Letter #277 from Massachusetts

Letter #277 comes from Michele in Massachusetts.Michele actually found out about our project through postcrossing when she was matched up with Brian from Jefferson City,MO who wrote to us months ago and had our project in his profile....how sweet of him to do that!Michele loves to write letters and has over 60 penpals around the world.She is also penpals with a writer for Home Education Magazine that wrote an article about us,but I haven't been able to find the issue,not even at our library,so if you have the issue (Sept/Oct),please let us know,we'd really like to have it to keep.I have even emailed the writer but haven't heard back. :(

Michele lives twenty miles south of Boston.Her small town has a population of 17,000 people and a total area of 10.1square miles.The terrain is very rocky,which they learned the hard way when they had their swimming pool installed.They often see deer,coyote and turkey roaming around their yard.Their dog,named Niko,who weighs 140 pounds (yikes,that's one BIG dog!) usually scares off the animals....well,who would want to mess with a dog that big?

She says that they don't visit Boston as much as she'd like to,even though it's less than thirty minutes when taking the ferry,then going by car or train.She also said that she lives 45 miles north of Cape Cod,which is a very popular tourist destination for people near and far.When she wrote the letter,the Obamas had been there the week before.She said that the Cape has beautiful homes and landscaping,and her favorite flower,which is the hydrangea....that's one of my faves,too. :) You can also see white sand beaches,shellfish and lighthouses.There are also said the stores are so quaint.Those are my kinds of shops.The only way to get to the cape is by crossing the Sagamore or Bourne Bridge or you could take a small,but inconvenient back road if you don't like bridges.

Michele has two daughters and she told us that her oldest was getting her first job at The Paper Store.That would be a dream job for me...I would probably spend all my money at my job since I love pretty paper.It must be a fun job,I hope she is enjoying it.She plans to go to cosmotology school after graduation.Her second daughter is very active in cheerleading and does competitive cheerleading.I actually wanted to be a cheerleader so badly when I was younger but I couldn't even do a split and I was scared of heights,so I decided against even trying out. :) She hopes to attend school for nursing.

Michele works full time as a legal assistant and wishes she had more hands to help her juggle her job,family,pets,and the house.She lives close to work so at least she doesn't have to spend a lot of time commuting back and forth.In February they were a host family to two boys from Austria.Seh said it was an awesome experience!She said they were there for a hockey tournament.They had a blast showing the boys around,meeting other host families and watching hockey.She said their native language is German and at age 10,they start learning English.It must have been an experience just having boys in the house since they are so different than girls.

Michele loves the fall season and loves to buy apples to make apple crisp.She said she loves fall and everything to do with it.I know we love the crisp cool air and the brightly colored fall leaves.

Thanks Michele for your lovely letter and postcards.She included two postcards of Boston....one shows the Public Gardens,which our previous writer from MA talked about and also a print out of the popular ducks,which can all be seen below:

Letter #273 from Massachusetts

Letter #273 comes from Stephanie in Massachusetts.She lives just ten minutes outside of Boston.She was born and raised in Weymouth,a large town about ten minutes north of where she currently lives....so she hasn't gone far. :) She says that she feels very lucky to be living in the birthplace of America.I couldn't agree more,it must be a great place to live since there is so much history around you all the time....who could get bored there?

She recalls school field trips including one to the Swan Boats in Boston's Public Garden,where you can see a bronze replica of the ducks from the children's book titled,"Make Way for Ducklings".I believe,if I read it correctly,that the ducks were decked out in Bruins gear when they won the Stanley Cup.I wish I could have seen that....too cute!There is also another popular place called The Boston Common,a large grassy park area enjoyed by many when the weather is nice.It includes a frog pond that becomes a skating rink in the winter...all of this in the shadow of the golden dome of Boston's State House.Stephanie says that their original state house,just down the hill from there was replicated by their own Weymouth Town Hall.

Other interesting places she noted that must be seen upon a trip to Boston is The Freedom Trail,a walking path through all the historic sites including Paul Revere's ride,down to Plymouth Plantation and Plymouth Rock.They are also rich in culture and museums,such as Symphony Hall and The Hatch Shell.She also noted that they are home to some of the best colleges,universities and hospitals in the country.

She says that the four seasons there are wonderful.Winter can be extreme,but she wouldn't trade it for anything.It was a wonderful place for her to grow up and has fond memories of the beach,snow,fall foliage, beautiful spring flowers,rich history and beautiful,old homes.Every where you go,there is something to see.I think Stephanie did her state and country proud because you can tell she truly loves where she lives and tries to take in everything the area offers,which is amazing.

Thanks Stephanie for your lovely letter,which can be seen below:

Letter #190 from Massachusetts

Letter #190 comes from Emilie.Emilie was very creative with her letter and wrote on a paper bag from The Walden Pond gift shop...how cool is that?And of course she had some great stamps on it,with one of them being the new green stamps that says,"recycle more". :) Great job recycling Emilie...we really loved getting a letter on a bag,very clever,indeed.Emilie lives in Boston,MA,where she goes to college.She is studying hard for her Masters in French.Bonne chance Emilie with your studies!She has even included a bookmark showing the library at Boston College,which she says reminds her of Hogwarts.Wow,I would love to see that!I love beautiful libraries!

Emilie has sent us a couple of fun goodies to enjoy.She included a parking ticket,which she notes is not hers,she found it (no,she did not swipe it off a car) ;) ...she says that Boston is notorious for parking tickets.Hopefully if we ever visit Boston,we never have to see one with our information on it. :) She also inlcluded a T pass,which is the Boston Subway system and a ticket to the Boston Museum of Fine Arts,along with a brochure.

She also says that she plans to go whale watching this summer with her boyfriend.She is really excited about seeing a whale up close.I hope she does get to see at least one up close...I hear they are amazing!She also enclosed a brochure about this,too.Just in case there is any interest,the website is www.neaq.org.And,last,but not least was a brochure featuring the Freedom Trail with some great pictures of places I would love to see,including  the Old Corner Bookstore.These pictures make you feel almost like you are back in time and I'm sure they are amazing to see in person.

Thanks Emilie for your lovely letter and "doodads" that you included.She told us she will tell her mother about our project,so hopefully she will be writing to us,too. :) Enjoy her letter and goodies below:

Letter #175 from Massachusetts

Letter #175 comes from Emilie in Massachusetts.Emilie is currently studying French at college and is working towards her masters degree.She says it's a lot of hard work,but it's fun,too.She gets to teach two classes of elementary French at her college,which must be really exciting and hard work at the same time.

She says that she can't wait for summer vacation so that she will have more free time to explore Boston since she is not originally from there.She told us that the Public Gardens there are really beautiful.We love nature,so we would love to see the gardens there.It was also the setting for a children's book called "Make Way for Ducklings".When she moved to Boston,she was really excited to see the statue of the baby ducklings following their mother.She also told us that Boston has the best ice cream.She has tried some unique flavors,with black raspberry and blueberry cheesecake being her favorites.

Emilie grew up in Maryland,only 15 minutes from the Virginia border.She lived 40 minutes away from the Del Marva peninsula,where the famous Chincoteague ponies are from and she still loves to read the books by Marguerite Henry about the Chincoteague ponies.I believe my daughter used to read those books when she was younger and was going through her "pony" phase.Emilie used to have her own pony named Windsong,so that is why she is so fond of horses,but,unfortunately,she died three years ago.She said that her dad had bought a mule to keep her horse company since horses are herd animals and need companions to be happy.She said that mules are a hybrid of two species,they have a horse mother and a donkey father.She says they are very sweet and extremely intelligent animals.They look like horses,but have bigger ears.She said that they love to have the insides of their ears rubbed,but once you take your finger out,it's all covered with ear wax....hopefully you weren't eating when you read that part. ;)

She really misses home a lot since she lived in the country,where it was so green in the woods.She still dreams about home and misses the log cabin she grew up in.Even though Boston in her new home,she is still a country girl at heart. :)

Thanks Emilie for your very sweet letter,we hope you have continued success on your goal to get your masters degree!You can see her lovely letter below:

Letter #71 from Massachusetts

Letter #71 comes from Julie in Massachusetts.She says that her town,Westford,became a town on September 23,1729.She says that around 22,000 people live in her city.Her city is home to a granite quary and apple orchards.She even says that Paul Revere's son went to school in her city and there is a bell cast by Paul Revere in the local high school.

Boston built the first subway system in the US in 1897.On the green line you can see some of the antique trolley cars from the early days.She used to take the same subway when she lived in Cambridge to go to Harvard Medical School and still takes it to visit the city to see plays or visit the museums.She also told us some other interesting facts about here state,such as:
•There is a home in Rockport built entirely out of newspaper
•The fig newton is named after the town of Newton,MA
•The Basketball Hall of Fame is in her state
•Boston Common was the first public park in America
•Revere Beach was the first public beach in the U.S.
•Elias House of Boston invented the sweing machine
•Massachusetts mean "a big hill place"

Julie also sent us some amazing pictures.One of them was taken using a transmission electron microscope and is a picture of a very small alga,which is too small to see with your eyes,called Phaeopolykrikos.Another picture shows a picture she took using a compound microscope and in the picture you can see the coils that are stringing cells from a sea anemone.She says they are like tiny harpoons that catch tiny shrimp called brine shrimp.The solid white blobs are cell nuclei.The last pictures she took show her house this past winter.They didn't set any records,but it was very snowy with less melting between storms than normal.She says it's the most snow they have seen since moving to their house in 1999.Doesn't it look beautiful?(We are supposed to be getting 1-3 inches of snow Sunday)It's always nice to look at,but not fun to drive in. :) Thanks Julie for your amazing letter that included science....we love it!My oldest two daughters are really interested in what you do and will try to write to you once they get the chance.Julie has also enclosed some postcards,too,which you can see below with her letter.Thanks Julie for writing!Below are all the goodies she sent us:

Letter #50 from Massachusetts

Letter #50 comes from Barbara in Massachusetts.She didn't tell us about herself or her city so I don't have anything to share with you all except a picture of her letter,which simply hopes for our project to be successful.Thanks for your letter Barbara,I wish you could have shared something about yourself or your city with us.Here's a picture of her letter below: