March 27th, 2025 | Boston, General, Pets
Ping is my first “rescue.” I committed to the adoption sight unseen and she traveled to Newington, Connecticut, all the way from Corpus Christi, Texas. I trusted the organization and the foster-mom. What the heck. I really wanted—I needed—what my friend Gary calls a...
January 1st, 2025 | Architecture and Design, Boston, Changes, General, Holidays, Popular Culture
First Night in Boston is a venerable event. Forty years ago, I was never motivated to brave the cold—it was always very cold. The temperatures, however, were mild this year and the ice sculptures—one of the most popular traditions—weren’t going to keep their...
December 27th, 2024 | Architecture and Design, Boston, Changes, Family, Friends, General, Holidays, Massachusetts, Pets
A new home, a new address, a new life. New Roommate Ping. She arrived at the Costco parking lot in Newington CT from Texas, late at night on August 23. The cheek swab says she is 67.3% Shih Tzu, 19.5% Lhasa Apso, and 13.2% small Poodle. A “shapsoodle.” I named her for...
October 18th, 2024 | Boston, Genealogy, History, Massachusetts, Popular Culture
Pilgrim Witches I might have thought that was all the witchcraft there was in the tree, until January 2024 when I was wandering in Old South Church off Copley Square in Boston. The church has installed a series of panels along the back of the nave that describes the...
September 17th, 2024 | Boston, General, Pets, Society at Large
People with dogs in the family lead fairly regular lives. Even more than the need to get to work and school on time, to show up at medical appointments, and get dinner underway at a decent hour, we are governed by the routines of pet bladders and bowels. Even the most...
September 6th, 2024 | Boston, Cooking, Kitchen and Table, General, Shopping
The nearest supermarket to me is the Shaw’s on Border Street in East Boston. I figured it’d be fine; I relied on a Shaw’s when I lived in Merrimack, New Hampshire, in the 1990s. And there was a certain convenience that the same shopping area included a Kappy’s and a...