Q is for Quentin

It had been almost five months since our last Alphabet Adventure so I finally got my act together this weekend for the Q activity. My initial idea was to go to the Q Restaurant, a Mongolian Hot Pot place in Boston...but they had a recent water main break and were closed. That's when I noticed that an Edward Gorey exhibit was coming to the Boston Athenaeum. I'm a big Gorey fan and I figured it would work for Q because the most famous of Gorey's books, The Gashlycrumb Tinies, features 26 children (each representing a letter of the alphabet) and their untimely deaths. For instance, "Q is for Quentin who sank on a mire." When I told Doug my idea he reminded me that he'd always wanted to find the Quentin Compson plaque on the Anderson Memorial Bridge so I added that activity to the day as well.

The Gorey exhibit was perfect for a non-museum lover like myself - two rooms with just enough works to fill up thirty minutes or so. Gorey's stuff is delightfully strange and whimsical; it was great to see some of his original works and personal artwork. For instance, we saw some envelopes he had sent letters in to his mother (when he was an underclassman at Harvard) fancifully decorated with wonderful illustrations.

The outside of the Boston Athenaeum

An example of Gorey's work outside (no photographs allowed in the exhibit)

After the museum visit, we headed over to Cambridge so we could walk across the Anderson Memorial Bridge in search of the Quentin Compson plaque. Compson is a character created by William Faulkner who was a student at Harvard (36 years before Edward Gorey studied there). The bridge spans the Charles river between Cambridge and Boston and we knew the plaque was closer to the Cambridge side. After searching for a few minutes we were puzzled when the plaque did not reveal itself right away. Luckily, Doug's recent iPhone purchase came in handy and he was able to search online for more information. He learned that the plaque is only the size of a brick so we were able to narrow our focus and finally found the plaque which is surprisingly camouflaged amongst the bricks.

Doug searches for information while on the Anderson Memorial Bridge

The plaque found! The years have rubbed away the inscription, but it's still legible.

This is what is says: "Quentin Compson. Drowned in the odour of the honeysuckle. 1891-1910."

After our "Q" activity was done, we rushed over to the Franklin Park Zoo to see the choosing of Kiki's baby's name...which we'll talk about in our next blog. And also Doug is now on the clock for "R".