We gather together: Things to be grateful for

I hope the end of the Thanksgiving holiday break finds you and yours well!
I have had a number of adventures in recent weeks, and I intend to share a smattering of them in mostly visual form:

On Monday I took the commuter train to Manchester-by-the-Sea. Just repeat that name several times and let the romance wash over you. The name describes it – nothing more need be said.

My favorite things about Boston are: 1) People move so much here and no one has cars, so they leave their used furniture on the street. And it is socially acceptable to pick it up and take it away! And furnish your entire bedroom with it. And paint it. And create a little Anne of Green Gables bedroom because the roof is slanted. (As soon as I finish painting my new pieces and get my mother’s old lace curtains at Christmas, the resemblance will be charming – it is how I plan to cope with winter.) 

Manchester-by-the-Sea

2) The food (everyone raves about the canollis and ice cream so much you think it can’t possibly measure up. But then you try it). 

Manchester-by-the-Sea

3) Charlestown. It has a boardwalk and a classic New England harbor, the USS Constitution, and a ferry into North End.

A well-mannered Thanksgiving dinner at my cousin's with 13 people from church, a colleague from my work, and my cousin's classmates at MIT. I made the mashed potatoes and a British version of stuffing called Derby pudding.

Outside of Boston: I have done a reasonable amount of traveling considering my resources. My favorite place in Massachusetts is Concord. It has everything nice and is utterly charming, especially when covered with fall leaves. Salem was OK, but we went to an LDS Church camp up in New Hampshire that made me feel like the Earth had already received its paradisaical glory. We went rowing on a lake in the morning! 

Black Friday was free day at the beach in Ipswich. Naturally we ran along the beach playing "Chariots of Fire" on someone's phone, had a picnic of Thanksgiving leftovers, and were the only humans on the whole beach who dipped into the water.

I fulfilled a dream and visited Quincy to see the tombs of John and Abigail Adams. This is where John Adams was born.

Finally, in case anyone reading this wonders if all I do is play, I am including a few of what I consider some of my best articles for The Christian Science Monitor (You might have to go to this blog site to use the links.):
How does a Brazilian spider reveal our connection to Middle Earth?
Mormon mass resignation over LGBT rules: A big deal for the church?
Scientists tally Earth's hidden mega stashes of groundwater 
'Goodfellas' mafia trial: How mobsters became history's latest has-beens 
Puppy diplomacy? Why Russia and France work together against ISIS