and you seriously would not want to drink any of this.
Pumping 3 inches of rain water out of your basement is not a good way to spend your time. Now imagine thinking you broke your utility pump in between attempts to pump it out.
So not fun.
Seriously need to get this basement a bit more watertight. I want a door like this:
Think that would qualify as an energy star approved door? It would at least keep the giant squid out!
Yet another field trip to another National Park, this time Lowell. Not a lot of people would think that Lowell would have a National Park, but it is a great example of what happened all around the country during the Industrial Revolution. Not only are a lot of the buildings still there, many of them have been revitalized into new spaces.
Excavated by two of my professors (One from UMass Boston and another from Boston University) the Boott Cotton Mills Museum presents the history of the Industrial Revolution in a way everyone can understand. By using the oral histories left behind by former workers and actual artifacts from that time period, you can really get the feel of what it might have felt like. Inside the Boott is a room with a number of machines that are needed in the process of the creation of fabric. Here is a video that has only a few of the machines running:
Lowell is also known for having one of the best education centers in the National Park Service and they provide a huge variety of programs for children to attend and learn math, history, language arts, and science during. One of the programs has children weaving on a loom:
They are also in possession of Jack Kerouac’s backpack from when he went off on his tour of America. Not only was Kerouac an important poet and writer, he was also a native son. At one event, they gave away bobbleheads of him 🙂
There is also a lot of artwork in the surrounding area and a stage for performances during the summer.
All in all, Lowell is an awesome National Park and quite worthy of a visit. Go in the spring when you can ride the canal!
One of my favorite Dar Williams songs is “The Ocean”…it seemed especially relevant to me when we moved near Belle Isle Marsh and the Harbor. While I adore mountains, the ocean has always been a constant in some way throughout my life. We’ve been going to Cape Cod for over 25 years now, one of my first memories is getting bitten by a crab while splashing into the Atlantic Ocean…and every time I go over the Sagamore bridge, I visibly relax.
Now, living near the water, I’ve begun to appreciate other things. Today, the most important was that there was almost no ice to navigate while getting to the car. It stayed warm enough here, probably because of the ocean, to not hard freeze everywhere. There is literally no ice in front of my house…nor is there any salt melt put down. I love it.
I also love the fact that on some nights, foggy ones especially, I can smell the ocean at our house. There is nothing like going out onto your back porch with a drink and some good conversation, smelling the ocean and watching planes fly over your house.
Unfortunately, I do not have time to go walk by the water today 😦 Our teacher gave us 3 chapters of reading! 3! In the first week! Geez 🙂 and I have to clean up the house. Its amazing how much dirt gets tracked in with boots.
While most people who are asked would say that the only thing in East Boston is the airport, locals know different. It is home to an astonishing amount of great restaurants, weird little shops, statues of every different type, and Belle Isle Marsh.
The marsh is the largest surviving salt water marsh in Boston and encompasses 350 acres of land. At one point in its history, it also hosted the Suffolk Downs Drive-in theater. But, little of that can been seen these days.
Today, the marsh is a great place to go if you want a bit of a break from the city without going too far away. Dogs are welcome and really seem to enjoy having the area to run around in. I mostly go to take pictures of the birds and other things that catch my attention.
A Small Girl in the Great Outdoors 