My passport expired long ago and I haven’t applied for a new one. I want to have a passport. I intend to apply but I have no sense of urgency. I don’t expect to be travelling out of the United States any time soon. My circumstances now don’t allow for long or expensive trips.
I wish, often, that it were otherwise. I rarely read travel books but I find myself gazing at the pictures of exotic places that grace their covers and saying to myself, “Why am I here?” I’m not questioning my purpose in life. My life has plenty of meaning. I find it in my relationships with God and with my family. I’m just wondering why I am in Weymouth, Massachusetts, and not in Africa, or New Zealand, or Brazil, or England, or New Mexico, or anywhere else. The world is full of places that I’ve never been and want to see, and equally full of places I’ve been before and want to see again.
Many of my happiest memories are of trips I’ve taken in the past with family and friends. It is a joy to go new places, do new things, eat new foods. I miss the days when I traveled more widely, when I accumulated stamps in my passport and highway miles on my car. I do remember, though, that there were times when I longed for the comforts of home. Now that I spend most of my time in my home I need to remember to savor those comforts. And when home is too small and boring, I have to remind myself that there are adventures waiting for me in my own back yard.
Even here in Weymouth there are places I have never been, activities that I have never tried, and foods I have never tasted. Boston is close enough that I can go for a day, do plenty, and be back for dinner without ever getting behind the wheel of my car. If I feel like driving, most of New England can be visited in a day. There are probably more things to see and do within one hundred miles of where I live than I could manage in a lifetime. So until the roads and skies of the world open up for me again and I start accumulating miles on my car and stamps in a new passport I’ll go out and find my adventures close to home. I won’t lack for travelling companions and I’ll make plenty of new memories to take with me when I’m again travelling the country and the world.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Monday, June 15, 2009
We Went to the Zoo, Zoo, Zoo
Last Thursday was Maura’s class field trip to the Franklin Park Zoo. At her school they get one big field trip each year so their trip to the zoo was one of the highlights of their school year. I went along as a volunteer chaperon. It was a long day but I’m glad I could help.
I arrived at school in the morning with Maura. We walked from home despite the promise of rain because I didn’t want to worry about parking at school. As a special treat we stopped for breakfast at the donut shop about halfway between home and school. One I had signed in at the office and the kids had settled into their classroom I went down to meet them. I was one of two parent volunteers for the class. I was assigned four students to watch during the day, Maura and three boys from her class. Then we boarded the bus and headed to the zoo.
It was a long and trying day for me but it was fun too. Once at the zoo the class split up and I was alone for the day with my four charges. I had not expected the class to be split up that way. It was all up to me and the kids what we did with the day. We managed to see pretty much everything the Franklin Park Zoo has to offer, except the giraffes. They were in their house staying out of the cold. It was not a warm day and it threatened to rain all day though it never did. I’m certainly glad for that. Many of the best exhibits at Franklin Park are indoors but there were lots of kids at the zoo and they all would have been crowded inside if it had been raining.
My four kids were all very good and excited about their trip to the zoo. Everyone wanted to see everything and they were remarkably patient and didn’t give me a hard time. They biggest problem was keeping them together. Someone was always running ahead or trailing behind and I feel lucky that I did not lose any of them.
Everyone has their own favorite animals at the zoo. I’m fond of the mandrills and the tamarins in the rain forest exhibit. Maura likes the lemurs. All the kids like the emus because they heard a story about emus in class. One of the peacocks that wander free in the zoo gave us a nice suprise. It fanned out its tail and put on a display for us. It was very impressive.
I was completely exhausted by the time we got back on the bus. Maura put her head on my shoulder and took a nap. I wish I could have done the same but it was a noisy and bumpy ride back to the school.
I arrived at school in the morning with Maura. We walked from home despite the promise of rain because I didn’t want to worry about parking at school. As a special treat we stopped for breakfast at the donut shop about halfway between home and school. One I had signed in at the office and the kids had settled into their classroom I went down to meet them. I was one of two parent volunteers for the class. I was assigned four students to watch during the day, Maura and three boys from her class. Then we boarded the bus and headed to the zoo.
It was a long and trying day for me but it was fun too. Once at the zoo the class split up and I was alone for the day with my four charges. I had not expected the class to be split up that way. It was all up to me and the kids what we did with the day. We managed to see pretty much everything the Franklin Park Zoo has to offer, except the giraffes. They were in their house staying out of the cold. It was not a warm day and it threatened to rain all day though it never did. I’m certainly glad for that. Many of the best exhibits at Franklin Park are indoors but there were lots of kids at the zoo and they all would have been crowded inside if it had been raining.
My four kids were all very good and excited about their trip to the zoo. Everyone wanted to see everything and they were remarkably patient and didn’t give me a hard time. They biggest problem was keeping them together. Someone was always running ahead or trailing behind and I feel lucky that I did not lose any of them.
Everyone has their own favorite animals at the zoo. I’m fond of the mandrills and the tamarins in the rain forest exhibit. Maura likes the lemurs. All the kids like the emus because they heard a story about emus in class. One of the peacocks that wander free in the zoo gave us a nice suprise. It fanned out its tail and put on a display for us. It was very impressive.
I was completely exhausted by the time we got back on the bus. Maura put her head on my shoulder and took a nap. I wish I could have done the same but it was a noisy and bumpy ride back to the school.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Ready to Roll
Maura received a bicycle for her birthday last year but for various reasons it sat in our shed for most of a year unridden. Our street, though fairly quiet, is still too busy for bike riding lessons and last fall we had no way to transport the bicycle to a better location. New England winters are not good times to be out on a bicycle. Now that it’s nearly summer and fair weather is expected it is time Maura learned to ride her bike. Last weekend we took the time to give her some lessons.
Our first lesson was Saturday afternoon. Once I had figured out how to mount the bike rack to the trunk of the Toyota we strapped Maura’s Hannah Montana bicycle on to it and headed to Great Esker Park where I was sure we would find a good place for Maura to ride. While the park’s most notable feature is the esker of its name, a long, steep-sided hill, near the parking lot is one of flattest places in Weymouth. A smoothly paved path that circles the ball field there is an ideal place for a bike lesson.
On Saturday I started out holding the handlebars and seat of the bike while I walked alongside reminding Maura to pedal. Soon I was letting go to jog behind her for a little while before she fell over or ran off the path out of control. Every time she fell over Maura got back on the bike with a smile on her face ready to try again. She hadn’t yet mastered bike riding by the time we had to go home for supper but she made a lot of progress.
We were back on Sunday afternoon for another lesson. While she still lost control of the bike often she was clearly getting her balance. Now instead of jogging right behind her while she pedaled slowly and unsteadily for a few yards I was running to catch up while she rode halfway around the circuit before losing control. She had a great time despite a skinned knees and I’m confident that she’ll be riding like a pro before school’s out for the summer.
Maura’s cheerful persistence in trying to ride her bike is heartening to me. She’s learned one of the lessons I’ve tried to teach her—that it is worth working at something until you get it right if it is something worth doing at all. I know that it is a lesson she will forget from time to time. I know I do. Still the better she learns it now the better she will be at dealing with failure and frustration when she needs to learn a difficult skill or one that gives her less pleasure.
Our first lesson was Saturday afternoon. Once I had figured out how to mount the bike rack to the trunk of the Toyota we strapped Maura’s Hannah Montana bicycle on to it and headed to Great Esker Park where I was sure we would find a good place for Maura to ride. While the park’s most notable feature is the esker of its name, a long, steep-sided hill, near the parking lot is one of flattest places in Weymouth. A smoothly paved path that circles the ball field there is an ideal place for a bike lesson.
On Saturday I started out holding the handlebars and seat of the bike while I walked alongside reminding Maura to pedal. Soon I was letting go to jog behind her for a little while before she fell over or ran off the path out of control. Every time she fell over Maura got back on the bike with a smile on her face ready to try again. She hadn’t yet mastered bike riding by the time we had to go home for supper but she made a lot of progress.
We were back on Sunday afternoon for another lesson. While she still lost control of the bike often she was clearly getting her balance. Now instead of jogging right behind her while she pedaled slowly and unsteadily for a few yards I was running to catch up while she rode halfway around the circuit before losing control. She had a great time despite a skinned knees and I’m confident that she’ll be riding like a pro before school’s out for the summer.
Maura’s cheerful persistence in trying to ride her bike is heartening to me. She’s learned one of the lessons I’ve tried to teach her—that it is worth working at something until you get it right if it is something worth doing at all. I know that it is a lesson she will forget from time to time. I know I do. Still the better she learns it now the better she will be at dealing with failure and frustration when she needs to learn a difficult skill or one that gives her less pleasure.
Friday, May 15, 2009
Ocean Racing
Because it was Mother’s Day, last Sunday’s activities were Jennifer’s choice. She thought it would be fun to check out the Volvo Ocean Race. The Ocean Race is an around-the-world sailing race that began in Spain last fall. The racing boats are now making a three week layover in Boston before beginning the final leg of the race across the Atlantic to make quick stops in Ireland and Sweden before finishing in St. Petersburg. Boston is the only stop the boats made in North America. Much of the race route was in the Southern Hemisphere.
While the boats are in Boston they occupy a temporary Race Village set up in the parking lot next to the Federal Court House on Fan Pier. They have work areas where adjustments and repairs can be made to the boats, temporary docks, concessions and attractions for visitors. The Race organizers are putting on concerts and festivals and hosting regattas for high school and college athletes and amateur sailors. When we visited the village they were racing the ocean racers in the harbor. We saw several matches. The course was two nautical miles long and the boats sailed it twice for each race. At speeds of around 20 knots the matches took about five minutes each. We didn’t always have the best view and no one in the family knows much about sailing but it was still fun to watch them. It was particularly interesting to watch because the harbor was busy. While we were watching the races a tanker came in and there were many water taxis and pleasure boats on the water.
The rest of the afternoon of the afternoon was also fun. After spending some time at the race village we walked along the Harbor Walk to the New England Aquarium, where we watched the seals in the outdoor tank for a while. The seals at the Aquarium have always been one of Boston’s best free attractions. After that we cut through Faneuil Hall on our way back to catch the T. We saw the tail end of a street performance on our way. An escape artist got out of a rope and a straight jacket while dangling upside down by his ankles from a pyramidal frame about 10 feet off the ground. It was fairly impressive.
The dark spot on the day for me was that still not completely recovered from the previous week. I had an unhealed blister on my heel that made walking increasingly uncomfortable as the day went on. By the time we got back to the T station I was limping rather badly and ready to call it a day.
While the boats are in Boston they occupy a temporary Race Village set up in the parking lot next to the Federal Court House on Fan Pier. They have work areas where adjustments and repairs can be made to the boats, temporary docks, concessions and attractions for visitors. The Race organizers are putting on concerts and festivals and hosting regattas for high school and college athletes and amateur sailors. When we visited the village they were racing the ocean racers in the harbor. We saw several matches. The course was two nautical miles long and the boats sailed it twice for each race. At speeds of around 20 knots the matches took about five minutes each. We didn’t always have the best view and no one in the family knows much about sailing but it was still fun to watch them. It was particularly interesting to watch because the harbor was busy. While we were watching the races a tanker came in and there were many water taxis and pleasure boats on the water.
The rest of the afternoon of the afternoon was also fun. After spending some time at the race village we walked along the Harbor Walk to the New England Aquarium, where we watched the seals in the outdoor tank for a while. The seals at the Aquarium have always been one of Boston’s best free attractions. After that we cut through Faneuil Hall on our way back to catch the T. We saw the tail end of a street performance on our way. An escape artist got out of a rope and a straight jacket while dangling upside down by his ankles from a pyramidal frame about 10 feet off the ground. It was fairly impressive.
The dark spot on the day for me was that still not completely recovered from the previous week. I had an unhealed blister on my heel that made walking increasingly uncomfortable as the day went on. By the time we got back to the T station I was limping rather badly and ready to call it a day.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Walk for Hunger
Last Sunday Maura, Jennifer and I walked in the 40th annual Walk for Hunger as the Ellett Family Team. As a team we walked a total of 41 miles. Maura and Jennifer walked to the lunch stop at Daley Field, 10½ miles from the starting line on Boston Common. I parted company with them after lunch and finished the 20 mile course, arriving back at the Common tired and footsore but proud of my accomplishment.
We got up bright and early on Sunday morning to take the T downtown to check in and start the walk. We completed our check in and headed out around 8 o’clock. The first few miles were very pleasant. The weather was almost perfect for walking, cool but not cold, with a high overcast most of the day. We set a good pace for the first several miles. Maura at first thought she might want to do the whole 20 miles but she started to get tired around mile 6. By mile 8 she was almost ready to quit. With some encouragement, Jennifer and I convinced her to continue to the lunch stop where we took a long break. Walking 10½ miles is a great achievement for a six-year-old and I’m very proud of her.
After lunch I said goodbye to Maura and Jennifer and continued with the walk. My legs and feet were already starting to get sore and by mile 15 I was limping along, but I kept on with it until I reached the end of the course, finishing around 3 o’clock in the afternoon. The second half of the course was lonely and painful but I would happily do it again. Maura and Jennifer took the shuttle bus back to the Common from Daley Field to enjoy the free festival there and were waiting to meet me when I staggered up to the final checkpoint. I checked in, received a certificate of achievement for completing the course and collected a free ice-cream before collapsing on the grass. It was a long day for everyone but on the whole we enjoyed ourselves and felt good about helping to raise money to feed the hungry. We are planning to walk again in two years and may make the Walk for Hunger a regular family event.
We got up bright and early on Sunday morning to take the T downtown to check in and start the walk. We completed our check in and headed out around 8 o’clock. The first few miles were very pleasant. The weather was almost perfect for walking, cool but not cold, with a high overcast most of the day. We set a good pace for the first several miles. Maura at first thought she might want to do the whole 20 miles but she started to get tired around mile 6. By mile 8 she was almost ready to quit. With some encouragement, Jennifer and I convinced her to continue to the lunch stop where we took a long break. Walking 10½ miles is a great achievement for a six-year-old and I’m very proud of her.
After lunch I said goodbye to Maura and Jennifer and continued with the walk. My legs and feet were already starting to get sore and by mile 15 I was limping along, but I kept on with it until I reached the end of the course, finishing around 3 o’clock in the afternoon. The second half of the course was lonely and painful but I would happily do it again. Maura and Jennifer took the shuttle bus back to the Common from Daley Field to enjoy the free festival there and were waiting to meet me when I staggered up to the final checkpoint. I checked in, received a certificate of achievement for completing the course and collected a free ice-cream before collapsing on the grass. It was a long day for everyone but on the whole we enjoyed ourselves and felt good about helping to raise money to feed the hungry. We are planning to walk again in two years and may make the Walk for Hunger a regular family event.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
April Vacation
Last week was Maura’s April vacation from school and we put the time to good use. Except for Tuesday, when Maura had a dentist appointment, we had a fun outing every day she was off from school. I’ve already written about our first outing, down to Cape Cod to go hiking on Monday. On Wednesday we visited one of our favorite haunts, the Children’s Museum. On Thursday was a trip to Weymouth’s annual April Vacation Carnival. On Friday Jennifer took the afternoon off and we took another family hike, this time in the rugged terrain of the Blue Hills Reservation.
We arrived in Downtown Boston on our Wednesday outing in time for an early lunch and a visit with Jennifer at her office building before we went to the museum. Though it rained later in the afternoon the weather was beautiful when we arrived in Boston so Maura and I ate our baloney sandwiches on the Greenway. Because it was Earth Day there was an event going on and we enjoyed listening to a rhythm band and watching stilt walkers as we ate our lunch. Afterwards we met Jennifer for a stroll and desert which she brought with her from an office party. Her building was having an Earth Day event in the lobby and we picked up some biodegradable swag. The Children’s Museum was as usual noisy, chaotic and crowded. Maura had a wonderful time. There were no new exhibits of note but there were a few Earth Day demonstrators there as well and Maura got a piggy bank for her collection.
Thursday morning we spent at home because we had a coupon for an unlimited ride bracelet that started at 2 pm. Maura was very excited all morning. Julie Tittler and Peter came over to join us at the carnival. Maura loves carnival rides and she had a great time, though she couldn’t convince Peter, who is four, to ride any rides with her. Maura is big enough to ride almost all of the carnival rides by herself now, including some of the really wild ones. I didn’t ride with her this time. I would have had fun doing but I wanted to save a little money. I did play a carnival game to win Maura a prize. I won a plush husky puppy throwing darts at balloons. Sometimes it’s worthwhile to spend ten dollars for a two dollar stuffed animal.
On Friday Maura had hot dogs from Windy City Eats for lunch and then went to pick Jennifer up at the T-station. Since we forgot our Blue Hills trail map we went to reservation headquarters to pick up a new one and started our hike from there. We hiked for about three hours, out on the very rugged Skyline Trail and a longer and flatter route back. The weather was almost perfect and the hike was wonderful. It’s really great to get out and get some outdoor exercise on a perfect spring day. We were all exhausted by the time it was over though. The steep and rocky terrain is hard on knees and ankles.
April vacation made me look forward to summer. Maura has a few weeks of activities planned over the summer, she’ll be attending a day camp at one of town parks one week and spend a week apart from us with her grandparents in Indiana and another week with us. We will both be home for most of the summer and I plan on taking her on lots of outings.
We arrived in Downtown Boston on our Wednesday outing in time for an early lunch and a visit with Jennifer at her office building before we went to the museum. Though it rained later in the afternoon the weather was beautiful when we arrived in Boston so Maura and I ate our baloney sandwiches on the Greenway. Because it was Earth Day there was an event going on and we enjoyed listening to a rhythm band and watching stilt walkers as we ate our lunch. Afterwards we met Jennifer for a stroll and desert which she brought with her from an office party. Her building was having an Earth Day event in the lobby and we picked up some biodegradable swag. The Children’s Museum was as usual noisy, chaotic and crowded. Maura had a wonderful time. There were no new exhibits of note but there were a few Earth Day demonstrators there as well and Maura got a piggy bank for her collection.
Thursday morning we spent at home because we had a coupon for an unlimited ride bracelet that started at 2 pm. Maura was very excited all morning. Julie Tittler and Peter came over to join us at the carnival. Maura loves carnival rides and she had a great time, though she couldn’t convince Peter, who is four, to ride any rides with her. Maura is big enough to ride almost all of the carnival rides by herself now, including some of the really wild ones. I didn’t ride with her this time. I would have had fun doing but I wanted to save a little money. I did play a carnival game to win Maura a prize. I won a plush husky puppy throwing darts at balloons. Sometimes it’s worthwhile to spend ten dollars for a two dollar stuffed animal.
On Friday Maura had hot dogs from Windy City Eats for lunch and then went to pick Jennifer up at the T-station. Since we forgot our Blue Hills trail map we went to reservation headquarters to pick up a new one and started our hike from there. We hiked for about three hours, out on the very rugged Skyline Trail and a longer and flatter route back. The weather was almost perfect and the hike was wonderful. It’s really great to get out and get some outdoor exercise on a perfect spring day. We were all exhausted by the time it was over though. The steep and rocky terrain is hard on knees and ankles.
April vacation made me look forward to summer. Maura has a few weeks of activities planned over the summer, she’ll be attending a day camp at one of town parks one week and spend a week apart from us with her grandparents in Indiana and another week with us. We will both be home for most of the summer and I plan on taking her on lots of outings.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Hiking Trip to Cape Cod
Monday was the first day of Maura’s April vacation and Jennifer had the day off because it was a state holiday here in Massachusetts. As the weather was expected to be nice we planned a hiking trip to Cape Cod to enjoy spring and some family togetherness. We decided we would visit two Massachusetts Audubon Society sanctuaries we had never before visited in the Upper Cape region, that part of Cape Cod closer to the mainland than the elbow where the peninsula bends to the north. Jennifer and I have been members of the Massachusetts Audubon Society for thirteen years. We joined shortly after we moved to Massachusetts and we’ve maintained our membership ever since. We strongly support their research and advocacy on environmental issues. Free admission to their wildlife sanctuaries is side benefit we do not take advantage of often enough.
Our first stop on Cape Cod was Skunkanett River, in the town of Osterville. Skunkanett River is inland, near the center of the peninsula and features a pond, upland forests and the river that gives the sanctuary its name. We didn’t see much wildlife but we didn’t see any people either. We could hear the birds in the trees and see the early green of spring, as the deciduous plants put forth their first leaves. A chipmunk watched us from the safety of an old pipe near the entrance. We saw a pair of mallards, a male and female, swimming on the pond. A scatter of blue feathers in the middle of the trail showed where something had caught a blue jay.
After a break for lunch we took a second hike, this one at Long Meadow, on the shore of Cape Cod Bay in Barnstable. This was a different environment. Here we hiked through meadows and old fields now filled with wind twisted scrub, brier choked second growth forest and a wood with holly trees. The trail led by vernal pools and a swamp where we may have seen a frog, though it jumped away too quickly for us to be sure. A boardwalk led down into the salt marsh that fringes the bay. From the end of the boardwalk we observed sandpipers running along the beach and brants swimming in the open water. A seagull was repeatedly dropping a clam hoping to break it open to get to the good parts inside.
The trip was a wonderful family outing. It cost little and got us away from the streets and lawns of the suburb where we live and into some wilder lands. It was a great learning experience because we got to see many environments in one day. Perhaps we will go back some summer day and see how the places change with the season.
Our first stop on Cape Cod was Skunkanett River, in the town of Osterville. Skunkanett River is inland, near the center of the peninsula and features a pond, upland forests and the river that gives the sanctuary its name. We didn’t see much wildlife but we didn’t see any people either. We could hear the birds in the trees and see the early green of spring, as the deciduous plants put forth their first leaves. A chipmunk watched us from the safety of an old pipe near the entrance. We saw a pair of mallards, a male and female, swimming on the pond. A scatter of blue feathers in the middle of the trail showed where something had caught a blue jay.
After a break for lunch we took a second hike, this one at Long Meadow, on the shore of Cape Cod Bay in Barnstable. This was a different environment. Here we hiked through meadows and old fields now filled with wind twisted scrub, brier choked second growth forest and a wood with holly trees. The trail led by vernal pools and a swamp where we may have seen a frog, though it jumped away too quickly for us to be sure. A boardwalk led down into the salt marsh that fringes the bay. From the end of the boardwalk we observed sandpipers running along the beach and brants swimming in the open water. A seagull was repeatedly dropping a clam hoping to break it open to get to the good parts inside.
The trip was a wonderful family outing. It cost little and got us away from the streets and lawns of the suburb where we live and into some wilder lands. It was a great learning experience because we got to see many environments in one day. Perhaps we will go back some summer day and see how the places change with the season.
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