9. Cups of Tea
As of today, Tim and I have been married 35 years, 5 months and 1 day — that equates to 12,926 days, give or take a few missed Leap Years. That also means that on 12,926 evenings, Mr. Wonderful has asked me if I’d like a cup of tea and a couple Figgie cookies when he makes his nightly Lipton. For 12,926 nights I have replied, “No thanks,” and on plenty of nights I’ve snipped, “I don’t want a cup of tea! Why do you keep asking me?”
“Because you might want one, tonight,” he replied calmly.
I suppose that could be true, but come on. So, for w.a.y. t.o.o. m.a.n.y. nights I’ve said, “Nope, but I’ll have a Figgie cookie with you.”
For those who don’t know, Tim and I live in Massachusetts, the Bay State, the home of Plymouth Rock where the Pilgrims landed, and Fenway Park where my beloved team finally broke the Curse of the Bambino in 2004, and Boston Common, the oldest city park in the United States.
Massachusetts is home to the first ever zip code 01001, and the first ever subway, and where the Tabby is the official state cat, and where it is illegal to put tomatoes into New England Clam Chowder. I never knew there were laws on the books about tomatoes in chowder, although I wholeheartedly support this piece of legislation.
My scenic state is home to beautiful seaside and island destinations: Cape Cod, Nantucket, Martha’s Vineyard, and the North Shore. It is home to wacky-quacky, wacky-barky, and wacky-witchy attractions, like: the Boston Duck Boat sightseeing tour; or the Boston Harbor Cruise Day for Dogs; or the Salem Witch Museum where you can revisit the hysteria of 1692 by touring the dungeon where women were held for trial by a bunch of lunatics who missed some important stuff during the trials. Did it not occur to those living in Salem that a witch might have had the ability to free herself from chains, or levitate above the reach of murderous madmen, or perhaps cast a spell for torrential rainfall before being burned in town square?
I digress, but really, come on.
Getting back to the wonders of Massachusetts, we have some of the finest colleges and universities in the world: Harvard, MIT, Northeastern, Emerson, Smith, Brandeis, and many, many others. These higher institutions of learning have educated countless individuals who went on to make significant contributions to science and technology, music and entertainment, and things of note, big and small.
Massachusetts is a beautiful, exciting, and lovely place to live and to visit. I am proud to be a Bay Stater, proud of the state’s historical significance and grateful for its beauty and wonder. Still, in my humble opinion, the greatest claim of Massachusetts is the Fig Newton cookie. The ones my husband offers me every night with a cup of tea which I consistently decline.