It's been a pleasant, idle weekend with family. We spent much of yesterday in the Osher Map Library at the University of Southern Maine, which is a surprisingly absorbing place . . . all kinds of oddities in the stacks and generally a really interesting featured show, this time the insurance maps of 19th-century New England textile mills, a bird's-eye view of the factories, their landscape, even the layout of workers' tenements. Then we tooled down to Cove Street Arts to look at Tom's show, ate some oysters, listened to the Sox pound the Tigers, and ended with dinner at a tapas restaurant downtown.

Today we'll drive down to Laudholm Farm and stroll along the salt marsh in the bird sanctuary, probably eat picnic sandwiches since nothing will be open on Easter, and eventually make our way back to Portland for lamb chops at the Alcott House.

One of the things I got excited about at the map library was a book titled Charles Booth's London Poverty Maps. Booth was a 19th-century philanthropist and reformer who took it upon himself to organize a complex documentation of London's poor. Naturally there are problems with his findings and how he acquired his information. Nonetheless, the material is fascinating and moving, and I want to go back to the library and spend more time with it.

Among other items is a facsimile of a handwritten list, "Causes of Pauperization," which feels like a poem in embryo. Click on the photo and you should get a readable version:

"Misfortune (Ye Gods)."