The Sandcastle

For two years we traveled in a house that moves. Now we are coming to realize we live in a house that can travel. That difference is huge.

When one lives in a house, even when one is retired, he does not go sightseeing every day. There are days for doing chores and days for just being as well as days for playing. We can stay in one place for a week or more and have enough time to catch up with ourselves. We can do more in depth study of places we’d like to go thus making better plans. That causes my stress levels to drop rather dramatically. And my knees prefer a day of rest between museum trips. Plus, if we give ourselves permission to really slow down, we might be able to plan better meals and have the energy to cook them. Wouldn’t that be good?

Now, if winter will just hold off long enough to let us see the best sights without having to scurry south. It helps that the further south we go the later into the season the campgrounds are open.

TTYL,

Linda

I found the Museum of Work and Culture in Woonsocket, Rhode island, a fascinating place. Very little of it was my history but it felt like it was because it was such a submersive experience.

The story is primarily about the French Canadians who came to Woonsocket to work in the mills. These people had been mostly agrarian, working at home with the work day based on the sun rising and setting and the seasons.

When they moved to Rhode Island, a few were able to continue working at home.

But most went to work at the mills where life was very different.

They no longer had control over when they would work.

They no longer had control over how they would work.

They didn’t even have control over the results of their work.

Being a proud people, many rebelled. Some in small ways, others in larger ways.

But much of their culture was against them. They went to church and the priest told them to look to Heaven for their reward.

Their children went to school where the nuns and priests reinforced that idea for the children to take home to their parents.

Those few who met with management were told how things were being done for their own good.

Only the Unions said things need to change.

So people met on neighbor’s porches and in neighbor’s parlors and talked about all these ideas.

And decided to strike.

But the timing was bad, management was broke, and the mills closed. No longer was there money to invest in the credit union.

But, somehow the people and their culture survived. The woman working the desk, who was about our age, told us that when she went to school the nuns still taught half the day’s lessons in French.

And today you can host your own event here.

Is that success?

TTYL,

Linda

According to a handout from the site, “Established 1793, Lowell’s Boat Shop is the oldest continuously operating boat shop in America and is cited as the birthplace of the legendary fishing dory.”

The dory’s bottom is very narrow.

It’s sides are high and made from wide planks.

It is an economical boat to produce. It was even more so back before OSHA when painters, paid by the boat, turned them hull up and poured buckets of paint over them.

When the runoff paint dried on the floor, the floor became very uneven.

Fisherman used long lines with many drops with a hook on each drop. Look closely and you can see the line running in front of this sign with drops just to the left of the A and the right of the W and &. You could store a lot of that line in the half barrel looking thing in the boat.

The construction of the boat meant it actually became more stable as you hauled in more fish–good for foul weather trips home.

And foul weather we’ve had so that was important to the fishermen.

TTYL,

Linda

We’ve found another restaurant chain we like.

For those of you back in Minnesota, this is the equivalent of Bridgeman’s Ice Cream Parlor.

You can go to the counter and order ice cream treats to go.

Or you can go in and sit down for a meal.

Here’s my large, tasty, burger with lettuce and tomato but no onion and more than enough fries for me:

And here’s Dave pretending this is not what he ordered for lunch:

He said it was too soon after breakfast to have lunch. When I mentioned his non-lunch probably had more calories than my lunch he replied that it was not as filling, though.

But, we both enjoyed our treats and will probably go back to this chain if we run across another one close to meal time.

TTYL,

Linda