Lunch Order Peeez
Grandpa and Marlene(Anthony's new nanny) had just finished shopping for new "brown shoes" for Anthony at the Joy Stride Rite shop in the mall. Lunch time was approaching and Grandpa was carrying Anthony who had not enjoyed his shoe shopping experienceat all. "Let's have some lunch for Anthony", said Grandpa as they approached Ruby's restaurant."Anthony wants maccaroni & cheese", said Anthony as the got closer the restaurant entrance. "Anthony wants maccaroni & cheese? What else?", asked Grandpa.
"Anthony wants milk shake", said the little boy with the serious face. "Anthony wants a mike shake?" asked Grandpa surprised that the little guy was ordering his lunch. "Yes." said Anthony
"What else?", asked Grandpa
"Anthony wants iced water." finished Anthony.
So grandpa ordered: maccaroni & cheese, a strawberry milk shake and a cup of iced water with a bendee straw. Anthony was very hungry and almost finished everything. The little maccaroni that was left, Grandpa had the waitress pack up so he could give it to Anthony as one of his side dishes for dinner that night.
Peabody Essex Museum
This museum is built on the site of the original East India Trading Club of Salem. To be a member, one had to fullfill two qualifiacations. First, he had to have sailed around the Horn or the Cape of Good Hope into the Pacific. Secondly, he had to be either a captain or a super cargo. The captain was in charge of bring the ship and crew home safely. The super cargo was in charge of conducting the trade for the owner and making the cargo more valuable at each trading port. This club was built 200 years ago and is at the heart of today's Peabody Essex museum.The museum is a maritime museum and a collection of items brought back from the Orient during the early 1800's when Salem was the trading port of America for the Yankee Clipper sailing ships. The collection of these items, particularly those from China are very interesting indeed. Also, one can learn about the maitime history of America which is a wonderful history full of color and meaning. Definately a "must see" item if one visits Salem... in fact, the museum is worth the trip to Salem in and of itself!
The House of the Seven Gables
Salem is rich in educational tourist sights and the House of the Seven Gables is just one of many. This famous house was the home of the cousin of Nathaniel Hawthorne, so the writer actually spent a lot of time here and later wrote his world known novel. Paul and a friend from Chile stopped here on a recent visit in Ausgust and enjoyed the learning experience very much.Paul has now visited Salem twice in the past 30 days with out-of-town guests and he's planning another visit within the next week. There are just so many things to do and see in this old New England town ( like the Witches Museum, the 1630 Pioneer Village and the Salem Essex Peabody Museum, and the Salem Maritime National Historic Site) that it's worth the trip not only for the guests, but for the tour guide as well. New England is just so rich in history and leisure spots that one can never run out of new things to find and do.
YuXiang Yang
YuXiang Yang is Paul's nephew from Shanghai and the son of Paul's 1st cousin Estee Yang, the daughter of Edna(Bau)Loch, Paul 's father's elder sister. Wheeyu! You got that? YuXiang ( or Mao-mao as we call him) is a banker from Beijing and in the USA for six months of training. His host compnay in NYC is Credit Suisse-First Boston and his host for his last three months will be Merrill Lynch in their San Francisco office. YuXiang works as the Duputy General Manager in the Fixed Income Department of the CITIC Securites Co., Ltd. This is a very large financial institution in China... perhaps the third largest... the Bank of China is the largest.YuXiang spent four or five days with his Aunt Myrna and Uncle Michael in New Hampshire at their new house. He was met by Paul in Boston's Chinatown and taken home. This is the first time that Paul and his nephew Mao-mao have met. In the afternoon, Paul had some tree and scrib trimming to do in the garden and was surprised that Mao-mao wanted to help. How can a young man from Shanghai and Beijing know anything about gardening? To his surprise, Paul learned that his newphew earned his bachelor's degree in Landscape architecture and Gardening! Mao-mao turned out to be very strong and knowledgable in outdoor work... what a break for Paul.
On the second day, YuXiang was taken to tour a bit more of New England. America is certainly very different from China. It turns out that this is not YuXiang's first trip out of China. He has already been to London, Paris, and Hong Kong. He's doing very well in China for someone only 27 years old.
The Burning Bush
The Handyman was burning his tree clippings and brush... lots and lots of it on a clean Sunday afterday in late August. He was creating way too much smoke as the clippings were still "green" and he had a huge amount to burn. The smoke was so bad that he had to slow down a bit as the smoke from the fire would carry to the busy street in front of the house and lower the driving visability significantly. It would be a disaster if this smoke caused an auto accident!One of the neighbors drove over to see what all the smoke was all about. Bernie and Ann from 2 houses over wanted to check things out and make certain that there was no problem. Then a Massachusetts State Patrol car drove buy and the trooper smiled and waved. Then Rachel came down from the backyard patio and said that the smoke was too heavy and that the Handyman ought to stop. About ten minutes later a vehicle from the Weston Fire Department pulled into the driveway. "You'll have to put that fire out", said the friendly fireman. "In Weston you are allowed to burn only from January until the end of May", he said. Oh well thought the Handyman... it's off to the town dump on Tuesday with all these clippings and brush.
