There is a 6 mile trail from Concord to Lexington to Boston that Paul Revere rode with compatriots to warn of the advancing British.  This was the freedom flower we found on the Minuteman Trail. There is a long story behind it that I'd be happy to share someday!  This is the exact spot where Paul Revere was arrested and his ride ended. There was a great deal more to this whole sage than I ever knew
     
 Along this trail, there was fighting all the way back from Concord, where  the fighting was fierce and the Americans ambushed the retreating  British which sparked the entire Revolutionary War. It is well worth visiting for the "real" story!
     
 An age old pub in an age old tavern  I wondered how many songs were  sung in these ancient tavern walls!
     
 Amazing beauty in unlikely places. There was something powerful in this tiny little psychedelic mushroom that had sprung up in the middle of this forest, on a delicate creek crossing in some moss and lichen. We saw this from a great distance and the image, literally and ----  ---figuratively stuck with me the rest of the day. If a tiny fingertip sized mushroom can get someone's attention from such a remote place, simply due to it's innocent beauty, then wouldn't that same hope spring for all of us in our own art and endeavors? I think so!  I wrote last year about my friend Mark Gage and his persistant battle to graduate in light of his disabilities. Interestingly enough, he is a direct descendant of General Gage, who led the British troops are the start of the Revolutionary war, which is described here.
     
     
     
 Nice view of the Old North Bridge!  This is where the Revolutionary War started with the shot heard round the world. The Old North Bridge in Concord.  This is the vantage point of the American Troops looking left at the North Bridge all those years ago!
     
 The Heat Wilted the Freedom Flower faster than you can say Minute Man!  Not sure if Washington Slept here, but we did get to have lunch!  Beautiful Concord, Mass!
     
     
In the Sleepy Hollow Cemetary in Concord, MA rests Alcott, Emerson, Hawthorne and Thoreau's Family Plot. If you have to be dead, this is the place to rest for an artist or writer. They call the area Author's Ridge

 Anonymous Note left to Thoreau:

The morning is majestic and extraordinary. All my words pale in comparison to yours. Oh that I could look through your eyes for a moment"

  Five little poems and letters left on Thoreau's grave site was a constant reminder of his passion and the power of his words more than a century later. If only all of us could move the world so effectively!
     
 Nathaniel Hawthorne's grave and his classic "The Scarlett Letter"  Little Women author's resting place  Louisa May Alcott Family Plot
     
 The Whole Emerson Family Plot  Ralph Waldo Emersons Grave  Here I am in the famous Thoreau Cabin he spent a year in writing.
     
 Linda and Henry David Thoreau  Walden Pond was much larger and surprisingly filled with swimmers!  But it also had nice nature area's like this marsh near the original Thoreau cabin site.
     
 Walden Pond. We didn't see Don Henley anywhere, but I am sure he is there in spirit.  "I went to the wood's because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life and see if I could not learn what it had to teach and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived." HDT  I spotted this amazing red rock out by itself on the beach at Marblehead. I planned to bring it to my friend Mark Gage for a present. But then I had an even better idea!
     
 I added the beautiful red rock to Thoreau's Walden Pond Site, a long tradition.  I found an appropriate spot to place it, where everyone could enjoy it as well. Mark would appreciate the gesture more than anyone.  This described the tradition of adding your own rock to the pile in honor of Henry David Thoreau.
     
 Almost immediately after adding the rock, passersby were commenting on the pretty red rock. A nice memory.  A postcard view of Concord, where everywhere you looked was a New England postcard come to life! What an amazing USA region!  Among the wildlife around Walden Pond were tons of tiny toads everywhere we stepped.