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Lilac bough arches
over the sidewalk it calls
Bury your face here
Haiku: Lilac
Photography
Patriots Day
Patriots Day is a special Massachusetts holiday commemorating the start of the American Revolution. In case you don’t know the story: On April 18, 1775, British regulars (aka “Red Coats” because they wore bright red uniforms) marched from Boston to seize weapons stored by colonial militias in Concord. Paul Revere and others rode ahead to warn colonists. At dawn on April 19 in Lexington, Red Coats confronted about 70 militiamen (aka “Minute Men” because they could be ready to fight in a minute); a shot was fired—“the shot heard ’round the world”—and fighting began. Eight colonists were killed. The British continued to Concord but met fierce resistance. Amazingly, the Minutemen forced the Red Coats to retreat to Boston under heavy fire using fighting skills they learned from native people. A bunch of ragtag New England farmers chased the world’s most powerful army back to Boston with their tails between their legs. This marked the start of the American Revolutionary War.
Patriots Day is also the day they hold the Boston Marathon and many people have it off work.
This year, Massachusetts is kicking off the 250th birthday celebrations for the entire country. We’ve had all sorts of patriotic celebrations this weekend—all with a decidedly anti-Trump sentiment.
If you have time, it’s worth watching historian Heather Cox Richardson give an address at the Old North Church detailing the events leading up to the “midnight ride of Paul Revere.” One of her final points is that the two men who lit the lanterns in the steeple to start the process of warning the colonists that the British were approaching “by sea” were not doing anything extraordinary. They were just doing what they considered to be “the next right thing” at that time.
Since the heartbreaking election in November, I haven’t felt much like getting back out there and joining the resistance, but Patriots Day is special.
I was there in Concord for the Bicentennial in 1976, and wasn’t going to miss out this year. It felt like “the next right thing.”
No Kings.
🇺🇸
A ChatGPT mini-adventure
I’m starting to use ChatGPT a lot now. For example, yesterday I had nothing on my calendar so I asked Chat to suggest three local adventures for me and my husband within 30 minutes of my house. One of the suggestions I had never been to (or even heard of): The Bancroft Castle. Intriguing! It looked like a little bit of Ireland in the next town over.
As we were about to leave, my husband was being grumpy (it was about 45 degrees and windy), so I ditched him and went alone.
Here’s the story: In 1906, after a long career as a soldier, politician, and businessman, General William Bancroft began building his lavish retirement home on a scenic hill in his old hometown (as Harvard Men do). He even had a pretentious name in mind: Shawfieldmont. But Bancroft’s dream project only got so far, when he ran out of money. He kept the property for 12 years, but then sold it to Harold Ayres, a physician who converted the structure into a “sanatorium.” Through the 1920s, patients in the area suffering from ailments like tuberculosis (who could afford to pay $20 a week) reaped the benefits of the fresh air and treatments offered by the Groton Private Hospital, as Ayres named his facility.
When the hospital closed down toward the end of the decade, the space segued from sanatorium to social center, where dances and other events were held by the Groton Hunt Club. The fox hunting-related festivities came to end when parts of the structure burned down after a firecracker accident on the Fourth of July, 1932. (Oops, but at least the foxes could rest easier.)
Kind of creepy, right? And I was the ONLY person up there! But I was brave and went in.
I headed up to top of Gibbet Hill from the castle (despite heavy winds) and the view was pretty spectacular.
Thanks Chat. That was interesting.
Farewell Key West
I really do not want to leave Key West and go back to the cold and snow tomorrow. We’ve had fantastic Caribbean weather this whole week. It’s been gorgeous – day and night.
On the bright side, I get to see my granddaughter this weekend.
That makes going back easier.
Related posts:
Hemingway’s polydactyls
The main attraction in Ernest Hemingway’s Key West home (now a museum) is the cats. 59 of them! About half have six or more toes (polydactyls).
The story goes that a Massachusetts boat captain sailed into Key West with a white six-toed cat named Snowball. Hemingway became enamored with the cat, so when she had kittens, Captain Dexter of Massachusetts gave one to Hemingway for his sons. They named the kitten Snow White.
Hemingways is quoted as saying, “One cat just leads to another.”
The museum staff includes many world class cat ladies (and gentlemen) who love taking care of them and even sleep over in the museum with them during hurricanes.
I’m not even going to pretend to be a big Hemingway fan. I vaguely remember being forced to read “Old Man and the Sea.” I’m sure he was a great writer and all, but he did have four different wives (he divorced three of them). He also collected antique birthing and midwife chairs, which seems odd (and a bit creepy) for a man.
Related posts:
It’s all vibes
A few photos from my bucket list trip to Key West.
It started out as many winter trips from Boston to Florida do:
But things quickly got better
We have an amazing balcony here.
I’m settling into the vibe here. I know I was worried about getting bored on such a small island for a whole week, but Key West is actually a very lively town with many good restaurants and lots of live music. There’s definitely a lot of Yacht Rock here (I’ve heard multiple renditions of Steve Miller Band’s The Joker), but there’s also a lot of real talent playing in the bars.
The town feels safe, but colorful. There are some beautiful buildings and lots of cute houses, but none of the highrise condo buildings that are in virtually every other city in Florida.
The roosters are real and they are everywhere. Apparently they were originally brought here by Cubans for cockfighting, but then cockfighting got banned, so the Cubans retaliated by letting the birds go free. They are now a protected species here.
Despite my understanding that recreational weed wasn’t going to be available here, a very close hemp substitute is sold everywhere. This enhances the vibes, especially for those of us who aren’t big drinkers.
The food has been really good.
And the legendary sunsets are truly spectacular.
To enhance the vibes, I’m reading Florida, short stories by Lauren Groff. They’re fantastic so far. She’s an amazing writer.
Before I left, I read The Last Train to Key West by Chanel Cleeton, historical fiction set in The Florida Keys in 1935, when the “Labor Day Hurricane” demolished Flagler’s wondrous railroad.
See? I got to the end of this post and haven’t mentioned Jimmy Buffett once.
🦜
Haiku: Babylove
Perfect little hand
A bubble of love surrounds
Baby brings such joy
Candy cookies
I’m not sure when cookies with pieces of candy in them were invented, but I feel like they got very popular when I was a kid in the 70s. In fact, I’m just going to go ahead and claim them for GenX. We may not have invented candy cookies, but we sure made them very popular.
I fondly remember my first “hidden treasure” cookie—a powdered sugar-covered cookie ball with a Hershey’s Kiss in the center. My mom made those every Christmas. And remember those first M&M cookies? Those were my second favorite type of Mrs. Fields cookies to get warm at the mall.
As every American who has ever trick-or-treated knows, Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups are the best mass-produced candy in the US, which of course leads to numerous recipes which incorporate them.
These Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Cookies (recipe from Sally’sBakingAddiction.com) are perfect because you sink the candies into the hot cookies and then put them in the freezer for about 10 minutes to prevent too much of the chocolate melting. This results in the perfect integration of candy and cookie. The cookie dough itself has peanut butter in it and is rolled in granulated sugar before baking. It elevates the already perfect peanut butter cup to a whole new level.
This batch of cookies officially concludes my 2024 Christmas Baking Extravaganza, which may or may not have been partially motivated by election-related escapism. I hope you’ve enjoyed it!
Related posts:
Blue Christmas
More and more churches are offering a “Blue Christmas” service for people struggling during the holiday season. The holidays aren’t the easiest time for everyone, and there are many possible reasons why people might be feeling “blue” during the holidays. Grief is a big one.
My Unitarian Universalist church offered a Blue Christmas service on Tuesday. It was offered both in-person and on Zoom, which is so nice for our elderly and/or homebound members.
I’m not feeling particularly blue this year, so I didn’t go, but it’s good to know that these mixed feelings about the holidays are acknowledged and supported by my community. I’m sure some year I will want to go. The blues come for everyone.
My thoughts are with one particular friend who is missing her late, loving husband so terribly this season. 💙
Fire playlist
We hadn’t lit a fire in our fireplace for at least five years, until this winter. I don’t know why. Maybe it was the election and my strong urge to circle the wagons, protect hearth & home, and generally ignore the outside world that led me to open up the ole flue and insist on a firemaking lesson from my husband. In the past, he always made the fires, but now I really wanted to know how to do it myself.
After the first fire, I reverted right back to Fireplace Princess and he does most of the work—quite willingly—including lugging in the heavy firewood from the garage. (It’s such a great, practical application for all that powerlifting he does in the gym. The guy can deadlift over 500 pounds, why would I get the firewood?)
It’s funny that we went for such a long stretch of years without ever lighting a fire. A fireplace was one feature we both really wanted when we were house hunting. (Our first house didn’t have one.)
So as I’m staring into the pretty flames and toasting my toes, with a glass of wine and/or a weed gummy, the question becomes what is the best music to enhance the experience?
One night, I told Alexa to play Leonard Cohen’s “Who by Fire?” which I absolutely love as the theme song for Apple TV’s brilliant “Bad Sisters.” This led us to watch the newish Leonard Cohen documentary on Netflix, which is largely focused on his most famous song – Hallelujah. It was a wonderful pairing of fire and music. (And by the way, after watching the entire documentary, I decided that my favorite version of Hallelujah is John Cale’s. His voice has the perfect quality for the lyrics. The more angelic versions just don’t hit the same.)
Another great pairing was “December” by George Winston, which might just be the most perfect solo instrumental album ever made.
December was first released in 1982 and I’m sure many of my fellow GenXers know it well. It’s impossible to have a favorite track on this album, because they all run together so beautifully, with familiar holiday and classical melodies interwoven throughout. The piano is the star.
I’m sensing a theme. I like piano music with fires.
If anyone has any other great piano songs or album suggestions for me, I’d love to hear them!
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