One wild dove flew into my heart Woke me from my sleep Showed me this was always home And blessed my soul to keep  "One Wild Dove" from the Mad Agnes CD Magic Hour

The Hayes-Bohanan Family Revised February 12, 2012 James was born May 4, 1963 Pam was born May 27, 1964 Pam and James were married May 9, 1987 Paloma was born August 19, 1997 What is your important date? Speaking of dates, this page includes sporadic updates, newest at the top. Family of three -- many blogs (these are some of the main ones) Celebrating the States Pam spent 2011 marking the anniversary of each of the entry of each of the 50 states into the Union. The rest of the family participated to varying degrees (with frequent geography input from James). Each state entry has involved a book, a recipe, and a movie, as well as other observations. As with Pam's Year of Books blog, this is still available but not actively updated. Paloma Helps Paloma is planning to go to China in 2012, and is using her Paloma Helps blog to describe her trip and raise funds. The blog points to her online store. (The blog still reflects her original plan to go to India this year; an update is coming.) Environmental Geography Geographer James shares insights about the relationships between people and the environment, from around the corner to around the world. Project EarthView Geographic educator James describes visits to schools with a giant, inflatable globe while sharing ideas that make geography accessible to middle schoolers -- many thousands of whom he has taken inside the Earth! The Bridgewaters Project Bridgewater, Massachusetts has become our permanent home. We also like to wander. So we have embarked on a project to visit every place in the world that bears the name Bridgewater. We are off to a good start, as there are quite a few in the East, particularly in New England. We have our sights set on Bridgewaters in old England, of course, and Nova Scotia, among others. Meanwhile, we are enjoying the quest and even learning a bit about our very own Bridgewater. Una Nueva Receta Cada Semana We try to eat something nutritious, delicious, and original every week. We share recipes, cookbook references, and a bit of wit on this blog partnership. "Library" Books Many books are in the library, but a select few are about the library, mainly so or in passing. Pam explores library connections in books of many kinds that have that one important thread in common. Bridgewater Center Neighborhood Association Our town, right or wrong; if right to be kept right; and if wrong, to be set right. (With apologies to Carl Schurz.) Working with neighbors, we try to accentuate the positive and eliminate the negative of our fair town. (With credit to Johnny Mercer.)

We have been in our house for nine years now, and have it just about the way we like it! We have made it carbon-neutral and have greatly increased biodiversity on our 0.31 acre, which was certified as habitat by the National Wildlife Federation in 2011.

Another year, another update, and this has been a big one! Pam and James continue to be engaged in many interesting learning, teaching, and service projects in and around the unversity -- which is finally called a university. Perry the wonderdog continues to thrill and entertain us and keep us on our toes. She is a quick and mighty huntress of small critters! The big change, though, is that Paloma now attends the Cambridge School of Weston, where we she is thriving as an inquisitive and creative learner as well as a thoughtful world citizen. Since it is just beyond commuting distance (the drive can be between 30 minutes and two hours each way), she is boarding there. Pam and James are essentially "empty nesters" before our time! The photo at left, by the way, was taken in the summer of 2011 by our multi-talented friend Angela, who offers face-painting among the many other festive services of The Peppermint Pony in the Baltimore-Washington area.

Wow! It has been a long time since this page was updated. The most important changes in the household recently have had to do with our "livestock," as our trusty rabbit Nikki died shortly before Christmas, followed by our fiercely loyal hound Clover in late February. Neither of these will be "replaced" of course, but we do have some new pets in our midst, and they have made the losses a bit easier. Taking over the basement have been Wubbles and Munchkin, two Guinea pigs who spend most of their days snuggled together under a plastic "igloo" making cute noises at each other. The whole family was anxious to get a dog in the spring, but summer travel plans made that seem unwise (even though we have the greatest dog-sitter ever). When the travel plans fell through, we realized that the upside was the chance to get a dog sooner. It took Pam less than a minute to find the perfect dog online. The minpin we later named Perry happened to be at the Brockton Blue Dog Shelter, for which Paloma had done some fundraising projects in the past. She is a wonderful and entertaining dog who meets all of the breed characteristics -- especially the ability to leap! For any of us to jump as high in proportion to our height, we would have to jump over our house -- again and again! Because Paloma was away at camp when we adopted Perry, we brought the dog out for an introduction and bonding. Perry was quite a hit at camp, and enjoyed a ride into the town of Lowville, where we found a great park to play. More Perry photos are on Flickr.

	Our summer vacation in 2008 was spent in the highlands of Guatemala, source of some of the world's finest coffees and poorest coffee farmers. We hope that our visit may eventually lead to improvements for some of the farming communities we visited. Meanwhile, it was a terrific experience for all three of us -- brushing up on our Spanish, enjoying spectacular scenery, and walking about in the charming city of Antigua. The photos here are both in Panajachel, on the northern shores of the volcanic Lake Atitlan (where the crater lake is 11 miles wide!) Paloma was delighted to watch monkeys in a nature preserve at the edge of town. A local friend also found this big but feather-light pumice stone for Paloma to hold. We learned, by the way, that the sand-and-gravel business is just as difficult for workers as is the coffee business! See more of the story and more photos than you can stand at my Coffee in Guatemala page.
		Our dog is rather high-maintenance, to say the least. If men come to visit, we put her in a box. Music soothes the savage beast, though, and Clover is no exception. One of our favorite rooms is the music room, and one of the most restful things that happens there is that Pam practices her recorder -- she has gotten quite good -- and Clover just lays there and soaks it in. As if she were a good dog!
DOG-DOVE PERRO-PALOMA It is nice when you can get alliteration in two languages! Here is our mutt posing with a Paloma sculpture we have on our Paloma porch.
	In summer 2007, the whole family took an actual vacation in New York! After picking up Paloma from UU camp, we became UU tourists. The UU Niagara Experience includes the chance to be a Niagara Falls daredevil in a safe, church-basement environment. Plus we got matching hats! The photo to the right shows Paloma on her "new" classic banana-seat Schwinn. She has logged many miles on it this summer, mostly up and down our block!

Paloma continues to delight and amaze us. She loves anything colorful, with pink a pretty obvious favorite. Most days she does not worry too much about her hair, but for a special occasion, a fancy do is something she loves.

Paloma in a book store -- October 2006.

Swan Boats On April 28, 2005 James gave his first-ever State House speech. It was a lot of fun, and it happened that Paloma was on a field trip nearby. He took the opportunity to take photos of Paloma taking a ride on the famous and historic Swan Boats in the Boston Public Garden. You can see that Paloma's friends were more cooperative than she was!

Kit Takes Manhattan! For School Vacation Week (a Massachusetts oddity) in April 2005, the whole family accompanied Paloma's doll Kit on a pilgrimage to the American Girl Place in New York City. One highlight was an elegant luncheon at the American Girl Cafe. This was an odd sort of indulgence for us, but we did enjoy ourselves.

Paloma loved Times Square and Grand Central Station. How exciting!

Paloma and James enjoyed the Central Park Carousel, and the whole family enjoyed a quick carriage ride through the park and a visit to the lobby of the Plaza Hotel, made famous by that Eloise. Below, geographer Paloma and Kit show us glacial striations in Central Park.

Transylvania

This Christmas-day photo shows three of Paloma's favorites. We invited one of her favorite sitters, who introduced her to the Monkees this year, and Paloma has become quite attached to her new doll Kit. They frequently wear matching pajamas. The third thing is Paloma's new room, painted with a lot of pink in the summer of 2004. Taken in January, the photo on the right shows Paloma doing something she increasingly enjoys -- reading a book. We are amazed by how well she reads, and we enjoy her many observations about language. She continues to study Spanish at school, and the whole family is starting to learn some Hungarian, with Paloma's encouragement!

Paloma enjoyed driving a tractor by herself during our annual vacation at Story Land, New Hampshire in June 2004.

Image: Orban's Nursery Permission pending

Impatiens: A Poem for Spring Your impatiens will grow; They will not stay low. They will come up high ... and touch the sky. But in the winter the go down at  home. Don't be impatient -- about your impatiens! ~~ Paloma Bohanan, April 26, 2004

Paloma was nervous about the Spring Concert, especially her solo speaking part, but she did very well!

Paloma lost her first tooth October 27, 2003. She was worried that it would never happen!

During the summer of 2003, Paloma was not as thrilled as I was to visit Paloma, Texas (population: very few) on the outskirts of Harlingen and not *far* from our old home in Pharr. I had actually driven through it many times when I was teaching in Brownsville, and never realized it!

During the summer we traveled to Texas, Maryland/Virginia, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Nantucket, among other places. Here Paloma is welcoming the ferry to Nantucket, where we stayed with friends from church who run a guest house there.

Paloma loved her poodle skirt, which Pam made for Halloween. This is one of the major holidays in New England, so she has had plenty of chances to wear the dress.

Gym Show

Paloma made this "signature" herself. Click on it to see the beautiful drawing, of which it is a part.

Kindergarten or High School? Paloma set off for big-girl school on August 28, equipped with a new backpack from Tia Diane, a new lunchbox, and those new Power Puff Girl shoes (four sizes larger than shoes worn in May). As you can see, she has been pretty thrilled with this milestone. A few days later I caught her doing a good teenager imitation while on the phone with our friend Susan.

On June 1, 2002, we took part in the festivities celebrating the new Dr. Seuss National Memorial in Springfield. Pictured at right are the Grinch, Max, and Cindy Lou Hoo.

In late May 2002, Paloma picked buttercups in the park with our friend Susan and Susan's granddaughter Alexandria. As you can see, the girls got along famously! The photo on the left became one of ten finalists in a nationwide AARP grandkid photo contest!

During the festivities our friend Susan also got a nice shot of the whole family!

Paloma's fourth birthday party featured Ruby Slippers cake (with Yellow Brick Road M&Ms) and the party girl herself dressed as Dorothy.

Paloma celebrated National Geography Awareness Week 2000 at the annual international luncheon in the Department of Earth Sciences and Geography . Here she is responding to the question "How far is the town of Jiggalong from Lake Disappointment in the Gibson Desert of Western Australia?"  Her answer: 200 kilometers.

Paloma loves nesting doll puzzles. On January 25, 2001, James found her enjoying these "chicks with their momma!"

See Halloween 2000 photos on a separate page. 

On August 28, 2000, we adopted a new family dog at the Northeast Animal Shelter in Salem, Mass. On the way home, Paloma named her Clover. She was a very sweet one-year-old bassett mix from Puerto Rico. She was rescued as a street dog by a wonderful group called Save a Sato , which sent her to the shelter by airplane! We eventually discovered that Clover - though a wonderful dog for us - has a distinct dislike for most men. A friend took this photo by Tampa Bay in June 2000.

Clover usually tolerates whatever Paloma wants to do.

Paloma enjoyed her first trip to the Amazon in 2000, though it was HOT. Here she enjoys a cool pop in the shade with her friend Daniel. Read about the trip and see more photos at Pam's Rondonia 2000 page.

Paloma blowing bubbles with our good friend Susan Holton on May 12, 2000.

Flowers in Her Hair On February 1, 2000, I happened to have a digital camera available when Paloma learned to say "carnation," and asked to put one in her hair. Point to the photos to see what she said!

1999 was Paloma's third Christmas season, but the first one that she really understood and enjoyed. She loves Santa in the abstract, but was a bit uncertain when he actually arrived at our church.

Halloween 1999 Paloma was quite  excited about  Halloween this year - her third Halloween, but the first time that she has really gotten the concept. She enjoyed several parties and trick-o-treating in Pope Hall, a dorm full of very nice Bridgewater State students.  On Halloween day, we took the opportunity of great weather to visit Walden Pond in Concord, which I had been discussing with students all semester. Paloma found a nice trail-side rock on which to sit and think for a while.

St. Patrick's Day 1999
St. Petersburg, Florida

This is Paloma's famous "Dad" trick. She started doing it at six months, and can still do it at almost five years. It requires being strong and skinny!

Paloma at Ten Months (7/2/98)

Our First New England Autumn - 1997

In Memory Our loyal beagle Pablo Picasso was put to sleep on May 7, 1998 after a brief but difficult struggle with diabetes. He traveled throughout the United States with us, and will be remembered by many human and canine friends. Pablo was a trooper! Before succumbing to diabetes, he had survived the following: attack by biting ants attack by poisonous lizard attack by jumping cactus attempted abduction by javelinas (wild boars) attempted abduction by coyotes (almost successful) subterranean raccoon battle fall down full flight of stairs overnight mountain blizzard (in a tent) kennel cough epilepsy valley fever

NOTE: I know that some of these Paloma links are broken. I am trying to find updates, rather than delete them.

If you think there is a Picasso fixation in this house, you are correct. Pablo Picasso's second daughter is Paloma , a fashion/jewelry designer. That is not the only reason we named our daughter Paloma, though: it is also Spanish meaning "dove." Paloma, California was the location of the first find that led to the 1849 California Gold Rush. Read a description of Paloma Ranch from a developer who is trading on that history. The USGS lists 114 place names containing Paloma , including quite a few near our previous homes in Arizona and Texas.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture lists soil series with the official names Pablo and Palomas as well as  James , Kezar , Hayes , and Bohannon soils (no Pamela - I checked) in other parts of the country. Check the USDA Official Soil Series Descriptions to see if they have the dirt on your family!

Paloma World is a leading-edge virtual reality project based on ancient villages in Paloma, Peru. A lower-tech presentation of archeological findings (including a map and the various Paloma tools) is at Eric White's Paloma page.

In 1989, we enjoyed the Ballet Folklorico in Mexico City. In Veracruz, the local version is Ballet Folklorico La Paloma . Visit the group's web site to see a flying dove animation!

Paloma loves animals. It is fitting, therefore, that large donors to the SPCA in Los Angeles are members of the Paloma Society .

Pam has a home page , too!

And don't forget Paloma's Betty Boop page!