New Experiences Happen Daily

When I'm not spending my time taking in the majesty that is Blacks Creek, I find myself in the hustle and bustle that is the Boston seaport, working outside the Children's Museum. I always like this change of pace, as you never know who is going to come by, or what exactly is going to happen there on any given day. I guess that's true of any site, but there's some kind of energy when you're in the city, that makes things feel different. For starters, there's such a diversity in the characteristics of visitors. Many come from all over the country, or even from other parts of the world, and this is really their first experience becoming familiar with the Boston Harbor. I always feel that it is of extra importance with these visitors to impart the lessons learned with the Boston Harbor clean up, as they may be able to take that way of thinking back to where they came, and fix any potential issue that their area is facing. Of course, this is difficult when there is a language barrier, like when I was attempting to teach a girl how to properly hold a crab, only to be informed by her mother that she only spoke French. Unfortunately, I took Spanish in school, so I really did not have much information, but we were still able to work it out so that she did not get pinched.

Something that was new to me, holding a jellyfish!

I would say that is definitely the main difference between my work at the Children's Museum and Black's Creek, that it was the time spent with a given individual. At Black's Creek, kids would come twice each week, and quickly picked up all the information that we gave them, such that they were experts by the time they left. With that, the novelty of the situation wore off, and we did not need to continuously instruct them on their technique and cool crab facts. At the Children's Museum, it's important to remember that even though this information is nothing new to us, to our visitors it normally is, and we need to present it as such. I think it was really put in perspective to me, when I was working with a boy who was visiting with his day camp. He had been fishing. I had already shown him the green crabs, and due to his interest, had him help me pull up the crab trap to see if we had caught anything, which we had. As we were walking away, he asked me, "Can you show us some other new things?" I was caught off guard, as these experiences that had been the standard of my summer, were so new and exciting to this boy, and I remembered that it was once that way for me too. I stopped for a second to think of what I could show him next, but then he was off to go play with his friends, and I didn't have anything new to show him anyway. But, I would like to think about if there was more I could have covered, as we are in such a unique position to spread the word very far!

Sam and Ana playing with the toy fish.

That's not to say that things are tired and routine at the Children's Museum, as we the staff frequently find ways to spice up our work day. Most recently, there was a day where we tied a toy fish to a fishing rod, just to play around with it. Ana and Sam were really getting into it, where Sam would pull it up, while Ana would try to catch it in our net. I think the two of them had more fun than the kids with this experience. I know the kids liked to watch us bounce it on the water, and pretend it was a real fish. Apparently, it was so realistic that a parent thought we were swinging around a dead fish, but I would like to assure everyone that we here at Save the Harbor would never behave in such a distasteful manner, but we always have time to play around and have fun!

Until next time, I'll be thinking of more new things to show off,
Zach