Act Three

Last year, when I tackled the fence in our backyard, the thing that got the whole project going in the first place was the deck. It was unsafe, a liability lawsuit waiting to happen.

As things went, I ran out of time before I got to the deck itself. However, I’m now happy to say that the eyesore in our backyard which passed for a deck (at some earlier point in its career) has been removed. Yesterday, I took the good old wrecking bar and sledgehammer to it. Its parts are now a pile of (mostly) rotten, nail-filled pieces of wood at the landfill.

I thoroughly enjoyed destroying the deck. Maybe it’s a guy thing. There’s just something exhilarating about swinging a sledgehammer with all the force you can muster and seeing the splintered wood fly.

While demolishing the deck, I had a chance to “admire” the handiwork of the person who built the deck. What a mess! He also didn’t spend a whole lot on materials; he must have found a deal on railway ties and decided to build a deck using nothing but the railway ties and some recycled four-by-fours and two-by-fours.

He even made good use of the existing vegetation in his backyard. During the demolition, I discovered what appeared to be a tree stump functioning as a support for the deck floor. Here I’m resting one of the last railway ties on the stump while I get ready to muscle it onto the truck.

Today, Pam and I set the foundation for the new deck.

Today, our last full day with Aunt Colleen, we drove into the Berkshires to spend a few hours at the Norman Rockwell Museum. Norman Rockwell grew up in New York, but for much of his life he lived in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. It was interesting to hear about his life. Many of the faces that appear in his paintings are the faces of people who lived in Stockbridge when he lived there.

After taking in the Norman Rockwell Museum, we meandered through the Berkshires back to Granville, Massachusetts, where we stopped for some ice cream. The Gran-Val Scoop, an ice cream shop on an old dairy, is owned by one of the basses I met when I sang with Novi Cantori this spring. The owners of the dairy make their own ice cream. L liked the ice cream, but he was also a fan of the animals there.

So we took Aunty C into Boston to show her the sites there and once again we saw something new to us as well. We headed to Harvard University first. We had been there before, but we spent some more time wandering around.

L enjoyed the playground in the Cambridge Commons.

Wednesday evening we went to the Museum of Fine Arts, taking advantage of the free admission. Thursday we walked the Freedom Trail.

Not to make Aunty I jealous, but we did stop at the Bull n’ Finch Pub, the inspiration for the Cheers sitcom.

Today we visited Magic Wings Butterfly Conservatory. Besides butterflies, this conservatory has an assortment of birds. L had a great time following the Button Quails around.

Today we decided to head down the Massachusetts Turnpike to Old Sturbridge Village. We saw some interesting 18th- century buildings and, as L would attest to, some (equally) interesting farm animals. We were worried that the weather would ruin our day, but the rain held off just long enough for us to see what we wanted to see.

Aunt Colleen arrived from Manitoba yesterday. She is already L’s favorite playmate. Here he is “helpfully” helping Colleen load the dishwasher.

Today we spent some time outdoors enjoying the beautiful weather. We went for a hike along the Holyoke Range in J. A. Skinner State Park and then enjoyed some campfire-style pizza.

The three of us celebrated Mother’s Day by heading to a nearby park for a cookout. L was mesmerized with the fire. Fortunately, we were able to keep him far enough away from it so that he didn’t get burned. Later, his Dad taught him how to throw stones in the river.

I can’t believe that we are sick again, this time we have the stomach flu. We were just nicely over our colds. L has a bit of an excuse for being sick he is cutting 3 teeth, so I am not sure what is bug and what is teething in his case. I was sick Sunday and Monday. Lowell got sick yesterday evening and so he spent today in bed. At least we were staggered a little bit. L has been a very good boy spending time with Mom and Dad however he best could.