#30 Boston - Snow in Germany, Finally - December 30 2005

Phew! Just under the wire - the snow made it here on the 2nd Christmas Day, late afternoon. Everyone was excited, so we had to make a quick exit for the outdoors and go for yet another walk that day. It has continued to snow off and on since, everything looks like winter wonderland, and the weather forecasters tell us that more is on the way. They also projected that we will ring in the New Year with a bone-chilling cold, so what's not to like?

A first glimpse of that cold front was apparent on Wednesday, when I joined my friends Gitta, Joachim, Lucia, Ursula and Manfred for cross-country skiing up in the Black Forest (Schwarzwald - http://www.schwarzwald.de/). Leaving the Muenstertal Valley (http://www.muenstertal.de/de/index/index.php4) you would have not been prepared for the massive amount of snow up on the mountain, but we were pleasantly surprised by absolutely perfect skiing conditions. Arctic temperatures of minus 10 degrees Celsius hit us smack in the face as we exited the car and for the first mile of our trek I had to stop frequently to do finger calisthenics and at least make some feeble attempt to stop the pain.

Our choice for cross-country skiing was the area of Hohentann, just a smidgen below the Belchen Mountain (http://www.belchen-seilbahn.de/), with 1415 meters one of the key peaks of the Black Forest. It is considered by many the prettiest of the summits, and affords spectacular views of the Rhine River Valley, the Vosges in France and on a clear day the Swiss Alps (of course). The cross country trails (Loipen in German) were perfectly laid out and led us through a stunning snow-covered and very picturesque pine forest. We lugged about 10 kilometers (in record speed of course) before heading for lunch at the Restaurant and Hotel Wiedener Eck (www.wiedener-eck.de/ ) for some hot chocolate and local cuisine. My food of choice was a Swabian specialty, Maultaschen (http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maultaschen), kind of an oversized ravioli filled with a tasty mixture of ground meat, vegetables and spices.

This was our second cross-country skiing adventure - Gitta, her daughter Lucia and I had ventured out the week before in search of some decent trails. We decided on a route near Egerten called the Meierkopfspur (http://www.lipple.de/html/ausblicke_9.html), which rewarded us with breathtaking vistas (again) of the Rhine River Valley and decent aerobic challenges in the shape of some sizable hills.

Both trips to the Black Forest have been so tremendously enjoyable for me - rather than sitting on the couch for a week and a half and stuffing my face with every Christmas cookie within reach, I have been seeing this area in a very different light. My passion for the outdoors which has been nurtured so strongly through my hiking in New England, has provided me with a new way to spend time with friends and family when I come to visit. On that note, we headed out to cross-country ski again today, but more about that trip next week (just a little glimpse here: http://www.lipple.de/html/bildergalerie.html).

A whirlwind of activities has happened here since I wrote to you last, dinners and lunches, Christmas celebrations where pretty cool gifts were exchanged (many of them related to my outdoor activities), visits to local restaurants and even a trip to the theater. Gitta, Lucia and I took the train and headed to my old college town of Freiburg (www.freiburg.de) to attend a performance of "Die Schneekoenigin" (The Snow Queen) at the Stadttheater. (http://www.theater.freiburg.de/). It is a fairy tale by renowned Hans Christian Andersen (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Christian_Andersen), who was actually born in Odense, Denmark in 1805 - he emerged as THE ultimate writer of fairy tales, including such classics as "The Princess and the Pea", "The Emperor's New Clothes" and "The Ugly Duckling". The plot was simple: snow queen is an evil old hag, in cahoots with a very greedy magistrate, they poison the mind of a charming young man, but his girlfriend with the help of some dubious characters rescues him. The End. It was a well done play with witty and captivating performances and a very young and engaged audience.

I had promised a few culinary tidbits, so here you go:

*The above mentioned "Maultaschen" (= mouth bags) derive their name (supposedly) from their place of origin, the monastery of Maulbronn, where the monks were trying to conceal the fact that they were eating meat during fasting, so they hid the meat in "dough bags". Because of this reason they were also called "Herrgottsbscheisserle" (little God cheaters). Other theories attribute the meat in the Maultaschen to the Protestants, and some say it was just a cheap copy of the Italian Ravioli. You decide.

*Dampfnudeln (or as one of my friends used to call them - "dough bombs") are sweet buns made from a yeast dough, steamed in milk and served with a fruit sauce. (http://www.sheries-kitchen.com/recipes/german/dampfnudeln.htm)

*Striebele are deep-fried strings of dough, similar to funnel cake (any questions on why I had heartburn?)

*Gluehwein is the traditional mulled wine - red wine infused with spices and citrus fruit. We drink tons of it.

*Schaeufele is a ham, and the traditional Southern German Christmas food. It is served with potato salad.

*New discovery: "warm ice" - looks like ice cream, but is whipped milk, terribly decadent, and after a few bites, too much.

My friends - I will return to Boston on Sunday, ready to see many of you again. My toes have healed nicely and I am soooo ready to run again!! I wish you all a great start into the New Year - may our friendships deepen, our adventures be many, our dreams be bigger than the sky, and our laughter and fun never stop.

Love you all.

pet:)

#29 Boston - Jetlag and Heartburn - Now That's Christmas - December 22, 2005

Hello my friends across the ocean, across the street and wherever else you may be hiding. Petra's weekly remarks are being composed in the lovely town of Neuenburg in Southern Germany (www.neuenburg.de), where the weather is cold (33 degrees F currently) and dreary, and I am suffering from a good dose of jetlag and heartburn. If that isn't Christmas! We might be expecting a little snow in time for the holidays, but most likely it ain't going to be a White Christmas this year for us.

I arrived here this past Monday morning, with no sleep on the plane, exhausted but happy about having a nice two-week break and about being able to see my family and friends at home. Before that, of course, there were still some fun activities to attend in Boston. On Saturday, my friend Elaine and I headed over to the always worthwile Museum of Fine Arts (www.mfa.org) in Boston for two exhibits - Ansel Adams Photography in the Gund Gallery - and a second fairly decent display of "The Facets of Cubism". Ansel Adams, as many of you know, is the consummate Black and White nature photographer and one of my favorite artists (http://www.anseladams.com/). In particular his photographies of Yosemite Valley and the Sierra Nevada mountains are stunning works of art - in his own words he considered this area "a great earth gesture". He was an avaricious defender of wilderness and the environment, and more than outspoken on threats to natural areas, including what he called the National Park Service's "resortism". He died in 1984 but not without leaving a tremendous legacy of remarkable technical skill and passion for nature.

His son Michael describes one anectode:
“Ansel was driving, and Cedric was in the passenger seat. I was eight years old, half listening to the banter, watching the world fly by out the window. We were in Ansel’s old Pontiac station wagon, heading back to Santa Fe. It had been a long day, and not, apparently, very successful. I don’t really remember any discussion about the potential of Moonrise at the time, only that we were moving really fast. Ansel was by nature prone to driving fast, but skilled and certainly not reckless. It was quite a shock, therefore, to suddenly be on the gravel shoulder of the road, fishtailing and dust flying as Ansel slammed on the brakes. “Hurry ! Hurry ! Hurry ! Grab the camera case ! It’s under there, get that out of the way. Where’s the tripod. Film holders ! Hurry ! Where’s the light meter ? ! ! Where’s the light meter ? ! Oh, no, the light’s going…” Things were flying out of the car and onto the ground as we were frantically grabbing things that Ansel needed. Certainly not a direct quote, but at the end of it, Ansel knew he had something. He didn’t find the light meter, but he made exposure based on the known luminosity of the moon – 250 foot candles. The rest, as they say, is history.”

The second exhibit of the day focused on cubism, a style of modern art mostly dominated by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braques, which is seen as a continuation of the art of Paul Cezanne and the so-called fauvism, a post-impressionist movement that incuded Paul Matisse. This style aimed at reducing the depicted objects to a set of cubes, cylinders, cones, and circles. The MFA exhibit was not a very comprehensive display of cubist artists aside from a few paintings and illustrations by Picasso and Bracques, and I for one would have liked to see a bit more from Juan Gris and Marc Chagall. Interesting nevertheless.

This decent dose of culture was immediately followed by a different kind of event; Ellen, Patrick and I headed over to the movie theater to take in "King Kong" (http://www.kongisking.net/index.shtml). It is a must-see, and definitely has master film maker Peter Jackson's signature to it, including the 3 hour time it takes to sit through it. Pretty cool special effects, excellent movie making. The evening ended with a nice beer at the Silvertone Bar and Grill on Bromfield Street, where we had to convince Patrick that they had indeed the best Mac and Cheese ever!
The rest of the weekend was completed by finishing packing and a lovely Chrismas brunch Sunday morning before heading to the airport. Life is good.

Since arriving here in Germany life has been good as well (maybe aside from the heartburn), and all kinds of fun activities have commenced. On Tuesday Gitta and I paid a surprise visit to my friend Gisela in the neighboring town of Auggen (http://www.auggenblick.de/auggenblcik.de_Auggen_Serie03.htm). Gisela's husband is the mayor there and she had to officiate a most charming event - an "advent calendar on foot" - every day during the advent season, another home reveals a Christmas window with a story attached to it. What a lovely event - quite a good crowd gathered, enjoyed hot cocoas with Amaretto or a little Schnaps and sang Christmas songs together.

Yesterday, my friends Fredi and Wendy and their daughter Tassia from California came by for a visit, and after a very tasty lunch in a local restaurant, we headed up to see some snow in the foothills of the BlackForest. Our visit lead us to see Schloss Buergeln (http://www.schlossbuergeln.de/). The castle as it is now was built in 1762 (some of the buildings actually date back to the 11th century) and is lovingly called the "Pearl of the Markgraeflerland". It was mostly used as a monastery but is now privately owned. A solid wall surrounds the castle, and there are some very amiable hiking paths nearby and even a natural water source, where locals come and fill their bottles with natural spring water.

Last night Marion (my brother's girlfriend), Andrea (her sister) and I headed to Freiburg, my old college town - http://freiburg.de/ - to vistit the "Weihnachtsmarkt", one of the traditional German Christmas markets, very quaint and appealing with lots of regional arts and crafts, tasty treats (Dampfnudeln, Striebele and Bratwurst, yumm!) and lots of mulled wine (Gluehwein!). I promised my friend Beth to write all about the food, but will save this up for my think-piece next week.

Tonight, the Schoki Club is meeting, tomorrow cross country skiing is on the agenda, and a visit to the theater is in the planning stages as well for early next week. Christmas celebrations are coming up for the weekend - so no rest for the weary and no boredom in sight.

My friends, again Happy Holidays, however you are planning to spend them! Have fun and go play in the snow!

pet:)

#28 Boston - On the Chilly Side - December 15 2005

First, as usual, the Boston weather report - 17 degrees Fahrenheit (Minus 8 Celsius) - with the wind chill bringing it down to a cuddly 10 degrees (minus 12 Celsius) - time to get out the long johns, balaclavas and the fleece pants! After the snow fall last week, New England has now settled on a bit of a cold spell, with no end in sight. Piles of snow are still gracing the streets here in the hub, and lovely ice patches have required some fancy footwork (in particular for me) in order to avoid major spills. I am happy to report that I have now graduated to wearing sneakers and the surgical shoes have reached the end of their tenure in my house. They had outstayed their welcome, in particular after an incident last Sunday during which I plunged myself - not headlong, but foot-deep - into the most gigantic puddle of ice water ever seen. As a result of this very unfortunate circumstance I had to grab a taxi and get myself and my soaked feet home quickly. As you might imagine, traipsing through slush in open-toed shoes is not really that much fun, and I am very happy that those days are no longer.

As you know I am generally very pleased with winter weather, but not everyone is, AND THAT'S OK. New Englanders absolutely relish in yammering about the weather (myself included - it is considered a pastime). One of my favorite Boston websites - http://www.boston-online.com - features The Boston Winter Misery Center (http://www.boston-online.com/winter.html) - with headlines like "We're going to die" and "Hey, who said winter could start?"
Here is the section on winter driving: "Boston has official winter traffic regulations. Not that you'd ever know it from driving around. By springtime, residential streets look like a rummage sale hit by a tornado - pieces of furniture, recycling bins and other oddments scattered all over the place as people desperately claim "their" parking spaces. It's a quaint Boston tradition that only occasionally leads to fist fights. And remember, once you leave your space, that Boston drivers are even more fun in the wintertime - there's nothing quite like sailing through a red light because you're afraid you might go into a skid if you try to brake." (http://www.boston-online.com/windrive.html)


The Nor'easter is another one of our cherished weather occurrences to ponder - "Did you know we are getting a Nor'easter?" is equivalent to "This could be the worst thing you have EVER seen". These northern winds - actually counter-clockwise turning cyclones - are known for dumping huge amounts of snow and piles of rain in this lovely Commonwealth of ours on occasion. Not all of them make it into the news, but one of the most notorious of them, the Blizzard of '93, forged snow, tornadoes and flooding from Maine to Alabama causing damage exceeding 1 billion dollars.

It has been a busy week in my favorite town of them all - not without its pre-Christmas pleasures though. There is snow for starters, and all of Boston's premier neighborhoods sparkle with lighted trees and holiday decorations - winner in my book as every year is Commonwealth Avenue, featuring stately Victorian buildings on each side and a tree-lined boulevard as its centerpiece. Just beautiful.

Christmas parties are happening at an alarming frequency, and I have vowed to take detoxifying breaks in between - actually I had a little Christmas party on my own last Friday, when I was trying to eyeball the right combination of eggnog and Jamesons Irish Whiskey, which led to a very very early bed time. On Saturday, Jeannine from the running group invited friends to her "Frank Sinatra Cocktail Party" in South Boston (there is nothing like a cocktail outfit combined with surgical shoes...) and Sunday, our friends Waleed and Paula (soon to be married) hosted a most lovely Christmas tea party in the Fenway area. To make amends to the gods of healthy lifestyles, I have finally peeled myself off the couch and been visiting my gym (The Clubs at Charles River Park - http://www.massgeneral.org/clubsatcharlesriver/) . I figured out that I can use the exercise bike without any major burden on my toes, so I really have no more excuses for my slothfulness and inactivity. Located next the Charles River Park high-rises which feature the sign "If you lived here, you'd be home by now" to those stuck in commuter traffic, the fitness club has elegantly adopted the motto "If you worked out here, you'd be fit by now."

Another more off-beat event this weekend took us to the South End in Boston, yet another lovely neighborhood with charming rows of Victorian era brick buildings, lanterns and cobblestone streets (http://www.southendhistoricalsociety.org/about.htm) - my friends Ellen, Patrick and I attended the Bizarre Bazaar at the Boston Center for the Arts (http://www.bazaarbizarre.org/boston/). Greg DerAnanian, founder of said arts and crafts fair started the BB in 2001 as a " hodge-podge of friends and acquaintances cobbling together their handcrafted DIY wares to sell and staging an offbeat entertainment extravaganza" (says Greg). Summary: Very cool stuff, some of it a bit "out there" (unless you really are into vintage ties with the words "slut" stamped on it), packed with people, very happening. Best of the BB: a guy playing a theremin - http://www.interfold.com/rabit/Theremin.htm - an instrument invented in 1919 by Russian scientist Leonin Theremin - it is played by moving your hands between two metal antennas - before synthesizers came along, this was the cool stuff to use, and from what I read, the guys from Led Zeppelin made extensive use of it. The guy performing here was phenomenal - after a few courtesy Christmas songs, he started performing Nirvana and REM songs like you would not believe it.... Fantastic!

My friends, I am happy to report that I am on my last two days of work for this year - I am heading to Germany this Sunday for a lovely two week holiday vacation and I am very much looking forward to it. I wish all of you a wonderful time with your friends, family, or away from them if that is what you prefer. I was very glad to have been able to share this year with you, and leave you with a nice New England tidbit, this one from comedian Jeff Foxworthy.


Petra
_______________________________________________________

You might live in New England if:
-You consider it a sport to gather your food by drilling through 36 inches of ice and sitting there all day hoping it will swim by

-You're proud that your region makes the national news 96 nights each year because Mt. Washington is the coldest spot in the nation, and Boston gets more snow than any other major city in the US

-Your local Dairy Queen is closed from September through May

-You instinctively walk like a penguin for six months out of the year



-Someone in a Home Depot store offers you assistance, and they don't work there

-You've worn shorts and a parka at the same time

-You've had a lengthy telephone conversation with someone who dialed a wrong number

- "Vacation" means going anywhere south of New York City for the weekend

-You measure distance in hours.

-You know several people who have hit a deer more than once.

-You have switched from "heat" to "A/C" in the same day and back again.

-You can drive 65 mph through 2 feet of snow during a raging blizzard without flinching.

-You install security lights on your house and garage, but leave both unlocked.

-You carry jumpers in your car and your girlfriend/wife knows how to use them.

-You design your kid's Halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit.

-The speed limit on the highway is 55 mph -- you're going 80 and everybody is passing you!

-Driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled with snow.

-You know all 4 seasons: almost winter, winter, still winter, and road construction.

-Your 4th of July picnic was moved indoors due to frost.

-You have more miles on your snow blower than your car.

-You find 10 degrees "a little chilly"

#27 Boston - The Big White Wall - December 9 2005

Here is my beef with the Massachusetts weather forecasters - this past weekend, it snowed a little, you know, nothin' much. We were promised up to 8 inches of snow for Tuesday, and what happened? Nothing. Zilch. Zippo. Diddly Squat. Everyone at the conference I attended here in the hub was worried to not to be able to travel back to their respective home towns, and not a snow flake was to be seen. Nada.

So, when we were promised snow for today, none of us thought much of it - yeah right!! It started early this morning, around 7 AM or so, and then snowed, I would say, with moderate effort. About an hour ago, the scene was quite different - The Big White Wall - gigantic flakes, so thick that I could not see any buildings across the street, the Museum of Science completely disappeared, and in addition, jolts of thunder and lightning started to get involved as well. Of course while I am writing this to you, the weather has completely turned around and not a flake in the sky, and who knows, the sun might come out shortly.


Most of you know my love for snow, so you can imagine how happy I am at present. It won't do me any good, as I am still running around in fashionably open-toed slippers. I was hoping to use this occasion to try out the new snow shoes I recently purchased (thanks to a lovely end-of-the-year bonus courtesy of MGH), but that might just have to wait. In light of the current break in the weather I might go and attend the beer tasting of the Stone Brewery at the Charles Street Liquor Store, and call it a night. I have a nice selection of movies waiting for me at home and the heater works. Life is good.

Let's see what happened this past week - on Saturday, upon my return from New Hampshire, I joined my friends Ellen and Patrick for a play - this time "A Christmas Carol - Scrooge and Marley" performed by the Arlington Friends of the Drama in, yes, Arlington (http://www.afdtheatre.org). It was a wonderful production with a very clever stage set up and some grand performances - Frank Hildebrand as Scrooge definitely needs to be highlighted. Every female in attendance was completely enchanted by Samuel C. Deane, the IV as Tiny Tim, and I must mention our friend Irene Szewczuk, who had the crowd going as the very vivacious Mrs. Fezziwig. Plus this is my favorite Christmas story, there you go.

Starting on Sunday, I attended a conference on applied research ethics and responsibilities in medicine and research in Boston's Hynes Convention Center. Oh my!! This was the most boring conference I have ever been to, and aside from a few panel presentations on conflict of interest and drug development, there was really not much to take home from this event. Hordes of bureaucrats rejoiced in reciting the Code of Federal Regulations (word by word....) and put me in state of catatonia and consummate misery. I had more fun with my visit to the Enchanted Village (also in the conference center), which displays a snowy turn-of-the century town (with stores, brownstones, living room displays, animated figures, the whole works). (http://www.boston.com/ae/events/gallery/EnchantedVillage/) A big hit with the kids, and hey, I was desperate!!

'Tis the season, and Christmas parties and other events are popping up all over the place - yesterday it was the MGH Cancer Center shindig, and from there I went straight to my friend Renee's "Stitch-and-Bitch" party, where a rabble of artsy-craftsy people gathered to knit, wire, wood carve, stitch and bitch. I am happy to report that my scarf is nearing completion, and will be able to serve its neck-warming purposes soon.... Two more parties are coming up this weekend - a Frank-Sinatra-cocktail party tomorrow night, and a cookie-egg-nogg type of event on Sunday.

In between, of course, I am house hunting, and I am happy to report that some nice spaces are popping up on my radar screen including a most charming place in the South End (http://www.bostonrealtyweb.com/south_end_photos.htm) and even Cambridge is starting to look up with some nice prospects. I will keep you posted.

My friends, I have to shuffle home and figure out how to get to the beer tasting, which is why I am signing off. I wished you could see the winter wonderland out here - it is extraordinary and beautiful, as always.

pet:)

#26 Boston - A Tuba Christmas December 3 05

There is always something interesting to report about Boston - this time I stumbled upon a band of about 100 tuba players in front of Fanueil Hall playing what turned out to be Christmas tunes. Initially I thought that their repertoire was a bit on the dark, mysterious side, until I realized they were just tuning up the instruments, and hadn't actually started playing yet. Tuba Christmas (http://www.tubachristmas.com/) is actually not a fixed orchestra but takes place in 205 cities in the United States, and is basically a loose congregation of whoever plays the tuba or its higher-pitched cousin, the euphonium. If there is a Tuba Christmas in your town and you happen to play the tuba, come on over! The series was started as a tribute to William J. Bell (an icon in the brass world, not to confuse with the other William J Bell who was the creater of "The Young and the Restless"). Tuba Christmas was performed for the first time in New York City's Rockefeller Plaza Ice Rink on Sunday, December 22, 1974. The Faneuil Hall tuba fest captured the holiday spirit very nicely, and just as if on cue, snowflakes started falling from the sky (only for about 5 minutes though).

I had ended up at Faneuil Hall at the end of my Christmas shopping spree which took all of three hours, and happened all in one street. This was a particularly grand achievement in lieu of the fact, that I was still gimping about in my surgical shoes and trying to avoid the crazy Christmas shoppers from stepping on my tender toes. I am now officially done with Christmas shopping, done, done, done!!

After a brief rest period, I shuffled over to the lovely city of Somerville, yet again - this time to see "Jimmy Tingle's American Dream" at Jimmy Tingle's Off Broadway Theater on Elm Street. I had long wanted to check out what was up with this place (I usually walk by there on my way to my favorite watering hole, The Burren) - and my friend Amanda and I were treated to a very entertaining night with light beer, heavy comedy, savvy political commentary and a fat dose of humor - much of it targeted toward Masschausetts and Boston history!! (www.jimmytingle.com/). The New York Times called Tingle once "more than comic wit . . . so cheerfully intelligent he makes his audience optimistic in the face of appalling reality.” Jimmy Tingle is a local boy, right here from Cambridge and can boast a substantial career as a social commentator and humorist. He also just completed two seasons with 60 Minutes II on CBS as the humorist / commentator in the Andy Rooney spot.

The weekend continued with a lovely breakfast on Sunday morning at Trident, a place right after my heart. 'Tis a lovely bookstore on Newbury Street, an alternative bookseller type of place, with food!! What a charming place!! "The Trident", as it is called, has been around for quite some time, actually since the mid-1980s and is one of those places where you can easily spend an entire morning drinking coffee, eating, reading, reading, and reading.... Amanda and I had breakfast there before our planned Real Estate/ Open House expedition through the Back Bay, which proved to me, once again, that I might want to cast a wider net in my search efforts for a home that is slightly larger than a postage stamp.

Other activities for the day included a visit to Marge (parentless cockatiel), a visit to the cinema to see the newest "Harry Potter" movie (liked it with some caveats), and a visit to Fajitas and Ritas (http://www.fajitasandritas.com/) for some delish Mexican Food.

This week has been equally busy. Monday night I volunteered with Boston Cares, this time at RFB&D - Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic (http://www.rfbd.org/Boston_Unit.htm). What a great thing to do! You get to sit in a sound booth, read books and record them!! I did pretty well, and had only a few bloopers, one of which threw me into a psychotic fit of laughter and made Bill, who was my monitor, question my sanity just a wee bit.
Wednesday night was running group (don't worry I was just hosting, no running for me yet- but I did manage to hobble over to the pub), which ended with a group of us drinking nice beers and toasting to "arch support" and last night, it was Boston Cares yet again - this time ushering at the Lyric Stage Company for "Crowns". http://www.lyricstage.com/Crowns.htm
"A joyous celebration of African-American women and their hats" Crowns was labeled to be a gospel musical - weaving the African tradition of adorning oneself with stories of family history, spiritual worship and friendship among women. The importance on how you carry and present yourself in life - to quote James Baldwin "Our Crowns have already been bought and paid for. All we have to do is to wear them." It was a quite lively performance, with a particularly supreme apperance by Darius Omar Williams, who had the audience leap to their feet.

Last night, in a complete change of pace, I met my friend Denise and a flock of her friends at the BankNorth Garden for a game between national league basketball teams the Bolston Celtics (http://www.nba.com/celtics/) and the Chicago Bulls! The home team did not pull of a win, it was a close game though, and the atmosphere was super! The crowd was completely riled up, and during one of the breaks there was even a marriage proposal on the court. The evening ended at one of my favorite sportsbars in Boston, Porter's Bar and Grill on Portland Street.

I am currently detained at my friend Rick's house in Windham, New Hampshire. Rick, Denise and Barbara (and Phoebe, the dog) are out hiking, but I was scolded yesterday by the podiatrist and told to stay off my feet some more. The toes have not been healing that well after surgery, mostly due to my wearing of sneakers instead of the jazzy surgical shoes. I am actually enjoying this prescribed laziness a bit, as I have to attend a three-day conference starting tomorrow at the Hynes Convention Center here in Boston.

That's it for me for this week. Be well my friends, and watch out for other people's toes, they might be hurting.

pet:)