Wishful Slacker

Two if by Sea

A week ago I finished the book 1776 by David McCullough.  I had never read one of McCullough's books before, but I loved his narration in the Ken Burns' Civil War series, and would really like to read more of his works in the future.  My friend and I heard him speak at Oakland University years ago.  We had horrific seats but that didn't matter because we were able to hear his voice, which is so amazing.  So of course when reading through 1776, I heard McCullough's voice in my head the whole time.  It was similar to when I read Stephen Hawkings "A Brief History of Time" and through the whole book imagined his computer voice talking to me.  Needless to say, it took me a long time to finish!

I have to say that 1776 had the most sudden conclusion to any book I've ever read.  No, don't worry, we still gain our independence (oops, did I just give away the ending?!).  It seemed so sudden because I am not used to reading books with pages upon pages of citations, and therefore did not realize I was so close to the end.  I nestled into bed one night to read a few pages, and then, what do you know, I had finished it!

I started reading 1776 in preparation for our weekend trip to Boston a few weeks ago.  Thankfully, the Revolutionary War started during the British occupation of Boston and I was able to get through that part prior to our trip!  I would have thoroughly enjoyed going to the historical sites in Boston even if I hadn't read the book of course, but being immersed in the book while going through Boston ended up being really, really cool.  The book picks up after the Battles of Lexington/Concord and Bunker Hill, and I wish McCullough could have included these battles and the events leading up to those initial conflicts, like the Stamp and Townsend Acts and the Boston Tea Party, just to get a bit more of that background.     

That aside, the book makes you realize how very easily the British could have won that war based on the moments of that year.  McCullough also does a tremendous job at describing the incredible hardships soldiers faced at that time.  Walking miles and miles with the barest of clothes and shoes.  Freezing to death during overnight secret marches.  Being overcome by disease.  Suffering for days and days before dying from war wounds.  Prisoners of war being bayoneted after their capture, or being kept on prison ships for months.  Horrible, horrible things.

Jim and I went to the Minute Man National Historical Park during our visit.  I had been once before and Jim thought it to be just as powerful an experience as I had 5 years ago.  Within the Minute Man Park are the historical remnants of the Battles at Lexington and Concord and the trail taken by the British in their retreat back to Boston.  April 18, 1775 was the night when the lanterns were lit in the Old North Church ("one if by land, two if by sea") and the midnight ride of Paul Revere took place, when Revere took off for Lexington and Concord to warn them that the British were coming (Paul Revere was also joined by a guy name William Dawes, who we just don't seem to talk about at all!). 

    With the Old North Church in the background

The British were met with huge opposition at Lexington and Concord, and at the Old North Bridge was "the shot heard 'round the world."  The British retreated back to Boston, but along the way were met with resistance from thousands of militia men who showed up from surrounding villages.  By the end of the day, 273 British and 93 Americans were killed, and the Revolutionary War had begun.

 

 

Old North Bridge, the location of the Battle of Concord

The trip from Boston to Concord is about 18 miles.  The British marched through the night on their way to Lexington and Concord, and those battles occurred in the early morning.  Just imagine walking that far, through the night, only to find yourself under fire the ENTIRE way back.  That's 36 miles in one day.    No sleep.  No food.  No water.  No Nike tennis shoes or blister band-aids.  Oh, and you're being fired at the whole time.   

If you ever go to the Minute Man National Park, there is a travel center that has a somewhat cheesy video presentation that is still pretty well done and informative.  Leave some time to just wander and picture what went on there over two hundred years ago.  And, when you're ready to leave that behind and switch to more transcendental thinking, Walden Pond is just down the road.  War and Peace, and so near each other.

 

 
 

Parking Spot of Tea

I grabbed a cup of coffee this afternoon from the hospital shop (this time not making any jokes, having learned my lesson last time).  Sipping coffee during the last couple of hours of work is a great way to pass the time.  Working working...sip of coffee, ahhhh.....working working...sip of coffee, ahhhh....

And so on and so forth.

There are few things more lovely than a hot beverage, when you think about it.  Even if just for a second, sipping a hot beverage makes you stop, savor, and enjoy.  Midway through a project at home, my dad brings everything to a halt in order to take a break on the couch with a cup of tea.  Then, once that cup is empty, it's back to it.

Jim and I stumbled upon a truly awesome concept at the Old North Bridge parking lot in Concord, Massachusetts last weekend- a mobile tea room.  Tucked back across the parking lot we saw this van parked with a sweet lady sitting inside looking out.  There was even a cute door mat on the ground at the ordering window.

It is called Gay Grace Teas, "an English cottage on wheels."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We'd been up since 4 that morning, so of course we were both interested in a cup of tea!  Check out how adorable the inside of this tea room is.  There was classical music playing, and the nice lady had a little table and chairs set up in the shade on the grass.  

 

Isn't that great?  There she is, adding our cream and sugar.

 

 

 

 

The owner used a wonderfully full-bodied loose leaf tea and served the tea in these fancy cups with a filtered lid to keep out the bits.  We just thought this whole concept was really cool.

And now, after reading this while listening to the blustery weather outside, you all want a hot beverage, don't you?  Ahhhh.... 

History's Dearly Departed

My husband and I are a good match for each other because we both thoroughly enjoy walking through old cemeteries.  Our choice to go to Boston was largely influenced by my memory of the amazing Revolutionary War era gravesites there.  Not really.  Eh, sort of.  Who am I kidding?    

 

 

 

The Children's Hour

The Children's Hour by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Between the dark and the daylight,
When the night is beginning to lower,
Comes a pause in the day's occupations,
That is known as the Children's Hour.

I hear in the chamber above me
The patter of little feet,
The sound of a door that is opened,
And voices soft and sweet.

From my study I see in the lamplight,
Descending the broad hall stair,
Grave Alice, and laughing Allegra,
And Edith with golden hair.

A whisper, and then a silence:
Yet I know by their merry eyes
They are plotting and planning together
To take me by surprise.

A sudden rush from the stairway,
A sudden raid from the hall!
By three doors left unguarded
They enter my castle wall!

They climb up into my turret
O'er the arms and back of my chair;
If I try to escape, they surround me;
They seem to be everywhere.

They almost devour me with kisses,
Their arms about me entwine,
Till I think of the Bishop of Bingen
In his Mouse-Tower on the Rhine!

Do you think, o blue-eyed banditti,
Because you have scaled the wall,
Such an old mustache as I am
Is not a match for you all!

I have you fast in my fortress,
And will not let you depart,
But put you down into the dungeon
In the round-tower of my heart.

And there will I keep you forever,
Yes, forever and a day,
Till the walls shall crumble to ruin,
And moulder in dust away!

_____________________

 

We toured the Longfellow House in Cambridge, Massachusetts on Sunday and it was definitely one of the favorite parts of our Boston weekend.  Not only was it the home of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, but it served as General Washington's headquarters during the British occupation of Boston for 9 months in 1775-1776.  Yet another place around Boston that satisfies both your historical AND literary sweet tooth (does that make them sweet teeth?).  I mean, check out this door.  This is the original door and key to the home.  George Washington opened this door.  He touched that actual key!  And many years later Longfellow, Emerson, and Hawthorne passed through that same doorway.  So cool.  

The tour was only $3 and went every hour, which is why I'd rank this very highly in one's consideration of partaking in an organized tour during a Boston trip.  Even if you aren't familiar with Longfellow or the historical story of the house- I think most people would enjoy this.  Our tour guide looked so much like Luke Wilson.  You can imagine Luke Wilson as a good tour guide, right?  He was a great storyteller and magically minimized the distractions of a few people in our tour group who were just so strange!  Jim said he almost text me mid-tour to say that he bet that they did each other's highlights.  They were a pretty special bunch (we couldn't figure out if they were boyfriend-girlfriend or brother-sister. That ain't good).  Here is Longfellow's study (the only room he was allowed to decorate himself, we were informed!).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From there you step into the great room of the home, where the horrific accident occurred that caused Longfellow's wife's death in 1861.  I consider this a fairly uplifting site, so I won't include the details.  Thinking about this while standing there in those same rooms was really eerie.  Afterwards, Longfellow was so grief-stricken that he remained home bound until 1868.   The Cross of Snow references this picture of his wife 18 years after her death, and it still hangs over the fireplace in their bedroom.  It was one of his only love poems.  During those years, he began translating Dante's Divine Comedy from Italian into English.  The man knew so many languages.  Apparently by studying in a country for just one month he was able to learn and read the language.  I consider this insane, especially when my tried and true "Hola. Me llamo Lindsay.  Soy una consejera genetica de la Children's Memorial.  Un momento por favor, voy a llamar un interprete" is the only thing I can muster from FOUR (count that 1-2-3-4) semesters of Spanish in college.  Longfellow taught foreign languages (Italian, French, Spanish, etc) on the side to Harvard students at a time when students only learned Latin and Greek, and the beauty of it is that he proceeded with this without first getting Harvard's approval.  I think I would have liked Longfellow, even if I would have failed his classes. 

This is where G.W. slept!

It took me almost all morning to regain my bearings after taking 2 days off work.  Part of me feels it's sometimes not even worth it to miss work because of how much more you end up working before and after taking that time off!  But then at the same moment you realize how much you'd miss if you never took these excursions.  Why are we working this hard anyways??!

Roasted Sweet Potato and Apple Soup

Last Wednesday night before we left for Boston, I placed a grocery order at Peapod to have delivered this afternoon while we were recovering from our travel fatigue.  In the past I've wanted to place orders in advance so that a food delivery greeted us after weekend trips to Michigan but have never gotten organized enough.  Last week I made it a priority, and it is so nice to now have a stocked fridge with minimal effort on our part today!  Peapod had a special on sweet potatoes, so tonight we made this roasted sweet potato and apple soup that was featured some time ago in a Real Simple magazine.  The soup is thick and creamy with (ta da!) no cream added!  In fact, per serving this soup has 166 calories and 2 g fat.  And, importantly, it tastes good too.  It can get a bit messy scooping out the sweet potatoes after they come out of the oven (the Ove Glove works well for this), and they roast for about 45 minutes (we kept them in an hour tonight).  Enjoy! I hope you all like this one :-)

 

Haymarket Square in Boston.  We almost cried when we saw how much more reasonable produce was to purchase here as compared to in Chicago!  Two red or yellow bell peppers for just $1??? A pint of strawberries for $1???  What?! 

Boston Field Notes from the Blatant Tourist

We just got back from a quick weekend trip to Boston!  This trip was born out of happy impulse as we chilled on the couch a month ago and commented that it would be fun to jet off somewhere.  We hopped online and found decent airfare at Southwest Airlines, (especially reasonable when you choose the cheapest flight with a 6 am departure time!), got a hotel reservation on hotwire.com, and poof!, we had ourselves a vacation.  It ended up being a very fun three days and I'll probably create a few blog posts as I go through our pictures.  Boston is a good weekend destination and the city is very walkable.  Right now, my legs hurt from all the walking around that we did.  We reserved a Zipcar on Friday to take us out to Lexington and Concord, since there aren't good ways to see those areas without a car (and if you enjoy American history and literature, you can't skip out on that day trip- more to come on that).  It was actually really convenient to take a Zipcar and saved us having to rent a car for the weekend, pay for parking, gas, etc.  And one additional thing to pass along is that even if you don't have Zipcars where you live, you can still get an account and use the car sharing program when you travel to other cities that do have them.  We brought our Garmin along and that friendly voice helped direct us through the Boston streets and highway with relative ease (which says a lot!). 

 

For those of you who know me, you know that I can be (a) a nerd, and (b) an organizing and planning freak of nature.  When we went to Disney World last year, not only did I read a huge guidebook cover to cover (in the middle of planning our wedding, mind you), but I even cut out and LAMINATED the park maps that came with the book so we could carry them with us. Here's how I see it- when you go on these types of trips, you can either stroll along with your hands in your pockets and risk missing everything you don't happen to stumble upon, or you can break out the guidebook and the map and walk around with your camera around your neck, stopping to reapply sunscreen every 3 hours.  It is probably no real surprise which role I embraced, and my husband, who I'm sure rolled his eyes as he saw me prepping our touring artillery on the bed each morning, was actually quite impressed with everything we were able to take in during those 3 days.  And yes, sometimes before proceeding through a cemetery or neighborhood we stopped so I could read aloud the descriptions from my little Boston book.  And yes, we sometimes got side-tracked trying to find things like the plaque signifying Rose Fitzgerald's birthplace in the North End (we never did find that notice!).  But it was great to be in control of where we ventured and allowed us so much more freedom to explore away from the main circuit.  With an organized tour we couldn't have done that.  So there!  But, I must admit, I was somewhat relieved by all the other tourists who seemed to stand out just as much as I did!!!  Ha ha! 

My little book led us off the beaten path to this absolutely amazing cobblestone street buried in Beacon Hill.  If you look closely, you can see a very lucky Golden Retriever relaxing beneath the American flag.