Each year since 1996, I’ve made a list of the twenty most memorable events in my life of the year just past. The events may be good or bad, silly or sad, life-changing or mundane, but mostly just memorable.
- Firehouse – We took our firefighting-obsessed 2-year old son in January on a visit to the East Cambridge Fire House where a friend of ours works. There were many shrieks of delight and jumping up and down in excitement. Peter enjoyed it too.
- Max – In February we adopted a 4-year old, black domestic short hair cat from a local family who had to part with him due to allergies. A gentle and forgiving cat, Max has quickly become a beloved member of our family even if he does wake us up every night by scratching a the kitchen cabinets.
- Lenten postcards – I gave up Facebook (and some other social media) for Lent and instead updated my status by sending out a postcard to a different person each day from Ash Wednesday to Easter. Although I only received 2 postcards in return it was a lot of fun to connect in an “old-fashioned” way.
- Professional development – work this year included managing a massive project to prepare archived case studies for scanning as well as attending the New England Archivists meetings in the spring and fall and a couple of recent ARMA Boston events.
- Patriots’ Day Weekend – Three generations of my family enjoyed watching the runners in the Boston Marathon as we ate doughnuts. I also saw the BSO at Symphony Hall for the first time that weekend.
- Wake Up the Earth Parade – stilt walkers, dragons, cute kids, drummers, left-wing political banners, and chickens on bicycles. Must be spring in Jamaica Plain.
- Amsterdam – a wonderful family trip courtesy of the Boston By Foot Flansburgh Traveling Fellowship. Blog posts (1, 2, 3, 4, 5,6, 7, & 8) and a photo album begin to sum it up.
- Bicycling – this year I got back on my bike for commuting to work, this time with my son on board in a child seat. We also enjoyed renting bikes on vacation in Amsterdam and Martha’s Vineyard and the great Hub on Wheels community bike ride in September. Peter also got very good at riding his own balance bike.
- They Might Be Giants family concert – They Might Be Giants were one of the rock bands I ever saw in concert. Nearly twenty years later I took my family to see them in a fundraiser for Boston By Foot.
- Audubon Nature Festival – Whoo cooks for you, whoo cooks for you all!
- Boston Pride Parade – we went to celebrate peace, equality, and justice and Peter left with a lot of loot.
- Independence Day Weekend – another visit from my Mom, The Greater New Bedford Summerfest, swan boats, the zoo, a Ben Franklin tour, and splashing in the wading pool.
- Football at Fenway – seeing the beautiful game take over the lyric little bandbox was the highlight of a soccer-filled year where I watched almost every game of the World Cup, saw the Boston Breakers in action, made a commitment to following the sport in the US and Europe, and even played a little soccer with my son.
- Boston By Foot Avenue of the Arts tour – For the first time, I participated in proposing, researching, and writing a tour of the month for Boston By Foot which went off successfully in July and will return on October 30, 2011. As an added bonus, I took a tour of Symphony Hall while researching the tour.
- Pee Paw’s Birthday – a week long trip to North Carolina to celebrate my father-in-law’s 70th birthday. The best part was seeing my son and nephew playing together.
- Providence – my son and I took a day trip by commuter rail to the Rhode Island capital and had a fun day at the Providence Children’s Museum.
- Martha’s Vineyard – we celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary with a family vacation to the island town of Oak Bluffs.
- Topsfield Fair – Enjoyed a day out with my wife, son, and mother at America’s oldest fair in October.
- Thanksgiving – more family travel to North Carolina and Virginia so that Peter could visit with all his grandparents and play soccer with his oldest cousin.
- Christmas holidays – a beautiful Christmas tree, an indoor playground, religious observance, dinner with family and friends, the Christmas Revels, a ton of snow, visiting with friends, the New England Aquarium and the Edaville Railroad.
Previously:
Panorama of the Mountains 