#51 Boston - Weeding, Hammering and Lawn Mowing
Greetings Fellow Earthlings! Ella, the spaceship has landed on the foreign planet of Franconia, NH far far away from the galaxy of Boston. Stephanie and I headed out in my little blue space pod as soon as we could manage, and Thursday right before a long weekend seemed as good a time as any. Steph has finally calmed down after experiencing some bouts of overexcitement from the mere sight of trees. And the sun, of course, she says, "don't forget the sun!" The car ride up here was spent playing "Life Stories of Fellow Travelers" - featuring Gregg, the burly Saturn Driver, with his white trash girlfriend Kimberley (he lives in a basement at his parents' house, watching WWF and boxing matches on his big screen TV surrounded by his collection of Budweiser mirrors). Other celebrities from the road included Chuck, the peace-loving, hard-riding, pot-smoking New Hampshire mountain hermit (a very kind man, as his neighbors have said) and the love of his life, his 20-year old Labrador retriever, Daisy Babe, and of course Lin, the regional manager for SconicCare electric tooth brushes, who due to a recent episode of major dental care burnout has now joined a cult and listens to enlightening tapes of Guru Rajadan while driving her hybrid car to NH, hoping to find herself in nature yet looking stylish while doing so.
Currently Rick is sitting on the sofa buried in maps trying to figure out how many 4000-footers we could possibly do this weekend - the number seven was mentioned, which means I could take the rest of the year off and really do nothing (my goal was to do at least 10). I'll keep you posted. The next update might come from a beach in Mexico or my couch. Anything can happen, the year is young.
But before I dive too much into this weekend, let's see what happened last week - for once I spend my time in and around Boston (more or less). My hiking buddies all left town, and so it was up to me to make the magic happen. Saturday morning, armed with a good dose of motivation, I headed for a little hike with my friends from the Appalachian Mountain Club, the AMC (http://www.outdoors.org/). The destination was Breakheart Reservation in Saugus (about 11 miles north of the hub), a 640 -acre parcel of forest and hiking trails, with some nice rocky hills and a couple of lakes thrown in (the Silver and Pearce Lakes) (http://www.saugus.net/Photos/images/bheart_first_lake.jpg). A most pleasurable hike, with some old familiar faces, and maybe too little time to stop and check out the botany. Our trip leader seemed a bit in a rush, and ended up slipping into a creek first thing, which delighted the group to no end.
From there I was off to the lovely Northshore seaside community of Nahant - its name is actually a Native American word meaning "Almost an Island" (see enclosed picture). It is a lovely little spot, a rocky peninsula looking out into Massachusetts Bay. I think folks there might be a little off kilter, I just read that apparently every New Year's a whole pile of crackpots heads down to the beach and dives into the icy waters of the Bay. As much as I like winter, the thought would just not occur to me. Especially on New Year's Day, when us normal people have a hangover to nurse, right? Anyway, I went there to see Stephanie and go for a lovely walk out to the Harbor - we just needed to inhale every little morsel of sunshine we could get that day. It has not been raining that much anymore, which is a good thing. It's late May for crying out loud and about a week-and-a-half ago it snowed on Mt Washington (check it out: http://www.mountwashington.org). Just a couple of days ago it was 15 degrees up there and the observatory was completely snowed in. It has warmed up a bit (actually 83 today in Franconia), which makes us hope that maybe summer will come after all.
Next Stop Charlestown, for a smooth cup of tea and half a box of chocolates at Elaine's house, and that did it - time to call it a busy day. Sunday was awaiting and with it, manual labor!! I had volunteered though Boston Cares to help out at Community Boating (http://www.community-boating.org/), a wonderful nonprofit that teaches sailing, located right along the Charles River. After mowing the entire lawn in front of the main building, it was time to head out to the docks and hammer - apparently the nails decide to pop up after Boston's frigid winter temperatures and our exciting task was to pound them back into the dock. Fun!! Well, it was a wee bit tedious, but the team was rewarded with hot dogs fresh off the grill afterward, and a sail on the Charles which I sadly had to decline. It was a tad too choppy for my sea-unworthy self, better stay put and not get green in the face.
Well, now I was on a roll and headed home for some serious weeding. The walkway on the side of my palace was quite overgrown, and also featured some unsightly piles of dead leaves, trash that people decided to throw over the fence, and a defunct kitchen sink. Well, you should see it now, it sparkles! Dead leaves - gone, weeds -gone, kitchen sink - gone. It is a beauty and ready for some planters and a comfy chair right next to the BBQ. Good plan.
In other good news, this is week 1 of Petra's marathon training - I have signed up for the Scotiabank Waterfront Marathon in Toronto on September 24th - my first full marathon, and this week was the start of training. Monday -rest, Tuesday 3 miles, Wednesday - 3 Miles, Thursday -3 miles, Friday - rest, Saturday - 6 miles and Sunday Cross Training. I am scared and excited at the same time, but have the support of two running groups and even some of my couch-loving friends. Stay tuned for updates from the road. (http://www.torontowaterfrontmarathon.com/)
That is all I have to say for this week, next Thursday or so I will be hailing from the city of Atlanta, Georgia, where I will be attending ASCO, the annual conference of the American Society for Clinical Oncology, me and 30,000 of my closest oncologist colleagues. A zoo as usual, but also a good place to network.
It is getting seriously close to midnight and it is time to hit the hay my friends. Enjoy the long weekend, get out there and seek the sun!
pet:)
Currently Rick is sitting on the sofa buried in maps trying to figure out how many 4000-footers we could possibly do this weekend - the number seven was mentioned, which means I could take the rest of the year off and really do nothing (my goal was to do at least 10). I'll keep you posted. The next update might come from a beach in Mexico or my couch. Anything can happen, the year is young.
But before I dive too much into this weekend, let's see what happened last week - for once I spend my time in and around Boston (more or less). My hiking buddies all left town, and so it was up to me to make the magic happen. Saturday morning, armed with a good dose of motivation, I headed for a little hike with my friends from the Appalachian Mountain Club, the AMC (http://www.outdoors.org/). The destination was Breakheart Reservation in Saugus (about 11 miles north of the hub), a 640 -acre parcel of forest and hiking trails, with some nice rocky hills and a couple of lakes thrown in (the Silver and Pearce Lakes) (http://www.saugus.net/Photos/images/bheart_first_lake.jpg). A most pleasurable hike, with some old familiar faces, and maybe too little time to stop and check out the botany. Our trip leader seemed a bit in a rush, and ended up slipping into a creek first thing, which delighted the group to no end.
From there I was off to the lovely Northshore seaside community of Nahant - its name is actually a Native American word meaning "Almost an Island" (see enclosed picture). It is a lovely little spot, a rocky peninsula looking out into Massachusetts Bay. I think folks there might be a little off kilter, I just read that apparently every New Year's a whole pile of crackpots heads down to the beach and dives into the icy waters of the Bay. As much as I like winter, the thought would just not occur to me. Especially on New Year's Day, when us normal people have a hangover to nurse, right? Anyway, I went there to see Stephanie and go for a lovely walk out to the Harbor - we just needed to inhale every little morsel of sunshine we could get that day. It has not been raining that much anymore, which is a good thing. It's late May for crying out loud and about a week-and-a-half ago it snowed on Mt Washington (check it out: http://www.mountwashington.org). Just a couple of days ago it was 15 degrees up there and the observatory was completely snowed in. It has warmed up a bit (actually 83 today in Franconia), which makes us hope that maybe summer will come after all.
Next Stop Charlestown, for a smooth cup of tea and half a box of chocolates at Elaine's house, and that did it - time to call it a busy day. Sunday was awaiting and with it, manual labor!! I had volunteered though Boston Cares to help out at Community Boating (http://www.community-boating.org/), a wonderful nonprofit that teaches sailing, located right along the Charles River. After mowing the entire lawn in front of the main building, it was time to head out to the docks and hammer - apparently the nails decide to pop up after Boston's frigid winter temperatures and our exciting task was to pound them back into the dock. Fun!! Well, it was a wee bit tedious, but the team was rewarded with hot dogs fresh off the grill afterward, and a sail on the Charles which I sadly had to decline. It was a tad too choppy for my sea-unworthy self, better stay put and not get green in the face.
Well, now I was on a roll and headed home for some serious weeding. The walkway on the side of my palace was quite overgrown, and also featured some unsightly piles of dead leaves, trash that people decided to throw over the fence, and a defunct kitchen sink. Well, you should see it now, it sparkles! Dead leaves - gone, weeds -gone, kitchen sink - gone. It is a beauty and ready for some planters and a comfy chair right next to the BBQ. Good plan.
In other good news, this is week 1 of Petra's marathon training - I have signed up for the Scotiabank Waterfront Marathon in Toronto on September 24th - my first full marathon, and this week was the start of training. Monday -rest, Tuesday 3 miles, Wednesday - 3 Miles, Thursday -3 miles, Friday - rest, Saturday - 6 miles and Sunday Cross Training. I am scared and excited at the same time, but have the support of two running groups and even some of my couch-loving friends. Stay tuned for updates from the road. (http://www.torontowaterfrontmarathon.com/)
That is all I have to say for this week, next Thursday or so I will be hailing from the city of Atlanta, Georgia, where I will be attending ASCO, the annual conference of the American Society for Clinical Oncology, me and 30,000 of my closest oncologist colleagues. A zoo as usual, but also a good place to network.
It is getting seriously close to midnight and it is time to hit the hay my friends. Enjoy the long weekend, get out there and seek the sun!
pet:)
posted by My Boston at
9:12 PM
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