The Easton Curiosity Shop Is Open Again

 "In my beginning is my end"

Welcome back!  I finished getting pushed out of  the NRT yesterday with a wonderful afternoon at Borderland with the EcoRangers. I loved working with the Rangers who ranged from 8-11.  I just believe the NRT presence in the community shouldn't end when kids finish sixth grade. We live in a town that is stepping up on conservation issues and local agriculture-why does the NRT lag behind now when it led in the days of its founders? Oh well, it was only a decade wasted, and it wasn't as if people didn't tell me it wasn't going to end well when I was going in.

Borderland is a special place in my life. I began my community service there when Hazel Varella got me a gig typing the Oakes Ames diaries before the place was even a state park. It was fun sitting at a typewriter (!) working with the amazing Ken Jackson, one of the great people I've met through the Historical Society. On the day of the park's dedication, I got a behind the scenes look at the famous George Plimpton, the grandson of Oakes and Blanche Ames. In a double irony, Hazel's granddaughter Emma was one of our EcoRangers and when I returned home,  Arts and Letters Daily directed me to a wonderful remembrance of George Plimpton by his son in the New Yorker.

Here's an interesting tidbit from Scientific American. It turns out that finger length is statistically gender specific. Most men have ring fingers that are slightly longer than index fingers while in women it is just the opposite. Now not all men or women share this pattern, and here's the interesting part. Based on a study, women with longer ring fingers are less likely to get lost than women with the more common pattern. Men with their normal finger pattern also do well on the "lost" test-further proof no doubt on why we never stop to ask for directions. It turns out that finger length and brain development are determined by the amount of the hormone androgen at a certain point in pregnancy.

Tomorrow a review of a wonderful new restaurant in Brockton and some great choices in three Easton restaurants. In coming days, Maggie and I will be touring state parks and areas managed by our newest neighbors-the Trustees of Reservations-to find the best summer day trips and the best managed conservation properties.

"In my end is my beginning."