Patriots' Day 2013

We love Boston.  There is something about living here (even for just a short amount of time) that makes you feel like you are a part of history... dating back to the 1600's.  One of the many things that we love about Boston is Patriots' Day.  And this was certainly a Patriots' Day to be remembered.

While the battles at Lexington and Concord actually occurred on April 19th, the observed state holiday is always on the 3rd Monday in April.  Scott gets off work and there are so many fun family activities to do on the day.  We had gone to the marathon last year, and decided that it would be fun to take part in some of the historical events this year.  We went to the Concord reenactments, and it was a lot of fun.  We got there a little late and with road closures etc, we missed the actual "shot" heard round the world.  But we got there in time for the parade where minutemen and royals from the surrounding towns marched over the bridge.  They had a nice little commemoration program where they read speeches, played God Save the Queen and The Star Spangled Banner.

Some of the minutemen

The boys

Some gunshots at the bridge.

Alan wasn't really a fan of the gunshots or cannon fire.  He walked around all morning like this.  Occasionally unplugging his ears to throw some sticks in the river. :)

Us with the bridge in the background

After the events that morning, we came home and spent a nice afternoon doing yard work.  We did some winter (and a little left over fall) clean up.  Our new leaf blower worked great! :) 

We made some good progress on the fence.  A little more work to do and hopefully it will stay standing!

Then we had our first BBQ of the season!

Complete with s'mores!

They were delicious. :)

As we were cleaning up to come inside, Scott went to talk to our neighbor who said he had been watching the news for the last three hours.  We had left our phones inside and had no idea about the bombings that had taken place at the marathon.  Scott came in and said, "We need to check our phones."  Sure enough, we had a million missed calls and text messages with people checking to see if we were ok.  I believe we especially gave our moms a good scare.  So sorry again moms!  We of course were fine, and were devastated to learn of the terrible events of that day.  It was quite the contrast of the feelings that we had celebrated that morning and enjoyed the rest of the day.  Patriots' Day is one of my absolute favorite things about Boston, and the thought of such horror taking place on that day was so so sad.  It really rocked the area, and the aftermath loomed over the news and conversations for the rest of the week.

On Thursday night before we went to bed, Scott got an alert from MIT notifying the community of gunshots and warning everyone to stay inside.  We weren't sure if this was related to the marathon bombings yet, but we went to bed somewhat unsettled and I had dreams of police chases.  We woke up the next morning, and found out about the police chase and the Watertown lock down. Watertown was in our old ward, and we have many friends that live there.  Two families that we know live very very close to the police perimeter.  It was crazy to see via facebook their reports of the gunshots, helicopters, and to see the pictures that people were tweeting of police on their sheds. Waltham, where we used to live, was also under lock down.  We felt lucky to have moved a little farther away from the city and instead of finding police and criminals, finding wild turkeys in our yard that morning...

This pic was actually taken a few days earlier, but there were turkeys again that morning.

Even though we were not near the action, it was a very tense environment.  I was glued to the news that morning, and was discouraged as the day went on that it seemed like the suspect had possibly escaped.  It was such a relief that night when they actually had him in custody.  Such an incredible victorious feeling.  And to see all of the people lining the streets in Watertown cheering and honoring all of those people who worked so well to help bring safety to the community again.

I thought it was fitting that the arrest occurred on the actual Patriot's Day. April 19th.  I thought it fitting to see normal people still leaving their families and literally still putting their lives on the line to protect our safety and our country.  The world is a very different place.  There were very different shots heard round the world immediately very early yesterday morning.  And there were no midnight riders needed to sound the news.  But after the arrests people lining the streets broke out into God Bless America and The Star Spangled Banner.  Despite some tragic and unpatriotic acts, there sure were a lot of patriots in Boston this Patriots' Day.  And it is one that, with very mixed emotions, will always be remembered.