The "T"

The MBTA, is commonly referred to as the "T". When Charlie couldn't get off of the MTA, they added a "B", and changed it to the MBTA. The system is so run down that I wouldn't give them a "B" or even a passing grade.

Here you see a shelter that shelters you from nothing. But it is designed in the shape of a "T".

Bobsled Racing Team

Ethan and I make a good racing team. 

 

I am lucky that Ethan is using my knees to steer with!

Racing Team

We walked up the hill together but we rode down together! 

 

I think that I am enjoying my childhood all over again!

Independence Day

Twenty feet seems like the Daytona 500 to a two year old.  Ethan rode the sled the last twenty feet by himself.  Buddy was watching him from the top and I was waiting for him at the bottom.

 

He sounded like he was going down the worlds tallest roller coaster! I had just as much fun watching the excitement on his face.

The Snowman

There is an ice cream desert called the Snowman. Place a small scoop of vanilla ice cream on top of a larger scoop of ice cream. Add whip cream for a hat. Stick in a couple of pretzel sticks as arms.

When Ethan is finished, this is one Frosty the Snowman that won't ever be back in town.

The Worst Toy of Them All

This toy should be banned. It rolls around the house singing an irritating little ditty that will make you go biddy.

The life of the battery is amazing! The toy is cursed and possessed. You can put the toys away and in the middle of the night this cursed toy will start it's wretched singing of barnyard songs.

I've given it away several times, but people bring it over and somehow they forget to take it home with them.

Concentration

Concentration is the ability to focus on your goals despite the distractions from those around you. Dogs may be curious, sisters may be crying, adults may be talking but nothing can interfere with Ethan's unwrapping a Christmas present.

Hang Ups

Ethan and Eric busied themselves with the task of hanging up ornaments on the Christmas tree.

I don't understand why all of the ornaments are hanging on the bottom of the tree. None are higher than the height of a two year old!

Bottoms Up

Eric had fun Christmas Eve! Dinner with his cousins, aunts and uncles. There were even presents to open!

There are always gifts that have "some assembly required". And nobody has a screwdriver that fits properly or a set of wire cutters. Collective minds pondered over the toys to figure out solutions for their removal from the box and their assembly.

Footpaths of Boston

There are many historic footpaths of Boston. You can walk in the footsteps of the pioneers, or of the American Revolution and of the Boston Tea Party.

However, when it comes to accessing the Boston subway system the footpaths become snowpaths. When crossing a major street, you must place one foot in front of the other to get over the curb and onto the sidewalk. Children are instructed at an early age to maintain an upright posture in order to perform the delicate pigeon toed walk. Visitors are easily identified, as they have their arms outstretched as if they were walking on a tight rope. Watching visitors fall is a source of amusement for the long winter months.

History of Snow Warfare

There is the Bronze Age, and the discovery of bronze weapons. There is the Iron Age and the creation of iron weapons.

Then there is the Plastics Age. Where the creation of flimsy weapons are not up to the task of hand to hand combat with Snow and Ice.

Here in the battlefield of the streets of Boston, are the remains of a fateful encounter between city resident and winter snow. If you park your car on the street during a snow storm the snow plow will be sure to bury it.

Winter Slippers

I have to wear snowshoes in order to walk the dog. By tomorrow they won't be needed. The snow will turn to ice and you can walk on top of the crusty layer of snow. Let's see, the car has all wheel drive, the storm generator is ready, there is gas for the generator and the snow blower.

And of course there is Chinese food to get us through the storm.

BullsEye On A Stick

Reflectors are only a BullsEye on a stick. It isn't even winter yet, but the winter games have begun already. We have a new snow plow operator for the town this year. He is driving the largest front end loader I have ever seen. It sounds like a Sherman tank.

When the snow plow comes around for the fourth time in the same storm, it is pushing icebergs and blocks of ice five feet high and five feet deep into your driveway. You gotta keep the chunks out of the driveway.

Walking In A Winter Wonderland

I was standing on the train platform when a fellow commuter zipped by me on cross country skis. No problem with parking. No problem getting in and out of the parking lot. No parking meter to pay.

We need more people like this, so there will be more gas for those that drive.

Generator Gap

Forget about the generation gap. The only gap that counts right now is the generator gap. You either have an emergency generator or you are in the process of buying one. PERIOD!

The mother of all ice storms left us without electricity for almost four days. Alan got his for Y2K, but almost nine years later it kept the furnace, refrigerator, microwave, coffee maker, small tv, some lights and the well going. As for me, at the same time, I had a flashlight.

Dropping In

It is one thing to have people drop in, it is another to have trees drop in.

We have had no electricity for over three days.

Things are getting desperate, I may have to fly some kites to get electricity.

Dog Tired

Dogs and children go together. They play together and they sleep together.

Dogs also make great blankets!

No matter how old we get, we never forget the dogs that have been in our lives. They are forever associated with times and events of our lives.

The Power of Pizza

When children are teething, everything goes into their mouths. In my case, I must never have stopped teething. The only difference between me and a child is that I won't chew on chairs. Other than that, there isn't that much of a difference.

The Empty Box Theory

The empty box theory is based upon a child being attracted to an empty box as a magnet is attracted to another magnet.

What may appear to be empty to an adult, is filled with possibilities to a child.

Let The Good Times Roll

Potty training is a time of discovery and reaching beyond your limits.

For a child, reaching for the roll of tissue and discovering the unending amounts of paper that are contained on a roll. I understand why it is called a roll of paper. Roll it once and it will roll for miles!

This is why I am enjoying my second childhood! I can fully enjoy these moments.

Car Wash

The ice storm has knocked out our electricity. Faith is staying with David and Debby. Buddy and I are with Jonathan and Darcy.

Ethan and Buddy are playing Ethan is using Buddy's tail as part of his car wash.

Golden retrievers are wonderful dogs.

Nature's Bling

T'was an ice storm before Christmas and all thru the house every creature was frozen, even the mouse. When out on the lawn there 'rose such a clatter, I sprang from my bed to see what's the matter. It sounded like jets, it sounded like trains, it sounded like trucks, it sounded like planes.

T'was only the sound of emergency generators kicking in!

I Don't Want To Go To Rehab

My mother had back surgery and was sent to the mountains of Fitchburg for rehab. The rehab center is on top of a huge mountain. There is one road in and it is straight up the mountain. No curved roads for gentle access. Forget about google maps, directions or gps, you need Daniel Boone. There are no street signs within five miles of the hospital. Twice I sat at two major intersections with no road signs and had no idea what roads were intersecting. I found the hospital purely by accident. There were 10,000 hospital buildings in the complex. I picked the last one and went to it. I told them I was looking for the rehab center. They told me that each of the 10,000 buildings has it's own rehab. They looked up my mother and told me to go the the building with the flag in front. I told them that everyone of the 10,000 buildings has it's own flag. They told me to go to the yellow building with the flag. I told them that half of the 10,000 buidings were yellow. They then got up out of their chair and pointed out the building.

I went to the building and went in. The entire floor was empty. I went into the elevator. Every floor button that was pushed only went to the second floor.

When I got off the elevator I went to a nursing station. They asked if they could help me and I said "Please admit me"!

Suburban Legends

In the suburbs, there is a constant battle between those with sidewalk mailboxes and baseball bat wielding vandals.

Here is a master mailbox defense strategist that I noticed in my old neighborhood. The mailbox is beside and slightly behind, a telephone pole. It is impossible to hit the mailbox from a car. The telephone pole prevents contact from a swinging baseball bat.

However, there is no protection from someone getting out of a car and walking around to the other side.

Black Snow

If you are a little boy living on the west coast and you are playing cars, you might have a surf board on your toy car. But if you live in New England, then your toy cars have to go through snow.

Ethan took a salt shaker and then a pepper shaker to create the snow and slush conditions for his car to go through.

This is why I go to family style restaurants.

Not Smarter Than A Two Year Old

Ethan and I were at the museum. There was a game that you could play that was popular in the middle ages.

I read the directions to Ethan. We each had nine stones as players I told him that the object of the game is to take the other players stones.

He then reached across the table with his arms extended and scooped up all of my pieces.

I am no match for him.

Letter F With Feathers

Ethan wanted to show me his room. There were cars and trucks and trains. There were books, and educational toys.

But what surprised me the most were his projects that were proudly displayed on his bedroom wall.

I had to stop and stare, and appreciate his current project. It was the Letter F with Feathers. I was struck with the contrast between our two childhoods. My childhood was one of violence. I watched violence on tv. I played games of violence, cowboys or soldiers. I had pistols and rifles. If I was shot I could perform an oscar winning death performance.

I was very impressed with the atmosphere of non violence that his parents are trying to cultivate. What a wonderful world this would be.

Ahhh

A moment if you please. The famous food critic has found something that has met with his approval. Two year old boys can be very picky eaters.

I Want To Run Like A Dog

Ethan went walking with Buddy and I this morning. When we got to the top of the hill, I told Ethan to watch Buddy. I then told Buddy to go and in few seconds he had run the length of a football field.

Ethan stood there looking at Buddy in the distance, he looked up at me and said, "I want to run like a dog"!

Hostile Takeover

The museum had a wooden castle in the childrens activity room. It had a working drawbridge and a moat. There were knights and catapaults.

One is never to young to learn how to plan and manage a hostile takeover. These are skills that can be applied in the corporate world.

Puppet Master

Grammy is demonstrating how far we are willing to go to bring elements of our childhood to our grandchildren. Cowboys and Indians, King Arthur and his knights are not of this generation.

Grammy is a great storyteller. She started a puppet show for Ethan and other children came to hear her puppet stories.

Privacy Protection

Of all of the suits of armour at the Higgins Armoury Museum, the owner of this suit of armour went out of his way to assure the protection of his privacy.

Even back in the mid evil middle ages, you had to protect your privacy.

I wonder how one is fitted for this suit of armour?

Animal Crackers

Animal chairs must be removed from the table and arranged in a straight line.

Then you sit in each chair and make the sound that animal makes. Monkees and lions are easy, but giraffes and zebras are tough.

Victory Roll

Many golfers can't seem to hit their drive into the fairway. They seem to be aiming fifty yards into the woods.

Buddy is a Golden Retriever. It is in his DNA to find and retrieve golf balls. Balls that have been found must be brought up to the golfcourse. He then drops it in the fairway and does a dance around the ball. This is then followed by him rolling over on the ball.

Once he has done this, the evil spirits have been driven out of the ball and the ball will never go out of bounds again.

Hall of Fame

In June 1956, for a $3 admission, you could see all of these performers.

Fast forward fifty years and $3 won't even buy you a program.

5 and Diner

The "5 and Diner" captures the look and feel of the 1950's. The waitresses all wear poodle skirts. There are juke boxes above the tables.

All I could hear was sounds of pleasant conversation and laughter. Perhaps our environment influences our behavior.

Time Management

Little boys learn by investigating. Investigating means examining. Examining means breaking things down. Breaking things down means just breaking things. All in the pursuit of knowledge!

By the time Ethan reaches four, he should have the wisdom of Solomon, and we won't have any working mechanical objects in the house.

Hoodsie Lid

When you are two, you have the hands of a two year old. Your hands are too small to allow one hand hold your hoodsie while the other hand removes the lid.

Ethan solved this challenge that would baffle NASA engineers. He holds the hoodsie cup with both hands, bends over, and uses his teeth to pull the lid tab up. Once the lid is removed, you have to lick it like an Oreo cookie.

Clearly, where there is a will (Ethan), a way will be found.

Split Decision

Split rail fences are a fading part of our American scenery. Their aging and weathered wood display contrasting shades of black and gray, like an Ansel Adams picture. The vertical posts are cleverly designed to allow replacement rails to easily slide in. The split rail fences without the vertical posts are arranged in a zigzag pattern. They were 16 1/2 feet long, the length of a rod and provided an easy visual calculation of how many acres are in that section of land.

Chain link fences only remind us of the fabric of clothing that we have left behind.

Pretty In Pink

Janelle is a very pretty little girl who is crawling and moving around.  She has paused to allow her picture to be taken.  This is unusual because she is always in motion.  I am not used to having little girls around.  They are so different from boys.  But it is an adjustment that I like.

 

Did you know that my favorite color is pink? 

Wheel of Fortune

The gristmill at the Wayside Inn just had the water wheel painted. It took three shades of red until they selected this one. It is the same bright red color as a boiled lobster.

It is one thing to paint by numbers, it is another to paint by committee.

College Days

There is this cannon on the college campus that students enjoy painting. It seems that it is painted differently every week.

For my own personal artistic expression and creativity, I find fulfillment with latex paints, spread across a bedroom wall.

When we are young, we paint cannons. When we are older and have been shot out of the cannon, we paint walls.

Day of Liberation

Tomorrow on Tuesday, November 4, 2008 we go to the polls and vote!!

 

This process will liberate us from the unrelenting political ads!  We will be free from sound bytes being lifted out of context.  We will be liberated from having to listen to New Hampshire political commercials.  What will SNL do? 

 

The whole process is a bit scary!

Do We Or Don't We

Do not be confused. This sign is not "Do We Cheat'm and How".

You would think that the sign would have been arranged differently! I wonder how they answer the phone?

The Mill

Symmetry means harmony, aesthetically-pleasing proportionality and balance. Ethan is quickly displaying an artistic eye and a deep appreciation for the arrangement and placement of shapes. We studied the vertical and horizontal arrangements of the windows and doors on the side of the grist mill.

A walk in nature is like a walk in an art gallery.

Hands of Time

The hands of a baby are soft and wrinkle free. They are delicate and they are always moving. Whatever they touch they will try to place in their mouth.

It is different for Grampy, he eats everything that he sees.

No Leaf Unturned

It starts out by dragging your feet through the giant maple leaves. Then you kick them up into the wind. Then you throw them into the wind. But when you throw them at Grampy, you start a leaf fight. Grampy unloaded a ton of leaves at Ethan. Ethan is scrambling with his hands full of leaves to throw at Grampy.

Peaceful Waters

There were five ducks and two swans on the pond. But to get there we had to walk around the grist mill, over three bridges, and we had to walk beside this stream.

This is how you keep a little boy occupied. Immerse him in nature. Introduce him to the giant maple leaves that have fallen. Toss leaves into the water and run along side them on the shore.

Clean Air Emissions

People in the modern age complain when they get behind a foul smelling truck or bus. But let us not forget that the early pioneers had their own issues of traffic pollution to deal with.

Ethan is demonstrating why it is wise to leave a safe distance between you and the exhaust pipe in front of you.

Horse and Driver

There was a wedding at the Mary Martha Chapel. I saw the horse carriage and introduced ourselves. Ethan was invited to come aboard and to hold the reins!

Ethan was confused. There was no steering wheel to make the horse turn. After you have held a steering wheel in your hands, there is no turning back the reins.