(2) Wed Mar 02 2005 07:50 Plugging Along: Yesterday was a very hard day. My pump went bonkers Monday night, so I spent all night and half of yesterday unhooked. By the time I woke up in the morning I was shaky, and by the time they got me the replacement pump I was really not doing so well. I tried to eat extra for breakfast to make up for no IV--threw it up. Rachel and Anne and I went to La Mina for lunch. Chile relleno. Threw it up. Then we went to see Wedding Date, which was okay but probably not worth the money. I did all right just sitting there. We took Amanda with us.

By the end of the movie I was on the verge of collapse, so we went home and I went to bed. Anne went out and pulled weeds. A lot of weeds. What a sister!

Today is looking better. I still feel my metabolism is a little unbalanced, but we'll work on it. I had miso soup for breakfast this morning and now I'm drinking cranberry juice. I'll probably go home and take a nap as soon as I have finished here at work, but I do need a haircut! AND a trip to the Asia Market for more miso soup. And to pay bills.

(3) Wed Mar 02 2005 16:51 It Must Be Spring: Tuxedo Tom is abroad again. I think he must hibernate somewhere during the winter.

The most incredible daffodil has come up. It is huge, and it's ruffled like a country western square dance petticoat.

Thu Mar 03 2005 08:01 Passages: Whitney Biggar, the architect who designed the house we lived in out at Comanche Point, has died. Naturally, he designed many other buildings in the area also. He was a follower of the precepts of Frank Lloyd Wright, and I very much approved of the architecture of the Napa Road house. It was a floor plan that was very easy to live in (especially after I un-1950ized the kitchen), and lots of nice views of the prettiest homesite in the valley. May he rest in peace.

(3) Fri Mar 04 2005 14:54 Ping! Ping! Ping!: Today dawned clear and beautiful, and Gretel and I went to the nursery. I bought another flat of ground cover and some pony packs of flowers to plant as I pull weeds. Also I bought some tomatoes and some more red bell peppers. They didn't have any basil.

I had ordered some tomato plants from Parks, which was a mistake as they keep moving up the ship date. I thought if I got them mail order, I could get them going early before the plants appear at the nursery, and I would have a head start on fresh tomatoes. But no, they won't send them to me because they think it's not time to plant.

After that I went to the grocery store, and then ate lunch. I was planning to work in the yard after my nap, but now it's thunderstorming and HAIL! Gretel was certainly grateful to be let back in. I had to go out in it and move all the new plants to shelter. I slid the flats under the car, and I sure hope I don't forget they are there and back over them!

(7) Sat Mar 05 2005 17:38 Murder in the Garden: I am fighting snails! I crunch them underfoot whenever I find them. These are big healthy guys too, and I've never seen such fat slugs. While I was weeding, I uncovered a nest of beautiful little pearls like the one I found last year. I am going to suppose they are snail eggs. They remind me of the fish bait that used to come in a little jar--maybe it still does-- and you'd put two or three little eggs on the hook with a squitch. I dug up the nest and scattered the eggs. I guess I should have popped them all, like Rikki Tikki Tavi did when he found the cobra's nest.

I planted the tomatoes and peppers I bought yesterday as well as two six packs of flowers. I am giving a try to calendula, which my father used to grow, because they are sunny and cheerful. And I hope they reseed. Also trying stachys (lamb's ears), adorable gray-green fuzzy plant. Now I have four six packs and a flat of thyme left to plant, as well as my beans, which need to be put outside before they take over the kitchen. I may consider the ox to be in the mire in the morning.

I found I was good for a whole hour in the garden today, but now am beat. I've been having miso soup for breakfast like the Japanese do, and I think the extra protein is helping me get stronger.

Mon Mar 07 2005 17:04 When the Groundhog Casts His Shadow: It's really and truly spring! Beautiful weather. I saw a La Rosa man for the first time today, pushing his cart up Haley Street. I'm going to keep a dollar out handy for when I hear a dingbell in my neighborhood!

I planted beans and pulled weeds, and I fed the snails a gourmet last meal. I calculate that if I keep pulling weeds at the rate I did today and Saturday, they will still surpass me. However, I can't do any more, so I will do what I can.

The beets, radishes, and turnips have germinated.

(5) Tue Mar 08 2005 16:07 I'm Rich! I'm Rich!: The book buy-back man came today. He buys the new textbooks that publishers send hoping we will like them and adopt them for our classes. Some of the publishers are getting smart and sending annotated instructor's editions, which he won't buy, but there are plenty of textbooks that come in the mail. I got $50 for my little stack of books. That's a couple of weeks of groceries!

Thu Mar 10 2005 17:32 Workload: Yesterday I forgot to bring a whole set of in-class essays home to grade. Today, a writing assignment was due, so I have another set. It's a huge stack of papers waiting for me to grade them. I wish I had done half of it yesterday. I spent a couple of hours this morning, before I came home, going through the other oddments that were turned in from both classes.

One of the things we did today was a proofreading exercise for commas. I had assigned it as homework, but many students couldn't even get past the first sentence without messing up, so we had to do it together in class. It seems I can harp and harp on the gramattical rules, but they don't internalize them.

Vocabulary activity has slowed down considerably also. I don't know if it's because people have given up on it, or if they are just overwhelmed and trying to survive mid-semester.

I think I'm not the only one who is looking forward to Spring Break.

(4) Sat Mar 12 2005 09:05 Party Time: Yesterday was busy. Marlene is back from her mission, so Hillary had a bunch of ladies from work over to her new house for lunch to visit with her. Hillary's house is very nice, with a spacious view of the Seven Oaks golf course. I've always thought that if I had a yard like that, I wouldn't mind having people walking around it hitting balls with a little stick. I think golf is silly and a waste of time, but it does improve the landscape. I'm glad I don't have a huge house anymore.

In the evening, I went to see National Treasure at the dollar theater with Karen Nations and Sharon White. It was an ok movie, I guess, with some nice shots of the Capitol Mall. As a rule I dislike movies that have car chases, quick camera work, and sudden explosions. The ocular tracking involved is difficult for me; I guess it's because I'm from a generation that grew up without video games. I just can't see what the excitement is all about. Sometimes on the screen there were so many things going on that I could hardly look. Sensory overwhelmness.

(1) Sat Mar 12 2005 13:55 World Navel: Gretel and I drove over to the Asian market today. Whew! I'll never do that on a Saturday again! Everyone in the world was there. At least people from every country in Asia.. and me. (Gretel waited in the car, giving the evil eyeball to the guys on the pay phone next to our parking place.)

The Asian market has teeny narrow aisles and not enough shelf space for the products they carry, so everything is really crammed in there. As one walks down the aisle, it is difficult not to brush against the abundance and cause an avalanche. I caused an avalanche of MSG--oh, excuse me, aji-no-moto.

Everyone has to speak English because they don't know each other's native tongues. I was looking at what some of them were buying and wishing they would invite me over to sample it at dinner! Ah, America!

(1) Mon Mar 14 2005 17:28 Struggle: Today I am really dragging. It's been hard. I don't know what is wrong with me. I took Grandma and Rachel out to lunch for Rachel's birthday--could hardly eat, and I brought home a take out box. We went to Rosa's, an Italian restaurant on the east side of town. It was really good, but I couldn't wait to get home and crawl into bed.

I spent most of the afternoon in bed except for a visit from the home health nurse. I wish I could go back there now, but I have papers to grade, and tomorrow is the recycling pickup, so I need to get all that gathered up. Hopefully, to bed early, and tomorrow will be better.

(1) Tue Mar 15 2005 16:02 Spring Fever: Better today, but I froze the whole time at work. After my second class I went an made a cup of hot miso and it helped for a while--long enough for me to get my papers graded. But now I have a sniffle and a climbing fever. I took a nap and some Tyelenol.

Rachel accidentally took my take-out box from Rosa's, and I was so looking forward to it for lunch! I ate the last quarter pound of my frozen hamburger instead. And some vegetables. I really like the George Foreman grill because you can just whip something right up. I think I'll try it with some fish.

I really, really, really need to go to the grocery store here. I hope Leonard comes to visit me because I want to have corned beef and cabbage, and I can't possibly eat a whole batch. (Of course, Gretel would be glad to help!)

(1) Tue Mar 15 2005 17:55 Deuce: Deuce, the kitten born March 9 with two faces (one head) has died. Poor little thing.

(3) Wed Mar 16 2005 17:26 Pampered!: Hooray, my Pampered Chef stuff came today! It was a HUGE box, but mostly full of packing material. It also contained a batter bowl, which I do not remember ordering. Was it perhaps a gift with purchase?

I hope I like my new garlic press.

I am waiting for my backorder from Parks, and that's what I thought it was when the UPS man knocked at the door. I suppose it's okay if Parks doesn't come this week, because rain is predicted for Friday and the weekend. Just my chance to do yard work...

(2) Thu Mar 17 2005 16:48 Finally: finally, finally, this week is over. I made myself stay at work until every paper was graded and filed away so that I won't have to work over the break. (Except for getting ready for summer school). I just have to put the grades in the computer, which I am going to do right now. Poor Hillary had to take home two file folders of papers because she had a dentist appointment, so she had to leave early.

Tonight is enrichment night, and then in the morning Leonard is coming to see me!! I hope it doesn't rain too much this weekend so we can get some weeds pulled.

Fri Mar 18 2005 18:53 I Keep Thinking It's Saturday: Leonard got here a little before noon, and we went to Albertson's. Then we made sushi, saving some for Rachel. We went to Smart and Final; after that, it was time to take a nap. It's 7 p.m. and Leonard is still taking one! He must be exhausted from jury duty.

We didn't get any weeds pulled because it started raining as soon as it was time to pull weeds. Hopefully tomorrow....

(2) Sat Mar 19 2005 17:44 Rain--No Weed Pulling: Today I made the corned beef and cabbage, and we ate nearly all of the beef. I should have only used a half head of cabbage. Leonard made bread pudding, which is really good.

After lunch, Leonard and I went to the Five and Dime Antique Mall and Goodwill, and after that to Dewar's, where I had a lime sherbet cone and Leonard had a sundae made with peppermint ice cream and hot fudge.

This evening, we are going to see Rachel's improv show. Poor Gretel has been outside all day.

(1) Sun Mar 20 2005 18:59 Poor Me!: My Scrabble average has gone down. I'd like to blame it on a run of bad tiles, but I think I'm getting stupider. Funny thing about averages. It's easier for them to go down than to get them back up.

Mon Mar 21 2005 17:10 Spring Report: I pulled two garbage cans full of weeds today. I found a clump of chives I planted who knows how long ago. Some of the freesias I planted last fall and forgot about are abloom. The daffodils are almost at the end of their rope. The sage is getting ready to bloom. It has big purple buds, which I have never before seen in a culinary sage. Not that I'm a big expert.

Tue Mar 22 2005 09:36 Don't Try This At Home!: Just a tip: Don't try to make sushi with leftover rice. It doesn't work.

(1) Tue Mar 22 2005 11:45 Affirmations: I keep telling myself, "I love working in the garden. There is nothing else I'd rather do." iloveworkinginthegardeniloveworkinginthegardeniloveworkinginthegarden. It's easy to tell myself that now, during Bakersfield's time of paradise. It will be a little harder to convince me once we reach the months where we think we've died and gone to hell.

Today I pulled a whole lot of weeds, and I plan to go back out and pull more after naptime if it isn't raining. 80% chance. I talked a little with a neighbor who was out walking.

I could go the rest of my life and happily never see poa or Johnson grass again. Somehow the milkweeds aren't as bad as the grasses.

Tue Mar 22 2005 11:49 Quaking: I signed onto the earthquake site just one minute after a quake happend. It's in the Mammoth area, magnitude not yet determined. Instead of being represented on the map with a red square, it was marked with a white square containing a red X. I'd never seen that before. I wonder how long it will take them to turn the box red?

Update: Less than a minute. It's a 2.0. I suppose one could just sit and wait for the quakes to come it. Apparently it's almost instantaneous. People who didn't have a life could sit and watch. People could.

(1) Wed Mar 23 2005 17:19 I Give Up!: Today I gave up and moved the "paperyellow" bulbs from the kitchen to the front yard. The bulbs have been sitting there with an inch of green poking out since October, and I think that is too long. They had plenty of time to prove themselves. Now, they will either grow or they will die, and I don't care which. I'm just happy to get them off my countertop.

Next fall, back to paperwhites.

(3) Thu Mar 24 2005 17:44 Quiet Day in Lake Wobegone: I spent half the day on the phone with the Francise Tax Board and never did get to a real human or get my question answered. The deal is, I have an installment agreement for my 1996 Form 540. They sent a letter about their tax amnesty program, but the total was wrong because every month they take out money automatically from my bank account. (I HATE arrangements like that, but they insisted.) So I found the correct amnesty amount online, and I contacted the bank to put a permanent stop payment on the electronic transfer.

I spent another forever on the phone with the bank finding out what to do about this online check for $196 that I paid to the blood lab that they sent back because they said they had billed it wrong. I had to take the check to Kinkos and fax it to the main Union Bank office so they could put the money back in my account.

I pulled lots of weeds, and got my TPN delivery and a visit from Donna Collier, the public health nurse from the county. If I had had a brain, I would have seen if Donna wanted to go to lunch, but she had already eaten when she got here.

Neighbor Sue is trying to catch Tuxedo Tom and take him in to get snipped. I haven't seen him around since she announced she was going to do this.

(4) Fri Mar 25 2005 17:49 Sinuousity: Today I found an earthworm that had to be at least eight inches long. He was very beautiful as he moved through the soil. Actually, I think earthworms are he/she, aren't they? This is the biggest worm I have ever seen, save the ones we dissected in zoology class in college. Those were a different variety, I think.

I'm happy to be finding earthworms and bugs because when I started working in this garden the soil was absolutely sterile. I still have a very long way to go before I match Grandpa Call's garden, but I'm getting there.

Gretel and I went to White Forest Nursery today and bought a new eggplant (the snails ate the first one I planted) and a catnip plant. We shall see how long the catnip plant lasts.

I was very tempted to buy a preying mantis egg case for $5.99, but I resisted.

Sat Mar 26 2005 18:28 Sometimes It Pays to Be a Famous Name: It looks like all the quakes that are happening this evening are along the San Andreas. They've been small ones so far today, but one in Berkeley that might have caused Leonard and Sumana a tremble.

(1) Sun Mar 27 2005 18:10 Bzzzzzzz: Yesterday a bee flew into my bedroom through the open French door. It buzzed all around, but didn't figure out how to get back out. Finally, it dropped to the windowsill in exhaustion. I felt terrible because I couldn't think how I could get her out without her stinging me.

Now it occurs to me that I could have slid a piece of cardstock under her as she sat there huffing and puffing. Then I could have carried her out. I figured she must have died there on the windowsill, so I looked today, and there was no corpse. She must have found a way out somehow.

(2) Sun Mar 27 2005 18:23 One A Penny, Two A Penny: I made Hot Cross Buns today. Sort of. I don't like Hot Cross Buns because they have raisins and fruitcake fruit in them. I made my regular cinnamon roll dough, but I put the zest of one orange in. Then after the first rising, I rolled the dough into little balls, rolled each little ball in melted butter and then in cinnamon sugar. I slashed crosses in the top of the balls with a razor blade--a procedure more difficult than it sounds. After the buns cooled, I piped a white frosting--made of powdered sugar, butter, and the juice from the orange-- into the slashes.

This was my offering for Easter lunch at Pat's house. Rachel and I took Grandma, and all the uncles and Kyle and Eric came. Kyle took most of the leftover Cross Buns back to school with him to share with his roommates.

We had ham, chicken, potato salad, and spinach salad. The chicken was one of those "Mormon" recipes, using a can of whole berry cranberry sauce, a bottle of Kraft Russian dressing, and a packet of Lipton's onion soup. I was afraid my stomach wouldn't like it, so I just took a little piece. I'm still trying to recover.

For dessert, Pat had bought an Easter decorated carrot cake and a lemon meringue pie. Everyone but Pat had the pie, so she sent a huge piece of the cake home with us. (I didn't have any pie or cake, fearing to upset the fragile ecosystem of my intestinal tract.)

We watched the NCAA games and chatted, and there weren't any traditional Easterish festivities because no little kids. Rachel brought home some dyed eggs though.

Mon Mar 28 2005 20:14 Hole In My Head: I spent the afternoon at the dentist today getting a porcelain restoration of another tooth. I sure got tired of being there. I would have liked to go to bed early since my head is pounding and my jaw aches, but I had a huge pile of papers to grade. Lots of people used the break to catch up on their work, and they all turned it in today. Finally, I have made it, though.

Oops. I forgot to call the home health people and tell my nurse I was going to the dentist, so she came while I was gone. Rachel apologized to her for me and she is coming tomorrow.

Poor Rachel is sicky. I went to the store for remedies. There is a new flavor of Chloraseptic out--cool mint. It's an obnoxious blue color.

(1) Tue Mar 29 2005 10:21 Don't Rat On Me: We had a very big infestation of rats when we lived in the Hancock Park section of Los Angeles. Some of those guys were so huge, you couldn't believe they would fit through a little crack in the foundation, but they did! The county rat guy came out and almost wept in despair at the sight of a garage full of food storage wheat.

Our downstairs bathroom had an old clawfoot tub that was walled in, with a little access door to the plumbing on one end, right by the toilet. That was one of the places we put the poison because the rats climb in up the plumbing pipes.

One day my husband was sitting on the toilet and he thought he would check the poison. Just as he opened the little hatch, he thought, "What if the rat is sitting there staring at me?" He went ahead and opened it and there was the rat sitting there staring at him.

I heard the loudest scream, so I came running. There was my husband, a big fully grown man, sitting on the pot with his pants around his ankles, screaming to beat the band, and the poor rat sitting there with a huge question mark expression all over his face...

I may never get over this.

Tue Mar 29 2005 17:56 My Vocabulary Test Results:

English Genius You scored 100% Beginner, 100% Intermediate, 93% Advanced, and 76% Expert!

You did so extremely well, even I can't find a word to describe your excellence! You have the uncommon intelligence necessary to understand things that most people don't. You have an extensive vocabulary, and you're not afraid to use it properly! Way to go! Thank you so much for taking my test. I hope you enjoyed it! For the complete Answer Key, visit my blog: http://shortredhead78.blogspot.com/.

My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 63% on Beginner You scored higher than 72% on Intermediate You scored higher than 45% on Advanced You scored higher than 72% on Expert

Link: The Commonly Confused Words Test written by shortredhead78 on Ok Cupid

Wed Mar 30 2005 16:24 Whitney Research: A relative in the Whitney Research Group extracted information from a book of the history of Watertown, Massachusetts. I'm saving it here so I can find it later. Many of the other (non-Whitney) people in this extract are relatives too.

Roger Thompson. Divided we stand. Watertown, Massachusetts, 1630-1680. Amherst, MA: Univ. of Massachusetts Press. 2001 There is some general information that seems relevant (mostly economic). I have also quoted every passage that refers to a Whitney, and the same for footnotes. In a couple of cases the passage does not mention a Whitney, but the footnote cites one as an example of the topic being discussed in the main passage. Watertown was first settled late summer of 1630. They were mostly folk from North Essex and South Suffolk around the Stour River valley in East Angllia, led by Sir Richard Saltonstall. These settlers were among the thirteen to twenty thousand people who migrated to New Eng-land during the 1630s. (11, 21). Three surges of immigration brought people to Watertown: one in 1630, a second from 1634 to 1636 (when John & Elinor immigrated), and a third and final wavelet in 1637. Some also came from Norfolk, and a few from London. Many of these East Anglians had been weavers, which may explain why John Whitney (a member of the Merchant Tailors Guild in London) threw in his lot with them (22). Watertown began with a grant of 23,456 acres of land. Beginning in 1630 each household re-ceived a "homestall" where they built their first house and shelters for animals as well as plant-ing their first crops. "These grants were located at the far eastern end of the town's domain, to the east, north, and south of Mount Auburn, near the Newtown line." This is where the first meetinghouse was built. "Later arrivals" (like John Whitney) "received homestalls to the west of this area." By the early 1640s the average homestall was 12 acres, although this varied accord-ing to the size of family, amount of livestock, and social standing (51). In July 1636 4,595 acres of livestock pastureland was distributed in four huge divisions, known as the "Great Dividends" in the northern part of the town grant. Each of the four "squadrons" was one-half mile wide, with 30 lots in each. "On 28 February 1637 the freemen divided out po-tential plowlands--often called uplands to distinguish them from low-lying marsh or meadow--on Beaverbrook Plain (divided by the brook into Hither and Further Plains and situated north of the riverbank and southwest of the town center) to all '106 townsmen then inhabiting.' A few of the leaders received sizable lots, but 86 of the 106 recipients got single figure grants, some as little as one acre. ... In 1637 Beaver Brook marked the western limits of any town settlement or cultivation" (53). It was the town's expectation that this plowland would be cultivated in com-mon, and that during the summer months livestock would be herded together under town-appointed herdsmen and shepherds (56). Four months later, in June 1637, "the 'Remote or West Pine Meadows' on land beyond Beaver-brook Plain granted 'by the freemen to 113 townsmen then inhabiting' were specifically linked to mouths, human and bovine. Most recipients again got single-figure acreages of these parcels of natural meadowland dotted among the heavily wooded western section of the town domain. Many householders got the same allotment of fodder land as for plowland (53). "The fourth allotment, on 9 April 1638, saw forty proprietors granted relatively small lots, typi-cally six acres, on land called the Town Plot, a reserved area of 238 acres northeast of the town mill and two and a half miles west of the meetinghouse. The object was that forty families should 'build and dwell upon their lots at the town plot, and not to alienate them by selling or exchanging them to any foreigner, but [only] to the freemen of the congregation; it being our in-tent to sit down there close together,and therefore, these lots were granted to those __freemen__ that inhabited most remote from the meetinghouse, and dwell most scattered.'" (53). Finally in 1642 all the townsmen that had not formerly received farms (93 are named) each re-ceived 13 acres of upland to every head of persons and cattle. At this point some 20,206 acres of the town's total grant had been lotted out. Only 3,250 acres remained town land (54). Though desire for land ownership may have motivated some of this largesse, the principal con-cern seems to have been that unless the town allocated the land, it could be appropriated by neighboring settlements. Distributing the land seems to have been a way to secure the rights of the town and its inhabitants. It was also a way to encourage those already living there to remain in the town, rather than moving on in search of better prospects elsewhere. At the same time, with most of the land having been distributed, it discouraged outsiders from moving into the community. Distribution was also a way of ensuring individual claim to the land before its value increased so much that the elder generation might be unable to provide for their offspring. Al-though less than 1800 acres were being farmed in 1651 (about 10 acres per household), this massive distribution of land "was a prudential 'laying up for posterity'. Nonetheless, perceived in-justices in the allocation of land within Watertown lead to disputes and court actions that lasted until 1669 (56-57, 62-63). "In June 1641, as measures were announced to encourage servants to sin hemp for twine-, rope-, and sack-making, a groujp of Watertown men were rewared with over L4 between them for weaving 83 yards of cloth. A further, overdue bounty was piad in October 1643. Two of these beneficiaries were master weavers: Martin Underwood and Nicholas Busby. The others had no recorded weaving experience21" (95) f.n. 21. "Busby, a worsted weaver On Underwood, a weaving-clothier, with north Suffolk linen and northeast Essex textile connections, see (sources cited)). Others: Miles Nudd, John Whitney, Henry Kemball (a wheelwright), and John Witheridge or Wetherall, who figures in the Watertown records as a champion fox trapper" (228). Occasional assistance from the community was needed "by the Thomas Whitneys in 1664 and 1678-79, when the family was struck down by smallpox. The town spent L1.10.0 on William Goddard for attending Thomas Whitneyu, fifteen shillings on a rig, nine on a bedstead and cider, four on firewood and milk. In all L5.4.5 was expended. All seem to have survived14" (110). f.n. 14. "Whitney, in serious difficulties in 1664, had been appointed scarer of dogs out of the meetinghouse at thirty shillings per year" (233). "If major breadwinners were going to be away for any length of time, the townsmen wanted guarantees that their families would be provided for. When Daniel Metup and Jonathan Whitney proposed to go to Cape Fear, the seven men insisted that enough assets be lodged with neighbors to keep their dependents from want. They got court sanction for this requirement and, killing two birds with one stone, arranged for a cow to be left with the ill-nourished Beeches" (113). "The selectmen were often the richer members of the community, but by no means always. There was nonetheless a relatively small gap between the rich and the poor, and misfortune lurked everywhere. Even among brothers, like the Whitney boys, there could be considerable variations of wealth. John was comfortably well off; Thomas was near the breadline" (114). "The settlement of Groton in the 1660s and 1670s saw the new generation moving west in a con-certed group. In this new 'company.' along with siblings or newly married neighbors, like min-ister's daughter Abigail (Sherman) Willard, went paupers, troublemakers, orphans, and family misfits. Twenty-eight out of the original fifty-one grantees of land there had Watertown connec-tions"12 (118). f.n. 12. "Siblings: Morses, Lawrences, and Holdens; paupers: Sawtel, Sanders,Onge, and Price. Newly married: Barrons, Fiskes, Clarkes, Pearces, Tarbells, Whitneys, and Crisps; troublemakers: Benjamen Allen and James Knapp" (236). "Sex fascinated many of these adolescents. Weddings were fraught with sexual excitement. On 23 May 1674 teenagers Moses Whitney and Jonathan Smith 'about noon, left work to see a wed-ding that we heard was to pass that way which was between William Shattuck and Goodman Randall's daughter.' The bride's brother was later sued 'for making and publishing an obscene and scurrilous writing or libel tending to the corruption of youth and defamation of several per-sons therein named as particularly Phillip and Elizabeth Shattuck and others.' The (lost) libel was probably full of sexual innuendo and bawdy suggestions. This was a deprived, but not an innocent, age" (123). Throughout the 17th century rising affluence and population lead to construction of larger houses and "conspicuous consumption." both of which are reflected in the distribution of assets pre-scribed in individual wills (130-131). f.n. 27. Silver: Pewter: John Whitney Mx PR 4:99 Glass or china: John Whitney Mx PR 4:99 Whitney (chest), Mx PR 4:99 (Ms Pr: Middlesex Probate Registers, vols. 1-5, MA: vols. 106 on microfilm at Middle-sex Probate Registry, East Cambridge) "Cross-generational relations were not always edgy and antagonistic. As aged parents sank into dependence'land-for-care' agreements were common. Though some arrangements were lovingothers built in safeguards implying a certain distrust.43" f.n. 43. E.g. Whitney: Mx Deeds, 3:451-52, 4:344, 9 March 1670 (Mx Deeds: Middlesex Registry of Deeds,vols. 1-7, County Courthouse, East Cambridge) King Phillip's War (1675-76) stirred up colonial prejudices against the Indians and fueled their paranoia about Indian "unreliability, laziness, treachery, and general savagery." Numerous Wa-tertown men were called to do battle. By December 1675 20 of them had been drafted (150-152).38 f.n. 38: Drafted: Michael Fleg, William's brother; John and Moses Whitney, a couple of the town's ne'er-do-wells; plus (a list of the others) (249) In its early days Watertown looked like it would become an important town. But by the 1650s it had been overshadowed by Boston, Cambridge, Charlestown and other settlements. By the 1670s it had become a quiet parochial backwater. The first 50 years are also marked by chronic discord and conflict-over religion, over land, over taxes. There were disputes over who should be recognized as a member of the community. "The town leadership was three times unceremo-niously dumped by irate townsmen." "There wee also regular spats between neighbors, often over stock and fences, but also involving personal rivalries and envies, long-nursed grievances, dark suspicions, generational jealousies, and family feuds. Although this drove some people out, "One of the most striking characteristics of Watertown in its first fifty years-indeed of its first two hundred and fifty years-was its residential stability. Individual family members might leave, but family names persisted (169-174). f.n. 14. "The old burial ground commemorates these pesistent descendants: forty-one original families, whose subsequent generations are buried in the Arlington Street Ceme-tery. The eighteenth-century records of Watertown's 'Western Precinct,' which became Waltham in 1738, are dominated by the names of founding families of Watertown. In the 1790 Census forty-three family names in Watertown perpetuate those of our period and forty-four from Waltham. Heads of Families at the First U.S. Census. 1790 (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing, 1992), 156, 157. In the 1850 Watertown map based on the sur-vey by S. Dwight Eaton and Elbridge Whitney, thirty-one families who had settled in Watertown by 1650 still held land in the town. List of Arlington Street Cemetery (old burial ground) gravestones kindly supplied by the Watertown Public Works Department; between them, the Coolidge and Stone families have eighty-one headstones there. Records of the Western Precinct of Watertown, 1720-1738 (Waltham: Aldermanic Board, 1913) contains thirty familynames from the first generation of Watertown settlers. MS map in the archives of Watertown Public Library; my thanks to Ann Butler and Forrest Mack" (253). APPENDIX B. Lists of Residents List 1: Long-Term, First Generation Criteria forInclusion: Arrival by 1640; residence for seven-year minimum, usually grantee of town land (proprietor), adult on arrival, usuallymale head of household. 96 men, including John WHITNEY List 2: Short-Term, First Generation Criteria: Unless they died, five or six years of residence, usually continuous. 43 men, no Whitneys List 3: "Perchers," First Generation Criteria: Under five years, mostly 163s arrivals, hold land or connected in other documentary evidence. 64 men, no Whitneys List 4: Latecomers, First Generation Criteria: Arrival in Watertown after 1640, born before 1620, resident for decade or more. 32 men, no Whitneys List 5: Incomers, Second Generation Criteria: Born after 1620, arrived from elsewhere in Watertown after 1640. 25 men, no Whitneys List 6: Long-Term, Second Generation Criteria: Born between 1620 and 1650, lived ten adult years in Watertown before 1680 (except for early death), offspring of first or occasionally of second generation resident. 100 men, including " John, Jonathan, Richard, and Thomas WHITNEY" Karl Schwerin

(3) Thu Mar 31 2005 17:28 Ahhhh!: The weekend is coming. I need to grade placement essays tomorrow morning and then I can fall apart. That is, if I grade all my papers tonight and get it over with.

Rachel is home, all sick, and my nose won't quit running.

I planted everything that needs planting except the flat of thyme, so that's on the agenda for this weekend. Also, my car is going in for servicing so it can be ready to go to .... UTAH!

For my contribution to the snack table during placement grading I'm going to spread rye bread with dilled cream cheese, then put smoked salmon on top. Then garnish with a cucumber slice and a cherry tomato slice. I bought some "party" toothpicks in case the whole thing doesn't stay stacked up. They are dyed all different colors. I would have bought the plain ones, but these were ten cents cheaper than the round ones--go figure. The cheapest toothpicks were the flat kind, but I don't like those. I don't know why. I just have an aversion to them, which is silly, because they will test a cake just as well as a round toothpick.

I hope the dyes on the party toothpicks don't kill us.