dilemma3

Doing Boston with Robin
1994

ROBIN AND MARILYN IN THE BIG CITY: THE REV WAR AND LOOKING FOR CHEERS
    Day 1 of Boston, Robin crams tons o' sightseeing into one day plus a failed mission to find the Bull And Finch "Cheers" Tavern. It's unbelievable how much history is jammed into Boston and the surrounding areas. She planned for us to hit Boston Square, the Old South Meeting Place where the Boston Tea Party was planned, and the Old North Church where the "Oneth by land" lanterns were hung.
    "But first, the Granary!" she proclaimed.
    And it's just so obvious Robin lived with me in one small room for four years, because the Granary is -- get this -- just the coolest old graveyard ever. Tons of slate headstones, carved with skull and cross bones and angels, dating back to the 1700's, all crammed together under big trees smack dab in the middle of town. Not only are Ben Franklin's parents buried there with a bunch of signers of the Declaration of Independence -- Mother Goose is buried there! Much photo-taking ensued, which was tricky since we were taking care not to step on anybody.
    So hours later, we're exhausted, we've eaten Boston Baked beans and knockwurst and been everywhere, and we begin our quest to find the Cheers bar. We walk through the park, heading toward the Bull & Finch (the Cheers bar), and upon our exit Robin says, "It should be on this street" so we turn right and walk uphill on the street. Up and up. On and on. "That does it," she proclaims, "We'll come back Saturday and look for it. Let's get some cannoli." (On the train ride back to her house, Robin says, "Oh, there's Walden Pond" and points out the window. I turned, and there it was.)
    Saturday Robin's husband Larry takes the kids for the day, Robin and I hit Cambridge to see M.I.T. (Larry's alma mater and location of many college stories we heard during his weekend calls to Robin) and Harvard, take more pictures of spooky tombstones, and attempt a second excursion to find Cheers. We walk a different way around, this time entering from the top of the street and Robin points downhill proclaiming "There it is!" and there's Cheers plain as day. She points two doors up the street and proclaims, "And there's where we exited the park Thursday!" If only we'd looked to the LEFT.

ROBIN'S BAMBINOS
    Robin and Larry have two children: Jeff, who is 3 years old, is NOT a morning person, and did a pretty good job explaining the cast of Shining Time Station to me, and Elizabeth. Elizabeth, 6 months old, is the Gerber baby. She is also a deadly siren. Her sweet face with the sparkling blue eyes and melting toothless smile draws you in to smile and rub noses with her. Then she becomes a raptor, with her two hands springing from the side and grabbing your hair and pulling. And it's not one of those basic baby fingers becoming entangled with your hair. She pulls so hard, you feel more nerve-endings in your scalp than you knew were in your entire body. A direct hit from her is a one-hand grab of your hair, ear, earring and glasses. And I took plenty of direct hits. Then, at the dinner table, she transformed into an octopus, her arms extending beyond the length of her body, pulling place mats, tablecloths, plates, forks, knives, spoons, glassware, menus, dessert menus, children's menus, neighboring chairs...

THE ROCKPORT/SALEM CLOTHING DILEMMA
    The two huge photo opportunity towns we were visiting, Rockport and Salem, were set for the same day, creating a clothing dilemma for myself. Do I go with old clothes for Salem Halloween pictures, or coastline clothes for Rockport lighthouses? It sounded like the weather was going to cool down enough for me to have to wear my long-sleeve black Atlanta Olympic pull-over shirt. Then I realized the Atlanta Olympic logo, 5 A's in a circle, formed a pentangle, which probably wasn't a good thing to wear in Salem, Massachusetts, and one of the A's was red and, once again, Salem, home of Nathaniel Hawthorne, was probably not a really good place to wear a Scarlet A on your shirt. I opted for coastline clothes.
    It's drippy rainy in Rockport and I wanted pictures of me on a rocky New England coastline with a lighthouse behind me. Easy right? I mean, there's tons of these pictures with other people, so why not me? So Robin says there's twin lighthouses and we look and finally down another little road around another little house--BOOM! Twin lighthouses in the distance. I want my picture. Robin says of course I do, but the rock I want us to climb on for this photographic event is on private property and RIGHT NEXT to the kitchen door. I run and sit on the rock anyway, Robin dutifully follows 10 or 12 paces behind, snaps two pictures and bolts back to the car.

MARILYN GOES WITCH HUNTING IN SALEM
    So we move onto Salem, and it's raining, which perfect--so nice and gloooomy--unless you want to take swell pictures. Pictures aside, it was wonderful. Larry and Robin passed on the Witch Museum, having been there more than once already, and opted to stay with the kids while I went in. I had to wait 40 minutes for the next available presentation, so I returned to the streets (after stopping by the gift shop to buy a "Stop By For A Spell" sweatshirt, among other things), where Robin's family was strolling toward the visitor's center. I walked with them and we passed several charming two-story shops, the darkest (practically black against the pastels of the others) of which had a sign reading Crow Haven Corner -- Laurie Calbot.
    Robin said, "Ooo, Laurie Calbot. She's the official witch of Salem, you know."
    "How do you know that?" I asked.
    "Michael Dukakis proclaimed her so when he was governor."
    So we walk about five more paces, and I stop.
    "I gotta go in!" I tell her.
    "I know," she sighed. "If you're not back in 10 minutes, we'll send in a search party. Pay cash."
    So I go in, and I do feel a little apprehensive after the first door closes behind me, but once I enter the second door, I realize I'm basically in an Athens incense shop. To the side of store, I overhear a warlock shopkeeper (who looked like a drummer in an Athens band) tell some patrons, "Yeah, I don't practice it as much as I should. I make my students practice more." Incense burn, there's a wall of pre-packaged herbs and mixtures from Connecticut, along with crystals, candles, pewter dragons, pentangles hanging from the ceiling, stuffed animals, and a sign reading VISA/Mastercard.
    What to buy, what to buy, I think to myself.
    Finally I decide on a raven puppet, a package of hawthorne with a raven label proclaiming "To ward off evil spirits," and Dragonsblood Love Potion. When I set my booty in front of the young-witch-with-long-dark-hair cashier, she says "I love these puppets!"
    I said, "I love ravens!"
    "Have you seen The Crow?" she asked me, referring to the Brandon Lee movie. "I've seen it three times -- I love it! It's really good, well, if you're into reincarnation." (I guess if you're a witch, you have to see a movie three times if it means anything to you).
    I showed her my Bat Conservation International credit card, and she was pleased. I looked behind her and saw a "WITCH-1 -- Crowhaven Corner Salem, Massachusetts" license plate on the wall.
    "I love that!" I proclaimed.
    "Five dollars," she offered.
    A bargain at twice the price, I bought one.
    On my way out, several more people walked into the store. The cashier looked at the warlock and sighed, "I'm not going to get lunch today."

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