. Her practices with the team start today and she will be getting some extra lessons with the coach. She’s also keeping up with her individual lessons and we plan on her skating in ISI competitions as an individual like she did last year, starting with the Halloween Classic at the Rockland Rink where she skates. I think this is the year that Maura has to decide how much effort she is willing to put into skating. I don’t want her to stop enjoying it and I will never be upset at her if she doesn’t win first place but she may need to work a little harder if she wants to keep improving.

The last new start for Maura is that she began taking a share of the family cooking duties. She’ll be cooking dinner on Tuesday nights this year. She started last night by roasting a chicken. I was there to supervise and help but Maura did most of the work and as she learns her way around the kitchen I’ll expect her to do more. For now she is understandably a bit nervous with knives and the hot oven but I know she’ll get over that with practice. For now I will be in the kitchen with her but the time will come when I just expect her to get dinner ready and let me know when it’s done. I’m glad that Maura wants to learn to cook. I’ve always thought that it is one of the most important domestic chores to learn and that cooking from scratch is the best way to ensure you eat healthy food. Maura’s chicken was a very good first effort and every one appreciated it. Each meal is a lesson for her and she's already planning next week.

Camping in Allegheny State Park

We spent the Labor Day Weekend camping in Allegheny State Park, in western New York State. It was a long trip for us from Weymouth, Massachusetts but we had picked our destination because of its location, roughly halfway between our home and my parents’ home in Indiana. Maura was visiting her grandparents and we needed to fetch her home before school started this week. We met them halfway to make the exchange and enjoy our final short vacation of the summer.

Allegheny State Park was a nice place to visit. The park is beautiful and has very nice facilities nestled in a semi-wild area the size of a county with lakes, streams and miles of steep wooded hills. The campground at Red House was not quite as nice as the rest of the park because the sites were small and crowded together. On Sunday it was a city of portable homes. On Monday when the crowds were gone it was quite pleasant. We will likely be back for the same reason we were there this time—it is a convenient place to meet my folks and the beauty and amenities of the rest of the park make up for a less than perfect campground.

Jennifer and I got up early on Saturday morning to make the trip to Allegheny State Park. It was an all-day drive and we needed to get there before dark to make camp, which we accomplished by leaving at 4:00 am. Once we had unloaded the car and pitched the tent we made our way to where my parents were staying in a nearby town to collect Maura. We also had the chance to spend some time with my parents and with my sister Marcia who had come along on the trip with them. Seeing Marcia is a rare treat for me—my parents visit us several times each year but Marcia isn’t retired and can’t usually make the trip with them and we don’t have the resources to go to Indiana often. We had a nice restaurant meal and then headed back to camp to because we were all exhausted.

Sunday we all spent the day together in the park. We met after breakfast at the Red House lodge. We explored the lodge’s museum and gift shop, took a short hike nearby and then ate lunch at the lodge restaurant which was a friendly place that made great sandwiches. After lunch we went down to Red House Lake and played miniature golf at the course there. The course was in an advanced state of disrepair and was barely playable because of the resulting unintended obstacles. Despite the obstacles, or perhaps because of them, we had a very good time playing it. It was worth a few laughs.

After mini-golf we went back to camp. While my dad and I built and tended a fire the rest of the group drove to nearby Salamanca for provisions. We had an enjoyable dinner of sausages cooked in the fire wrapped in foil with s’mores for desert and beer for the adults. We all had a chance to relax and unwind. At the end of the evening we said goodbye to my parents and sister. They had to return to Indiana on Monday. We were lucky enough to have another day to enjoy the park.

On Monday we took a hike along little used dirt roads to Thunder Rocks, a group of strange rock formations perched on the top of a hill. They were clearly natural boulders of coarse sandstone not moved by man but I don’t enough about the local geology of the area to know how they came to be there. Despite the litter and graffiti left by previous visitors the rocks had a mysterious and primal air. I felt almost as if I was intruding on a holy place. Maura wanted to climb them.

After the hike we took another jaunt into town for provisions and then rented a paddle boat for an hour. It was fun to tool around the lake on an oversized aquatic Big Wheel until a storm threatened. Though the storm never arrived, the gusty winds and clouds were a signal that it was time to go in. We had planned on taking on taking a dip in the lake afterward but instead returned to camp for another relaxing evening. We roasted wieners on sticks, ate s’mores again and read stories aloud around the fire by flashlight. The next day we packed up as quickly as we could and drove back to Weymouth to be ready for the first day of school on Wednesday, both for Maura and for me.