First Published in the Tri-Town Transcript Boxford Topsfield Middleton — The Baird Facts By Esther C. Baird Regular Readers may recall that last summer we allowed our then eight-year-old daughter to attend her first overnight camp. It was only four nights, and it was run by our church. Further, one of my friends was the…
Category: The Baird Facts
Let Me Chew On That
By Esther C. Baird First Published in the Tri-Town Transcript Boxford — I think addiction is a strong word. I mean, I have some friends who vacuum every day. I have other friends who can’t sleep unless their kitchen counter is clear of debris. One girlfriend is obsessed with the Olive Garden — that can’t…
A River Runs Nowhere
By Esther C. Baird First Published in the Tri-Town Transcript Boxford — For my birthday this past March my husband gave me a Stand Up Paddleboard (SUP). I’d been renting them the past few summers over in the Adirondacks, so I was thrilled to own one I could use here on the North Shore. SUPs…
Winning at Field Day
By Esther C. Baird First Published in the Tri-Town Transcript Boxford — When I was a kid I didn’t play sports or even understand them. My athletic abilities were honed in the woods and fields and lakes of the outdoors. This paid off exactly one day a year when my rule-following, team-playing, uniform-wearing friends simply…
Maybe the Horse Fairies Took Your Baby
By Esther C. Baird First Published in the Tri-Town Transcript Boxford Topsfield Middleton — It all began in Costa Rica. We were there two summers ago on a family vacation and spent one day with a guide navigating waterways by boat, and jungle paths by foot, in order to visit a secluded beach. Apparently though,…
One Closet at a Time; A Mother’s Day Tribute
By Esther C. Baird First Published in the Tri-Town Transcript Boxford Topsfield Middleton — Well, I’m willing to believe that it’s finally spring. I’m still often chilly but I can sense that soon I will feel consistently warm, perhaps even hot. So in a fit of optimism, I tackled that spring time task that strikes…
Packing up the Universe
By Esther C. Baird First Published in the Tri-Town Transcript Boxford Topsfield Middleton — I don’t want to alarm you, but it’s possible that by the end of this column, a hole in the space time continuum may open up and suck us in. Further, the hole is located in Baltimore in a neighborhood that…
Painting until Spring Comes
By Esther C. Baird First Published in the Tri-Town Transcript Boxford Topsfield Middleton — Perhaps by the time this column goes to print, this last round of snow will be a distant memory. But as I type, it’s an all-consuming reality. We are like so many Laura Ingalls in our very own Long Winter. So…
This story drives her quackery
By Esther Baird First Published in the Beverly Citizen Mar 12, 2008 I know it’s an institution. I know that as a parent living in the greater Boston area I ought to ooze with affection for it. But this is one bit of local culture I could happily do without. I refer to — in…
‘Tis better to have gusto than grace
By Esther Baird First published in the Beverly Citizen Feb 26, 2008 Grace is not the most striking quality of the women in my family. As such, we’ve produced no ballerinas. As a little girl, I was given to climbing trees and catching snakes. My two good friends, on the other hand, both took ballet and,…