Alexandersmap

    Category: Travel

    • New England’s Frontier Wars

      New England’s Frontier Wars

      Being a settler in New England wasn’t all that easy.  Events outside your control impacted settlers for generations.  Encroachment on the Native American population created resentment and occasional raids on settlements.  Global forces were at work against the settlers too, as France and England were constantly at war with each other in Europe, which naturally bled over to North America as each side fought for their turf.

      There were several wars between the English and the French that deeply impacted the settlers in New England.  So many wars that you need a scorecard to keep track of them all:

      1689-1697  King William’s War (War of the Grand Alliance/Nine Year’s War)
      1702-1713  Queen Anne’s War (War of Spanish Succession)
      1722–1725  Dummer’s War (Father Rale’s War/Wabanaki-New England War)
      1744-1748   King George’s War (War of Austrian Succession
      1754–1763  French & Indian War (Seven Year’s War)

      Over the next several posts I’m going to try to tackle each of these at an overview level, and dive deeper into individual stories from each over time.  With 75 years of fighting between the settlers, the French and the Native American population, there’s plenty of content to work with, and only time as a restriction.

    • Atomic Habits

      Atomic Habits

      I’ve got a long history of pursuing audacious goals that eventually crash and burn either immediately after accomplishing them or somewhere along the road to getting there.  I’ve rowed a million meters in support of a friend, and as soon as I’d accomplished it I walked away from the erg for months.  I’ve lost 30 pounds and was literally within five pounds of my perceived ideal weight of 225 when I just stopped pursuing it.  I’ve aimed at 10x my quota attainment for years, and inevitably scratch and claw to meet quota, let alone 10x it.  I set a goal of doing 20 burpees a day for the rest of my days, and injured myself after increasing the reps to 50 burpees per day and not listening to my body when it started breaking down.

      “Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.” – Norman Vincent Peale

      Such is the life of the big dreamer.  I’ll still pursue bigger goals for work and fitness.  You need to have bigger goals to inspire you after all.  But in aiming for the moon, I’ve ignored the other advice that I’ve heard over and over.  Steady, incremental improvement ultimately wins the day.

      “Slow and steady wins the race.” – Aesop, The Tortoise and the Hare

      Your audacious life goals are fabulous. We’re proud of you for having them. But it’s possible that those goals are designed to distract you from the thing that’s really frightening you—the shift in daily habits that would mean a re–invention of how you see yourself. – Seth Godin

      With that in mind, as we run smack dab into another year of bullshit resolutions, I’m taking a different tack as we round the corner into 2019.  Small, “atomic habits”, inspired by a free ebook with the same name by James Clear.  Overall this has worked for me with a few things, like writing this blog.  I don’t do it every day, but I’ll aim to become more consistent.  So here goes:
      1. 10 burpees per day.  Not 11 or 20 or 50.  Just do 10 and re-establish the routine.
      2. Minimum 5K per day walking.  Aim for 10K.
      3. One call per workday to a high gain contact.
      4. Write something every day and post it in the blog.  Even an interesting quote someone else said is better than nothing.
      5. Do at least 3 of these before you check social media.
      Easy right?  That’s the point.  So easy you don’t have an excuse not to do it.  So here we go.  In fact, I’ve already knocked off two of these today.  So I guess I’m off to a good start.

    • Halifax & Boston

      Halifax & Boston

      The connection between Halifax and Boston is similar to a sibling relationship.  Boston receives their Christmas tree from Halifax every year as a thank you for Boston’s role in supporting Halifax after the December 6, 1917 explosion that killed almost 2000 people.  Boston’s medical ships arrived well before the Canadian government reacted, and Halifax has been forever grateful.

      Halifax and Boston were sister cities of the British expansion into North America, and there was strong sentiment to invade Halifax and bring it into the American colonies during the Revolutionary War.  That it remained British-controlled created some separation, but eventually the cities proximity and cross pollination of people moving from one to the other brought them closer.
      Halifax receives the Boston feeds of a couple of news channels and follow all of the major Boston sports teams, making them more familiar with Boston than Boston is with Halifax, but the bond is strong both ways.  Part of my family came through Halifax as well, so I’ve always thought of it as a home away from home.  It’s been over a year since I’ve been in Halifax, and I think I need to remedy that soon.  Nova Scotia keeps calling to me.  I need to return the call.

    • JOMO

      JOMO

      2018 is the year when I’ve finally sickened of the addictive, time-sucking apps on my phone.  I’ve deleted and re-added Twitter, and now work to pair down my focus on it.  I’ve deleted and definitely NOT gone back to Words With Friends.  And now I’m toying with the idea of dramatically limiting my exposure to Facebook.

      There’s a new term making the rounds lately; JOMO – Joy Of Missing Out, which inserts joy where fear used to reside.  Frankly I’m all in on that.  I’m making 2019, beginning now, the year of JOMO.  I’m deleting FB off my phone, so I can only look at it on my iPad.  I’m figuring out what to do with Twitter, which I enjoy using as a news feed, but frankly the news sucks nowadays and I’d rather focus on things I can control.
      According to my Screen Time feature on the iPhone, I’ve been on Twitter for 4 hours over the last 7 days, Facebook for a little more than 2 hours, and InstaGram and Safari for almost 2 hours each.  That’s not bad compared to a lot of people, but that’s still more than I’d like.  Combined Social Media time for the last 7 days is 11 hours and 55 minutes.  Ouch.  When I think of that stack of books I’m trying to work through, and the time I’m spending mentally away from my family and friends during the holidays it’s not good.
      That said, Social Media can be a good thing in doses.  So I’m going to set screen time limits on my phone and iPad and work to honor those.  I’m going to start using the Watch more as I try to increase my overall activity.  But overall this is an opportunity to change my habits as we roll into the New Year.  

    • Silent Night

      Silent Night

      This year marks the anniversary of Silent Night, written and then composed to music two hundred years ago.  The history of Silent Night is making the rounds on various media this holiday season, so I won’t re-write it here, save for this brief Wikipedia intro: “Silent Night” (German: “Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht”) is a popular Christmas carol, composed in 1818 by Franz Xaver Gruber to lyrics by Joseph Mohr in the small town of Oberndorf bei Salzburg, Austria.

      It’s Christmas Eve in New Hampshire.  The nest if full, if only for the briefest of times, the presents are under the tree, the plans are made.  2018 was a tough year in so many ways, and many people who were with us at Christmas last year aren’t here this Christmas Eve.  Best to make peace with yourself and your neighbors on this holiest of days.

      Austria is calling me.  Vienna and Salzburg keep popping up in my life.  I work for a company based out of Salzburg and the whole Sound of Music connection to Stowe, Vermont (Trapp Family Lodge) has lingered in my imagination for some time.  Vienna is the title of a Billy Joel song that keeps reminding me that Vienna waits for you.  The Geography of Genius and Cultural Amnesia have both informed me of Vienna’s place in our cultural history and the fragility of Humanism and Intellectualism in the face of the rise of Nazi Germany.

      A popular bumper sticker this year seems to be the “Resist” slogan.  It’s a reaction to Trump and white supremacist groups feeling the courage to crawl out of the rock they live under in the last two years.  Trump is testing our democracy and the Rule of Law like no other President in American history.  So resist, but know your history and what happens when you don’t resist.  Blindly following a religious, political or military leader has consequences often not seen until it’s too late.  The best defense is strength and knowledge.

      On Christmas Eve, most of us want peace of Earth and goodwill toward men.  Looking back one hundred years to the meat grinder that was World War One, it’s easy to see what can happen when we let “leaders” power go unchecked.  When I think of Silent Night I think of the story of the two sides in opposite trenches stopping the fighting on Christmas Eve and singing Silent Night.  The war would grind on and many more would die, but for that brief moment reason and goodwill took over.

      Silent Night, Holy Night
      Mindful of mankind’s plight
      The Lord in Heav’n on high decreed
      From earthly woes we would be freed
      Jesus, God’s promise for peace.
      Jesus, God’s promise for peace.

    • Food and Drink and Magic Spells

      Food and Drink and Magic Spells

      I spent some time in the first month of 2018 wandering around in Portugal, and a memorable evening in Lisbon sampling port with some of my co-workers.  Within a week of sipping this port I was no longer working at the company that paid for my trip to Portugal.  I have no regrets about my departure.  Eleven months later I rarely think about the company, but I often think of Portugal.

      Life is a dance, and libations have a way of liberating the timid from their restraints.  Our dance with life is all too brief, so best to celebrate the stuff of it in every moment.  Indeed, as Marcus Aurelius wrote, “... with food and drink and magic spells.  [We’re all] Seeking some novel way to frustrate death.”

      I write about death more than I figured I would when I started this blog, and not because I’m particularly obsessed with it, but rather because I’ve grown to accept stoicism as a guiding force in my life.  I’ve been reading and re-reading Meditations in 2018, and I expect I’ll come back to it again in whatever time I have left ahead of me.  I was a stoic before I really understood what that meant, living in the moment, accepting fate (for the most part), and knowing as the Scots do what lies ahead of us:

      “Be happy while you’re living, for you’re a long time deid” – Scottish Proverb

      Raising a glass of port is different from wine or beer.  It’s a spirit that demands savoring, and I willingly rose to the occasion with my co-worker Jim, splitting a flight of port with him on a memorable evening in Lisbon.  Having a few drinks in faraway places isn’t exactly unique, nor is savoring good and drink and magic spells, as the Bible too points out:

      “Let us eat and drink; for to morrow we shall die.” – Isaiah 22:13

      Food and drink are only part of the story, of course.  Good health and a sound mind are larger factors in the year ahead and serve to temper the desire to live in the moment.  2018 has been a little too moment-focused and not enough fitness-focused.  Burpees and step counts are good indicators of a commitment to progress.  Consistency must follow the act of committing.

      “Our minds are bodies are meant to be allied in the quest for a better relationship with life.” – Don Miquel Ruiz

      As we wrap up 2018 and look to the year ahead, I’m struck by just how challenging the year was in so many ways.  And yet it was a very good year.  Looking ahead to 2019, it’s clear that America and the world will face more challenges still.  And so it shall be.  Embracing a little more stoicism helps bring the New Year in focus.

      “Think of yourself as dead.  You have lived your life.  Now take what’s left and live it properly.” – Marcus Aerulius

      I’ll take that advice and run with it.  Live properly with a commitment to career, fitness, strengthening the mind and of course savoring the moments along the way.  Every moment is magic, and if this blog has documented anything it’s my commitment to finding it in the past and present in every place I go.  Cheers.

    • Book Stacking

      Book Stacking

      My nightstand has a stack of seven books that I’ve been meaning to get to.  The table next to my favorite reading chair has two more.  The bookshelves have dozens more.  And the Kindle app on my iPad has several more.  The cue of books to read is long, and time is short.

      Making time for reading has become a bigger priority for me.  That starts with weaning myself off of the damn iPhone; the ultimate time sucking device.  And I’m doing the same with television and browsing on the computer.  Time is all we have, and way too much of it has been consumed by electronic media.  Being present in the world is a great start to finding more time.

      Reading page-turning fiction is one thing.  I can blow through a spy novel or mystery in no time at all.  The same can be said of masterful non-fiction page-turners like The Boys in the Boat or Unbroken.  Heavier reading like Ulysses or Cultural Amnesia are a different story.  And powerlifting reads like Antifragile are harder still.  I find that I start a lot of books and set them aside when they stop inspiring me to press on.  Frankly not every book you start should be finished anyway.

      Perhaps speed-reading will solve the book stack for me.  Or more audio books to “read” as I drive around the northeast.  Moving to a cabin in the woods with all of my unread books for a sabbatical is out of the question for the time being.  There’s too many things I’d be trading off.  Best to use my time more wisely in day-to-day, moment-to-moment activities.  We all have the same amount of time.  The question is how we use it.  With 2019 around the corner, I’m thinking more about exercise and disciplined work and home improvement and travel…  and reducing the stack of unread books in my life.

    • Christmas Decorations & Dirty Laundry

      Christmas Decorations & Dirty Laundry

      Christmas can be a lovely time of family time, lights and magic.  It can also be a time of shopping chaos, stress on the budget and waistline, and questionable decorative choices.  On the latter point, call me a conservative.

      For a case study in decorative style, one only need drive towards one of the shopping areas strategically places within minutes of home.  You’d see a serious commitment to keeping Unitil shareholders happy with tens of thousands of Christmas lights on display in some yards.  There’s a warm glow that emanates off these homes as endless white lights outline the architectural details of the house and blanket the shrubbery.  Some of these home owners opt for moving fake reindeer or blinking lights to animate the scene and driving up the electric bill.  I honor the massive construction effort and CapEx that these homeowners invested in the holidays.

      Other homes opt for the easy way out, simply sticking a projector out in the yard that shines lasers in green and red at the house, making it appear to be wrapped in an envelop of dazzling electronic bliss. Others double down on this projector trend by introducing floating light displays of snow and God knows what.  The Baby Jesus would be truly… humbled to see this celebration in His honor.  The projector homeowner wants to celebrate Christmas, but without the hassle of doing too much.

      A natural ally to the projector crowd is the inflatables.  Indeed, often you’ll see them coexist together in the wild cu-du-sacs of suburbia.  The inflatables are like holiday chameleons, rapidly popping up Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas-themed characters in rapid succession.  No longer are the inflatables limited to Santa Claus and Rudolph.  No, today you can blow up just about any character in popular culture, and just put a Santa hat on their head or a Christmas present in their claws and you have the perfect addition to your front yard holiday celebration!

      Tragically, this holiday fantasy only comes alive at night.  During the daylight, when everyone is actually looking at your yard, these inflatables appear flaccid sacks of dirty laundry scattered across frozen lawns and restrained from escaping with extension cords and tent stakes.  Inflatables yards are like the morning after a big boozy party staring back at you in the mirror day after hung over day.

      The neighbor of the inflatable is inevitably the dignified wreathes on the windows and doors decorator.  This champion of restraint meticulously sets ribbons and bows amongst the greenery and sets white spotlights to illuminate the house to highlight just how lovely their holidays are going to be.  The wreath and garland homeowner never uses blinking lights, and the music is classic Bing Crosby era, thank you.

      My house is an exercise in simplicity.  Neighbors put white lights on the trees and shrubs out front?  I string colored lights through the trees out front.  And thats where I stop.  Nothing on the shrubs lining the front of the house, no spotlight on the wreath on the front door.  Sure there are candles in the windows and the white lights on the Christmas tree peak through one of the living room windows.  I’m doing my part without trying too hard.  The neighbors must shake their heads as they drive by.

      In New England, we inevitably have a snowstorm and a deep freeze right around the holidays that will cement this display to our lawns until the spring thaw.  So even if you are sad to see the lights turned off, you can take comfort in the fact that they’ll still be attached to the house and shrubs for months to come.  That’s the kind of holiday cheer that stays with you long after your New Year’s Resolutions are broken.

    • There’s Something About Connecticut

      There’s Something About Connecticut

      For the life of me I haven’t fully figured out Connecticut.  It’s a part of New England, but it’s also a big part of New York as well.  Nothing illustrates that more than the Red Sox-Yankees Mason-Dixon line that runs through the state.

      Connecticut exhibits some of the characteristics of New England – Beautiful old towns mixed with postcard views and a rich colonial history.  Litchfield County is to most people the most beautiful part of the state, but you can make a case for Windham or New London County too.  What turns most people off with Connecticut are the highways and associated traffic, and the cities, which have some lovely parts to them but some really run down parts too.

      Connecticut has that Yankee frugality co-mingling with that New York hustle.  It’s a place that’s hard to describe.  Look no further than that Connecticut accent.  It’s a mix of Boston and New York.  You know it when you hear it.  Or if you like, we can talk about the drivers.  Boston gets a bad rap, and deservedly so.  But Connecticut drivers are the worst.  They refuse to move out of the left lane on the highway no matter what their speed, unless of course they’re the other type of driver in Connecticut; the zig zaggers.  These drivers are bouncing between lanes at extremely high rates of speed relative to those around them.  Perhaps they’d stay in the passing lane if the former drivers would ever move over, but perhaps they just love the adventure of putting lives in danger.

      I lived in Litchfield County 24 years ago, and while the memories aren’t great, I do remember loving the 200 acre farm that I lived on.  We had a small apartment in an old farmhouse on a working farm.  Most everything associated with that time in my life is gone, and good riddance to it.  That experience, combined with some epic traffic over the years, may have jaded me.  I like the people, I like the scenery when you get out of the cities, and I’ve had some great moments there.  And yet there’s something about Connecticut…

    • Fog on Buzzards Bay

      Fog on Buzzards Bay

      Saturday we were treated to a beautiful sight as the sun slowly warmed the air above the cold waters of Buzzards Bay and the temperature variations triggered a thick, swirling fog.  This wasn’t some boring whiteout fog, this was a constantly changing feast for the eyes.  The fog highlighted rises in the land I’d never really noticed in the years I’d been coming here.  It amplified the bells on the navigational buoys in the channel approaching the Cape Cod Canal and the sharp honk! honk! honk! blare of the foghorn on some unseen barge making its way up the channel telling whoever will listen that “I am operating astern propulsion”.  Saturday morning was a day for radar if you dared to be out there at all.

      I find fog to be fascinating.  I once walked Bodhi in a fog so thick I couldn’t see five feet in front of me.  I once launched a couple of eights full of rowers, realized that the fog was too thick for them to safely be out there, and couldn’t find them on the river.  Thankfully they’d decided it wasn’t safe and had just gone back to the dock, but I spent 45 minutes slowly running up and down the river in my launch trying to find them.  As I wrote in one of my first posts, when I was in St. Johns, Newfoundland I watched a fog roll in so quickly that I quickly that I wasn’t able to cover 200 hundred yards before everything was obscured.

      Fog can be both dangerous and beautiful.  It completely changes your perception of the world, and when it lifts it stays with you as a haunting memory.  Some view it as sinister or terrifying, but I think it’s fascinating.  I just don’t want to be stopped in the high speed lane of a highway with the people behind me seeing nothing but gray clouds in front of them.
      I generally take weather as it comes.  Really, what choice do we have living in the northeast?  I try to enjoy the rain, snow or fog as much as I do those perfect sunny days or starry nights.  Stoic philosophy dictates that we accept our fate in life.  It is what it is.  For me a cold, foggy morning on the bay was more interesting than a warm, sunny day might have been.  Either way, the pictures speak more eloquently than I can, even if they don’t tell the full story.