Alice's Adventures Underground

Salem, Mass., as many know, is the site of the infamous Salem Witch Trials of 1692 and the burial place of many of those who were involved.   But you know what you can't do in Salem in February?  Learn anything more about it because literally every museum and center that boasts more information about the event - and the town's economy centers around it - is closed in February. 

What you can do is walk around town and poke around in the cemetery.  So that's what we did.

Here we see the thriving metropolis known as downtown Salem, Massachusetts.  I might have vintaged-up the photos for effect, but it's still a very old and quaint looking town.  Totally worthy of my vintage filter in Photoshop.

I spent forever looking for the name of this building and finally figured out that it just goes by 111 Huntington Avenue.  Wait, not Bank One 111 Huntington Avenue?  Not FedEx 111 Huntington Avenue?  Not M&T 111 Huntington Avenue?  

That's unique.

I just found these photos buried on my hard drive and can't bear the thought of not posting them for posterity because as we all know, if they're not posted here, I'll never be able to find them again.  Perhaps we can just call them inspiration for next fall because I would love to erect at least three of these things in my front yard.  Won't the neighbors be thrilled?

Boston is an old city and therefore full of churches... or at least buildings that appear to be churches, as I learned. 

"What church is that?"

"That's the State House."

"What church is that?"

"That's a library."

"What church is that?"

"That's an insurance company."

"Hey look, is that Symphony Hall?"

"No, that's a church."

I can't win for losing.

While in Boston the week before last, I did get out of the hotel room long enough to check out a few parts of the city.  It was bitterly cold and early in the morning, so I only just walked around Fenway Park long enough to take in the idea that, dude, this is Fenway Park, this is the oldest Major League Baseball stadium still in use.  I would like to have gone inside, but there's not usually much going on at 10:00 in the morning on a Friday in February at most baseball stadiums, so after taking a few photos, I went off in search of guacamole.

"One, two, three, four, one, two, three, four, one, two, three, four."

"What are you doing?"

"Guarding the castle."

"With a back scratcher and a banana?"

"Well, what else would I use?"

"Good point.  Continue."  

 "One, two, three, four, one, two, three, four, one, two, three, four."

 

In the grand tradition of giving people ideas for holiday crafts and showing them way too late in order to actually do those crafts for said holiday, here is what my kids carried off to school with them to give out to friends today:

I think I am most proud of the fact that these were entirely made with items already in my house.  

I think I am least proud of the fact that we made these on Saturday but there are still tiny red and white balls and sugar crystals all over my kitchen floor.  

Happy Arizona Statehood Centennial Day!

(I've been informed by my husband that Valentine's Day was inconveniently placed this year and has therefore been rescheduled.)

The KingofHearts is hilarious about giving gifts in that he's really good at choosing gifts.  He's also really good at remembering to get gifts and plans well in advance.  But then he simply cannot bear the antici.............pation of waiting until the appropriate day to give said gift. That means if you're a member of The KingofHearts' family, you pretty much always get a gift for your basic Important Occasion, but when that Important Occasion arrives, no one says, "Happy Important Occasion" because you've been using your gift for that Important Occasion for most of the past month.

So I got my Valentine's Day gift about a week ago, when it arrived in the mail and we've been using it for the better part of February. 

It's kind of perfect, actually... not only because of the thematic content but also because we have each drunk our weight in tea this winter.

 

Clean cup, move down!

A taste of what little I was able to see of Boston last week... this was probably taken just before I got really sick and collapsed into a hotel bed, calling down to the hotel front desk every twenty minutes and asking for the concierge to bring me guacamole.  

Years ago I was at a conference with a colleague and I was sitting in the hotel bar one night, watching him drink to excess to deal with the pressure of hosting a conference for over a thousand people. We had gotten to know the bartender, who was called Coach, and we started hanging out with him at night.  Out of nowhere, my workmate yells over to the bartender, "Hey, Coach, if I pass out, will you carry me up to my room?"

Coach nodded resolutely and said, "That's why this is a four star hotel, my friend."

In the continuing saga of my daphne bush, early this winter we wrapped it in this cocoon of sorts to try and save it from heavy snowfall.  I just asked The KingofHearts what this thing was called and he shrugged his shoulders and said, "Ummm.... Bush Protector?"  But please don't google that because I think you might get a completely different set of results that have nothing to do with with horticulture.

I don't really know if it works because we haven't had any real snow to speak of this year.  Last night it snowed again, but it was so windy, it really just looked like a dust storm in the Southwest. None of the snows we've had this year have stuck for more than a few hours, which is a welcome change from the last couple of years when school was closed so often I felt like that cat in the Warner Brothers cartoon.  So maybe our special bush protector keeps away snow and other unwanted guests.  Which is not all that different from what you'd get if you googled that phrase, probably.  I'm just sayin'.

Santa brought the Shortlings a gift this year that we hadn't quite got around to using until just recently.  Our friend Mari came over and helped us out with the christening.

First, Daddy helped blow it up.

Next, we kicked the ball around a little.

But eventually, everyone grew tired of that and really, one needs to be a part of the action. And the best way to do that is to be one with the ball.

And now, next time I can't find a babysitter, I have a new plan:  put the children inside, close the gate and just make sure the neighborhood cats aren't big enough to open the ball.

Note to self:  bring along a can of Static Guard for future uses. 

Am currently incubating a supervirus deadly enough to kill even Gary Sinese (though if I got to meet him as a result, it'd be totally worth it).  Until I can sit up unassisted again, here's a little teaser about the trip I took last week:

All is well, though.  No clowns were harmed in the making of these photos.

At four years old, she can do this completely by herself, but she can't read any of the words yet... or put her shoes on the correct feet.  Perhaps we need to even out her skill development in some areas.