New England

There's nothing quite like migrating north in the winter. Since the weather was supposed to be relatively clear (benign), I hopped on JetBlue to Boston.

Presents were exchaged. This was a novelty for my niece, who really wasn't paying a whole lot of attention on her previous (first-ever) Christmas. This time, she was more aware of what was going on and was delighted with her own gifts as well as others' gifts. She particularly enjoyed a set of 12 tea candles I gave to her mom (my sister-in-law) -- endless opportunities to open and close the tin, remove and arrange the tea candles by color or otherwise, remove and replace the clear plastic covers, etc.

Oddly, the most popular gift among the grown-ups was also given to my sister-in-law: the game UpWords (a 3-D Scrabble-type thing, where both the board and the individual letters have been freed from particularized point values). UpWords rewards a different strategy, and a different skill set, than Scrabble -- you have to be able to see not just how to use the words that have been placed on the board, but how to overwrite them and transmogrify them into new words (leaving at least one letter from the original word). That was a blast. Unfortunately, my sister-in-law remembered to take it home with her. So I may have to get my own set.

I had a nice time up north, but there was something funny about the whole scene. See if you can spot what is wrong with this picture:

No, it is not the three starfish over the door (although they are pretty cool). Look carefully -- you will note that there is some snow on the front steps. But the window sills and greenery (green in December, in New England?!) are completely free of snow.

It was well above freezing, and in fact we got a fair amount of rain each night while I was there. A few intrepid folks were even out sailing:



This state of affairs has apparently confused the ducks, who are likewise paddling about as if they thought it was October.


Some of the local birds are made of metal, so they never migrate. The ducks have no such excuse.Even Santa got a little disoriented, and stopped to rest on this bench.

Despite the unseasonably mild weather, however, the Piscataqua Cafe is not open. Then again, it is no longer a cafe or hotel, but an unheated guest cottage to a private home. I hear a rumor that they do have indoor plumbing now, unlike the bad old days when they took in paying guests....All in all, it was a peaceful and serene time. I really liked this typical rocky New England coast line, complete with lighthouse.