Concord's Thinking Man

"At first I seem delirious, but once explained, I'm nothing serious."

This Into the Woods quote floated in my head as we were approached by an older gentleman wearing a bright yellow vest with the words Thinking Man on them. I knew we were in for a long conversation that would either be annoying or life altering, but would definitely leave us with a story.

Last year John was interviewed by the local NPR station, WGBH. Reading his transcript sounds exactly like what he told Don and I as we walked from our car, across the North Bridge, on our way to the Concord Historical site. We were pressed for time, but John is very persuasive and he encouraged us to pause and listen to him. As we parted Don asked if we could take his picture, which he readily agreed to.

A decade ago John's cardiologist diagnosed him with congenital heart failure and told him to step away from screens and get out and walk. I feel a smidge of guilt typing this on my screen when I should be following his advice and going out for a walk on this rainy day.

John, a retired Harvard history professor and finance guy by trade, started walking around Minute Man National Park. He decided to start saying "Hi" to strangers. He has a knack for languages and decided to sing their national anthem to international visitors. Sometimes this meant learning their songs. He has a  repertoire of 46 songs from around the world. He sings in the park because his family does not like his singing voice.

He was nervous when he reached out to his first person, a woman from France. After breaking out into La Marseilles, he was afraid she would think he was crazy and he would be banned from the park. Instead, she told him he made her day. He repeated this with the next person, a woman from Mexico. When he meets someone from a country where he does not have a song at the ready he asks them for their favorite song.

"What a dopamine rush!" He says enthusiastically lifting his arms in a cheer as he describes the feeling he gets when people are moved when they hear their song. Each positive experience encourages him to meet more people. The negative ones sadden him, but he continues. I'm glad we stayed and talked, even though my instinct was to press on.

Upon meeting us he asked where we are from. When we said New Jersey he listed positive things about our state, leading with Albert Einstein lived there. 

Reading his story it says he launched a short-lived presidential campaign in 2024. I wish he had won. His positivity is infectious. 

We ended with his eight-word mantra:

Inhale with gratitude.

Exhale with kindness.

Repeat.

I was to mull this over and get back to him in three days letting him know if I agreed with him or had a better one. It has been more than three days, but I am still mulling.

He asked us for our best advice. A tough thing to come up with on the spot.

Mine was: always bring a book; always keep moving.

Don's was: invest early

He rises early each day to write before he embarks on his walks. I am not following his blog.

Blacksmithing

This is a different sort of post for me as I do not have any notes. I'm not sure what I will say. I'll let my fingers do the writing.

On Monday, Christine and I met up with Dan, The Hebrew Hammer Blacksmith. For me this journey began a month earlier when I saw a flyer at Lawrenceville's annual Spring Fling about blacksmithing lessons. A couple of weeks later I signed up to go on an archaeological dig at James Madison's blacksmith shop this September. I thought it would be fun to do some hands-on blacksmithing before then.

I reached out to Christine to see if she would want to join me. Christine knows Dan from her work at Howell Living Farm. She is also the type of friend who is always up for a new adventure. Unbeknownst to me, in 2019 she won a blacksmithing lesson but between the pandemic and life, she hadn't cashed it in.

We were good team. More importantly, Dan is a great teacher.

Dan is currently the sole blacksmith at the shop in Trenton. When I parked my convertible across the street, my immediate thought was this is a sketchy part of town. One I don't visit very often. There is litter strewn about on the side street. His shop is on North Olden Avenue, directly across from an abandoned factory, where there is talk of building a skating park (as in skateboard). As I was leaving, though, I was warmly greeted by a woman walking her dog. I should try to be less judgy. If you feel inspired to take blacksmithing lessons after reading this, please note that he has his own parking lot.

The shop has been a blacksmith shop since 1823. It was originally smaller, later expanded closer to the sidewalk, eliminating the space where a carriage may have once parked.

Don sports a wiry, red beard. It seems to match his identity as an historic blacksmith. He fell in love with blacksmithing when he was seven years old and met his first blacksmith at Howell Living History Farm. He is only 34 years old, born two weeks after I graduated from college.

In addition to running his shop, he is an historic blacksmith at several sites. I saw him in 2024 on a super hot July afternoon at Howell Living History Farm barely break a sweat working with the hot fire demonstrating his trade to the crowd gathered as we fanned ourselves and stuck to the shade. It was impressive. He works at other historic sites, as well as Renaissance Fairs, and other places a blacksmith is welcome. He has a travel-sized forge he takes on the road.

He also told us about the time he was in the background in the recent Springsteen movie Springsteen: Deliver me from Nowhere. He met Springsteen for about ten seconds and had the wherewithal to have a coherent conversation about a musician they are both fans of.

Having Christine along was perfect. As coworkers, she and Dan fell into easy conversation as we waited for the iron to heat up. It made the experience more relaxing than had I gone alone.

Dan told us in addition to homeschool he has hosted bachelor parties where the gents bring pizza and hang out for a few hours while making items. Christine is now thinking of creating an event for a singles group she belongs to. He is comfortable working with groups of up to ten people. While his workshop is spacious, there is still a lot one could get into.

His first question to use was the hardest: what do we want to make? 

We decided to make low hooks perfect for hanging plants on. Oddly, neither one of us had given it any thought. He suggested a piece of jewelry, or a hook, or a nail. We both wanted something practical that we would use. Dan explained we would each leave with a plant holder.   

This was actually my second biggest challenge of the day. The first was finding clothes to wear that are 100% cotton. I have plenty of shirts I thought were 100% cotton, only to read the labels and see they have a lot of polyester or spandex in them. I wore one of the shirts Don used to wear when he worked for corporate America. Christine wore an old t-shirt. We both tucked our hair back from the embers.

At first glance, the shop is dark with the walls painted black, and many pieces of metal all over the place. As I relaxed into the place, I noticed just how neat and tidy it all is. The floor is swept clean. The metal pieces are organized in crates, bins, and on shelves. Tools are exactly where they belong. I have the sense that if you quizzed Dan, he could find anything immediately. 

Dan did the heaving lifting. After cutting our piece of wrought iron he heated it in the furnace and explained the rules. We were each given a hammer. He would point to a spot. I would whack it, then Christine would take a swing and we would repeat. When it came time to create the curve, Christine paused the swinging and took pictures of me. When we made the next one, I took pictures of her. 

We worked as a good team. We both trusted the other would not swing and miss. We both wanted to work. We both wanted to take pictures. Most importantly, we both wanted to enjoy the experience.

Dan said the plant holder we made, he could create in seven "heats." I tried to keep track of how often we had to reheat the iron, but it was much more than seven. We both felt the second one went much faster, but again we lost track.

An hour after we arrived we said good-bye to Dan.
Christine wants to create another outing and do this again. I'm looking forward to my dig in September.

More pictures:

Ewing's: Revolutionary Patriots: Alive in Ewing!

The Ewing Township Historic Preservation Society is hosting two dates of cemetery tours at the Ewing Church Cemetery. If upon reading this you want to attend, the next day is Sunday, July 12 every hour on the hour at 2, 3, and 4 pm.

The weather was stunning. Sunny with low humidity. 

Don recalls these types of tours happening in the past, tours led by Harriet Whitlock who passed away in 2005. These tours are being led by Helen Kull and author Larry Kidder.

The tagline of the Alive in Ewing event is Revolutionary-era citizens and militiaman share their stories in celebration of the Nation's 250th. A mouthful, but it does sum up the program.

Back in 1776 this area was actually called Trenton Township. Helen's half of the tour focused on the people, places, problems, and patriots, otherwise known as the four P's.

Ewing's history dates back to 1605 when immigrants started to come to the area in search of fertile land and woodlands. A great place to live halfway between Philadelphia and New York City. It was a great place for trading, as well as a cultural place with the original College of New Jersey up the road in Princeton.

In 1709 the 1.1 acre church area was purchased by twenty yeomen for five shillings (about $35 today). It was a communal effort. They started in 1712 with a log cabin before building a brick church, followed by the current sanctuary. The church predates the Revolution by over seventy years.

Place: the town was built by immigrants. Some were second and third sons who had nothing for them in England since only the oldest inherits. Some were affected by wars in Europe and came here to start anew. This area was founded by people from Scotland and England. There were Quakers, Reformed, and Anglicans worshipping in the area. As with the people in Lexington, some were loyal to the king, others were dissatisfied, and others had no loyalty. Exactly what we heard in Lexington, MA earlier in the week.

People: our militia was made up of farmers, yeomen (freeholders), tradespeople, merchants, artisans, manufacturers, etc., but not trained fighters. All me between the ages of 16 and 60 were required to serve in the militia, later the age was dropped to 50.

Problem: there was much civil unrest happening in pockets within the 18th century. In February the Ewing Township Historic Preservation Society sponsored a talk by Rick Durham about Daniel Coxe that went into more detail than could be covered in a few minutes during the cemetery tour. In the mid 1700s, Coxe bypassed the Quaker system of regulated land purchase and bought much of the property in the area. He then told those living on the property, people who believed they owned the land they had lived on for generations, that they were merely tenants and owed him rent. This was an early spark for the Revolutionary War, one I only learned about this year because even locally it is not taught.

Twenty minutes into our cemetery tour begin to "meet" colonists. Our first in Mr. Benjamin Moore (not the Benjamin Moore of the paint company). Mr. Moore, portrayed by Jim, a deacon at Ewing Covenant Church and passionate about history, was 58 in 1776, thus too old to serve. He did meet General George Washington on his way to Trenton to meet the Hessians.

The cemetery has just under 40 people who served in the Revolutionary War, their willingness to sacrifice everything to form a new country is amazing.

Helen moved us to a shady area where about 40 folding chairs had already been set up. Larry, an established local Revolutionary War expert, and author of many books including: A People Harassed and Exhausted, the title is in reference to a quote attributed to George Washington. He put a every day, human side to the war. "People did not all feel gung ho with war." It was required to join the militia. Signing the paper meant you were a patriot, but you had to sign the paper. The men expected part-time service protecting the area near their homes, instead they were sent for a month or longer to East Jersey, which was a week's walk from home. The men were farmers, blacksmiths, agriculturalists, in other words, they already had full-time jobs. New Jersey depended on their work so they had food.

The Continental Army was the full-time army. They were the real patriots ... or were they? Larry has a relative from a Loyalist family who fell in love with a girl from a Patriot family. To show his devotion to her, he joined the Continental Army. Many generations later, he is one of the results of their union.

There were exemptions to military service, including physical issues, religious concerns (Quakers), or jobs needed by the military (at least temporarily). Some men paid others to serve for them, or paid a fine. The war lasted eight long years.

Private William Green, portrayed by his descendent Thomas, talked about his plantation, which he built about a mile away. That's the site of my first archaeological dig. He gave a brief history of his life, before introducing us to his wife, Elizabeth Burroughs Green, portrayed by Maggie a history buff. She was excellent. She described how she had to take over the farm duties while her husband went off to war, and her other war efforts.

Lastly we were met by Major Israel Carle, portrayed by another Thomas. He won by heart when he apologized for not remembering the name of his servant and "hoping history fixes that error" (paraphrasing by me). He told us about serving in the calvary troops. This brought up the point that soldiers had to provide their own horse, guns, uniforms, bayonets, etc. Only ammunition was provided. As different muskets required different size musket balls (something I've noticed during archaeology), they often carried molds to be able to make their own bullets during battle. 

The calvary rode ahead and took messages between troops since they could move faster than those on foot. News traveled at the speed of horse.

Larry emphasized it was unknown how long people would be called to serve active duty, this made it hard to plan life. Something else I had not realized, they did not always serve with the same men, nor did their commanders have the same troops under them. This made it hard to fight as a team. 

That's just something else that does not come through the history books.

Boston Road Trip

I've recently started a new blog called Pillsbury Travels. It is where the bulk of our out of area trips will appear. I'll add links here so you can find these posts.

Mid-June 2026 was an exciting time to be in Boston as Scotland's Tartan Army was in town for the FIFA World Cup taking place that Friday at the "Boston Stadium," which is really Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, MA. Social media has been filled with their antics ranging from putting traffic cones atop statues to drinking bars drier than has ever happened before. While we did not personally see the antics, we did see some Scotsmen wearing kilts and their team jerseys and walking around in groups, mostly of men in their 20s having the time of their lives. A couple were on our tour. Afterwards, we saw more posing for pictures around Fenway Park.

Our trip to Boston begam with a simple request from Don: he wanted to visit the Boston REI store before it closes next month. Don can spend hours in an REI. I, on the other hand, think they all look alike so I looked for something to do while he was in the store. When I heard Fenway Park (home of the Boston Red Sox) was nearby I knew I found something to keep entertained. The only problem was the tour started at 2, and we live at least five hours away, six or more with stops. Don was determined to make this happen, so we left home at 6:30 am. He let me sleep in the car. We arrived in Boston around noon, parked the car near where we would be meeting up with cousins Martin and Helen for dinner at 6.

We parked on Beacon Street and could have easily taken the Green Line up to Fenway, especially since they have switched to allowing payment by tapping your credit card, but the weather was nice and we needed to stretch our legs after the long car ride.

The REI store is located in the former Sears Roebuck & Co. warehouse and distribution center.  Built in 1928, this 12-story art deco building has recently been lovingly restored, and has received awards for its LEED certification. As with the REI location in New York City's SOHO district, the building alone is worth the visit. They even have a tiny museum dedicated to some of the household goods one could have purchased from the catalogue. It was like stepping back into my youth and the kitchens of my grandparents and in-laws. Even more impressive are the spotlessly clean printer and linotype machines. Many walk by these with the air of not seeing them anymore as we walked around them soaking in all the details.

We walked around the corner to our Fenway tour. After walking around the outside of Fenway, we returned to the Sears Building for one last look before starting the walk to dinner. We couldn't pass a VanLeeuwan ice cream store without a snack. I should try harder to note the flavors. I believe we went with black cherry chip (on bottom), marionberry cheesecake, and chocolate.

Dinner with Martin and Helen was tapas at a Spanish restaurant. The tapas were served family style. Dining with them made us more adventurous. We each ordered three tapas (appetizers) and shared them family-style outside on their sidewalk. We used to take annual trips to Boston to visit their mother, Aunt Elva. This was our first visit since she passed away four years ago a week before turning 106 years old. Fortunately, Helen and Martin travel to New Jersey. Helen, in particular, is not a fan of social media, so I'll leave off their last names and pictures on purpose out of respect.

Seeing the Tartan Army we realized why the hotels were excessively expensive, but when we were making plans we did not know that. We booked a stay at the Garden Hilton in Tewksbury, MA since it was cheaper, and closer to Lexington, MA, which is where we planned to spend the next day.

After stopping to fill the tank, we took backroads to Lexington and stumbled upon Pillsbury Avenue. I made Don get out and pose for a picture.

Our Wednesday adventures took us to Lexington and Concord. A couple of years ago I learned I have a relative, Noah Wiswall, who fought in the Battle of Lexington, or so Claudia from the DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution) told me. Spending the morning on the Green in Lexington, Mary, our costumed tour guide, surmised he was likely part of Parker's Revenge, and not the original battle. After eating lunch in a French Cafe in Lexington, we traveled towards Concord, stopping in Minute Man National Historic Park and again at the North Bridge. We were finding the battle stories very similar, so we time traveled 100 years to the era of the Civil War and visited Louisa May Alcott's family homestead. We shut down the place, so we had dinner at the Concord Inn, a place Cousin Martin frequented with his mother when he took her to Concord.

Across the street was First Church of Christ, Scientist, Concord, a Christian Scientist church about to hold their Wednesday night testimony service. While I admire their complete faith that prayer leads to healing, I still felt uncomfortable in the service every time they put the founder (Mary Baker Eddy) on the same pedestal as God and Jesus. The first half of the service was an assortment of readings from the Bible, followed by Mrs. Eddy's words. The second half was open to the 25 people in attendance to share their (recent) experiences with how prayer changed their lives. These ranged from praying in utter frustration when the man could not find an ingredient needed to make a special meal to a woman whose son's broken arm was healed one summer through prayer (she left us hanging on the conclusion of that story). 

After church we took a stroll through Concord then drove an hour to Sturbridge to put us in position for the next day's adventures: having breakfast with my new cousin Barbara (NCB for short). Barbara and I met through ancestry.com and bonded over being at the same stage in life. Our oldest children were born one month apart. It was great catching up with her.

The drive north we went to Albany and then across. Technically, the long way, but also the more consistent way. The drive south we stopped for a couple of hours in Tarrytown for dinner and a stroll. During the drive home we listened with awe to the dedication of the Obama center in Chicago. I'm considering that my national semiquincentennial celebration. 

We made it home safely, and returned the rental car after hours. It was a quick trip, but much was packed into it.

I'll add links as I create posts about the specific activities.

A Tale of Two Protests

While were in New England Don and I stumbled upon two protests.

The first was at noon by the Lexington (MA) Battle Green. It was a pro-Democracy protest filled with about a dozen people waving handmade signs. We stopped to commiserate about the state of the world with them and thanked them for coming out every week. I was wearing my Run with Ruth (Bader Ginsburg) shirt and fit right in.

The second was closer to dinnertime in Concord. At first I though, Yay! Another protest! Then I quickly clued in that this was a pro-T event. They were waving premade T/Vance 2024 yard signs. Still about the same number of people. I was stunned and even a little gutted to see such a gathering in an area I thought of as solidly blue.

While, yes, I do believe everyone has the right to protest (it is in the constitution), I still felt as if I had landed in the Twilight Zone. The protesters were quiet, but I did not feel comfortable reaching out to them. Maybe another time when I can gird myself first. 

The differences between the two reminded me of the 2017 hats: handknitted pink pussy hats vs. made in China Make America Great Again ones.

I hate that I feel this way.

Lawn signs seen during our adventures.

Princeton's Firestone Library Exhibit

 Around midnight on Friday, I watched as MS NOW livestreamed the scaffolding set up in front of The Kennedy Center in anticipation of 45/47's name coming off of it. That was on just one site. There were others set up. I've heard estimates as high as a million people watching the scaffolding into the wee hours of his birthday weekend, even as a screen went up blocking the view of the actual scraping.

We are hungry for some signs of the tide
turning. It reminds me of this picture at the top of my post currently hanging in Princeton University's Firestone Library of people toppling the statue of King George in New York City's Bowling Green. The statue was then melted down and turned into bullets. The exhibit, Nursery of Rebellion: Princeton and the American Revolution, is running through July 12, 2026. I highly recommend local friends visiting. If you don't live locally, or are busy, the entire exhibit has been digitized.

Back to the image. It is called The destruction of the Royal Statue in New York, circa 1776. It depicts ropes attached to the statue, and men holding each one as they topple the statue. I dream of a day we are toppling many golden images, but for now I am celebrating that his name came off of The Kennedy Center, a performing arts center Congress named in memory of a former president. As one commentator said, it was as if he put his name on Kennedy's grave. The fact that hundreds of thousands of people watching along with me, and more were in person, is testament that I am not alone in my feelings. 

The exhibit has many jaw dropping artifacts, many donated by alumnus William Scheide '36. As you pass the guard's desk there is a copy of the Declaration of Independence. A copy, as in one of the 200 printed immediately after it was signed in Philadelphia. A copy as in only one of the 26 known that still exist. That kind of copy.

At the end of the exhibit is a similarly rare copy of the Constitution, also donated by Mr. Scheide.

In between are other artifacts, some on loan, some donated by alumni. I walked in at the same time as an older couple. The wife had heard an online discussion about the exhibit and just how hard it was for them to narrow down and select artifacts because they had so many.

One example of this was they thought they had the one copy of Thomas Paine's Common Sense they wanted to display, only to realize they also had a copy that was distributed in Britain. The British copy (also owned by Mr. Scheide) was censored, so the owner penned in the missing words to match the original one distributed in the United States.

Along one wall is a copy of the Charles Wilson Peale painting of General George Washington in front of Nassau Hall called George Washington at the Battle of Princeton. I saw someone taking a picture of it, so I told him if he wanted to see the original it is on display in the Princeton University Art Museum. At 237 cm. (7 feet 9 inches) it brings you into the scene. It is worthy of the five minute walk to see it in person.

I gave tourist advice to others.

As I was leaving the security guard commented I was very knowledgeable. It felt good to have someone tell me that as often I feel I know a little about a lot, but not enough to feel like an expert in anything.

I recommend either visiting in person or electronically. It is a way to get in the mood for the semiquincentennial. 

Extra Innings

In 2020 Major League Baseball created a new group of teams called the Draft League. They already had Triple-A, Double-A, and Single-A minor league teams, with AAA being the one closest to the majors. In the first half of the season, the Draft League is made up of college students wanting to play more baseball after their college season ends, and before training starts up in the fall. In the second half of the season, the league is made up of men in their mid-20s not quite ready to give up their dreams. The first half has scouts at every game watching the young talent. The second half has few scouts visiting.

Behind the scenes, the game is very structured. Players are in the game for a set amount of time so a scout can see them. The goal is less about doing what it takes to win, and more about showcasing the players.

That's an over simplification, but it sets the stage for the next part of this post: what to do when the game is tied.

Ashley and I went to the game last night. A friend's son works for the away team.  He receives some comp tickets. His parents didn't want to go because of the heat and they offered the seats to me. I asked Ashley to join me.

I arrived nearly an hour into the game because I thought it started at 7, instead it started at 6. Fortunately for me, the game was only in the second inning. Thunder was ahead. Some back and forth, and at the end of the bottom of the ninth, Thunder and State College Spikes were tied.

I remembered hearing there were different rules for how they solve a tie. A couple of years ago we went to a game and it started to pour during an early inning. The coaches decided to scrap the game because there was no reason for anyone to get hurt. Along those lines, they want to wrap up a game as quickly as possible when there is a tie.

As of 2022, the rules are:

1) They play a winner take all half inning.

2) Before the game, the home team manager decides at a plate meeting who will play offense, and who will be defense if there is a tie.

3) If offense scores, they win. If they do not score, defense wins.

4) Offense starts with a man on first, the third out from the ninth inning.

5) Offense has three outs.

6) The win or loss counts, but not any other player stats.

There are some other crazy Draft League rules, including games played on Tuesdays in the first half of the season (with the exception of the home opener) are seven innings instead of nine.

On Saturday night, Thunder elected to play offense. With one on base, the first batter walked. Now we have two on base. The Spikes pitcher took too long and those on base sauntered as they advanced to the next base. The second batter hit a line drive. He ran past first base straight into the arms of teammates as the player on third crossed the plate giving the home team the win.

I note this because someday we may return to a traditional team and I'll wonder what the crazy rules were.