creativity

There's some serious construction going on around these parts and that has resulted in no public playground.  It's complicated, political, and a topic some community rights activist should take up but that's another story.

So with no playground we've had to get creative for activities.  Since our 800 sq. ft. can only offer so many options, we prefer to go outside.  That leaves us with benches, bushes, steps, paths, fields and basically Mother Nature.  So far it's been fine, fortunately the kids have each other and have fun exploring, roaming and doing our own thing (usually involves sticks, pinecones, rocks, and other collectables) but we were ready for something new.

We're usually out in the mornings and coincidnetally the tennis courts are empty at that time because classes are going on.  Using our connections at Shad Hall (the HBS gym) we checked out some tennis racquets and balls and went at it for almost two hours.  Unconventional? Sure.  But it works, and works well.  Madeleine even showed interested in learning how to play.  Henry just kept throwing the ball and chasing it with the racquet.  I even sat on the bench for a good portion of the time!

Tennis is great, but unfortuantely not all days are tennis weather days.  So we've learned to ride the bus.  There's a Harvard campus shuttle stop steps away from our building so on rainy days we climb on and enjoy the loop.  A 45 minute circuit is all we need for an activity - we see the big city (Cambridge), switch seats at every stop, anticipate the big bumps that make our stomachs feel funny, laugh when we brace for corners, make friends with the driver and receive free door-to-door service.