I Got a Pig: Reflections From the Cutting Edge of Cardiac Innovation [Redux January 2025]

(Source: Heartvalvesurgery.com)

“A cat will look down to a man. A dog will look up to a man. But a pig will look you straight in the eye and see his equal.” -- Winston Churchill

Of all the innovations I've been exposed to through the years, from TempTales and modern air conditioning to cotton gins and Hamilton, the one closest to my heart is the 23MM Epic Supravalve. 

Six months Four years ago today, surgeons at Beth Israel Deaconess in Boston cracked open my chest, switched on their magic heart-lung machine, cut out my wonky, calcified aortic valve, and sutured in a new, porcine Epic Supravalve.

In another place or time, I might have received a bovine valve, or even one taken from a cadaver. Was I a little younger, I might have chosen a valve made out of carbon. 

But as it happened, on January 28, 2021, lying on an operating table not far from Fenway Park, I got a pig. I'm delighted to report, after a first year of up-and-down healing, there has been barely an oink. Thank you Beth Israel. Thank you Metoprolol.

Birding the Randall Davey National Audubon Center and Sanctuary: A Haiku Adventure

One of the treats of our Mass Audubon excursion to New Mexico was the opportunity to bird the Randall Davey National Audubon Sanctuary in Santa Fe. It was a chilly day with light snow, but we spotted 14 species, including the Juniper Titmouse, which was new to me. (While I only got a quick look and no picture, the Juniper Titmouse is a drab, plain gray bird whose reputation is its attitude, not its flashy looks.)

Better still, I knew nothing about Randall Davey (1887–1964), an American artist and educator known for his contributions to early 20th-century American art, particularly in painting. Davey is celebrated for his work in portraiture, landscapes, and equestrian scenes. He is also celebrated for fostering a vibrant artistic community, which was key in establishing Santa Fe as an essential hub for artists and creatives in the early 20th century. His works are featured in major collections, including those of the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Whitney Museum of American Art.

Randall Davey's "Great Big Canvas"

Davey was part of the American Modernist movement and studied under influential artists like Robert Henri, a leader of the Ashcan School. He exhibited widely across the United States. In 1919, Davey settled in Santa Fe, New Mexico, at the historic site of a former mill, which became both his home and studio. This location is the one we birded, the Randall Davey Audubon Center and Sanctuary.

One of the amusing features of this beautiful sanctuary is the so-called Haiku Trail, a series of short poems (not all 5-7-5, however) written by (what appear to be somewhat frustrated) birders like me--trying hard to keep pace with the real birders in our group. 

Some images of our day follow.

A Townsend's Solitaire, a member of the thrush family (think American Robin), braving the snow and cold. John Kirk Townsend (1809-1851) was an American naturalist, ornithologist, and collector. He was a member of the famous Wyeth Expedition to the Pacific Northwest in 1834. 

One of the poems that resonated with me

Ironworkers and Their Monuments (Not) in New England

My latest local history post went live yesterday on Old Colony History Museum's blog, here. 

It's all about the 90-foot, $100K+ monument to the Leonard family and their ironworks that never got built. 

It was a detective story for me, and I'm not sure I got it right. But I'm close, I hope.

James Leonard lived and worked in Taunton and Raynham, but his brother and other family members launched an ironworks, the Rowley Village Forge Site, in modern-day Boxford, near my home on the North Shore. 

I did a walking tour here.

In 2014, I also did a picture tour of the Saugus Ironworks here. James and Henry worked at "Hammerstimith," its colonial name, before heading south to Raynham and north to Boxford.

Meanwhile, I walked the dry river bed of the Rio Grande yesterday. Pictures to follow.

The Beaver Pond: A Poem About King Philip's War

I was surprised and delighted to receive a note from Benjamin Rozonoyer saying that he had been inspired by King Philip's War: The History and Legacy of America's Forgotten Conflict to write a poem about the war--"Ponder Assawompset"--in his new collection, The Beaver Pond.

Ben grew up in Boston in a family of immigrants from the former Soviet Union. He received a master's in computational linguistics from Brandeis University and is pursuing a PhD in computer science and machine learning at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. He lives with his wife and daughter in Colorado, cultivating poems and taking in local landscapes. 

You can purchase a copy of The Beaver Pond from Darkly Bright Press here. 

You may recall that Assawompsett Pond in modern-day Lakeville is where John Sassamon was allegedly murdered in the winter of 1674/5. The trial, a kind of kangaroo court held in Plymouth, was an event that sparked King Philip's War.

Just south of Assawompsett Pond is the Royal Wampanoag Cemetery, a small, beautiful cemetery that is the final resting place for some of Massasoit's descendants.

King Philip's War celebrates its 350th anniversary in 2025. I'll post occasionally about events. A great place to begin is at the Old Colony History Museum, which features an overview and artifacts related to the war, including the Bobet Stone, which commemorates the first England colonist killed in Taunton. . .

The Old Colony Museum is also home to John Thompson's long gun, an important part of the folklore of the war in Middleboro. Gun researchers and collectors visit from near and far to get a glimpse.

These fascinating artifacts are a stone's throw from the Museum's new Military Room, a must see.

Meanwhile, I'm headed out on a birding adventure. If I make my connections and find my group in New Mexico, I'll post from there. 

My 13 Favorite Gravestones and Memorials

After researching local history and genealogy for 50 years, I have traipsed through a fair number of cemeteries. (See "I See Dead Entrepreneurs" about Mount Auburn, and "I See Dead Entrepreneurs: Dr. Augustin Thompson and Moxie.")

As I was death cleaning some of my 1,404 image folders the other day, I decided I had enough odds and ends to assemble a Top 13 Favorite Gravestones list.  

#13 The first chapter of Innovation on Tap featured Eli Whitney, whose beautiful tombstone sits in Yale’s Grove Street Cemetery.

Most people know Whitney for this cotton gin and his firearms factory, but I covered his most remarkable achievement in a 2013 post, “Not for the Squeamish: Eli Whitney’s Greatest Innovation.”

What makes the Grove Street Cemetery fascinating is the number of American innovators buried so closely to Whitney.