Thank you Tom Sawyer

Julie has been asking me to do a chore

But The Wind needed to be less and it seems it is always, always more

I love a whitewash on a door.



______Before _______and_________ After______

Big Numbers and Hockey Pucks

Heritage Days is history.

Over the weekend thousands came to the Point for the annual Luminaria Friday, and for tours of the Cottage and Light on Saturday and Sunday. Friday saw perfect conditions for the lighting of the coast and there was a feeling of community and gratitude in the crowds that moved all around Lighthouse Park. Up and down Cedar Point the neighborhood was flying the American flag. It was beautiful to see them all. The air was cool, the relentless wind died down and I walked around in the crowds listening to people ooh and ahh while encouraging kids to notice the brilliance of the scene. Folks who don't normally move easily on the rocks were helped over them by strangers and there was grace and humor in the gestures. Scituate had nothing to be embarrassed about on Friday night.















Saturday and Sunday the wind returned and with it music from across the harbor. With a new location for the annual outdoor concert we could hear it quite well here. We had tent trouble on Saturday which led to it being taken down only a few minutes into the tours. My audience took it quite well and headed up to the Tower to see our neighbor Richard Egan who was helping out that day. I took a peek outside to find Julie and four unknown guests holding down the tent turned kite. With that crisis averted it was back to the groups who wanted a look-see inside the Cottage and a chance to hear of its history and especially of Etrusco and The Bates family. Incredibly I heard from Mrs. Majorie Bates Harrington through the post just as we were starting the day. She was writing me from Colorado to offer thanks for a book I had forwarded to her. This is the Mrs. Bates who had recently donated the amazing telescope belonging to her great, great, grandfather. The Bates legacy here is phenomenal.

Sunday the crowds were even larger. There was a group on hand all the time and I got to see some faces from the past. High School classmates dropped in with their kids; old comrades in arms from past jobs were seen smiling across the room; even a babysitter from my youth came in and heard the stories. Several of my past students came and that was a thrill. I heard a great number of good things about this blog and about the South Shore Living article. I had a reason to unload a bunch of cards with the web address. The day flew by and I somehow held onto my voice. All told nearly 600 people came through in the two days.

One topic that came up again and again over the weekend was the debris thrown up by the ocean across the winter storms. I have a tattered dollar framed and on a shelf here, and several youngsters wanted to know the story behind it. I told them of the earlier post where I shared its discovery. I also told them of the strangest thing found in the detritus - two hockey pucks. It was a light hearted break from the heavier history. You could see the wheels turning in their heads considering how two hockey pucks could have washed into this yard.



My thanks go out to Peter and Barbara Whitfield for service beyond the call, to Nancy Fay who made Saturday fun for Julie, to Lee Coscia who manned the T shirt table while hawking books, calendars, and postcards Sunday, to the aforementioned Richard Egan who I hope got home in time for the first pitch of Sox/Yankees Saturday, to Kristin McDermott, Sophia Ferrara, and to Hales. And to keep me off the couch let me remind you that Jules rules.

The next open house date is August 22nd from 1:00 to 4:00. Tell your friends, tell people you don't like, but tell somebody.

Heritage Days 2010

The annual Heritage Days Festival begins tonight with the Luminaria and continues Saturday and Sunday with Lawson Tower, the Cudworth House and Barn, the Maritime & Mossing Museum, the Mann House and the Lighthouse open for tours from 1:00 to 4:00 each day. Take advantage of the Weekend Pass for $8.00 and visit them all.

Hard Work

Meet the Beach Girls.



As we did last summer, we were fortunate to have a team of students work several mornings a week around the grounds. This year they called themselves the Beach Girls and I share their picture with you. They weeded, watered, painted, picked up, and their efforts went a long way toward making the Cottage and Tower shine. We can not thank them and their supervisor Margaret, enough.

See you next summer!!!

Dream Sequence?

It began with a group gathering outside the Cottage.

I heard mutterings and whispers, there was applause and oohs and ahhs. The crunch of footsteps on the rocks and the click of cameras filled in the brief silence. There were well dressed and well mannered children and adults organized around a center couple and a person dressed in ceremonial garb. Suddenly,the dream turned nightmare.

A wailing began, a keening. I was surprised I didn't hear or see running from the crowd. They somehow stood in place despite the cacophony. I thought of the barrage used to taunt hostage takers into surrender. The noise took on a military aire. All I could think of was this was a twisted version of the Marine Corps Hymn being played by screaming cats as they were swallowed by wolves being chased by hyenas tracked by chain saw rattling zombies intent on mayhem. I heard something like Amazing Grace and I begged for some; for some relief from this ear splitting torture, this screeching plague. I half expected to hear glasses break, eye glasses, windshields, the faces of clocks, glass eyes and seaglass too.

What could I have possibly eaten to spur this type of dream; what was leaking from my sub conscious that could prompt such terrible imaginings? Where in my experience had I been exposed to this facet of Hitchockian horror? In which of Dante's circles had this bruising bedlam been born? Why does this sound like an animal shelter on a carnival ride hit by lightning and an 18 wheeler pulling on its horn at the same time? And don't you have to be asleep to have a dream sequence?


Worst - Bag - Pipe - Player - at a wedding - Ever.

Ever.

Gratefully

There have been 8 ships christened USS Enterprise.

I got a history lesson in the last few days as I prepared to write this post. I looked up the history of ships named Enterprise and found out about balloons and blimps and America's Cup winners. I read about the "Old Gray Lady" of World War Two fame, seemingly on the job at the most important moments of the Pacific War and victorious in those moments. On humanitarian missions and in battle, an Enterprise has served the citizens of America going back to the Revolutionary War. The name might prompt thoughts of a star ship or of the space shuttle but it was an old and honored name long before those references gained hold.

This research was prompted by a visit from the family of a sailor who comments regularly on this blog and is currently serving aboard the Enterprise out of Virginia. Patrick grew up in Cohasset, had the good sense to marry a Scituate girl, and in each note his appetite for the stories of this place has seemed to grow. I love that I can bring a glimpse of home to someone who clearly has it on his mind all the time. When Stacey, Ryan and Emily visited they brought me the hat you see pictured below. We loved having them and watching them drink the place in to share with Dad later. The hat will find a happy home here and I look forward to the day when Patrick and I can have our pictures taken wearing the matching lids. We loved having this family visit us and look forward to their return soon.



Anchors Aweigh, my boys, Anchors Aweigh.
Farewell to foreign shores, We sail at break of day, of day.
Through our last night on shore, Drink to the foam,
Until we meet once more. Here's wishing you a happy voyage home!

Glossy Paper

Hot off the presses.

Julie discovered that our long awaited appearance in South Shore Living magazine is on the shelf today. There are several amazing photographs from our friend Jack Foley and I was given the chance to write the article. I haven't had a byline since I was in college so this was a real thrill. The issue also contains an article on local fishermen including Frank Mirachi. John Galluzzo has an article on walking around the South Shore in the spirit of Thoreau and there is focus on all that Scituate has to offer commercially.

The photographs are spectacular. Jack is a genius who was able to capture the joy of this place for us in print. We thank him and the South Shore Living editors for the glossy paper treatment.