The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Grey Bridge

Today we attended the Little Red Lighthouse Festival at the foot of the George Washington Bridge.

The Little Red Lighthouse stands proudly beneath the George Washington Bridge on the New York shore. She reminds us that all things big or small have a significant place in our world. The children's book The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge by Hildegarde Swift taught this lesson well. The Little Red Lighthouse served as a navigational aid before and after the bridge was built.

When the lighthouse was commissioned in 1921 she served the Hudson River mariners, always keeping a good light until the USCG deactivated it in 1947. Swift's book played a major role in saving the lighthouse, for it was the millions of children who loved The Little Red Lighthouse story who spoke out when the USCG wanted to sell and dismantle the light. The children won-and today all of us can enjoy its beauty.

Unfortunately, we weren't able to actually go in the lighthouse. We arrived too late to get tickets, but the park ranger told us to come back on October 21st... so watch for us there on that day.

Lexi also had her face painted for the first time.  

 

Cookie Monster!

One of our favorite places for treats is a chocolate shop owned by french chocolatier Jaques Torres (aka. Mr. Chocolate). Lexi and I stopped in for a cookie today. 

5 Years

Today we visited a flag memorial in Inwood Hill Park (on the northern tip of Manhattan) dedicated to the victims of the 9/11 attacks. 3000 flags were set up in a large field- one for each life lost. It was a breezy and beautiful day, probably much like the day in 2001. A touching memorial.

Part of me wishes we had been here in 2001, because I think that no one can really understand what the city went through in the days and weeks following without having actually lived here at that time. I want to know how people felt, how they coped, and how they continued to live their lives. At the same time, I am so grateful that I wasn't here, and that no one I love was directly impacted.

Some video footage of the memorial can be seen here.
 

Observations by Lexi

Yesterday we went to the Museum of Natural History to pass a very rainy afternoon. While gazing at the diorama of the ostriches, we talked about the eggs- some of which had hatched, and some of which were still *unopened*. I talked to Lexi about the babies that had come out of the eggs and she said, referring to the unhatched babies, "Those babies are still taking a nap?"


After watching this commercial for iTunes, featuring Bob Dylan, (which entranced her, by the way) Lexi remarked, "That man is a farmer man." Daddy was very proud, since Bob Dylan is one of his favorite musicians.


After waking up from a nap in which she had been sleeping on her arm, Lexi said, "My hand has polka dots." Presumably referring to the pins-and-needles she was feeling.

Ms. Cope

Matt's students return to school on Tuesday, so Lexi & I went down to his school to help him set up his classroom. Lexi helped hang borders on the bulletin boards and put some books on shelves as well as clean up some of the mess we left in our wake by sweeping.

She is a remarkable little helper and really wants to help with anything and everything. She is becoming a superstar at making a smoothie and helps make the salad for dinner. She loads the dishwasher and puts away the silverware when it's clean. Sometimes it's a trial of patience for me, but she really is much happier when she helps, which makes it much better for all of us. How does that primary song go? "When we're helping we're happy and we sing as we go..."