“One of the great disadvantages of hurry is that it takes such a long time.” ― G.K. Chesterton

 

   I don’t like to leave home in the winter. Bad things can happen: blizzards block roads, furnaces go out and water pipes freeze. Better to stay home and sip tea by the fire. But our granddaughter in Massachusetts was born in February and we haven’t been present for her party for several years.

   Isla turned eight on the 21st, a Monday. The whole week was devoted to her happiness. She loves animals so on Tuesday we took her to Harvard’s Museum of Natural History.

   Isla lives in Marshfield, south of Boston. The museum is in Cambridge on the other side of the city. The best way to get to Harvard is by public transit. Our plan was to drive 20 miles north to Braintree, the southern terminus of the train that runs all the way to the Harvard Square station.

   Two of Isla’s classmates, twins Danny and John and their mother Mary, would be meeting us at the Braintree station. Isla’s brother Nash would be along with their father Joe, Teresa, and me. Of course we got a late start. Joe drove fast to Braintree not wanting to keep Mary and her boys waiting.

   In our rush, we missed the exit to the parking garage for the Braintree station. Ah, there’s another exit. We swung into the garage and drove up to the fourth level. “4B” is us we said to ourselves.

   The kiosk for buying our tickets was confusing, but a friendly employee helped us put our round-trip fares onto a plastic Charley card. Do you remember the Kingston Brothers song Charley of the MTA about a guy who gets trapped on the Boston subway?

   So we rushed up the stairs to the station platform. A train was just coming in. We didn’t see Mary. Maybe she went on ahead. We jumped aboard and Joe texted Mary. She replied that they were still in Braintree and would catch the next train.

   We waited in the underground Harvard station for about 15 minutes for Mary and the boys to arrive, then went up into busy Harvard Square. It took a few minutes to get our bearings then we walked through Harvard Yard to the museum.

   I had been to this museum many years ago when our own kids were little. Back then it was called the Agassiz Museum in honor of Louis Agassiz, a 19th century geologist who figured out how glaciers worked. He was also a white supremacist and so his name had to be erased. We live in the ancient bed of Lake Agassiz in northwest Minnesota so I expect change is coming our way as well.

   The museum was great. I highly recommend a visit if you’re in the area. Afterwards we found a hamburger place for lunch then headed back to the subway for the trip home. I remember in the old days people used to read newspapers or magazines or books on the subway. Now everyone was immersed in their phones. I imagine they were texting their loved ones.

   We eventually arrived back at the Braintree station. Nash needed a restroom so Mary went on ahead. When we emerged from the station, everything looked vaguely unfamiliar. We checked with an employee out front. “You didn’t park at the Quincy-Adams station did you?” he asked. Just then we spotted Mary waving to us from an upper level of the garage across the street. We made our way to the fourth level which was open to the sky. Our fourth level had a roof. Please make theTwilight Zone music stop.

   We made our way back to the employee. “I thought I’d see you guys again.” He very kindly let us back into the station for free and we caught the next train north one stop to where in our haste we had parked our car. There’s a moral out there somewhere. I need to engrave it on my brain.

“One of the great disadvantages of hurry is that it takes such a long time.” ― G.K. Chesterton