The Boston Invasion: Day 3

Whale Watch

Tom suggested we go on our whale watch the next morning (Friday), so if Kaci was still biffed/tired, we wouldn't be exerting ourselves much. So we did and we were very excited! It was something Kaci had been wanting to do, and I thought it would be really cool. So we walked to the waterfront (specifically Long Wharf, in case you wanted to know), took some pictures while we waited to leave, and admired the harbor and cute boats, even though the weather wasn't great. As you can see, it was a gray, foggy morning, and kinda chilly.

These first pictures are pretty self-explanatory...





Our boat was a catamaran with 3 decks and 2 indoor cabins. The top deck was open. I went to the Boston Harbor Cruises website just now and it said she's 110 feet long and holds 400 people. Named the Nora Vittoria. Nice, huh? Well, the voyage didn't turn out to be so nice...


Shots of the skyline as we went out to sea:



When it had been 15 or 20 minutes and we'd gotten out of the harbor the boat sped up big time and the sea got choppier. With the extra wind it was uncomfortable to be outside. I was already kinda cold and wishing I had brought a sweatshirt. It ended up not mattering, though, because both of us spent most of the time in the cabin. We stuck it out for a few minutes, then gave up and went inside. I remember telling Kaci I felt kinda weird and I hoped I wasn't getting seasick. Someone handed out barf bags and I was a little surprised, thinking, "Are we really going to need these?" The further we went, the more pitching and rolling we did and Kaci and I both felt awful. The naturalist lady got on the mike and started talking about the kinds of whales we might see. It was kind of interesting and I tried to listen but Kaci and I had to keep our heads down to make it bearable. When we reached our whale watching spot she kept talking from time to time and then a few whales were spotted, but they were too far in front of the boat for me to see, but I could only keep my head up for about three seconds anyway. Then there was another one off the side we were sitting on (I think--I was a little delirious) but I couldn't lift my head and by that point I didn't even care. Finally Kaci felt better and went outside. Somehow I managed to rouse myself, thinking maybe some fresh air would help. Well, I swaggered across the room and only made it to the door, and I was glad I had that barf bag because I lost it right there. Then I felt sooo much better. It was great! Everyone was watching Salt and Cap, mommy and baby humpback whales, so I grabbed my camera and ran outside. I got two pretty good looks at them but no good pictures. After a couple minutes they disappeared and it was still very windy so I went inside, and then a couple minutes later we headed back. I slept most of the way--I guess being sick had really taken it out of me. Kaci didn't sleep but she kept her head down. Some others were sleeping too, and earlier we heard some kid say people were throwing up downstairs, so maybe they were in the same boat as we were. (No pun intended, Tommy, honest! That was funny.) We were awake when we passed the cute little islands we recognized from the trip out, so we knew we were getting close to the harbor and went outside and...


Yay! The fog lifted! The sun came out, it was warmer, and we were going slower so it was less windy and we could actually walk around on deck. Boy, were we feeling better.

Another part of the shore.


We were so happy to get off that boat! And hungry! It was 2:00. We thought it would be 3 hours, but it was 4. There's a Legal Sea Foods right there on the waterfront where we came off the wharf, but I didn't really want to. Kace began rattling off their clam chowder's wonderful attributes and I finally gave in (kind of). I told her later we could come by and I'd get a small cup of it so there wouldn't be much risk. So we walked around trying to decide what we wanted to eat. We passed a Turkish restaurant called Sultan's Kitchen. Kaci was intrigued, but I said no. I wasn't ready to take that step when I hadn't even tried Indian food. Kaci suggested we go to Quincy Market, and we did. There's a North Market and a South Market on either side of Faneuil Hall. So we walked down this really long food court and then decided on Indian food, because I'd never had it. It was good. Then we took the T across the river to Cambridge for my Harvard tour! (We hadn't planned on this but Tom called earlier and said why not now because he had some free time.)
This is the Flour and Grain Exchange, a cool building we passed on the way to the marketplace. Kaci didn't know much about it so I googled it just now. It was built 1890-92 and designed by the Shepley, Rutan and Coolidge architecture firm, now known as Shepley, Bulfinch, Richardson and Abbott.

Harvard

Here we are at the entrace to Harvard Yard! And no, I don't have a Harvard boyfriend. The flowers are Kaci's. This is funny, though--we were waiting for Tom, wondering where he was, and Kaci said, "I bet he's getting flowers." And I said, "Yeah, right." Well, sure enough, he showed up with flowers! That was weird.
Rubbing John Harvard's foot for good luck. Tom said he donated a ton of money to build the university but that's all.
In the yard.
Adams House. Cool dorms, huh? (This isn't Harvard Yard anymore.)
Memorial Hall. This is my favorite building at Harvard (besides the way cool library, but we didn't go inside that). It's a big gothicy churchy building with stained-glass windows dedicated to the sons of Harvard who died in the Civil War. It has their names on the inside. No, I didn't take this picture--it's from the internet.
Then Kaci and I went hunting for tamarind juice, an ingredient for our pad thai. Kaci had read on the website that's it's available in many Indian and Chinese markets, so we thought we could find it in Chinatown. Well, to make a long story short, we didn't. And we were pretty biffed until Kaci changed her attitude. She said we should just feel empowered and when we got home I found some websites you can order it from while Kaci started cooking, and that made her happy. :) Julia came over while we were cooking and brought our cilantro and limes. Thank goodness the cilantro was cilantro, because when Kace asked her to get it she didn't know what it was. Heehee. :) So we had fun talking and eating (it was very good, although later we realized we'd forgotten the beansprouts). Then we ran downstairs and around the corner to the Beacon Hill Market, picked up some Chunky Monkey ice cream, and ate it while we watched Gilmore Girls on my bed. I chose the episode where the girls visit Harvard, in honor of my recent visit. It was great fun and Kaci said, "Tom! Tom! Take a picture," hence the picture. After the whale watch, it was a great day!

The Boston Invasion: Day 2

BU--Boston University, not Baylor :)

Comm Ave


We took the T to the west end of BU on Thursday morning. It was fun because it was aboveground! Here I am on Comm Ave, the main street of BU that runs east-west.
































Marsh Chapel, one of my favorite buildings at BU! Cool, huh? The buildings on either side--the school of theology or something--are cool too. They almost look like one big church. Behind the Marsh Chapel is the BU Beach. Not a real beach, obviously, just a cute little park by the river (not right on the river--there's a road in between). We didn't take any pictures of the beach but there's this fun modern statue of a whale that doesn't look exactly like a whale (it is modern) but Kaci likes it and I kind of like it. Although Kaci said people make fun of it and I can see why.















Bay State Road

After exploring Comm Ave, we saw Nickerson Field, Kaci's old dorm by Nickerson Field, the wall nearby where Kaci and her friends climbed and jumped off into the snow (if you remember those pictures), and yes, the spot nearby where a plaque says Babe Ruth played. Oh yeah, and on the back wall of Nickerson Field there are big red letters that spell out Boston University and there's ivy growing between them. That was pretty--nice background for graduation. Too bad we couldn't go onto the field. We decided to walk back on Bay State Road, which is north of and parallel to Comm Ave (closer to the river). I have to say it's one of my favorite streets in Boston! It's so cute! Much quieter then Comm Ave and it was a gorgeous day. Most of the street is "brownstones," old houses built for wealthy families in the early 1900s when that neighborhood, the Back Bay, was the fashionable place to live. Then BU bought them and now they're mostly dorms.

This is The Castle, which used to be the BU president's house. In the 60s when there started to be riots on campus, the pres decided he didn't want to be that close. Now The Castle is used for administration and houses the BU pub on the side. Kaci proudly told me she'd been there. Heehee, just kidding. But she really has been there.
































As proclaimed by a cup in Kaci's little kitchen, the best girls are BU girls!


























Fenway Park!!! We swung over to Fenway since we were in the neighborhood. I wanted to see the wonderful famous glorious amazing place where the Sox won the World Series! There was a Go Red Sox sign in practically every window. It was great.


There's the famous Citgo sign. It's huge!

















Back on Bay State. Cute buildings, huh? Very similar to Beacon Hill and the South End. Kaci taught me an architectural term: rustification. It's a technique used in this style that gives the appearance of getting lighter as the building goes up. They do this by using stone on the bottom and bricks or lighter materials, and smaller windows, as you go up. I feel smart. :)


Cool door.












BU do what you do!

















Charles River









We went to say hello to the river. This is the Harvard Bridge, so called because it goes north to Harvard, aka the Mass Ave Bridge, so called because...well, you guessed it--it's on Massachusetts Avenue! This is the east side.

Other side. You can see the Citgo sign!












The North End
Then we went home. Our dogs were tired, as the Kaci & Tom would say. And Kaci's eye had been bugging her all day, so we took a nap and then Tom came home. (Harvard wasn't through with him yet--he was working hard on his final papers.) Kaci and I were going to walk around the North End, but she was too tired so I went by myself. Of course, it would have been way better with her there, and I didn't have long to explore, but I was glad I went. I didn't have long to explore because--well, Kace & Tom wanted me home in an hour and it took me longer to get there then it should have. They told me Hanover St was like the main street of the neighborhood and when I got to it I turned the wrong way--south instead of north. Not because I didn't know where I was, I just got distracted and started thinking about something else. But luckily the street ends pretty soon in that direction, so when I realized it had ended and found myself in Government Center, I went the right way. The North End is an Italian neighborhood, and about half of Hanover is restaurants. They were packed, especially the ones serving outside, because it was a beautiful evening. There were also a lot of people just milling around and looking in the pastry shops like I was. I ended up deciding against the pastries and getting gelato. It was so good. So I had a few minutes to sit and people-watch and then I would have loved to keep going but I didn't have time. So I just admired the cute buildings a second time on the way back (same basic style as what I had seen before). And it was nice even when I got out of the North End and there was nothing much to look at because I was passing Government Center, which is, well, nothing much to look at. I just liked the big city feel. There were tons of people out and it was great walking weather and I almost felt like I belonged there. Anyway, Kaci called me and wanted to meet at Whole Foods, which was conveniently on my way home. She wanted to make pad thai the next day. After staring at our options for a while, we decided we'd rather do homemade. So Kaci called Wendy to see if she would get a recipe from the Thai Kitchen website (their brand of choice). Wendy didn't know what pad thai was, so we called Julia and she saved the day for us.

The Boston Invasion: Day 1

Look out Boston--on May 17 Summer came to town!

















My first picture in Boston!







On Beacon Street in front of the Boston Common (not Commons, as Kaci and I would both like to point out).














On the same corner facing the other way. That pose is kinda weird--looks like I'm doing "I'm a little teapot."


The Boston Common
The Common covers almost 50 acres and is the oldest and most famous public park in the US, dating back to 1634. It was used as a "common pasture" for cattle grazing, hence the name. The redcoats camped there before the Revolution--it's from there they left for Lexington and Concord in April 1775. Public hangings were held in the Common until 1817 when the gallows were removed. Mary Dyer, the famous Quaker, was hanged there in 1660 (along with three other Quakers) because it was illegal for Quakers to be in Massachusetts and she refused to deny her faith. She is said to be the only woman in the US to die for religious freedom, and there's a statue of her in front of the Statehouse across the street from the Common. Pope John Paul II said some famous stuff there in 1979 when over 100,000 people came to hear him in the pouring rain (I think that was his first mass in the US). Martin Luther King Jr. (BU's most famous alumnus) also gave a famous speech there, and the start of the Freedom Trail is located there. In 1830 cattle grazing was forbidden and it became a city park. Cool, huh? There's also the Revolutionary War Memorial, the Robert Gould Shaw Memorial, and a statue of William Ellery Channing, the early nineteenth century Unitarian minister famous for his belief in a loving God. I have to mention that he was born in Newport, RI (since I've been there--heehee). He graduated from Harvard and then spent most of the rest of his life (39 years) preaching at the Federal Street Church in Boston. He's famous for two sermons: "Unitarian Christianity," in which he rejected the Trinity, and "Likeness to God," about human potential. Although he considered them extreme, Channing influenced the Transcendentalists, and had two Transcendentalist nephews.











In the Common in front of the Massachusetts Statehouse. There were news vans lined up in front of it that day, and Kace said there often are. It makes her feel important.














On another corner of the Common. The sign says Est. 1634. Pretty old, huh?










In front of the fountain, and an Irish immigration protest or rally or something.


The Public Garden (again, singular)
The Garden was est. in 1837 as the first public botanical garden in the US. It used to be a swamp land, but now it's a beautifully landscaped 24-acre park with a 4-acre pond in the middle. There's also a sweet statue of George Washington on a horse, and of course the Make Way for Ducklings ducks. There were kids playing on them so we didn't take any pictures. The Garden and Common are the northernmost end of the "Emerald Necklace," a string of Boston parks designed by Frederick Law Olmsted.








I was sad that the tulips were dying but it was still very pretty.
































I like this one...



And this one because Kaci's in it! :)







The statue in the middle of the fountain is a cougar and an eagle--or something like that.




The swan boats on the lagoon.






The swan didn't want to pose with me.













It was raining leaves!

Rico is here!

My brother Forrest and sister-in-law Abbie welcomed baby Elijah Forrest White (aka Rico) at 1 am on May 11, 2006. He's a little guy at 6 lb 8 oz and 19 in. Go to http://forrestandabbie.blogspot.com/ to see more pictures. Isn't he a cutie?

Someone pinch me!

I'm so excited I can hardly type. I got a very special letter today--I feel like framing it. I had to have Mom read it and reread it myself before I realized it was for real. I'm still in shock. It says I've been selected to receive a $5,000 per year scholarship from the PepsiCo Foundation!!

Employee Evaluations--Not!

That's the title of the following list, which comes from Mom's Coppell Employees Newsletter.

The following were taken from actual employee evaluations:

1. Since my last report, this employee has reached rock bottom and shows signs of starting to dig.
2. His men would follow him anywhere, but only out of morbid curiosity.
3. Works well when under constant supervidion and cornered like a rat in a trap.
4. When he opens his mouth, it seems that this is only to change whichever foot was previously in there.
5. He would be out of his depth in a parking lot puddle.
6. He sets low personal standards and he consistently fails to achieve them.
7. This employee should go far--the sooner he starts, the better.
8. This employee is depriving a village somewhere of an idiot.
9. Got into the gene pool when the lifeguard wasn't looking.
10. A photographic memory with the lens cover glued on.
11. One-celled organisms outscore him in I.Q. tests.
12. Donated his brain to science before he was quite finished using it.
13. The gates are down, the lights are flashing, but the train isn't coming.
14. This man has two brains; one is lost and the other is out looking for it.
15. If brains were taxed, he would get a rebate.
16. If you gave him a penny for his thoughts, you would get change back.
17. Some drink from the fountain knowledge; he gargled.
18. Was left on the Tilt-A-Whirl a bit too long as a baby.
19. This man has delusions of adequacy.
20. A gross ignoramus--144 times worse than an ordinary ignoramus.

An Earthquake hits Lewisville!...and other Johnny Weird dreams

In this episode of Laughing with Logan, our hero is temporarily flummoxed again, but this time seismologically.

The Professor was woken early this morning by what he thought was an earthquake. He said he remembered freaking out and thinking, "Oh, wow...I didn't know Lewisville was on a fault line...huh. I wonder if I should crawl under the bed for cover. I guess that was the primary wave. I wonder if there will be a destructive secondary wave...I should probably tell Mr. Harris (his science teacher) tomorrow at school." (As if he wouldn't notice an earthquake.) Then he fell asleep and when he got up two hours later he was still delusional until he saw the wet fence and realized it was thunder he heard.

In related news, I've had three seriously bizarre dreams lately. Maybe you'll get some amusement out of them.

Darth Vader attacks BYU I went to BYU for some kind of summer camp, kind of like last summer, but there were way more people, some that I recognized from our stake, and I had no idea what the purpose of the camp was. We were just talking and eating a picnic lunch around this big river, and then Darth Vader showed up and commenced throwing people into the river. As the sky turned black and people started screaming for help, he got madder and madder. Then the river became paved on the bottom and these little spotlight thingies appeared on the sides, so it was kind of like a Six Flags log ride without the log. Vader became Darth Gadget and when we tried to hide in dark spots in the water he'd spot us with his laser vision, grab us out of the water with his super stretchy arm, and throw us back in. My legs got very tired from treading water.

Anthony, Erdmanns, and the Death Star I was missing Anthony Warlow (the Australian singer) the other day and went to his website, so I guess that's what brought on this dream. I was at one of his concerts and having a great time dancing to his rock music (Kace, it was like the Marc Broussard concert). Then Anthony and I got teleported to the Erdmanns' house in Virginia, which was huge--one story but really long, on a huge lot with lots of pretty landscaping. But there were only like two hours of daylight every day and the Erdmanns would go out at night to look at the stars, but they warned me about the "death star," a shooting star that came out every night at the same time and that would kill anyone who looked at it (kind of like the basilisk in Harry Potter). Anthony took me inside and told me what a great friend I was, so I thought he was going to die, but someone else did. I can't remember who. Maybe it was the dog--a hairy little Pekinese, not a beagle.

The Lewisville 2nd Ward Farmerettes We were at mutual-- Mom, Sister Kemp (Mom's 1st counselor), the girls, and Mrs. Fields (the LHS drill team instructor). Sis. Kemp and Mrs. Fields were teaching the girls a new routine to perform at sacrament meeting. (Mom and I were watching.) They were practicing high kicks, and you know, Farmeretty stuff, everyone was happy, when suddenly Mrs. Fields looked down, her expression changed, and she said, "Oh, my father-in-law just died. I'm sorry, girls, I have to go to the funeral. Sister Kemp, you take it from here." I guess she had gotten a telepathic message and they were able to make arrangements to have the funeral 30 minutes after the man died. Then Sis. Kemp said, "Awww, poor Mrs. Fields. We should give her a gift basket to make her feel better. And it ended as she was trying to figure out how she'd cram all the girls in her car to get to the craft store. I kinda wish it had continued so I could see the girls perform their routine. :)

I thought I'd add that Logan just dreamed our house was huge. All he did was ride horses with his sister (don't know which one) on the beach--that's where the house was-- and the jungle and mountains that happened to be right there. Dad was Luke Skywalker and Mom was Princess Leia. I guess Logan and I must have Star Wars on the brain.