Tammer and I were wandering around town on Saturday, taking in what this town has to offer. We were coming out of CPK after a late lunch, on our way to the mall map to figure out where to go next, and who should we bump into but a friend from JPL, Abhijit, and his wife. This was very unexpected, you see, since we did not plan to meet them there, let alone even know they were in town!
There have been a few such instances in my life in which I have bumped into people I know in unexpected places. It always makes me think about all the circumstances that had to come together just so in order for it to happen. Tammer and I rarely go to that mall, we usually eat lunch much earlier, and if we had known where we were going we would have missed them entirely. I tell you, dear readers, because I know you will agree it's neat...Tammer thinks I am silly for being so intrigued.
Anyway, Abhijit mentioned that they had considered taking a duck tour (in fact, they had just tried to get tickets, but the tours were sold out for the day). Tammer and I have been meaning to do this for several weeks, but just couldn't get it together. The four of us made tentative plans for a Sunday duck tour and went about our days separately. Yesterday we went on our duck tour, and it was absolutely lovely.
Wishing you happy coincidences.
updated digs
Well, I was quite busy last week. I can't remember what I did last weekend other than going to Home Depot for painting supplies. You see, once our landlord okay'd the new paint for the kitchen and bathroom, that was all I could think about.
The kitchen has a strange fake-tile about halfway up the wall, which isn't so bad, but it was turquoise; i felt like I was in a pool. I have changed it to a soothing "Ocean View" blue. The bathroom used to have a light cafe latte (read dirty off-white), paired with the wooden cabinets and brown toilet/tile/grout, the bathroom always felt dingy. Now the walls are "ultra bright white" and practically sparkle.
All of the work was done in 2 1/2 days, and we love it! Tammer and I even got a new white shower curtain and super soft towels (Thomas O'Brien collection from Target...check it out).
The kitchen has a strange fake-tile about halfway up the wall, which isn't so bad, but it was turquoise; i felt like I was in a pool. I have changed it to a soothing "Ocean View" blue. The bathroom used to have a light cafe latte (read dirty off-white), paired with the wooden cabinets and brown toilet/tile/grout, the bathroom always felt dingy. Now the walls are "ultra bright white" and practically sparkle.
All of the work was done in 2 1/2 days, and we love it! Tammer and I even got a new white shower curtain and super soft towels (Thomas O'Brien collection from Target...check it out).
History
I remember in elementary school I had to memorize the first 3 or 4 stanzas of this poem. On Saturday we visited the Old North Church where the famed "two if by sea" lanterns were displayed. We also got to see the oldest functioning clock in a public building. The other thing that I thought was neat was that in this church a family would essentially pay for their private, enclosed pew which they would decorate however they liked. Also,the more they "donated" the closer to the pulpit their pew would be.
Listen my children and you shall hear
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere,
On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-five;
Hardly a man is now alive
Who remembers that famous day and year.
Silently rowed to the Charlestown shore,
Just as the moon rose over the bay,
Where swinging wide at her moorings lay
The Somerset, British man-of-war;
A phantom ship, with each mast and spar
Then he climbed the tower of the Old North Church,
By the wooden stairs, with stealthy tread,
To the belfry chamber overhead,
And startled the pigeons from their perch
On the sombre rafters, that round him made
Masses and moving shapes of shade,--
By the trembling ladder, steep and tall,
To the highest window in the wall,
Where he paused to listen and look down
A moment on the roofs of the town
And the moonlight flowing over all.
Beneath, in the churchyard, lay the dead,
In their night encampment on the hill,
Wrapped in silence so deep and still
That he could hear, like a sentinel's tread,
The watchful night-wind, as it went
Creeping along from tent to tent,
And seeming to whisper, "All is well!"
A moment only he feels the spell
Of the place and the hour, and the secret dread
Of the lonely belfry and the dead;
For suddenly all his thoughts are bent
On a shadowy something far away,
Where the river widens to meet the bay,--
A line of black that bends and floats
On the rising tide like a bridge of boats.
Meanwhile, impatient to mount and ride,
Booted and spurred, with a heavy stride
On the opposite shore walked Paul Revere.
Now he patted his horse's side,
Now he gazed at the landscape far and near,
Then, impetuous, stamped the earth,
And turned and tightened his saddle girth;
But mostly he watched with eager search
The belfry tower of the Old North Church,
As it rose above the graves on the hill,
Lonely and spectral and sombre and still.
And lo! as he looks, on the belfry's height
A glimmer, and then a gleam of light!
He springs to the saddle, the bridle he turns,
But lingers and gazes, till full on his sight
A second lamp in the belfry burns.
A hurry of hoofs in a village street,
A shape in the moonlight, a bulk in the dark,
And beneath, from the pebbles, in passing, a spark
Struck out by a steed flying fearless and fleet;
That was all! And yet, through the gloom and the light,
The fate of a nation was riding that night;
And the spark struck out by that steed, in his flight,
Kindled the land into flame with its heat.
He has left the village and mounted the steep,
And beneath him, tranquil and broad and deep,
Is the Mystic, meeting the ocean tides;
And under the alders that skirt its edge,
Now soft on the sand, now loud on the ledge,
Is heard the tramp of his steed as he rides.
It was twelve by the village clock
When he crossed the bridge into Medford town.
He heard the crowing of the cock,
And the barking of the farmer's dog,
And felt the damp of the river fog,
That rises after the sun goes down.
It was one by the village clock,
When he galloped into Lexington.
He saw the gilded weathercock
Swim in the moonlight as he passed,
And the meeting-house windows, black and bare,
Gaze at him with a spectral glare,
As if they already stood aghast
At the bloody work they would look upon.
It was two by the village clock,
When he came to the bridge in Concord town.
He heard the bleating of the flock,
And the twitter of birds among the trees,
And felt the breath of the morning breeze
Blowing over the meadow brown.
And one was safe and asleep in his bed
Who at the bridge would be first to fall,
Who that day would be lying dead,
Pierced by a British musket ball.
You know the rest. In the books you have read
How the British Regulars fired and fled,---
How the farmers gave them ball for ball,
From behind each fence and farmyard wall,
Chasing the redcoats down the lane,
Then crossing the fields to emerge again
Under the trees at the turn of the road,
And only pausing to fire and load.
Listen my children and you shall hearOf the midnight ride of Paul Revere,
On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-five;
Hardly a man is now alive
Who remembers that famous day and year.
He said to his friend, "If the British march
By land or sea from the town to-night,
Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry arch
Of the North Church tower as a signal light,--
One if by land, and two if by sea;
And I on the opposite shore will
be,
By land or sea from the town to-night,
Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry arch
Of the North Church tower as a signal light,--
One if by land, and two if by sea;
And I on the opposite shore will
be,Ready to ride and spread the alarm
Through every Middlesex village and farm,
For the country folk to be up and to arm."
Through every Middlesex village and farm,
For the country folk to be up and to arm."
Then he said "Good-night!" and with muffled oar
Silently rowed to the Charlestown shore,Just as the moon rose over the bay,
Where swinging wide at her moorings lay
The Somerset, British man-of-war;
A phantom ship, with each mast and spar
Across the moon like a prison bar,
And a huge black hulk, that was magnified
By its own reflection in the tide.
And a huge black hulk, that was magnified
By its own reflection in the tide.
Meanwhile, his friend through alley and street
Wanders and watches, with eager ears,
Till in the silence around him he hears
The muster of men at the barrack door,
The sound of arms, and the tramp of feet,
And the measured tread of the grenadiers,
Marching down to their boats on the shore.
Wanders and watches, with eager ears,
Till in the silence around him he hears
The muster of men at the barrack door,
The sound of arms, and the tramp of feet,
And the measured tread of the grenadiers,
Marching down to their boats on the shore.
Then he climbed the tower of the Old North Church,
By the wooden stairs, with stealthy tread,
To the belfry chamber overhead,
And startled the pigeons from their perch
On the sombre rafters, that round him made
Masses and moving shapes of shade,--
By the trembling ladder, steep and tall,
To the highest window in the wall,
Where he paused to listen and look down
A moment on the roofs of the town
And the moonlight flowing over all.
In their night encampment on the hill,
Wrapped in silence so deep and still
That he could hear, like a sentinel's tread,
The watchful night-wind, as it went
Creeping along from tent to tent,
And seeming to whisper, "All is well!"
A moment only he feels the spell
Of the place and the hour, and the secret dread
Of the lonely belfry and the dead;
For suddenly all his thoughts are bent
On a shadowy something far away,
Where the river widens to meet the bay,--
A line of black that bends and floats
On the rising tide like a bridge of boats.
Booted and spurred, with a heavy stride
On the opposite shore walked Paul Revere.
Now he patted his horse's side,
Now he gazed at the landscape far and near,
Then, impetuous, stamped the earth,
And turned and tightened his saddle girth;
But mostly he watched with eager search
The belfry tower of the Old North Church,
As it rose above the graves on the hill,
Lonely and spectral and sombre and still.
And lo! as he looks, on the belfry's height
A glimmer, and then a gleam of light!
He springs to the saddle, the bridle he turns,
But lingers and gazes, till full on his sight
A second lamp in the belfry burns.
A shape in the moonlight, a bulk in the dark,
And beneath, from the pebbles, in passing, a spark
Struck out by a steed flying fearless and fleet;
That was all! And yet, through the gloom and the light,
The fate of a nation was riding that night;
And the spark struck out by that steed, in his flight,
Kindled the land into flame with its heat.
He has left the village and mounted the steep,
And beneath him, tranquil and broad and deep,
Is the Mystic, meeting the ocean tides;
And under the alders that skirt its edge,
Now soft on the sand, now loud on the ledge,
Is heard the tramp of his steed as he rides.
When he crossed the bridge into Medford town.
He heard the crowing of the cock,
And the barking of the farmer's dog,
And felt the damp of the river fog,
That rises after the sun goes down.
When he galloped into Lexington.
He saw the gilded weathercock
Swim in the moonlight as he passed,
And the meeting-house windows, black and bare,
Gaze at him with a spectral glare,
As if they already stood aghast
At the bloody work they would look upon.
When he came to the bridge in Concord town.
He heard the bleating of the flock,
And the twitter of birds among the trees,
And felt the breath of the morning breeze
Blowing over the meadow brown.
And one was safe and asleep in his bed
Who at the bridge would be first to fall,
Who that day would be lying dead,
Pierced by a British musket ball.
How the British Regulars fired and fled,---
How the farmers gave them ball for ball,
From behind each fence and farmyard wall,
Chasing the redcoats down the lane,
Then crossing the fields to emerge again
Under the trees at the turn of the road,
And only pausing to fire and load.
So through the night rode Paul Revere;
And so through the night went his cry of alarm
To every Middlesex village and farm,
A cry of defiance, and not of fear,
A voice in the darkness, a knock at the door,
And a word that shall echo for evermore!
For, borne on the night-wind of the Past,
Through all our history, to the last,
In the hour of darkness and peril and need,
The people will waken and listen to hear
The hurrying hoof-beats of that steed,
And the midnight message of Paul Revere.
And so through the night went his cry of alarm
To every Middlesex village and farm,
A cry of defiance, and not of fear,
A voice in the darkness, a knock at the door,
And a word that shall echo for evermore!
For, borne on the night-wind of the Past,
Through all our history, to the last,
In the hour of darkness and peril and need,
The people will waken and listen to hear
The hurrying hoof-beats of that steed,
And the midnight message of Paul Revere.
moon festival
Yesterday we went to the August Moon Festival in Chinatown. They had all kinds of vendors and presentations. We saw a fashion show, some traditional singing, and a martial arts demonstration. (I took a few pictures/video).
We ate at a place called Hong Kong Eatery and had the best roasted pork I've had. We popped into the Bao Bakery next door a little later, but they were out of our favorite bbq pork bao. No worries, we've decided that we'll be going back to the HKE often, so we'll have another chance.
We also went to see the Bourne Ultimatum...3 1/2 stars. I was worried because I've tried to watch the Bourne Supremacy a couple of times and I still have no idea what happened in that movie.
We ate at a place called Hong Kong Eatery and had the best roasted pork I've had. We popped into the Bao Bakery next door a little later, but they were out of our favorite bbq pork bao. No worries, we've decided that we'll be going back to the HKE often, so we'll have another chance.
We also went to see the Bourne Ultimatum...3 1/2 stars. I was worried because I've tried to watch the Bourne Supremacy a couple of times and I still have no idea what happened in that movie.
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