Presidents, Plantations and Palaces

We are recently returned from our summer vacation to Boston - It is rich in history - a cornerstone of the birth of our nation.


Four of us undertook this adventure together: myself, Steve, my brother Steve and his wife Barbara. The three of them are true history buffs. They know the dates. They can expostulate about the names. They know how each event relates to the other. Then there's me. I know we've had a bunch or presidents before Bush, but I'd be hard put to name more than six or seven of them and, most assuredly, not in order. I was out of my league. Way out.

The first day was a history "primer". We walked the Freedom Trail in the heart of Boston. The Freedom Trail is a red line painted on the sidewalk. Follow the red line and you can visit many places of historical significance. We walked. We saw. I don't remember any of it. See, I still have some bad days with my back after heart surgery and this day was one of them. Mid morning I took a pain pill and by lunch that pain pill was determined to turn me inside out. I was equally determined that it would not. By the time we reached Paul Revere's house (you know the guy, the British are coming, the British are coming) the battle in my belly was at full tilt. We entered Paul's house. Toured the narrow, dark, very warm ground floor. Up the stairs. Narrower. Warmer. And there, at that moment in my personal history, came the call "my breakfast is coming!, my breakfast is coming!". Back down the stairs, against the flow of tourists, out the back door and behind the building... yes, Paul's yard will always know that I visited there. Living history.

Plimoth Plantation, in Plymouth MA, is a step back in time. One section is a recreation of the Wampanoag (Indian) lifestyle at the time of the colonists; the other is a full blown "pilgrim" village. The people who work there are dressed according to the time period. They are doing laundry in the river, building dwellings and using the tools and methods of the time. Each person plays the role of an actual colonist who came to America on the Mayflower. We spoke with them about conditions and motivations and politics and they spoke with us as though we were standing there at that time in history, never breaking the role of the person they portray. Telling their "personal" story. It was fascinating and fun and educational. Now this is my kind of history!

Newport, Rhode Island. Not far from Boston in miles but far removed in "tone". We're talking "lifestyles of the rich and famous" here.
Mansions. No, not "big houses". Mansions. We toured The Breakers. Summer home to the Vanderbilts. They used it 6-7 weeks out of the year. Some walls Marble. Some walls ornately carved. Some walls covered with gold leafed goo-gahs and what-nots. And the ceilings would have the marble, the carvings, the gold AND paintings of cherubs and angels. We're talking out of control spending here. The dining room was BIG. When I say big, I mean the guide told us you could fit an average 2000 square foot house INSIDE the dining room. In otherwords, MY house...and a chunk of my neighbor's house. Now I don't know about you, but even I do not eat enough to justify a dining room that big.

We spent a day in Salem, of witch trial fame, and another day in Boston touring historical sites. Our last day took us to visit Quincy, Massachusetts, birthplace and home to John Adams and John Quincy Adams, our 2nd and 6th presidents.

Quincy is THE absolute MUST SEE for history fans. We toured the homes where John and John Q. were born. They were "restored" and had furnishings that were "like those" that would have been in the home back in the 1700's. And then we toured Peacefield. The home where John and Abigail Adams lived just prior to, and after John Adam's presidency, until their deaths. Three following generations lived there. It resonates with history. Everything in the house is original to a member of the Adam's family. The bed where Abigail died. The desk John wrote letters at. The same wallpaper on the walls, peeling and fading. Above the fireplace hang portraits of George and Martha Washington, hung there by John Adams himself, and still hanging there today. This place truly stirs the soul in a way I can't explain.

Boston is a beautiful town. The weather was absolutely perfect and the company was excellent. With all that going for it, even my relative disinterest in history was kindled and stirred. But don't ask me to remember the significant dates or the sequence of our presidents. It just isn't going to happen.

My Heart likes Hiking

Fresh Air. Rippling Water. Wildflowers. Excercise for my healing body. My heart likes hiking.

This weekend my children came south to visit. As is our tradition, we got up early on Saturday and headed out to Zion. Zion is gorgeous year-round but hiking her this time of year means getting in and back out before noon. Temperatures pass 100 by early afternoon. It's also peak tourist season in the park so we pulled out our handy-dandy southern Utah hiking guide and found a hike in the park that is lesser known - Lower Pine Creek. We didn't quite have it to ourselves... but close enough!

Unfortunately (sad sigh) we had to leave Katie at home this trip. Her allergies are bullying her something fierce. So our little party consisted of four: Mike, Stephanie, Steve and I.

This was not a stroll up the trail hike. It was a scramble over boulders and balance on rocks across the river hike. In short - the fun kind.Stephanie and I had our cameras (of course) and drove the guys crazy (as usual) stopping to take pictures of anything that moved and most things that didn't.

The trail ends at a waterfall. Here in southern Utah waterfalls are a rarity and so, for us, it was a refreshing treat. For Mike it was an excuse to be 12 years old again and clamber up the little fall in order to slide back down it. Which he did and managed to come out unscathed. Which is more than Steve can say... he did not ascend the falls but somewhere along the way he managed to bloody both knees. Which seems to be a hiking 'must' with him latelyMike wears a non-stop smile when we are out hiking. Stephanie, with her amazing artist's "eye", always finds the perfect picture. The two of them are a delight to watch, together. Steve blazes a trail with his special, hand-carved, walking stick then relaxes in the shade and becomes one with the beauty of Zion. Yes, oh yes, my heart likes hiking.

How Flat Tires Become Flat Screen TV's

Saturday is errand day. A Costco run. Gas in the car. Maybe a little window shopping at the furniture store. (Why I find this so appealing is beyond me, but alas, I do). This Saturday we were out and about doing the usual stuff and as we left Costco we noticed that the left front tire was low. Quite low. No problem. Air is free right? Well, actually, at Costco, Air costs 50 cents but I digress. Steve grabbed the pressure guage, bent to add the air and said the one thing you hate to hear when cars are involved. Yup, the dreaded "uh oh".

Nail in the tire. Now you know you can't pull that thing out right? And you know it's not a good idea to drive around with it so we have no choice but to head straight to the tire store for a repair. Free repair because that's where Steve always buys his tires. Well, it would have been a free repair if the tire guy hadn't said, you guessed it, "uh oh". Seems the tread was way too worn to repair the tire. So we have no choice but to buy 2 new tires and agree to wait the hour it will take to have them mounted.

It's hot and humid outside. Every seat in the tire shop is taken so we trundle off across the parking lot to the nearby stores, all with AC's merrily humming, to kill some time. We escape Kohl's without spending a cent. Wander through Office Max and get out FREE. Then we wander in to Best Buy. I can just hear you thinking it... "uh oh"

We look at camera lenses. Drool on a few Ipods. And end up in the TV department. We are not 'really' in the market for a TV just yet. Our Old Monster of a tube TV still works. We want a Flat Screen - one day. But they aren't cheap and we don't want a dinky one. And I am picky and I like Sony because the picture is so bright and shiny. The price tag that comes with a Sony is often bigger than the screen size. Until today. The one I want is discounted by over $500. I don't know why it is. The clerk can't .. or won't.. say how long it will be. We debate. We leave the store. Pick up the car. End up back at Best Buy. Somehow we just couldn't bring ourselves to leave that big black box with the shiny screen in that store. We hauled it home ... bouncing merrily along on the new tread.

And that is how Flat Tires become Flat Screen TV's.