By Esther C. Baird First published in the Beverly Citizen, October 26, 2006 Errands. With a toddler. Sigh. I try to go into a zen-like state for daily shopping occurrences otherwise I’d go crazy. Eighty percent of every errand is spent trying to get my 2-year-old to hold my hand, to not touch, to not take…
The Baird Facts
Turning One a New Leaf Via the Road Not Taken
By Esther C. Baird First Published in the Beverly Citizen, October 12, 2006 On Saturday we drove to Mount Washington for the day. The foliage reports for New Hampshire were great, and the summit of Mount Washington sounded rugged and adventurous, the perfect autumnal day trip. Both I-93 and I-95 go to Mount Washington. All the…
The Skunks Are Revolting
By Esther C. Baird First Published in the Beverly Citizen, September 28, 2006 Let’s discuss the skunks in Beverly shall we? I’ve long wondered if our city isn’t, perhaps, a Mecca of sorts for our striped friends. At least twice a week I am overcome by the eye-burning, throat scalding scent of fresh, closer-than-I-prefer, skunk….
Sometimes, a box is more than a box
By Esther C. Baird First published in the Beverly Citizen, September 14, 2006 Both my daughter and I are going ‘back to school’ this week. More accurately, I am going ‘back’ to chip away at my Masters and she is simply ‘going’ since it will be her first foray into preschool. We both will be…
An Ode to Play Doh
By Esther C. Baird First Published in the Beverly Citizen. June 1, 2006. We’ve had a week of June now and it’s started off soggy, but I’m hopeful. At least we are done with May when we squished around like so many human raisins, wet and shriveled and increasingly crazed to the point of madness….
Welcome To Our Public Way
First Published in the Beverly Citizen, May 18, 2006 By Esther C. Baird Word Count: 797 Well it’s spring, time to start thinking about our beaches. When we first moved here I was dazzled that there were three beaches within walking distance of my home. My childhood beach memories consist of fighting for towel space…
From Bondi to Beverly (Australia Part 8)
By Esther C. Baird First Published in the Beverly Citizen as the final installment of the eight part series “Family Down Under” and the beginning of “Just the Baird Facts” later shortened to “The Baird Facts Allow me to set the scene for you. As I type this it’s raining, bordering on sleeting. I am…
The Fun of Being Forgotten (Australia Part 7)
First Published in the Beverly Citizen as part of a seven week series “Local Family Down Under” By Esther C. Baird Our time in Australia wasn’t all spent along Sydney’s beaches and surrounding towns. We took quite a few trips, including one near the end of our time down under, into the Australian Outback. Specifically…
The Bridge Climb (Australia Part 6)
First Published in the Beverly Citizen as part of a seven week series “Local Family Down Under” By Esther C. Baird ”Pretend you are on the Beverly-Salem Bridge,” I thought to myself. “You’re just jogging over the North River. It’s not a big deal, you’ve done this before.” Except I hadn’t done this before, because…
Day Trip, Down Under Style (Australia, Part 5)
Day Trip, Down-Under Style First Published in the Beverly Citizen as part of an eight week series “Local Family Down Under” By Esther Baird Our family is a big fan of the day-trip. In Beverly we often open our map, pick a town about two hours away that we haven’t visited and hit the road….