3rd House Journal

October

Ah, where has the time gone? Busy with work, as ever. Avoiding sitting any more than already required for the job -- another impediment to blogging. However, I did just install a Varidesk sit-stand thingie in my home office, which means I can stand some portion of the time at my computer and I like it a lot! I may have to work from home a bit more since we don't have the means to stand at desks at the office. [photo: Beech tree in the Public Garden, Boston, 10/23/16]

After a very dry summer (we have extreme drought in this part of New England), we got a bit of rain over the weekend. It's starting to cool down to normal October weather, too, after some weird 80-degree days the end of last week. Tomorrow's forecast hinted at the possibility of snow flurries. I get up for work in the morning while it's still dark, though that will change for awhile when we turn the clocks back this weekend. Soon I'll be driving home from work in the dark as well. [photo: Newbury St in Boston; 10/22/16]

Despite the drought, we've seen some fall foliage around here that isn't just dried brown leaves. Further north of here in Vermont where we visited friends the first weekend of October, the foliage was spectacular. My friend and her husband have retired up there, although MJ just took a job at the local ski resort selling season ski passes. This gave her free access to the road that winds up the mountain to the peak (normally quite pricey), so we piled into her minivan and she drove us up for sightseeing, one of the last weekends before they close the road for the winter season. [photos below: Stowe, Vermont, 10/1/16] More photos from Vermont here.

  

 I had my 40th high school reunion the weekend before last, which was quite fun actually. I absolved D of coming with me (he had a friend visiting anyway) so I could catch up with friends I haven't spoken to in 20 years (I did go to my 20th, so long ago). We had a large turnout, not surprisingly since there were more than 800 people in my graduating class! Nice to be with so many people my age since everyone I work with is 15 to 35 years younger than me, and D and many of my friends are a few years to a dozen years older.

Other than that, I and many of my friends and, well, countrymen and women, have been existing in high anxiety over the political situation in our country. Things seem to be heading in a positive direction regarding the elections (just 2 weeks from yesterday), which eases the mind a bit, but nothing to be taken for granted. I will be relieved (presumably, fingers crossed) when the elections are over. But so much sorry behavior and sentiment. I hope lancing this boil to let these things come to light helps to eventually cleanse the country, however noxious it is in the meantime. I teeter between pessimism and hope.

Maybe it's the perfect season, Halloween, which brings out the ghouls and goblins and gives them their due. I remember years ago visiting a friend in Santa Fe, New Mexico for the annual Fiesta, where they bring out Zozobra, Old Man Gloom. People contribute mementos of the year's troubles, let Zozobra rail a bit, before burning him in effigy along with their troubles away for another year. I think we could use a similar ritual after the elections to cleanse our own spirits and make way for a merrier holiday season.

[Back Bay, Boston; 10/23/16] 

Into the summer...

With all the swirl of swill that seems to be enveloping the world these days, there are also the long days of sunshine and warmth. And, alas, the long nights waking in sweat if I can even fall into sleep in the first place. The long holiday weekend was particularly challenging at D's as another person's heat and movement and, well, just presence set me off, no fault of his. But I managed some sleep and once back home replenished the coffers some, even though still waking a few times to daub myself in ice water (all this despite plentiful air conditioning). At least the weather over the weekend could not have been lovelier, warm and dry with sweet breezes. The city streets near D at night were fragrant with honeysuckle from the tiny manicured gardens in the neighborhood.

We walked down by the river a couple of days before the big 4th of July Independence Day celebrations on Monday (first photo below) and then again the evening before (second photo), when the Boston Pops orchestra and guests had rehearsal for the big night. Where last year's rehearsal evening felt like an armed camp with military police making us feel rather less secure for their presence, this year's security detail was present without feeling oppressive but more or less reassuring. And we watched the concert the evening of, then walked down the end of the street to watch the fireworks over the river without needing to cross over into the crowds.

Before the long holiday weekend, both D and I were away on separate travels, he to a wedding in Pittsburgh and I to see my dad in Michigan. My dad was doing well and we had a nice visit. I managed to get one nice walk in at the arboretum, including down to its river, and otherwise just walked a few times around where he lives. We watched Red Sox games and some soccer (football) and more than enough of the news (Brexit happened while I was there, which at least took most of the attention off our horrid US politics for awhile), went out to eat every night, and as usual I got him parked in the coffee shop one day while I shopped at my favorite shops downtown.

And now I'm back to work for a short week before another weekend comes. A friend is celebrating her 70th birthday on Sunday, so we're hoping for good weather for that since she's planned it outside around her pool. The fine dry weather last weekend has devolved into hot and humid, more usual for this time of year, and thunderstorms are threatening. Hopefully they'll hold off or pass by.

Still here

Two months after my last post, checking back in. The news is unbearably sad or infuriating in turn these days here in the US. And yet there is still beauty and love.

On Saturday, we walked down the street to the Boston Pride Parade, which was fun and joyful despite the drizzle. A very long parade and disparate or maybe inclusive is the word - gay dad groups, drag queens, LGBT sports teams, church groups of all stripes, public education advocates, a pet rescue group, many large local corporate sponsors, and our liberal politicians including both of our US senators (including Elizabeth Warren, which was rather thrilling since she's becoming quite the rock star). With all the hateful stupidity bubbling up around the country, it's heartening to know at least that I live in a state with sane, progressive representatives.

[At the Boston Pride Parade; 11 June 2016]

Otherwise, we are enjoying the long summer days, which have been on the cool side lately, which I am perfectly happy with. I'll not be doing much beach going and sunning this summer after suffering through the past month healing from the excision of a swath of skin off my back to remove a basal cell carcinoma, nothing serious but very uncomfortable (and not at all easy to wash and dress by myself twice a day, bandage in one hand and mirror in the other navigating against reverse reflection to position the bandage in just the right spot). Better now a month later, no more bandage at least. 

We did get up to Rockport one very hot day in May, thinking the sea breezes would be cooling. No other road trips this summer as yet, but the summer has only just begun.

We have one more weekend together before we both fly off for a few days - me to visit my dad and D to attend a wedding (a friend's son). And then we have the 4th of July long weekend after we're back and some vacation time on the Cape in early August. Our summers are short here and go by so fast. Probably best to turn off the news and social media as much as possible and enjoy the long days while they're here.

April Fools

[Public Garden lagoon; April 10, 2016]

Yes, February and March have come and gone, with no update here. Various uninteresting things have kept me from posting, including intermittent sleep problems and accompanying aches and pains and inability to focus (visually and otherwise) beyond what I gave at the office. But work has been good, with a recent pay increase and bonus, so there's appreciation for my contribution - and, really, no extra time put in beyond the usual, just that the sleep issues etc make my already smallish tank of energy even more precious and sitting at a computer more uncomfortable. Still, I have found some time to see friends and spend weekends with D, among other outside of work stuff.

[Magnolias blossoms, Boston; April 9, 2016]

The weather has had some wild swings lately, from a relatively warm March to a chilly and wet April. A week ago we had a couple of 70°F days (21°C) followed by a snowstorm of 4 to 5 inches of snow. That melted quickly because the roads had warmed up, but since then the temperatures have been below normal, with biting winds. Still, the daylight has steadily grown longer and on days when the sun is shining it's warmed things up and lifted spirits.

One big piece of news is that I bought a new car last Saturday, a brand new Jetta to replace my 11-year-old Toyota Corolla, which I bought as a commuter car when I started my old job. The old car didn't have a ton of mileage on it since I moved closer to work after the first year with it, but it was a bit beat up and kept needing $ put into it. And there was that bonus I mentioned above! Of course two days after I bought the new car was when it snowed, so it sat in the driveway a couple of days as I was afraid to drive this unfamiliar car in slippery conditions, not to mention the worry of risking any damage so soon! Here she is under a coat of snow on Day 3.

[New Jetta; April 3, 2016]

I was in town with D this weekend, but he had a return of his GI problems and we had to cancel plans to go out last night. We did walk around yesterday, but today he was feeling poorly so I went out for walk myself and then brought back applesauce and soup. He's supposed to fly out to visit friends on Tuesday. Not sure if he'll make that. It's been a rough year as the first couple of months he had bronchitis. And he'll top this all off with a big birthday (70) next week. Time to make staying healthy a priority - for both of us, I guess.

[Spring blooms, Boston; April 9, 2016]

Into February

The photo above is from last year, February 22, when we were finally able to get out of the house after 100 inches of snow fell, mostly all in the previous 3 or 4 weeks. We were so thrilled. We drove to Cambridge, just outside Harvard Square, found actual cleared parking on the street, and got this table by the window at the Cambridge Common pub. You can see the snowbanks still piled high outside the window. It's what I used as the February photo on my 2016 calendar, likely in no small part for the joy imbuing the remembrance.

This year thus far we have had very little snow, and what we have had has melted lately with warm days and sunshine. Tomorrow is also expected to be warm but with drenching rains - more like late March. In some years I'd feel a bit wistful for lack of snow, but this year I'm grateful. Still, the winter is certainly not over yet, despite the fact that Punxutawney Phil did not see his shadow this morning and thus predicted an early spring. 

At the skating rink at the Frog Pond on Boston Common it's winter all season no matter how warm the temperatures (within reason) as they keep the ice cold with refrigeration. We managed to get out to see it during our wanderings on Saturday (no, we didn't skate as we never do, but the lines were also very long and the ice crowded). D was feeling better and the weather was nice so we did a lot of walking around, plus took the T out to our friends' place in Jamaica Plain that evening for their annual Grinch party. Alas, all that activity was probably pushing it for D as he was dragging on Sunday and still feels a bit set back. Hopefully more rest this week will help. This coming weekend we are driving up to see my friends at their lovely ski house in Vermont. It's pretty low key, but I know it'll be tiring for him if he's still feeling under the weather.

 February is one day longer this leap year. Hope it's ducky.

January thaw

While Snowzilla hit the Mid-Atlantic states and Washington DC, we got away with just a few inches in the Boston area. D was still recovering from his cold (possibly bronchitis), so I brought him to my place in the 'burbs where we mostly hunkered down for the weekend.

Unlike our usual city weekends, where we're generally out and about and so dine out wherever we end up, weekends at my place give me a chance to cook. I cooked fish with Thai red curry sauce on Friday night. And on Saturday I made chicken cacciatore (or hunter's chicken) from an old recipe I had that stewed the chicken parts in a sauce of portobello mushrooms, onions, white wine, chicken stock, and a mere cup of chopped tomatoes. We were planning to have the cacciatore leftovers on Sunday afternoon during the big playoff football game, but all those commercials featuring pizza during the game got the best of us so we ran out at halftime to pick up an order from a local pizzeria.

We did get out for a walk on Saturday afternoon after the snow stopped and it cleared up. There wasn't a whole lot, just a nice coating over the brown, which was nice.

Today I worked at home after a bad night's sleep. Lucky that I can turn off my alarm when I'm awake for too long in the middle of the night and sleep in a bit. It would have been hard to function at the office, so I managed to get some work done in my home office. By mid afternoon, I needed a break and it was relatively warm out (50°F/10°C), so rather than try to drag my sleep deprived body to the gym I went for a walk, commiserating with sorry-looking snowmen melting into lumps with their jaunty face pieces fallen at their feet. All that freezing and melting and freezing again. Just like my night.

The Inevitability of Winter

It snowed last night, rather unexpectedly at least to me. We haven't really had any snow to speak of yet this winter except for a few flurries. And it's been relatively warm, so we're a bit spoiled. But last year's first snowstorm wasn't until late January either and then we got 100+ inches. With the El Niño weather pattern this year, it's expected that we'll get a more normal amount of snow, which is still plenty and still on its way. We got just a few inches this weekend, but there's a potential snowstorm coming next weekend, so Old Man Winter is just beginning to mosey into town.

I was in Boston for the long holiday weekend (Martin Luther King Day in the US) and hadn't thought to pack my snow boots. I hadn't packed very much, in fact, because D was sick with a bad cold and I took a taxi into town on Saturday instead of the usual loading up D's car Friday night with a range of options to get me through the weekend. Anyway, after two days of mostly sitting on the couch keeping D company watching football and such, I had to get outside this morning for a walk. So I put on thick socks and laced up D's boots and went out walking to see what the first real snowfall of this winter left behind.

There weren't too many people out and about, but of course dog owners must come out and there were many of those out with their pooches. Over in the Public Garden, a slew of dogs were off leash and romping and rolling in the snow while their owners socialized - likely a regular play group.

The Make Way for Ducklings mallards in the Public Garden had clearly been visited by little feet by the looks of the small boot prints around them.

But the chilly wind was strong and didn't encourage visitors to linger on the lagoon bridge.

I did get out walking yesterday, but mainly to pick up cold medicine and groceries -- plus my favorite cold cure, the hot chili ramen soup from Wagamama, which seemed to help (and was quite delicious). Hopefully he'll be feeling better soon as it's been more than a week now, but seems like it might have developed into bronchitis as he's coughing a lot and feeling pretty lousy. He'll go to urgent care tomorrow if it doesn't seem to be moving in the right direction.

Meanwhile, I took my first Uber ride to get home this evening (I am decidedly a late adopter), which cost me half what the taxi cab ride into town did. It was pretty easy to do, so I may be doing it again soon.

Into 2016

As I was writing my 2015 Year in Review, I scrolled back through many old posts, not just from 2015 but further back. I'm amazed at how much I blogged years back, and so much more thoughtfully than now. Of course, much of this was when I was freelancing from home (and, frankly, barely working and thus barely surviving), before I went back to working full-time in 2006. Then once I started seeing D in 2009 and spending weekends in the city, it just became impossible to keep it up. My brain was fried with work, and I already spent too much time sitting at a computer during the week. I did begin to photograph more, but mostly posting on Flickr and sometimes on Facebook. I know many bemoan Facebook from taking people away from longer and more thoughtful blog writing, and surely that's the case for many, but it's mostly other circumstances that have necessitated channeling my congenitally limited energy supply elsewhere. And the smallish bits of time I spend on Facebook let me feel connected to people I would otherwise have sadly lost track of.

So I will certainly not say I expect to spend more time blogging in 2016. In fact, I have made no New Year's resolutions. Over the New Year's holiday, I suffered from much insomnia and sleep deprivation and so resolving to do anything more than get through the semi-waking hours semi-enjoying my vacation time was more than I could entertain. I did, and do, have some vague concept of letting myself off the hook a bit more this year and worrying a bit less about the judgement of others as I'm wont to do. It just saps too much energy, which, as I said, is already in finite supply and not likely to increase much anytime soon.

I do hope to move around a bit more - D gave me a Fitbit Charge wristband for Christmas, which encourages the achievement of a certain amount of steps and stairs and activity each day. I already know that sitting all day as I do at my job is not healthy, but tracking the numbers does have its motivational aspect. My Fitbit also has a sleep tracker, which is somewhat depressing in my current state - and I had to just take it off a couple of nights as I was all too aware of being awake well into the wee hours - but it does provide some interesting feedback when I have worn it. I'm hoping being back into a daily routine on workdays rather than at D's (let's face it, another person's snores and stirring about are a challenge when you're having sleep issues) will get me back on track with sleep, precious drug that it is.

Above - New Year's Eve fireworks from the lagoon in the Public Garden in Boston. These were the "family fireworks" at 7 pm, after which we returned to D's and had dinner (I'd made a Bolognese sauce earlier) and watched a movie on tv and then some New Year's Eve stuff until the ball dropped.

I've been back to work since Monday, and pretty busy already. Despite the lack of sufficient sleep over the holidays, I did get a welcome break from work and feel more ready to get back into it. If that's not enough, I also this week booked our summer vacation stay on the Cape, which cheers me no end and provides warming thoughts on these cold winter days.

Year in Review: 2015

 

The big story of 2015 has to be the snow. Snowmaggedon. Snowverload. Snowmygod. It fell and it fell until we had more than 94 inches in the 30 days from January 24th to February 22nd, or 110 inches for the entire 2014-2015 winter season.

It started out so mild. On the weekend of the January 24th, with barely a dusting of snow in Boston, D and I drove up to Vermont for a lovely weekend with old friends of mine in their ski house, marveling at the lovely snowy mountains. It wasn't until we got home that we had the first blizzard of the season in Boston, Winter Storm Juno, which dumped more than two feet of snow. I noted cheerfully in my blog post that since you can't beat winter in New England, embrace it. Little did I know. A week later, on February 3rd, another foot of snow came down, dubbed the Full Moon snow (or Winter Storm Linus). With more than three feet of snow on the ground, we were already weary. But there was more on the way.

On February 9th, Storm Marcus left another two feet of snow. Five days later, after taking a taxi in to Boston to stay with D for Valentine's weekend (the T was no longer running above ground and D's car was in a coveted spot on Comm Ave), Winter Storm Neptune hit, leaving another 16 inches. D was also very sick that weekend, alas, making for great anxiety since we really couldn't get out if we needed to. The morning after the storm, I got out for a walk  to document the frozen deluge. And fortunately D recovered after a couple of weeks on antibiotics.

It wasn't until February 22nd that we had enough of a thaw that we could go out to eat, enjoying a sunny window view overlooking a still hulking snowbank. March brought a slow melt, though we had to go to the Wellesley College greenhouses to see anything resembling spring. By the end of March, we could see the sidewalk outside D's place.

Crocuses finally appeared in early April, and by Boston Marathon weekend (April 18-20) the cherry and magnolia trees were starting to bud and the Swan Boats reappeared on the lagoon in the Public Garden. Marathon Day itself, though, was chilly and rainy, although that was no excuse not to celebrate the day in style, as this gentleman showed.

But May - ah May - was lovely. A balm to the winter weary in Boston. Remedial.

In mid June, we got to the beach one day, and in late June I flew out to see my dad for a nice visit, during which I got in a good walk at the arboretum. In July, we had lovely weather for the Independence Day weekend, with fireworks on the 4th and a nice spur-of-the-moment ride on the No. 9 bus out to Castle Island on the 5th. In mid-July, D went off to visit friends in Pittsburgh, so I got to go play with my girlfriends, enjoying the giant white rabbits on Lawn on D, a tour on a giant sailing ship, and then giant margaritas dockside. 

August brought a lovely summer vacation stay for D and I in the outer Cape Cod town of North Truro at a place right overlooking the beach. In September, we took a fast train down to Providence for Waterfire for a fun afternoon and evening, including an excellent choice of restaurant and the ever enthralling Waterfire event.

We made the best of October light, including driving back up to Vermont to stay with my friends again, this time for a fall leaf-peeping weekend, although the warm weather forestalled the autumn leaf colors quite a bit. At the end of October, we took in the spooky goings-on for Halloween in Boston. In mid November, we went to the ICA-Boston with a good friend of D's to see some modern dance and the Black Mountain College exhibition. November 18th was this blog's 11th blogiversary, but I'm afraid I forgot to note it this year. At the end of November, we finally used last year's Christmas present of a gift certificate at the Top of the Hub, taking in the views from the 52nd floor (too snowy to get there early in the year, too nice out later on to stay indoors).

It was a busy year at work. Though I still enjoyed the job this year, it's been challenging with various physical issues - sleep interruptions with night sweats and then each of the many remedies I tried which worked and then didn't or worked but ended up giving me anxiety or palpitations. Lack of sleep sometimes wrecked my concentration and my moods and left my muscles tense without enough rest at night. I developed hip bursitis from crunching up at my desk to try to focus in order to do my job. Physical therapy helped, and the latest remedy has eased things though not completely. We'll see how it goes in 2016.

En fin, December, a very busy month indeed (see previous post). Yesterday, we had our first snow of the season (or slush actually), after hitting record high temperatures in the 60's (about 19°C) the day before Christmas. The weather is expected to clear for New Year's Eve, which we'll enjoy in our usual low-key way, with a cocktail out somewhere, then the First Night promenade (around 6 pm), maybe the family (ie, early)  fireworks, and then back inside for dinner at D's with a movie and whatever New Year's Eve festivities are on TV. I'll just make it to midnight.

Happy New Year, wherever you are!

December

On Friday night, a rare cold night this oddly warm holiday season, we stood outside watching the Mayor's Celebration of Lights projected onto the Boston Public Library (a Nutcracker scene above). D and I tried singing along to The Twelve Days of Christmas, although despite the visuals clearly depicting clues for the lyrics, we were quite incapable of keeping up. I had visions of my parents' black and white home movies from the 1950's with my aunts and uncles playing some drinking game with "One hen, two ducks, three squawking geese..." Alas we hadn't even been drinking, or at least no more than a pint with dinner.

The weekend before last, it was well above average temperatures for the annual Santa Speedo run, a charity race often run in sub-freezing weather in Boston. Above, a driver finds himself unexpectedly surrounded by nearly naked runners on Newbury Street.

Elsewhere, on staid Beacon Hill, one of our founding fathers or a replica thereof celebrates the season more properly.

In early December, I flew out to Ann Arbor to visit my dad, who turned 88 on December 8th. We had a nice visit, though I could have used a lot less of the television news on all the time. To escape that, I went out on my own a few times either to do a bit of shopping or to walk. There's a walking path across the street from his senior living apartment. It just goes behind some condos, but it's close by - and there are always some nice dried teasel there in the winter. One morning I found some all coated in frost.

I also drove over to the arboretum one afternoon. I'd only been in warm weather before, so it was nice to see it's still lovely in the murky days of early December.

And there were more dried husks and pods around.

There was also this red-tailed hawk.

The trip was a nice break from work, which has been exceptionally busy and continued to be as soon as I returned. But today I sent off my last project deliverables for the year and I am officially on vacation until Monday following New Year's. I don't know if I'll get around to blogging much or not. Mainly I need to catch up on neglected things like cleaning my apartment and, well, sleep. And hopefully seeing friends a bit. I managed to get a few Christmas cards in the mail, but have more to get to, likely arriving late. Oh well.

The solstice was last night, ever so slowly tilting back towards the light. I could use some of that slow turning right about now.