“For the winter is passed.
The rain is over and gone.
The flowers are springing up,
And the time of the singing of the birds has come.”
Song of Solomon 2:11-12

Hubby and I are still mulling over whether we should purchase a new planter to replace the older of the ones we have. Our grapevine, which is always late in leafing out, has finally come alive. Our outdoor cat, Louie, has take up residence in our big flower basket, on the top of the plastic shelving on the porch.

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Last Monday evening, Hubby and I went to the Adams Street Library to hear Anthony Sammarco talk about his latest book, ”Lost Boston.” As we walked in the room, Anthony welcomed Hubby and me. Just as we sat down, Anthony began his talk. Librarian Elisa Birdseye turned the lights down so I wasn’t able to take notes from the talk. (We needed a dark room for Anthony’s slides.) I did remember some of the “Lost Boston” buildings. I looked in the book for the ones that I remember. I vaguely remember the Aquarium at Castle Island. I looked at the photo in Anthony’s book but I don’t remember the building, just some of the mammals. Something tells me that we couldn’t go to Castle Island during World War II. The East Boston Airport was named for Edward Lawrence Logan, a judge at South Boston Municipal Court. Today, it is the 19th busiest airport in the US. I remember the Elephant House, with its memorable entrance. There was a concrete elephant’s head over the door. I also remember the names of the elephants: “Molly,” “Waddy,” and “Tony.” I think I saved coins to help support them.

Another of the “Lost Boston” structures was the Jordan Marsh Company building. Jordan’s was my first charge card when I began working so I went there a great deal. I remember the old elevators, which scared me when I was riding inside them. In Anthony’s book, there is a lovely photo of Scollay Square, which was razed in 1961. I never went past Jordan’s, Filene’s, or Raymond’s when I shopped in town, so I never saw Scollay Square. I do remember Braves Field, but I never attended a game there. My father liked the Braves more than the Red Sox. The field is now called Nickerson Field and is owned by Boston University. We see it fairly often when we drive on the Mass. Turnpike. I remembered the East Boston Ferry from the great photo in Anthony’s book. My Uncle Tip, a firefighter, was stationed in East Boston, and he took us kids on the ferry as a treat. I think we paid a nickel although the book said a ride over or back was just one penny. I never knew there was a race track in Readville, but there is a wonderful photo of it in the book. The Parker House, at the corner of Tremont and School Streets, was demolished in 1926. Anthony asked us, “What is the Parker House noted for?” One bright lady in our audience responded, “Parker House Rolls.” We thanked him for his interesting, illustrated talk. He told us that his first book was written 20 years ago. The “Lost Boston” book is quite interesting, especially if you lived in Boston in the I930’s and I940’s.

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What a nice time, Hubby, daughter Sue, and I had at the Dorchester Business to Business meeting, which was held at the Mount Washington Bank on Gallivan Blvd. The bank manager, Dianne McBride, welcomed us to the event. (Hubby took a great photo of Dianne and me.) Andrew Wilbur, the president of the Dorchester Board of Trade, greeted us also. We saw Ed Forry, Ed Merritt, and Phil Carver at a distance. We were a little late so Dianne told us to get over to the buffet to eat. Gerard outdid himself with the food. There were chicken and beef quesadillas, chicken tenders, mac and cheese bites (to die for), broccoli and cheese bites (also to die for), meatballs (scrumptious), spinach and cheese puffs (delicious) and fruit.

We found seats near the windows and enjoyed the great food. We were delighted that our friend Loretta came and sat with us. We told her of all the terrific food that Gerard had prepared. Police Officer Lenny Lilly also joined us. He and daughter Sue remember their early days at the Murphy School. It was fun listening to them.

Gerard kept running in and out of the kitchen, keeping his food hot. We complimented him on the great food. We discussed a number of things with Loretta as we sat near the windows. The time flew by and it was time to leave. Just before we left, bank manager Dianne told us to take home some of the left-over food. She had some cute little plastic containers for us. We put the food in them and thanked Andrew and Dianne for the evening’s kind invitation. Just before we left, Dianne also told us to take the green and white pens, with the Mount Washington name on them. They were only good for a few days. The Mount Washington Bank was changing to the East Boston Savings Bank in just a few days. I must say that we enjoyed the meatballs the following evening at dinner.

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Last Thursday morning, I was in the living room, watching the ME Network. (I really enjoy “I Love Lucy” from 7:30 to 8 a.m.) It was about 8:15 a.m., when I heard a noise. It sounded like someone threw something against our home. I went outside with Hubby hurrying down from the second floor to join me. We discovered that a car had come up the curb cut in front of our home and smashed a five- or six-foot section of our pretty fence. The sideways supports, holding the pickets, were completely broken. The wood holding the dirt back at the bottom of the fence was also split. Some of the pickets were broken. We tried to figure out how a car had come up on our sidewalk. Undoubtedly, someone dropping a child off for the Murphy School, tried to turn around on our little street. It can’t be done. The person gave the car too much gas and it proceeded partway into our front yard. The cowardly driver sped off before we could see the car. Thank God, there wasn’t a little kid on the sidewalk. I’ve been asking some of the people who drop their kids off at about the same time if they saw the car do the damage. So far, no one did. By the way, there is a traffic sign at the top of our street that states that no cars can come on our street in the morning or in the afternoon when the buses are at the school. None of the many cars that are on our street at the restricted times honors that sign. “I’m only here for a few minutes,” is the usual excuse. Other cars come onto our street at least a half an hour to an hour before the restricted times and take our parking spots for more than an hour. I never thought that a school would be so harmful to our neighborhood.

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I am writing this a little early because of the holiday. We plan on going to the County Mayo Association’s Mass for deceased members on Sunday at the Irish Cultural Centre in Canton. There are such nice people attending this Mass. Every year, as we leave the Mass, Hubby always says to me, “Your grandmother would be proud of you.” (My grandmother, Mary Murphy, was born in Westport, Co. Mayo.) I hope she is proud.

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The following quote is an encouraging one: “The best ideas come after you think you’ve run out of them.”