Halifax Public Gardens

Location: Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada 
Address: 5665 Spring Garden Road
Date: July 2006
Website:  www.halifaxpublicgardens.ca

  It was the perfect summer's day to relax in the park.  Our plan was to do nothing but walk around downtown Halifax.  We walked through the wrought iron gates of the Public Gardens and it wasn't long before we realized what a beautiful place it was.  We walked over a small bridge and stopped to admire the view.  A small stream flowed under the bridge past trees, flowers and miniature buildings.  The stream was also home to many of the park's resident ducks.

  Three ducks managed to steal the show.  Below they are devising a plan to get our attention.

And then they put the plan into action as a duck parade began and marched right across the pathway in front of us.  Well done! Attention received!  We followed the parade deeper into the gardens.

  Before we go further, one more word about these ducks.  We have determined that these were mallard ducks.  We also noticed that the heads of the two males were blue and not the traditional green.  It seems that there is much debate over this on the internet, much like how one person might see a dress as gold while another sees it as blue.  Some people claim that the blue is just a trick of the light reflecting a certain way.  Others have stated that the bright green is caused by the high testosterone levels in the ducks and that these blue headed ducks must therefore have lower testosterone levels.  A third option is that we have completely misidentified them and these are not mallard ducks at all.  All we know is that they put on one heck of a parade and it wasn't long before the ducks lead us to another pond.

  In the center of the pond is the Boer War Fountain.  It was erected in 1903 and has a soldier standing at the top of it to commemorate the Canadian soldiers who served in the South African War.  At the base of the fountain is a pond filled with ducks.  We also noticed many other birds in the gardens.  There was a Toulouse Goose being watched over by a pigeon and an American Pekin Duck waiting by the pathway hoping to take part in the next parade.  After following the birds around, we finally took a seat on a bench near the bandstand and relaxed for the rest of the afternoon.

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Map of Our World
Halifax Public Gardens

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Post # 53

The Grave Of Mother Goose

Location: Bostan, Massachusetts, USA
Address: Tremont Street
Date: Sept 2013
Website: www.celebrateboston.com

  Granary Burying Ground in Boston has been a graveyard since the late 1600s.  Many of the graves have been worn thin through the years or had the writing on their faces worn down to where they are unreadable.  Many famous people in Boston's history are buried here.  We were looking for one grave in particular.  The grave of Mother Goose.

  Mother Goose is credited with many nursery rhymes.  Some famous ones are "Three Blind Mice", "Humpty Dumpty" or Hickory Dickory Dock".  After hunting around the cemetery we finally located her grave.

 Mary Goose died in 1690.  Her husband Issac remarried to a woman called Elizabeth.  Thomas Fleet married her daughter also called Elizabeth.  It is said that grandmother Goose sang songs and rhymes when Thomas and his wife had their first child.  Thomas being a printer made a book of some of these rhymes called Mother Goose's Melodies For Children.  This is said to be the first use of Mother Goose in America but Mother Goose had also been associated with rhymes in England long before even Mary Goose's death.

 
  So it appears there is no true Mother Goose.  At least not in a cemetery in Boston.  Most people are familiar with some Mother Goose nursery rhymes even if much like the myth of Boston's Mother Goose, they have changed and been re-written through the years.

  The Hancock Tower is the tallest tower in Boston.  It is named afterJohn Hancock Insurance company which had offices there.  The insurance company is named after John Hancock whose signature is on the Declaration of Independence.  Johm Hancock's grave is also located in Granary Burying Ground.

  Paul Revere's grave is also located in the Granary Burying Ground.  Paul Revere is best known for riding through Massachusetts warning that the British were coming.  We didn't see his grave, but did visit his statue in Boston's North End.  Granary Burying Ground is filled with centuries of history and a little bit of mystery.

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Map of Our World
Paul Revere Statue
Granary Burying Ground , John Hancock Tower

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Post # 231