#2 Boston - Bugs in the Woods - June 17, 2005
If you think the attack of the dust particles on my friend Lisa in New York was vicious, you did not witness the onslaught of a massive contingent of iniquitous bloodsucking mosquitoes on a group of innocent AMC hikers in the Blue Hills outside of Boston this past weekend (http://www.friendsofthebluehills.org/). Temperatures in the 90s in the previous week and a swampland adjacent to the hiking trails contributed to this very unfortunate event, which led us to cut short a planned 4-hour hike after about an hour-and-a-half, at which point our leader and some other doomed participants looked quite frankly as if they were afflicted with small pox. Bite counts exceeding 50 were noted in the record books that day.
I myself had wandered around in a mist of bug repellent, slathered with sunscreen lotion, and still managed to come home with approximately 10 bug bites, including a particularly uncomfortable specimen behind my right ear. As a pre-emptive measure to avoid having said bug bites turn into dinner plate-sized welts, I spent the next three days in a Benadryl-induced daze, which led to some very enjoyable naps, not all of them in appropriate places. Oh well!
Being a glutton for punishment, I ventured off on another hike on Sunday, this time in a most diverting place called Purgatory Chasm in Sutton, Massachusetts (http://www.gweep.net/~lizzie/purgatory/). My friend Glenn and his kids Noah (aka Mamba Boy "hihihi-euw-euw-yucky") and Madison had brought me to this 14,000-year-old gorge with trails anywhere from 1/4 to 1 mile, and titanic-sized granite boulders strewn loosely about as if a giant had carelessly tossed them aside.
The chasm features favorites such as "Devil's Coffin" (http://www.gweep.net/~lizzie/purgatory/images/chasm/devils-coffin-98.jpg), "His Majesty's Cave" (http://www.gweep.net/~lizzie/purgatory/images/chasm/his-majestys-cave-98.jpg), "Lover's Leap" and, everyone's favorite, "Fat Man's Misery" - which is a fracture between two giant granite rock formations. You lower yourself down, and then shimmy sideways along the gap with your face and other parts of your body smashed against the rock. Absolutely cool! (http://www.gweep.net/~lizzie/purgatory/images/chasm/scott-in-fatmansmisery-98.jpg). The name "Fat Man's Misery" tells all, and you have to be a reasonably slender build in order to get in (and out for that matter).
Our attempts at further exploring the area were thwarted by rain and so we hightailed it back to the Rivard family's hometown of Sharon, MA. The car ride home was quite entertaining and a quite giggle-ish affair, mostly caused by my casual statement that I really don't like toast, which did delight the kids to no end. Well, I do aim to please!
The two hikes provided ample distraction from the fact that work had been getting exponentially more stressful in view of the NCI site visit on June 21, aka next Tuesday. Craziness at work combined with a bit of a stomach ailment has made this past week a taxing one. I have been countering this challenge with time spent with friends, lots of exercise and some reality escapes courtesy of Netflix (this week's favorites: "Mystic River" and "Memento").
The weather has also been accommodating by dropping about 30 degrees down into the 50s and all is well in joggingland. The Charles River Esplanade and Charlestown were both frequented this week for runs.
On another good note, I passed my first performance evaluation at MGH with flying colors and am happy to report that they want to keep me around a little longer.
Last night, my friend Ellen and I represented Boston Cares at the MSPCA (Massachusetts Society for the Protection against Cruelty to Animals) in Jamaica Plain. It was our time to walk the dogs from the animal shelter - this week featuring Princess, a lovely shepherd mix, a hyperactive black lab named Dede, an even more wound up Jack Russell Terrier from Belmont, and, my favorite - Buddy, a Sharpei mix, who pretty much resembled a barrel with legs, but impressed me by jogging around the parking lot jauntily and with notable speed. Even though most of the action was in the cat room, we also had time to visit the ferrets, rabbits, guinea pigs, Chinchillas, lizards, budgies and hang out the two most charming MSPCA house pets: two pit bulls, who were absolute darlings. The larger of the two, Chaos, had a head the size of a bowling ball, perceived himself to be the best lap dog of them all and seemed extremely interested in a bag of pretzels I had in my bag. What a wonderful experience, and I am happy to report that two of the dogs (Princess and Dede) and several cats were adopted that night.
My friends - I am looking to the next few days with trepidation and with the knowledge that I am going to be a tired, exhausted, slightly grumpy and stressed out little person, and I ask for your forgiveness ahead of time.
My Boston friends, If you can give me lots of TLC, your shoulders to lean on, your ears to listen to - you know I will return the favor should the NCI ever visit you.
Keep your evenings open Tuesday and beyond - we are going to celebrate!!
All my love,
pet:)
I myself had wandered around in a mist of bug repellent, slathered with sunscreen lotion, and still managed to come home with approximately 10 bug bites, including a particularly uncomfortable specimen behind my right ear. As a pre-emptive measure to avoid having said bug bites turn into dinner plate-sized welts, I spent the next three days in a Benadryl-induced daze, which led to some very enjoyable naps, not all of them in appropriate places. Oh well!
Being a glutton for punishment, I ventured off on another hike on Sunday, this time in a most diverting place called Purgatory Chasm in Sutton, Massachusetts (http://www.gweep.net/~lizzie/purgatory/). My friend Glenn and his kids Noah (aka Mamba Boy "hihihi-euw-euw-yucky") and Madison had brought me to this 14,000-year-old gorge with trails anywhere from 1/4 to 1 mile, and titanic-sized granite boulders strewn loosely about as if a giant had carelessly tossed them aside.
The chasm features favorites such as "Devil's Coffin" (http://www.gweep.net/~lizzie/purgatory/images/chasm/devils-coffin-98.jpg), "His Majesty's Cave" (http://www.gweep.net/~lizzie/purgatory/images/chasm/his-majestys-cave-98.jpg), "Lover's Leap" and, everyone's favorite, "Fat Man's Misery" - which is a fracture between two giant granite rock formations. You lower yourself down, and then shimmy sideways along the gap with your face and other parts of your body smashed against the rock. Absolutely cool! (http://www.gweep.net/~lizzie/purgatory/images/chasm/scott-in-fatmansmisery-98.jpg). The name "Fat Man's Misery" tells all, and you have to be a reasonably slender build in order to get in (and out for that matter).
Our attempts at further exploring the area were thwarted by rain and so we hightailed it back to the Rivard family's hometown of Sharon, MA. The car ride home was quite entertaining and a quite giggle-ish affair, mostly caused by my casual statement that I really don't like toast, which did delight the kids to no end. Well, I do aim to please!
The two hikes provided ample distraction from the fact that work had been getting exponentially more stressful in view of the NCI site visit on June 21, aka next Tuesday. Craziness at work combined with a bit of a stomach ailment has made this past week a taxing one. I have been countering this challenge with time spent with friends, lots of exercise and some reality escapes courtesy of Netflix (this week's favorites: "Mystic River" and "Memento").
The weather has also been accommodating by dropping about 30 degrees down into the 50s and all is well in joggingland. The Charles River Esplanade and Charlestown were both frequented this week for runs.
On another good note, I passed my first performance evaluation at MGH with flying colors and am happy to report that they want to keep me around a little longer.
Last night, my friend Ellen and I represented Boston Cares at the MSPCA (Massachusetts Society for the Protection against Cruelty to Animals) in Jamaica Plain. It was our time to walk the dogs from the animal shelter - this week featuring Princess, a lovely shepherd mix, a hyperactive black lab named Dede, an even more wound up Jack Russell Terrier from Belmont, and, my favorite - Buddy, a Sharpei mix, who pretty much resembled a barrel with legs, but impressed me by jogging around the parking lot jauntily and with notable speed. Even though most of the action was in the cat room, we also had time to visit the ferrets, rabbits, guinea pigs, Chinchillas, lizards, budgies and hang out the two most charming MSPCA house pets: two pit bulls, who were absolute darlings. The larger of the two, Chaos, had a head the size of a bowling ball, perceived himself to be the best lap dog of them all and seemed extremely interested in a bag of pretzels I had in my bag. What a wonderful experience, and I am happy to report that two of the dogs (Princess and Dede) and several cats were adopted that night.
My friends - I am looking to the next few days with trepidation and with the knowledge that I am going to be a tired, exhausted, slightly grumpy and stressed out little person, and I ask for your forgiveness ahead of time.
My Boston friends, If you can give me lots of TLC, your shoulders to lean on, your ears to listen to - you know I will return the favor should the NCI ever visit you.
Keep your evenings open Tuesday and beyond - we are going to celebrate!!
All my love,
pet:)
posted by My Boston at
12:41 PM
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