Thursday, August 10, 2006
Van Der Monium!*
Yikes, it has been a whirlwind around here. While Chaz has been away at camp, missing much of the fun, Markie's family blew in from VA to meet us all and get a taste of Massachusetts.

We spent some time visiting lots of the local sights. We spent part of a day at the Boot Mills Museum in Lowell. This is a neat place, lots to see. I remember going in these places when I was a kid, as my mother worked in the Boot Mills for years. Funny how certain things stick in your mind. I distinctly remember the curving stairways, the white painted wainscoting on the hallway and stairway walls and the huge wooden timbers on the ceiling held together with thick iron rods with turnbuckes inn the middle. I love those old buildings. Cass and Mark took advantage of the chance to hone their wool-carding skills. Not sure who that kid behind them is, but he was sort of creeping me out. Tess and Annie tried out a small loom. Annie kept making Goo-Goo eyes at that creepy kid for some reason. Cass and Mark could not seem to stay away from this old lathe, and insisted that I get a shot of them next to it, they mentioned something about using it on wedding invitaions. We went into the room where they have several of the old power looms going. This is most fascinating to watch. I beamed with pride when Cassie, just by watching, was able to correctly deduce the purpose and function of this mechanisim. Not an easy feat, given that this thing moves so fast that it is hard to see. As most of you know, I love old machinery of all sorts. This stuff is just so very photogenic. We even found one of Sheldon's forefathers. How cool is that? Speaking of photogenic, what photoblog would be complete without a gratuitous Teddy picture? Cass even managed to run into someone she recognized. We spent a bit of time perusing Lowell. We met this big-head guy. We spotted Choo-Choo-Drew. Jamie found this canal laborer hilarous for some reason.

A few day later, we all went into Concord, to a museum and to the Old North Bridge, where we pretty mutch clogged it up (yeah, that's just us on there). We learned many things at the museum. Mark and Cass learned about this famous piece of wood. Tess and annie were not all that impressed, however. We were roused to revoloution by a preacher giving a firey sermon. We got to imagine how freightening it must have been to face down a charge of the fierce British redcoats. We learned that while some people look funny dressed in colonial era clothing, some just look wierd. I found that when our two families are all in the same place at once, we form a large group that can best be described as a gaggle.

The VDH crowd headed back for VA this morning. See y'all in a few months...




* Funny title courtsey of Chaz.
thus voiced The A, Mistah @ 9:46 PM
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