Forsythia,Lucero,Good Company

I messed up here. The plan was to show a nice picture of the Forsythia in full bloom just days after bringing naked-looking branches in the house. I've been neglectful...this picture shows the dying blooms falling off limp branches because I waited too long! They really did look nice for a few days.

The naked branches make for a better picture, I think.

This great bunch of kids were nice enough to let an old lady like me hang out with them last week. In fact my niece, the beautiful girl in the center, invited me to spend the evening with them. She bought tickets to see Lucero at the Paradise in Boston and called to tell me she had one with my name on it! My son B, on the far left, shares an apartment with her in Cambridge and I love going in town to spend time with them.

We started the afternoon with lunch at Miracle of Science. It's a nice little bar/restaraunt in Cambridge..very near MIT. (Hence the name.) The menu is written on the wall in a Periodic Table of Elements chart. The bar and tables are made from old soapstone lab tables.We shared a hummus plate that was delicious and I had a salad while my niece and B had chicken salad and a burger.

We then went to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum for the After-Hours event. They have this every third Thursday of the month. It is a social gathering with cocktails and music held in the courtyard. You can also tour the galleries, leaving your drinks down-stairs. There has not been a picture yet that could do justice to the courtyard. Gorgeous!

You must have heard about the infamous theft ,including a Rembrandt and a Vermeer, that have never been recovered. The frames still hang empty in the galleries. Mrs. Stewart left an iron-clad will that stated that nothing should ever change ....no additions or subtractions.

We went from the sublime to the rocking. Yup..that was way too corny.Lucero put on a great show and played for a very long time. Over the years we've many shows at the Paradise. B and I were pretty young when it opened. I'm certain we were at one of the first shows ever there....Andy Pratt and Carla Bonoff. Wow...how old am I? I stayed up way too late but had a terrific time. It makes me really happy that these kids are still willing to spend time with me.

This is a view I will hopefully be seeing a lot of. It's right outside the entrance to Mass Maritime. E will be a cadet there this fall. I can't believe how fast the time has gone by! B and I are so proud of him. We were there this weekend for his uniform fitting and placement tests. A friend , whose husband and son are both graduates of MMA , called to ask if were nervous in light of recent events.This was E's first choice of a college...I still think he made a great decision. Our son, B spent six years in the Navy. My Dad was a Navy man. I think it's in the blood somewhere.