Weekend

[Clockwise: Ingrid, Sat. am; Cutler Park, Sat. noon; coffee table, Sun. noon]

I went on a nice two-hour hike yesterday morning at Cutler Park Reservation, which "comprise[s] the largest remaining fresh water marsh on the middle Charles." It was lovely. A light overnight snow stuck to branches and carpeted paths, and the sun streamed in atmospherically through a scrim of thin clouds. I only took a few photos since I was walking with a group (see three pix here).

After the walk, we drove to Newton Center and had lunch at Sabra, which serves Middle Eastern food. Not much on atmosphere, but the food was quite tasty - including excellent hummus -- and we had a fun discussion of the recent Super Tuesday elections. This being Massachusetts, all of us who could and did vote (we had a couple of non-US citizens) were liberals more or less, so it was a pretty safe discussion. Barack or Hillary, Hillary or Barack... (The three women at the table had voted for Obama, upending one guy's theory that all women vote for Hillary, and one guy confessed that he voted for Hillary and then spent the evening rooting for Obama, confirming the theory that people are often flaky and irrational when it comes to voting.)

I was planning to go to the movies last night, but my friend Martha felt like blowing off steam after a tough week, so I joined her in Arlington at Flora. Since we'd both eaten, we were planning to just get a drink at the bar, but Arlington is still a semi-dry town -- alcohol can be served, but only with food. So I ordered a soup -- Hubbard squash with maple-cider vinaigrette reduction and fried sage -- yummy! Martha had an appetizer of Swiss chard and roasted garlic ravioli with red wine tomato sauce, which I also tasted and it was quite good.

I'd thought about joining today's walk and lunch, but I'd had enough socializing, and after last weekend's over-busyness, I decided to stay in and enjoy the apartment to myself for the day (along with Ingrid, of course). In the past hour we've had rain then snow then thundersnow and suddenly now the sun is shining brightly, although I see clouds rolling in. Besides the weather, I have laundry and knitting and today's paper to keep me thoroughly entertained (well, nix laundry for entertainment, of course).

[Looks like TypePad has done something which has made all my quad-photo collages bump each other down-page unless they're right up against each other (no space between). Sigh. I hope this is just a temporary glitch or I'll have something else to "entertain" myself with today...]

Comments

[zhoen]

Love all the conditions on the specialness of Cutler Park,
remaining, fresh water, middle. Not the largest marsh on the Charles, but after three qualifiers, it is. Ha.

[marja-leena]

Interesting weekend of activities and pleasures. Hope Typepad doesn't add to your busy-ness.

[kat]

Sounds like your weekend had just the right pace, but most importantly, you had some time to yourself. The older I get the more I realize how important self time is. The great vote debate, I think this year people are very fickle. This includes me. Most of my friends and family are liberal, but my biggest concern is which democratic can really land the white house (not who I like, but which one do I think can really do it).

[joanna]

My favorite Ingrid picture is the one on the right. I'm sure she cares.

[Neith]

Love the photos of your dog. I lost my dear old lady last July and am preparing to get a pup here soon as the snow is gone. Of course, on one level i know having a puppy will be a major pain in the rear but that's part of the package!

[leslee]

Zhoen: Yes, well I guess when you're a little park among many you have to find some way to distinguish yourself. :-)

Marja-Leena: Thanks. I put in a help ticket and they said they'd work on it.

Kat: Yes, good to have some time to myself. The election race should continue to be interesting to watch...

Joanna: I will tell her. She's quite vain, you know. Thinks she looks great in both pix, of course.

Neith: She's my housemate's dog. I just borrow her. After my last dog, I decided not to get tied down with another dog - so I got a housemate with one! All the fun without the responsibility. At least most of the time. :-)