So much history

I am not a history buff but its hard not to get interested living in Eastern Mass. I've learned that we are living in the heartland of the American Revolution. It seems every time we go anywhere we find out that we are standing on hallowed ground in terms of human sacrifice in the name of independence or some other important historical event. I remember bits and pieces from my high school history classes but I'll have to read up to truly appreciate the things I am seeing here. 

Today Kai and I visited Lexington which is the town that borders Bedford to the East. After strolling through the pretty and quaint downtown (before all the shops were even open - Kai was up before 6 am!), we visited the Lexington Battle Green. This is an important revolutionary site because it was where the original "Minutemen" (citizen soldiers who could be summoned on a minute's notice), warned by Paul Revere, waited for the British soldiers in 1775. They were killed and the soldiers moved on to Concord (the town immediately West of Bedford) where they met colonial militia and "the shot heard round the world" (RW Emerson) was fired. I must credit my sources here (once a grad student, always a grad student ;-), because before today, I knew none of this! (Insight Guide to New England)

Tomorrow we are off to Walden Pond for some swimming while the pest control folks do their stuff to get rid of some of the nastiest bugs I've seen this side of Kailua! I'm sure Thoreau never envisioned a lake full of toddlers and wet-suit clad triathletes while he was contemplating wilderness so many years ago!