BOSTON

I ran the Bay to Breakers in 1976 with my eight year old son, Michael.  The race was small in 1976, a mere 10,000 runners.  (Link to the history of the Bay to Breakers Race http://baytobreakers.com/index.php?page=race-history)  The event was a real race for some, but mainly a fun experience for many.  People dressed up then as they do now.  Or not.  Remember "streaking?"  Picnics in Golden Gate Park followed the 7.46 mile race across San Francisco from the Bay Bridge to the Pacific Ocean.  Michael probably ran a double race, as he ran ahead of me and back again to see why I was so slow.

My memories of the Bay to Breakers infused my mental images of the carnage and cruelty of the Boston Marathon massacre.  What had been a joyous and innocent event was destroyed by evil doers.  A race like the Boston Marathon or the Bay to Breakers is about training for and finishing something hard.  The experience of finishing is near Nirvana, or as close to that feeling as possible. 

I mean no disrespect by showing one of the lovely transferware patterns featuring Boston.  Boston was and is an historically important United States city, which is celebrated on many transferware patterns (there are 71 Boston related patterns in the Pattern and Source Print Database of the Transferware Collectors Club).  It is probably why the murderers targeted this particular race, as it struck at two of the things that Americans hold nearly holy; the cradle of liberty and the freedom and safety of congregation.

"State House, Boston" 14.5" by 12" platter made by Joseph Stubbs, circa 1825