Stoneham – Page 3 – My Truant Pen

The warm woods

The December weather was astonishingly temperate

The weather this winter has been exceedingly unwinterlike. It’s barely dropped below freezing since the thaw finally came last winter. The powerful El Nino that holds us in its thrall is bringing late September temperatures to a December-dark world. So much so that our activities last weekend were a hike and a bike ride. I had thought we’d put the bikes away for the year, but I was wrong!

The hike was more adventurous than anticipated. We started at about 2 pm, with about two hours of good daylight, with an unambitious course. I wanted to visit Doleful Pond, mostly because it’s named Doleful Pond. I also wanted to see the remnants of the old trolly line decaying above Doleful Pond. That section of the Fells is criss-crossed by unmarked trails. It’s easily the most-lostest section of the Fells. But I had not one but two maps! We would prevail! Grey stopped and sketched an interesting section of trees.

As we course corrected (despite my preparations, we had managed to be on the wrong trail. Sigh.) I saw a woman being held up by a man and limping badly. I called out to them and we booked it down the hill to see if they needed help. They did. She had badly broken ankle. We were 3/4s of a mile from any road access. I called 911 and then took off with Grey to guide the emergency responders to her location. Adam kept the backpack and got her foot elevated and worked to keep her from going into shock while we got help. Grey and I made excellent time to the trail head – but it served to make it clear to me that there was no way we were getting her out that way. (I actually slipped on some of the trail and have a livid bruise to show for it now). We met the fire crew and paramedics at the Bear Hill entrance. We drove partway up something that was generously marked as a road but that quickly became impassible to even to their manly 4 wheel drive. (Even under the circumstances I thought it was pretty cool to ride in a fire pickup through the Fells!)

We didn’t get nearly far enough. I led the crew the rest of the way to her on foot. I hadn’t realized just how much of first responding was improvising. As the paramedics stabilized her ankle, my maps became invaluable as we tried to find a better way to carry her out. That was my biggest lesson: maps can be the most critical first aid tool you have. They finally got her on a backboard and carried her out of the woods, and our stories diverged again.

The boys did an amazing job. They were both upset by her injury. But Thane was excellent in the role of comforter and care-taker. Grey’s feet had wings as he went with me to find help. I was really grateful, in a strange way, for this chance to show them how it is we should respond when need arises for helpers to help. I also felt really, really glad for the comprehensiveness of our first aid kit and hiking gear. It was a great reminder why we never go into the woods without it.

We walked out – never having seen Doleful Pond – just as the sun was setting.

She’s been in my prayers since. I hope that maybe the bone wasn’t broken at all? I hope her healing is fast, and that we run into her again on some trail in the Fells.

Stoneham History

The weekend before Thanksgiving, the Stoneham Historical Commission held their annual two-hour opening of the Old Burying Ground. For years I’ve wanted to go, but that was usually the time I’d hold Thane’s birthday party. It also coincides with the town Trick-or-Treating. This year, Grey and Thane decided that they were too big/cool/old to do that. I have mixed feelings about that, but grabbed the chance to go visit the cemetery I’ve long wanted to see. It’s usually closed since it’s not quite safe for wandering. There are leaning tombstone and depressions (marked off with yellow caution tape on this day). While this makes for good daydreams about the haunted cemetery, it’s less good for someone who really would like to wander it.

One of the first gravestones I checked out was one of the most dramatic. It stood higher than my head, and had outrage practically dripping off the chiseled headstone. It detailed the 1819 murder of Jacob Gould “who was barbarously murdered by some ruffians in his own dwelling”. There were deaths heads and warning epitaphs and poignant poems (all the things I love best of old graveyards), but this was one of the most intriguing headstones I’d seen.

When I got home, I looked it up on Google. You see, November is National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). I decided to do it this year. (Because I’m crazy. That’s why.) So I was on the prowl for a good novel premise. Murder by ruffians seemed like as good a place to start as any. So I had a reason for my investigation.

My very first search on “Jacob Gould murder” hit the biggest paydirt imaginable; namely “A Brief History of Stoneham, Mass, From Its First Settlement to the Year 1843: with an Account of the Murder of Jacob Gould, on the Evening of November 25, 1819” by Silas Dean. Silas (I feel like he and I are on a first-name basis now) wrote an absolutely hilarious and riveting account of Stoneham. It includes ancient ruins, naked dudes, wolf attacks, haunted houses, Indian raids, aggressive bugle players, people who died of stupidity, mysterious springs, ne’er-do-well pranks of the first water… I could hardly tear myself away from reading in order to start writing. It’s possibly the most entertaining primary source I’ve ever read.

Ruins in the Fells in Stoneham - this might well be the house where Jacob Gould was barbarously murdered. — Ruins in the Fells in Stoneham – this might well be the house where Jacob Gould was barbarously murdered.

I felt like I won the novel-writing primary source lottery. And I started to get really into the research of the early history of the town (before the boring shoe-making bits). Once I started pulling at the thread of local history, I pretty easily uncovered more fascinating details.

For example…

Boston commuters pass Wright’s Tower every day. I’m standing next to it in this picture. Well, Elizur Wright for whom the tower named was kind of amazing. He:

Was an abolitionist, who was arrested under the Fugitive Slave Act for
Basically invented actuarial tables, which make life insurance possible for all of us. He read life insurance literature for fun.
Invented and manufactured two new kinds of faucet fitting type things
Ran a newspaper, which got sued for calling out liquor manufacturers
Translated La Fontaine’s Fables and wrote a foreward to a book of poetry by John Greenleaf Whittier
In his copious free time, also pushed for the eventually successful passage of the Massachusetts Forestry Act, which is why we get to hike in the Fells and why they erected a tower in his honor

I mean, I’m impressed with myself when I get my blog post out on time. I didn’t make major contributions in four or five totally different spheres. And yes, he did find the time to marry and beget children too. I’ll admit – I’m kind of a fangirl now.

Anyway, I have these wild and crazy thoughts about how to get this really awesome information about this town out there. Who, living in a town founded in 1725, wouldn’t like to hear about some of the hijinks that happened nearly 300 years ago where they currently stand? I’m going to contemplate that question while I see how many other really cool things I can uncover in my research.

I’d also like to beg your indulgence. I’m attempting to turn all these cool facts I’ve uncovered into a novel. NaNoWriMo requires about 1668 words a day if you’re going to write a 50k novel in the month of November. I’m already well behind. But it’s going to be extra hard to write a thousand word blog post on top of the 1600 words I need to write every day to have a hope at completing this thing. So I might be… terser than usual this month (and/or obsessed with Stoneham town history).

The Golden Summer weekends

You know, it’s hard to find a time that is a good time to write a post. By definition, times that I’m free and don’t have something else I should be doing are times that I’m completely exhausted by the living of life. Case in point: now.

But the weekends have been lovely lately, and this one was no exception. Friday we demolished our living room. I surprised some people on Facebook by demolishing the living room without announcing ahead of time what we planned. It’s a simple project on paper: take down the drop ceiling and cheap wooden paneling. Drywall the walls and ceiling. Replace trim and paint. For a pair of softwarey types doing the work themselves, this is no easy task. (And let’s be clear – Adam is doing 99.5% of the work. I’m “project managing”.) I anticipate it should be done before Mocksgiving.

This weekend we managed to turn our lovely dining room:

Into a disaster area:

What is it about improving things that so often makes them worse before they get better? We’ve completely finished the demo, and are ready to order drywall. Adam got the furring strips (firring strips?) for the ceiling today. Then he twisted his ankle bringing the heavy stuff in. This may slow things down somewhat. While he was doing that, I was visiting a friend after surgery. It seems like half the church is emerging from the surgeon’s knives, but all of them successfully so far!

The weather this weekend has been outrageously glorious. It’s a bit too cool to drive a person to the beach (the Atlantic remains quite cool even in August). But yesterday we FINALLY after YEARS of thinking we should probably do that some day, went boating on Spot Pond. It was ludicrously easy for us to obtain three boats: two single kayaks and a double. We spent a glorious hour or so lounging around a place I’ve driven past a thousand times, but feeling like we were in the middle of nowhere. The boys particularly enjoyed looking for buried treasure on some of the islands.

Today started with church, as Sundays so often do. Church is taking up a lot of extra thought-cycles with me right now. I’m chairing the Mission Study Taskforce, and feeling very much pulled to ask some really big questions about what it means to be a church, and where The Church (not just my little congregation) will be in 50 years. It’s clear that we won’t be doing what we’re doing now (which is more or less what we were doing 50 years ago, and very reminiscent of what we were doing 200 years ago). I’m feeling really excited about rethinking how we can serve the core needs of God and people (I’ve narrowed it down to three: sacraments, worship/teaching and community – and none of these require a big fancy building).

When I got home, I was oppressed by the number of things I have to do. I swear, the dirty dishes breed when my back is turned. I dealt with this oppression by wandering the neighborhood. You see, I have a long-neglected project to drum up support (by which I mean money) for a historical marker for the Nobility Hill Historic District (which my house abuts). So I figured I’d go take pictures of the coolest houses. At the very first one, I met the brand new owner and spent half an hour chit chatting about the house and the neighborhood. She seems very cool. Then at the next house I stopped to chat with the owner for a while as well. I couldn’t help but think what a neat neighborhood it is I live in.

I was on call this weekend, and will be next as well. That makes it hard to do a big adventure, since I need to be in cell range and within 1/2 hour of an internet connected computer. But these small, glorious adventures in the fractally-rich spaces around my home and community, well…. I was just called upstairs to comfort a disconsolate child who tearfully opined that he didn’t want to grow up and leave this home. (See also: massively overtired) I comforted, but I feel the pang too. This stage is so sweet, this life so golden, that I wish I could slow down the falling sands of time. I told him what I do in the face of such urgent sweetness. I take pictures, and I write down the stories of those times, and store them up against whatever may come next.

A very Stoneham Saturday

Today was a clean-up, stay-at-home kind of Saturday. My folks left at first light, and I was left with a tired family and a pile of ignored chores. I realized on my fourth or so errand that today proved what an awesome town Stoneham is. Even though I took a car for one of these (due to heavy loads), everything I describe here is an easy walk from my house. So here you go.

11:00 am – Kushala Sip
I was ready for a little more than my usual morning coffee, but not quite a whole pot. What to do? Go down to the brand-spanking-new coffee shop that is now open on Stoneham’s Main Street – right across from the green. (Ample parking in back – just go in behind the Bank of America.) I brought my boys with me. I enjoyed a mocha while they had frozen hot cocoas (which they also enjoyed!) The staff is still learning the ropes of their new trade, so they’re figuring out hours, shifts and practicing their drinks. They’ll have a big grand opening when they feel ready, but until then they’re operating with limited hours.

11:30 am – Book Oasis
As long as we were down here anyway, Thane needs book #40 in the Magic Treehouse series. So perhaps a quick stop by the Book Oasis is what the doctor ordered. I should know better. There is no such thing as a quick stop. But both boys and I got books. If you live nearby and you’ve never been, you should absolutely make the trip. They have more titles than a big box store (like Barnes & Nobles) and excellent advice besides! Park behind Kushala Sip, grab a coffee, go the extra block to pick up something to read, and plop yourself on the common for a few chapters!

1:30 pm – O’Brien’s Farm Hill
My bleeding heart was totally done, and my columbine had gone to seed. Time for some new bedding plants. I’d noticed that O’Brien’s Farm Hill had just put up their plant sale sign, and stopped by. They had some really excellent planters at super reasonable prices, and I picked up a pair (plus some snapdragons and daisies) to refresh the front yard. They even dead-headed them as they loaded them into the car for me.

2:00 pm – Round’s Hardware
I also needed some mulch, so on my way back I stopped at Rounds and picked up a big bag of red mulch. They offered to put it in my car for me, but I told them that since they wouldn’t be around to take it out of my car, I’d better be able to manage it myself. I also tipped them off about Kushala Sip being around to meet their caffeination needs.

3:00 pm – City Cycle
My chores complete, it was time for a family bike ride! I’d dropped my bike off earlier to have a warped real wheel fixed, and I needed a new water holder for Thane’s bike. I had been there only the night before when they’d done a last minute repair to the brakes on my dad’s portable stool thingy. They had my bike ready in back, and installed the water holder for free. They’ve been prime enablers of our bike riding habit.

3:30 pm – Middlesex Fells Reservation
The Fells is only about a mile from our front door. For the first time ever, we started a bike trip without a bike carrier. Most of the roads between here and there are very local (we are not experienced road riders), so it wasn’t too terrifying to get to the Bear Hill trailhead. All of us are on road bikes, so even the bike trails on the Fells (which are unpaved) were a bit much. But we proved to ourselves that it could indeed be done.

5:00 pm – Dairy Dome
Having braved much on the roads and in the Fells, it seemed only meet to reward the stalwart adventurers with ice cream. We often walk here in the evening, but it was novel and exciting to stop on our bikes for some ice cream. Thus fortified, we returned home.

That, my friends, is a pretty great day in the Town of Stoneham. A friend accused me the other day of being a home town junkie. In truth, Stoneham isn’t my home town (and never will be). But it is my SON’S home town – the one I picked for them. And it’s a pretty great little town – only getting better with things like the Greenway, and the Stoneham Farmer’s Market. (I totally have a date on Thursday with a bunch of my parent-friends to meet up at the market next week and get pizza for dinner and listen to the free concert.) And there’s the parts of Stoneham that have been awesome for a long time, like the Youth Room in the Carnegie-built Stoneham Library which serves as our base for Library Pizza Night (now in it’s fourth year!)

After weeks of adventures, I’m glad to be right back here.