hey jud

Several weeks ago for Mother's Day we all chipped in towards a table and chairs to go out on the new deck. Setup was quick and easy and carefully watched over by the ever-alert supervisors.

From the moment I left the house last week in Braintree, I could see the top of this looming crane and just kept walking towards it. I got right up to the front gate of the old Fore River Shipyard, but beyond it was off-limits. Mostly deserted now, I spent some time imagining what the shipyard was like when boats were being built and thousands of people employed. Out of sight and ironically coordinated with my mournful thoughts, a single bagpiper was playing, perhaps one of the fireman from the training center in an old warehouse.

On a more upbeat note, my friend Felice has a new book out, sharing the skills and techniques that combine so well with her graphic eye to make science photos into art. Though I've been reading it, thinking it's wonderful and being amazed at what Felice has accomplished, others think the same. Here's an unbiased review you can check out and then order her book, Envisioning Science.

I've had a great time this past year, working with an afterschool group of third graders at the Charlestown Lacrosse Center in a program called Exploring the Community. You can read all about it, see the kids and take a virtual climb of the Bunker Hill Monument by playing their Climb the Monument Game. Click here to get to the main page, and then in the first paragraph, click on Exploring the Community.