Cradle of Democracy-Massachusetts

Massachusetts, Cradle of Democracy


This was a long over due trip to visit senior relatives. Time is now extremely precious.
Gerry was not able to accompany me due to pressing matters at ASU and a scheduled visit to her parents in San Francisco Bay area.
Flights to and from Logan (Boston) were non events, however, gazing at the closed parking lot at Logan, where the terrorists left their car brought me back to the grim reality.
Although I am thoroughly westernized, my roots are in Massachusetts. If you travel the freedom trail in Boston to Bunker Hill you will find a statue of General Nathaniel Corey,
A direct descendant. Until recently I had all but forgotten the sacrifices our forefathers made for us to have the freedom we enjoy.
Navigating out of Boston presented quite a challenge due to the “Big Dig.” The drive to my Aunt Jean’s (TJ) home in Middleboro, close to the Cape, was dark and lonely, I arrived at 10 P.M. on Sunday evening.

Old Friends

The next morning we visited my 94 year old great Aunt Anna at a rest home in Taunton.
Although she fell asleep numerous times during our hour long stay, she recognized me and expressed to TJ how grateful she was for her to bring me. She told us she was on her last legs.
On the way in to the rest home we heard cries of help from one of the rooms. TJ went in and comforted the woman. On the way out a woman in a wheel chair asked us over and over, “What will I do?” TJ told her that she would figure it out. TJ asked her if she wanted a hug and gave her one.
Simple acts of kindness have been more prevalent recently. TJ has spent her life helping others. She is a retired school teacher and proudly served in the Peace Corps.

Our visits to my mother and her husband Ed would include us bringing much food that made them very happy and us quite full. One night we brought Maine Lobsters.
We also spent some time with my great Aunt Dot.

New England Sweet New England

In between visits we managed to get in several adventures. TJ and I are cut from the same cloth and we both love adventure travel. We drove over 1700 miles through five of six New England States. This much time in the car was spent without hurting each other. There was just one ugly incident after getting lost on the way to New Bedford. I had fired TJ as the navigator and assigned her in an advisory capacity. She did not like her new job and continued doing her old one.
We drove the entire Cape, we went from Bar Harbor Maine to the White Mountains of New Hampshire. We went through the Green Mountains of Vermont where Ethan Allan and the Green Mountain Boys fought for our freedom.
The blazing colors were magnificent. Although not quite at peak, we saw groves of bright red, yellow and orange turned trees throughout the trip. The “tree peepers” will be out in full force next week.

Some highlights of our tour included:

-Hanging out in quaint Province town at the end of the Cape
-Hiking on the Cape Cod National Seashore
-Taking the ferry to Martha’s Vineyard and seeing the ginger bread houses
-Driving the Maine Coast
-Hiking Gorham mountain in Acadia National Park, enjoying the remarkable coast views
-Vermont’s countryside
-Watching the Polar bears at the zoo in Providence RI

Acadia National Park deserves special mention. This is the only National Park in the entire North East but it’s raw beauty leaves you breathless. The coast views are surrealistic. This is the 39th National Park that I have had the privilege of exploring. There are 52 National Parks in our great country. I rank Acadia in my top 5 to date.
We are so fortunate to have these areas designated as National Parks. Thank you Teddy Roosevelt. Thank you John Muir.

I will close with a couple of my thoughts. My friends have cancelled our planned February trip to Tanzania/Kenya to climb Kilamanjaro. I agree with their decision. Nairobi is too high a risk. The mountain will still be there for us. However---------
I keep thinking of FDR’s famous words, “The only thing that we have to fear, is fear itself.”
We need to continue to see and appreciate this beautiful country. Visit our National Parks. Go to New York. Help refuel our economy. The terrorists can not take these liberties away from us.