Geographist

In April of 1912, a new baseball stadium was introduced to the city of Boston that would one day become one of the most recognizable venues in sports history: Fenway Park.  The new home of the Red Sox had been constructed hastily on land that had previously been along the swampy edge of the Charles River, and witnessed an incredible season of baseball that culminated with a championship.  Today, well over 100 years later, we'll take a brief look at the oldest remaining professional baseball stadium in existence that has become an historical icon for the city.   Change was in the air for the Boston Red Sox in 1911.  The owners of the team, father-son tandem Charles and John Taylor, had opted not to renew the lease at the stadium they had called home for a decade, opting instead to purchase land farther north in an area along Back Bay known as "The Fens".  Early in the 19th century, Beacon Hill and other high points around the city had been cut down and used to fill in loca

Big news!  Thanks to each one of you readers, this blog has reached more than 20,000 views!  Thank you so much, it's amazing and humbling to think of that many sets of eyes browsing the various topics we've been through over the life of the site.  Now for what's next!  I'll be wrapping up my overview of Boston soon, and have given some thought to what would be both fun and useful going forward.  The first topic on Geographist.com was "Our Story With God", which was the starting point of a book of the same name I published last year (available on platforms such as  Amazon ,  Barnes & Noble , and  Google ).  That effort, while hopefully useful and interesting to a broad audience, was focused primarily on the 5th grade level that my wife and I teach at our church.  I would like to return to those roots in my next project by taking several decades' worth of studying success principles and working to apply it towards younger minds.  As with "Our Story&

After traveling back to Texas from Yellowstone the girls lost their enthusiasm for providing daily overviews of the trip.  Along the way, however, we saw a few more sites (such as Mount Rushmore and Chimney Rock) and had one more big activity (whitewater rafting in Colorado along the Arkansas River).  Here are some final thoughts from each of the girls on what they enjoyed most, as well as what they hope to remember.   Whirly's Recap - My favorite memory was when we rode horses.  It's because I had a nice one. His name was Buck, and not because he bucks us off.  It's because he has a Buck skin. Girly's Recap:  My favorite memory was white water rafting in Colorado, while on our way back home. Although this wasn't my favorite trip, we did a lot of new things and did things not everyone can say they have done. Curly's Recap My favorite memory was white water rafting.  It was very intense.  I got wet.  My most embarrassing thing was sliding in the tree.  This was a

Our ninth day of the trip was spent entirely in Cody, WY.  And it was almost entirely focused on the man who gave the town its name, William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody.  Let's see what stood out most to the girls.  Whirly Day 9 - We rode horses and my horse's name was Buck.  We saw the museum all day.  We saw a red tail hawk and a turkey vulture so yeah that was day 9. Curly's Day 9- We went to a museum and saw some Indian stuff. We also saw a showcase for raptor birds like a turkey vulture and a red tail hawk then we went on a horse trail. My horse was named Scrappy and he was stubborn. We went back to the museum and looked at animals. The museum was about to close, but we had time to look at firearms and guns it was cool. Then we drove back to the RV park. Girly's Day 9: This was the day we went to the Buffalo Bill museum and rode some horses. After being in Yellowstone for a couple days straight, it was time to do something different for a change. So instead of

We've passed the one-week mark of this trip and are still enjoying Yellowstone.  This was the day we explored most of the park, venturing to both the NE & NW entrances.  I have a feeling I know what the girls remembered best, but let's hear it from them.  Girly's Day 8:  This day we were in Yellowstone almost the whole day. We saw buffalo and some birds. This is when we saw the most buffalo. Like herds and herds of them. Nothing really else happened. We just stayed in Yellowstone almost the whole day, and then we had German food for dinner. We arrived late to our RV park, and went to sleep for the night. Whirly's Day 8 - We went to Yellowstone we saw some bison we saw deer and yeah that was day 8. Curly's Day 8 We went to Yellowstone again and saw a lot of animals we spent the most time in Yellowstone and saw the most buffalo. So yeah that was day eight.

Our first day in Yellowstone!  We entered the west side, then drove across to the west side and into Cody, WY.  There were plenty of amazing things to see, from scenery to animals to geologic features.  Let's see what stuck in the minds of the girls.  Curly's Day 7 We woke up and did laundry in a laundromat, fun right? We had gas station food. Then we went to Yellowstone and saw the geysers. We also got souvenirs - I got a bracelet. We went to Old Faithful, but it was going to blast in an hour so we left. We went to a town called Cody and picked up a rental car.  Girly's Day 7: This day we woke up in Idaho, and the day was already busy. We had to do laundry, so to the laundromat we went. We then went to a nearby gas station, and had some pop tarts, powdered donuts, etc. After that, we were on our way to Yellowstone. We were on the hunt for two main things: buffalo and Old Faithful. We found Old Faithful, but sadly it started raining and we weren't able to see it blow. W

Our sixth day was another long travel day.  We started out in Utah and journeyed through part of Wyoming before stopping in Idaho for the night, near the western entrance to Yellowstone National Park.  Here are the highlights, as remembered by the girls!  Girly's Day 6: This day was a day full of driving. We started in Utah, and ended the day in Idaho. I had never been to Utah, Wyoming, or Idaho, so this was a new thing for me. For dinner, we stopped at this little restaurant in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. It was cute and it had delicious food. While waiting to get into the restaurant, we walked around and stumbled across a mock gun fight. After eating, we went through the Grand Tetons in the dark, and ended the night in Idaho.  Whirly Day 6 - We went to a restaurant that had a long wait.  So we went to a store and I bought  popcorn.  One of my sisters bought bracelet and then we ate so yeah that was day 6. Curly Day 6 We went to Utah and we found Jackson Hole. We walked around until we

Today we found ourselves in a state that none of us had visited before - Utah.  We started in Moab and wound up in Mount Pleasant (south of Provo).  Plenty of sites to see, and several miles to walk.  Here's the recap!  Curly's Day 5 So, we woke up really early so we could go see arches in Utah.  We walked about three miles and we found some arches with, oddly enough, Wi-Fi. We even saw someone's water bottle roll of a cliff , but it wasn't deep. Later we saw someone else getting it out.  We took a picture under an arch.  Later we found a restaurant with scones and I hadn't tried one until then. So yeah that was day five. Whirly's Day 5: We went to a nice restaurant and saw arches.  Someone's water bottle rolled off the edge. and someone did a handstand under a arch.  And the girls boyfriend got her water bottle back and we all clapped when he got back up.  We took a picture under the arch. So that was day five.

Back on the road!  Today we crossed a pair of state lines on our way from Albuquerque, NM to Moab, UT (with a pit stop in Durango, CO).  Here's the review!  Whirly's Day 4 - We went down to a river and one of my sisters flew into a tree and my other sister spilled her coffee on my sister who flew into the tree.  I only slid on my butt.  My dad and my dog where first and it was my dad's fault that we all got hurt and spilled on. Girly's Day 4: This day was when we drove to Colorado. We went through a little town, and enjoyed coffee from a small, local coffee shop. While going back to the RV, we headed to the river. But as Curly was climbing down the hill, she flew into a tree and got stuck. When I was going down, I lost balance, and started to run down the hill. I ran straight into Curly, spilling my coffee on both her and I, and almost pushed both of us into the water. It was a hectic day, to say the least.  Curly's Day 4 Well, we were in Colorado and we found a sma

A day of staying put - we spent a second night in the Albuquerque area and saw the sights of northern New Mexico.  Let's see what the girls remember best!  Girly Day 3: This was the day we were in Santa Fe, New Mexico. We woke up, and saw two hot air balloons while outside. We went to the little, old town, walked around, and bought a few Christmas ornaments. While on the way back to the RV park, we ended up in an area that was highly secured. Dad got searched. The RV got searched for flammable items and weapons. We were not allowed to take any pictures or videos, as it was where atomic items were made and tested. We eventually made it back to our RV park, and watched a movie while waiting to get tired. Curly Day 3 So when we woke up we saw two hot air balloons.We also walked into a town.  There were alot of Indian based stuff. We also went into a Christmas shop and got some ornaments. Later we saw a New Mexican history museum. We also saw some Indian dwellings.  Also we saw a deer.

Day 2 took us from Amarillo to Albuquerque.  Here's what the girls remembered!  Whirly Day 2 - I got to spray paint a car and hiked a 3 mile trail.  It was really far and after I got free water and my dad drove us all the way to New Mexico. Curly Day 2 We drove to the edge of Texas and we hiked about one mile in the Palo Duro Canyon.  We saw lizards and butterflies while we hiked then we went to Cadillac Ranch.  While we were there we got to spray paint a car it was very cool. Girly Day 2: We woke up pretty early today, so we could go hike at Palo Duro Canyon in Amarillo, TX. After a pretty decently long hike, we packed up in the RV once again, and headed to New Mexico. Along the way, we took a pit stop at Cadillac Ranch, which is a place with Cadillacs in the ground, covered in spray paint. We placed our mark on a couple of the cars, and left for New Mexico. We got to our new RV park and settled there for the next two nights.

For our family RV trip, I thought it might be fun to let the rest of the family have their say.  All or some of them will share what they thought about each day's adventure.  So here goes - enjoy!  Our first day was from our home to Amarillo, TX. Curly's Day 1 First day in the RV we mostly drove around  to get to our RV park it was cool, but the out side not so it was very hot and we couldn't use the air conditioning all the time and that is really all so yeah that was day one. Girly's Day 1: I was woken up at about 6:30, early Saturday morning. We quickly as we could, packed up the RV and began our trip. The beginning started off with some troubles, however. Not even a full minutes into the trip, we took a sharp turn, and a glass bottle of mayhaw jelly flew out of a top cabinet and almost landed strait on my head. It was a long day, but we slowly but surely made it to Amarillo, which is where we parked our RV and stayed the night.  Whirly's Day 1 - When I was up I

On July 2, 1999, Boston's Logan Airport sustained a lightning strike that temporarily disrupted radar and communication ability.  At least that was the story that I was told in Pittsburgh, PA as my flight to Massachusetts was canceled.  My brother and I were on a trip from Houston, TX to join a three-week European concert tour consisting of approximately 150 high school musicians from across America.  After being forced to stay in Pennsylvania for an unplanned night, we made contact with five other kids and one adult who were also stranded on our way to the same location, and our so-called "Pittsburgh Seven" finally made it to Logan Airport.  That was my very first experience with the subject this week's post. In 1923, less than two decades after the Wright brothers made their historic flight at Kitty Hawk, the first airplane arrived at a new landing strip in the middle of what used to be Boston Harbor.  As we discovered very early in our study of Boston, the city has

One of the most recognizable landmarks in Boston that does not fall along any of the city's historical trails is Fort Independence, which is known as The Castle.  The earliest fortification to stand on what is today Castle Island, just to the southeast of the city, was constructed in 1634 to provide a point of defense for the city against any attacks by sea.  The original earthworks were soon bolstered by a wooden structure, due in part to concern over a French warship which had approached the city, and that fort was enhanced or replaced multiple times during the following decades.  By the dawn of the 18th century a fifth version of the fort was constructed, which was named "Castle William" in honor of the English monarch who had taken the throne during the so-called Glorious Revolution of 1688. Castle Island was an important location in the time leading up to the American Revolution, with its garrison serving as a secure shelter for British loyalists while unrest swept t

Welcome back to the Cradle of American Liberty!  If this is your first time seeing a post about Boston, I would encourage you to go back and look at some of the other information I've written about the historic city.  It seemed important to go back and finish looking into a few of the important sites before taking the blog in a new direction, and with that in mind I'd like to complete our review of Boston's Black Heritage Trail with the final site, the African Meeting House. As the 19th century began the legal freedom that many black residents of Boston enjoyed did not guarantee them equal rights.  Although they were permitted to attend the same churches as white Christians, they were not given membership voting rights or permitted to sit on first-floor pews.  A preacher named Thomas Paul had led a group that worshipped and Faneuil Hall, and by 1805 they organized as the First African Baptist Church.  By the end of the following year, land had been purchased and a building

The school year has drawn to a close, and with it my official time as a homeschool dad is ending.  Let's take a look at how the final week went down. Sunday - When you live on the opposite side of a major city from your church, sometimes you're not inclined to travel back and forth multiple times in a day.  We didn't have much of a choice this time, however, as our activities at church required us to spend the majority of the day on campus.  After spending the morning having the usual service and Bible study, we stuck around for lunch and a Nerf war with our 5th graders, including Curly.  The rain that soaked town all week forced us inside, but these soon-to-be middle school kids didn't let that dampen their enthusiasm as they took over the hallways of the west tower.  Girly was supposed to have training in the evening to prepare her for the summer's Vacation Bible School, but the children's resident did us a huge favor and took the time to work with her individ

We're racing ahead towards the school year finish line!  For some reason I didn't take many pictures of anything this week, so it's going to be a fairly text-heavy post this week.  Sunday - Mother's Day at church is always nice, and I was fortunate enough to have mine and my children's with me.  We waited too long to nail down details, unfortunately, so we were stuck going to a restaurant without a reservation.  I was actually glad to see the wait, however, because I've been told this is one of two days where food service will make or break their years (think of it like a culinary Black Friday).  So many good eateries have gone away during the past year.  No evening church activities meant we were free to wrap up our day without the extra trip across town, which I'm sure the car would have appreciated if it had thoughts or feelings about such things.  Monday - Each of the girls has been gradually wrapping up some of their school subjects for 2020-21.  This w

In the midst of several pages being turned this week we saw the answers to many prayers, and for each one of them I'm exceedingly thankful!  Sunday - It was a nice day to have my mom alongside us on the pew for church, although she didn't stick around long enough afterwards to join us for lunch.  After the service she made her way over to the medical center to be with my dad while we all went to Bible study.  The afternoon only offered a brief amount of time for rest, however, as we had to return for a big children's choir presentation alongside our church orchestra.  The kids hadn't sung for us since Thanksgiving 2019, so it was a pretty special event.  All of my girls were on stage, with Curly taking her last turn in elementary before graduating up to the youth choir, Whirly singing with her current group one more time, and both Mrs. Geographist and Girly helping teach some of the younger grades.  It was a great show, and after all was said and done we also found out

I don't think I ever thank each of you enough for taking the time to read through what I write.  Whether it's the Biblical, historical, or general day-to-day topics, I always try to put interesting content on the website so it's gratifying to see the number of hits on the site continue to rise.  April broke my own personal monthly record, and I'm hopeful that May can maintain that heat.  If you haven't checked out the devotional I wrote on this blog, Our Story With God (which is now published and available at many retail outlets), or my series on the history of Boston, I would welcome you to browse around those pages as well.  Back to the dad diary, however...the end-of-year activities are heating up, and for several of these they represent the first events of their kind in a very long time.  Let's make our way through the week together! Sunday - Our 5th grade classroom got a makeover this week, as we are once again allowed to have large group time before breaki

Early on in the quarantine, we started hearing about the phrase "new normal" and certain things have definitely changed.  Some of them will be hard habits to break by the time the next school year rolls around and I finally return to my office.  But either way, we're going to try to enjoy each step along the journey! Sunday - The pews continue to get filled up more each week at church, and now there are no more ropes closing off every second row.  I'm glad to see more folks getting comfortable as they start getting back to being around others.  After church we snagged some Mongolian BBQ for lunch on the way home.  Girly had youth choir in the evening, so Curly and I had an hour to kill before Bible Drill began - Daddy/daughter date night at the Greek restaurant!  Once the kids finished up their final practice before the upcoming state competition, we headed back home where my mom was arriving to spend a few nights.  She opted to stay in our guest room for a little whi

Another week is in the books, and this one made it feel like we're starting to wind down the school year activities as the kids start preparing for their final events.  Oh, and we had lots of birthdays! Sunday - One week after Easter Sunday, and while the crowd was a bit smaller than on the "big day" it's quite obvious that more and more folks are feeling comfortable coming around.  After grabbing Italian food for lunch we all decided it was a perfect time for a gelato dessert.  During the evening, Curly participated in the Association level of Bible Drill, which was still held on our church campus.  I was really proud of all the kids that competed, and all of them scored well enough to advance on to the State level in a few weeks.  To celebrate, we all headed outside for some ice cream - hooray for two frozen dairy desserts in a single day!        Monday - It was back to school for everyone except Girly, who hadn't been feeling quite up to par.  She spent the bet

I find it hard to believe that we've been at this for 35 weeks already, but here we are with just six weeks of school left.  There are no more holidays, however, so from here on out it's a push all the way to the finish line.  Whether it turns into a race or a grind remains to be seen! Sunday - What an amazing Resurrection Day at church!  For the first time in over a year, our worship service felt like the congregation we used to know every week.  We're definitely thankful for all the progress that has been made in order to bring the church back together in the building.  Even our 5th grade Bible study was closer to normal, with the kids being able to move around our room more freely during activities.  After church we headed up to my in-laws' house for a family lunch, after which we ran around watching the kids collect all of those brightly-colored, candy-filled eggs.   Monday - The adults were back to work, but none of the kids were back in school.  So while Mrs. Geog