I am a sucker for patriotic cornball stuff.  I love the 4th of July Parade.  I always get misty at the singing of the Star Spangled Banner.  And politics are just fascinating.

My dad passed along his love for politics to me.  I can still remember seeing George Bush Sr. up close and personal at Central Middle School's gym.  I also remember seeing both Bill Clinton and Bob Dole in the same day during the 1994 campaign.

But moving to Massachusetts has meant that the political fire in me has almost gone out.  There have not been any competitive races in decades--the entire state is (or was) Democratic.  I am more Democratic than anything else (as there has yet to be a Rawlsian or Aristotlean candidate for office), but even with a state full of similarly minded people, I was sad.  There was no politics to speak of.  Then Ted Kennedy died and Martha Coakley ran the worst campaign in history and Massachusetts elected a former underwear model and pretend affable truck driver named Scott Brown.  Brown, more than modeling underwear or barn jackets, is a Republican (though all of his mailers do their best to cover up this fact--the word Republican does not appear on a single ad in any medium).

This time around, Brown has a legitimate opponent, someone who, unlike Coakley, decided to campaign even when it is cold outside (hello, the election is in November, when it is ALWAYS cold outside).  That opponent is Elizabeth Warren.  In case you haven't heard of her she gave a compelling speech at the DNC that you can find here.  She is the first candidate I have really been drawn to, other than Obama, so when I got an email from her campaign saying she was coming to Leominster, I couldn't resist.  I also couldn't imagine not introducing Isaac to politics.  She was scheduled for an appearance at the Johnny Appleseed Festival around 11.

Isaac and I got there at 10, just to wander around a bit.  We went to the campaign headquarters in central mass and got three stickers and two packages of Elizabeth Warren candy.  The campaign worker was enthralled with Isaac, and that was my plan all along.  A 34 year old dude is a dime a dozen on the campaign trail.  A kid as cute as Isaac, well that is a singular event.  Plus, I know that Elizabeth Warren is a nanna, so I was playing two cards--cute kid and nanna.  I was sure we'd meet her.

We toured around and saw a few beep beeps and weeooo weeooos.  We thanked the fireman, police, and soldiers for their service.  Isaac and Dad ran into the Leominster High School Jazz band, which Isaac liked.  We also ran into all of the standard fall fair--a face painter, a stand selling carmel apples, and for the first time since moving to Massachusetts--real political campaigns.

We followed a camera man to a spot and waited.  In total I-man waited about one hour and forty five minutes.  But, around 11:40 a Ford Escape pulled up and out hopped Elizabeth Warren.  She was stylishly dressed and surrounded by pushy handlers, but they let her do what she does best and she dove into the crowd thanking people, shaking hands and smiling.  Trying not to be pushy, I stood there and showed off my best asset, Isaac with TWO Warren stickers on his jacket.  Cameras were flashing and she finally made it over to us.  Here is a transcript:

Elizabeth: "Hello you two."
ME: "Isaac say 'Hi Elizabeth'..."

::nothing::

ME: "We have been working on this all week."
Elizabeth: "Oh he is a little shy.  That is okay."
ME: "We are ready though [showing Elizabeth Isaac's two stickers]"
Elizabeth: "Your double ready [poking Isaac in the belly]"
ME: "Yes, good luck."  

She was very nice and more stylish than I had imagined.  Plus, my plan worked like a charm--Isaac was a huge hit. Well, a quick meet and greet doesn't change my mind (I was voting for her anyway), but it was awfully nice to see a big name politician in person and introducing Isaac to the wonderful world of American politics. He already knew I was a patriotic cornball--I just about cried when Don't Ask, Don't Tell was officially repealed. 

Here is a picture of Isaac and I carrying our favorite imaginary firearms:

I am carrying the always dangerous pressure washer wand while Isaac brings a vacuum cleaner extension to bear on our imaginary enemies.  

Isaac and I say to our zombie pursuers: BRING IT!

At the beginning of the summer we started walking the trails (and donating cash) to the Flat Rock Sanctuary.  It is an ideal little spot to go hiking in with nice trails and plenty of great views.  There are also four large reservoirs in the area.  The first one we visited was Overlook Reservoir.  After doing some research we discovered there were three others in the general area.  So in May we decided to make it our goal to be to all four.  Here is a map of the general area:


View Larger Map

Isaac loves being in the woods and hiking, so it is a great adventure for all of us.  Just four months ago, Isaac was in the backpack almost the entire time.  Now he is out more often than in, by a large margin.  He has become so surefooted in his walking and running that only the most difficult terrain stops him.  That terrain is so difficult even Mom and Dad have a hard time getting by.  But all of the hiking is worthwhile because just behind Falulah's fence (the reservoirs are all no trespassing, except for Overlook) there is a small stream and that stream has the perfect layout for serious rock chucking.

Here is I-man in action with his Mommy:


After finding Falulah three trips ago, we knew that Lowell was right over the hill.  On our way back last time we ran into Scott Reservoir, meaning that we had three of four.  So yesterday we set out for Lowell to complete the cycle.   After about 2 hours of good hiking, we finally made it to the fence gate around Lowell Reservoir.

It was a good goal to set at the beginning of the summer and I am glad we were able to do it.  There is all kinds of cool stuff back there, including a spillway.  It is also a sign that we can take Isaac with us on more serious hikes, with the ultimate goal being an ascent of Mount Monadnock.  It is also a sign that Isaac might need some hiking boots from the Big Guy.  Now if we only knew what size he will be next summer.