Memories

We are back in Cambridge, but New York City memories linger...

Spring is about two weeks behind here. Good for allergies, difficult otherwise!

I can't and should not complain, however. There is plenty to look forward to, and fond memories to look back upon.

Flowers of New York City

We are about to have a scene like this back in Boston. I am looking forward to it, even it I have to keep taking seasonal allergies medication!

It's been a wonderful Spring weekend in the big Apple. We will leave with fond memories, and a desire to return.

Thank you, Tom, for putting us up. Thank you Amy and Norman for spending time with us. And thank you nature for delivering such an amazing Spring display!

Spring in New York

It's full on Spring here. Full-on-pollen-season! Ah...but, it's worth the sneezing and itching. We have waited so long to see things growing again. Basically since we were last here, it had been winter all the way up to this point.

Lucky us New York City was having a lovely Spring day. We spent several hours with our friend Norman in Central Park, discovering secret nooks and crannies, visiting the zoo, eating hotdogs from a cart, riding in the merry-go-round, catching monarch butterflies (!).

The kids think of New York City as a big park - that's because it's where we spend most of our time when we come to visit. Tomorrow, they will get to see the icon of this whole country: the statue of liberty.

Flowery Days

Leaving you with some Spring (Summer?) photos as we take a train journey to the Big Apple tonight. Stay tuned for stories and pictures from New York City!

Preparing for Swan Lake

4 weeks from now... Regardless, that doesn't mean much to a little girl. She wants to be all prepared pronto!

Political Conversation

With a four year old girl over Speghetti Bolognese.

Parent: Who do you want for president? Clinton or Obama?

Claire: Obama!

Parent: Who do you think is going to win? Clinton or Obama?

Claire: Obama!

Parent: Who do you want for presiden? Clinton or McCain?

Claire: (Pause) Obama!

The world should be according to a four-year-old, especially when it comes to this topic!

Magnolias

We continue to enjoy incredible Spring weather here. The magnolias are in full bloom everywhere. Magnificent Magnolias!

Day at the farm

It was more like a summer day instead of a spring day - the sun on our skin felt hot, and we were more comfortable in shorts than pants. The kids took of their clothes, got wet, and muddy. They were again in heaven!

We helped Ellery plant potatoes today, hoping that we will get to taste the fruit of our labor before we leave New England in three months time.

Perhaps more exciting than the potato planting was the discovery of a nest, a Killdeer's nest to be precise. We were warned about the nest by the male bird who, when frightened, pretended to be injured. We knew the nest was near (on the ground, very well camouflaged), but it took us a while to find it. By that time, the female had come over, after she received her partner's call for help. They made a lot of noise, trying to scare us away. We stayed by the side, watching the pair examine their nest and its safety. The female eventually sat on the eggs, relieved that all four of them were still there. It was like watching a Nature Show, right in front of our eyes. Check Blue Heron Blog (later) for more details on the bird!

As for this evening, what else would a wine bottle on the grass mean but a picnic (we did this last night, too)! We are ecstatic that it is no longer winter, ecstatic that we may never have to live through another New England winter again!

Spring Fever

A glimpse of our Spring Day!

On my jog this morning, I saw the beginning of lilac buds! Cambridge is smothered with lilac bushes. In fact, they are so big they are more like trees: ancient lilac bushes that I am sure have a lot of stories to tell if only they could speak!

Sun!

Urban birds

The foresythias are finally in bloom. That is a true sign of Spring in New England!

Our children got a bit too excited about the sun and the relative warmth today that they put on their bathing suits before we headed to Walden Pond. Not quite warm enough for a swim yet, but there were some brave souls who went in briefly and ran out. That's what the sun in April does to New Englanders!

Edible Boston Article

Not long after I set foot on Blue Heron Organic Farm, I was determined to have the farm be featured in the new, well respected food magazine in Boston, Edible Boston. I had not started my freelance writing career at that point, and didn't think that it had to be me who could somehow tell the world about this piece of gem that I had found.

Ellery, the farmer, and my friend, was contacted by the magazine some months later. They wanted to feature her and her farm for their Spring issue, they said. She was more than willing, but she told them that she wanted me to be the writer.

So thanks to Ellery, and the editors at Edible Boston, my mission was accomplished! Reading the article is perhaps second best to actually being on the farm itself. I tried my best to transport the readers to the 7 acre farm that has been one of the best discoveries for our family during our time in New England. I hope you enjoy it!

Happy Songkran!

To my Thai readers! I hope the rain is there to cool you down. May this new year be full of prosperity and happiness.

70 degrees

If Momo could live by a Vernal Pool, he would. It pained him so to have to leave such a sanctuary (for amphibians) on each visit. I told him that if he should decide to become a scientist/ naturalist, he could literally spend all of his waking hours by the vernal pools, studying the creatures and life in and around them. He listened, still unsatisfied that he couldn't do just that on this very day.

Claire was delighted to find little fiddle heads popping up at the edge of the pool. She inquired about them, but couldn't quite imagine how this tightly wound up leaf will become a fern plant. She was even more puzzled when she found out that fiddleheads are quite a popular spring time delicacy in the food world.

We spent most of today, this unusually (but wonderfully) warm day, outside. The kids' school spent the whole morning outdoors, and then the kids and I spent the whole afternoon at vernal pools, and Blue Heron Farm. We were sad when the day came to an end for the forecast calls for many more cold rainy days...

The Pond

It was warm enough today to enjoy Walden Pond with no coats on! The kids found some creatures in the pond that thrilled them almost as much as finding salamanders at the vernal pool (we now have four of them roaming around in our apartment!). Tomorrow is supposed to be even warmer!

Almost!

It's a tease. Spring takes its time here. Although the flowers are trying to bloom, and leaves waking up from dormancy, the temperatures were cool today. Regardless, we went back to the park we used to go to a lot in the summer. The kids reminisced about the water sprinkler they played with there. Will we be longing for (very) cold days when the weather actually turns warm again?

Sammy the Salamander

It was an exciting afternoon around here. Finally, we returned to Blue Heron Farm!

Ellery was there planting seedlings, and taking care of baby onions in the greenhouse. We arrived there after school. We shared one mission in mind: an adventure at the vernal pool.

It was warm the other day, and it had rained. We were hopeful to find some creatures in or around the vernal pool that we had discovered some months back.

After poking and searching, and turning multiple rocks over, Momo found a baby salamander hiding under a rock. We later found out from our Salamander book that it is a Four-Toed Salamander, commonly found in wet areas of the New England woods.

As you can imagine, our little naturalist-son was thrilled beyond belief to have found a salamander on his own. He had been wanting to do just this since we came to New England. Mission accomplished!

The kids named it Sammy. For how long will Sammy be part of our family remains a question. I for one never thought I would have (or allow) such creatures in my household (we have worms, too, and snails), but as they say, having children changes everything!

Science Museum

I wish I could tell you that we are visiting some tropical rainforest where we found these beautiful butterflies fluttering about us, landing on us sometimes even. Alas, that is not the real story.

We visited our new favorite indoor 'playground' around here: Boston's Museum of Science. We have been there several times now in the last two weeks, each time spending more than three hours learning, playing, visiting with butterflies, and lizards, and tamarins.

Today, besides spending a long while in the warm and cozy Butterfly Garden exhibit (why didn't I go three months ago when it was snowing?), the kids got to learn about bees, bee-keeping, and honey collecting. The wonderful thing about this special museum is that there are always educators eager to teach kids about everything. The bee lady patiently tried to explain the intricate ways that bees collect nectar, and produce honey out of that. She had the kids act out a scene as bees and bee keepers: from finding a flower, to collecting nectar, to bringing back to the hive, and beyond.

There was also a 'skull man' today who taught us about the differences to look for in predator versus prey skulls. He was impressed that our children knew the differences between omnivores, carnivores, and herbivores. We were able to identify some of the skulls before he told us what they were! Our many visits to the Natural History Museum at Harvard have paid off!