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] 

Vacationland

We went to Cape Cod for vacation this again this year. Last year we tried a new place on the Upper Cape, which was nice but not a favorite. This year we went back to a place on the Lower Cape we'd been to before. It offered a shorter drive and a prime location overlooking Vineyard Sound and adjacent to Falmouth Harbor. We asked for and got the same corner room we had on previous visits, a room that unlike most motel rooms you'd be happy to spend your whole vacation in. And get lots of sleep listening to the gentle waves lapping at the shore below.

Staying there also afforded the opportunity to spend a day with friends who were there for an extended stay (would that we could afford to!). These friends had recommended the place but had been out of town on previous visits. This time we were treated to a ride on their boat, through a lovely inlet where we saw an osprey nest, across the Vineyard Sound, and to lunch on Martha's Vineyard island. 

We also got out for a few walks -- up to the Heights beach while the the sunset reflected pink across the clouds, and along the harbor with its myriad boats, beach roses, cormorants, and lichen-coated fences.

We were there for four nights, then back to the city for a few days. Then, back to work again, all too soon.

A few more pix from the trip here.

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.

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.

Season of fallen leaves

[Cemetery wall; 11/4/15]

We've gone from the season of lustrous fall foliage to the season of fallen leaves, dead and paper-dry. A few bright amber stars cling to catch the late light, but even their days are numbered.

[Shorn trees, St. Pat's cemetery]

[Leaf shadows]

Dead leaves fall in the cemetery on the dead, saints and souls, the long deceased and the recently buried.

[Old stone, newly fallen leaves]

Now at 5 pm, after sorting and uploading my photos, I notice my windows have gone dark, the sun extinguished over the horizon for the next 13 hours or so before rising again to stay up for 10 hours and 10 minutes tomorrow, 3 minutes less than today. Meanwhile, the leaves continue to fall.

[Barrels of leaf trash - everywhere]

October Light

[Paradise Pond, Smith College; 10/24/15]

This morning I had to get the ice scraper out of the trunk of my car to clear my windshield. Fall  weather was slow to arrive year, the fall foliage late by at least two weeks, but the nights are decidedly cold and getting colder. And more dark. This weekend we'll turn our clocks back and darkness will descend all too soon.

[Branches, Public Garden in Boston; 10/25/15]

In early October, we drove up to Stowe, Vermont to visit my friends who have a home up there. The last time we were there was in January, when we were charmed by the snow, not knowing that we'd be in for more than 100 inches of it in Boston by February. This fall trip was lovely, even though the color in the mountains was still spotty. More pics from Stowe here.

[Highland cattle, Trapp Family Center, Stowe VT; 10/5/15]

We also visited my alma mater last weekend for a bit more leaf peeping in Northampton, a couple of hours west of here. But the color is beginning to peak here in the Boston area as well, and everyone was out on Sunday afternoon in the Public Garden taking pictures in the slanting light before sunset.

[Picture taking at the Public Garden Lagoon; 10/25/15]

We also caught this photo op on the Lagoon Bridge on Sunday. I suspect it was a professional photo shoot rather than an actual bride and groom (of which we see many in the Public Garden on any given weekend) - the bride was too beautiful and they were too practiced at repeating the pose for the camera. Still, it was something to see.

[Lagoon Bridge swoon, Public Garden, Boston; 10/25/15]

--

We are entering the very busy season, or the even busier season, in my job. The clients need to spend their budget before the end of the year or lose it for next year. I have had some ups and downs with my ability to get a solid night's sleep, but hoping my latest remedy continues to work (self-treating with homeopathy for the night sweats and hot flashes now after every herbal remedy and HRT attempt have failed or caused intolerable side effects). It's amazing what a decent night's sleep does for one's mental and emotional capacity. Sleep, the miracle drug.

Anyway, as they say at the Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe, Vermont (just above my friends' place), Auf wiedersehen!

[Found art, on the trail in Stowe, Vermont; 10/5/15]

Remedial

[Tulips in the Public Garden, Boston; 5/16/15]

Spring continues to pour forth its bounty following our exceedingly trying winter.

[Red tulips, green grass]

Alas, other trials have been  in store as D became very sick again on Thursday/Friday and was touch and go through the weekend as to whether or not to go to the ER. Meanwhile my dad, who'd had intestinal surgery the week before and had been doing well enough to be moved to rehab, got very sick on Friday and had to go back into the ICU. Both, thankfully, are doing much better now. I was able to get out for a walk on Saturday while D slept, and I was cheered by the riot of colorful tulips in the Public Garden. On Sunday, by noon D had decided he was well enough to continue to heal at home, and he had a little bit to eat. So I got out again for a walk by the river, a sunny day with the birds chirping and cool breezes blowing. Nature on its best behavior, soothing and lovely.

[Boston Esplanade lagoon; 5/16/15]

Tonight both D and my dad are on the mend. My brother, who lives near my dad and was himself ill with a very bad cold at the start of my dad's latest odyssey, has been keeping me posted by email (which is also rather heartening as we've been estranged). The days continue to grow longer, another month until the longest day of the year. A holiday weekend is also in store (Memorial Day on Monday). I'm very tired, but the light and the verdant spring are buoyant as the salty sea. Maybe summer will be okay after all.

May

[In the Public Garden, Saturday; 5/2/15]

We do deserve a rest after our record-breaking bad winter. Now the beauty of spring melts us. (The photo above reminded me of Dali's The Persistence of Memory. My favorite local area social media aggregator, Universal Hub, enjoyed my capture and posted it today.) 

I feel like I'm emerging myself, not just from winter but from the muffled cocoon of an extended period of middle of the night insomnia that left me functioning on pilot light all day, my muscles and joints nearly crippled from the persistent lack of deep, restful sleep. Hopefully that's mostly over, the third type of supplement I've tried quelling the night sweats that roused me from 3 AM on without also ginning up my energy to pupil-pinning levels throughout the night like the previous two did. Took awhile to work, but they are. Let's hope it continues. There are ads from a motel chain here that show miraculous performances in unlikely scenarios from people who had a good night's sleep at their accommodations. I felt like that on Monday, like I'd slept so well I could show up and do brain surgery. Sleep, the miracle drug.

[Magnolia trees on Commonwealth Ave, Boston; 4/25/15]

Meanwhile, the magnolias bloomed in Back Bay in Boston a couple of weekends ago, the first trees to blossom in the spring. Short-lived, by last weekend they were dropping their big petals sloppily across the sidewalks. But last weekend the cherry trees picked up the baton and ran with it. It was a bit chilly over on the Esplanade by the river, but well worth bundling up a bit to enjoy their frilly finery.

[Cherry blossoms along the Boston Esplanade; 5/2/15]

[Cherry blossoms, Boston Esplanade]

And the tulips were up in the Public Garden as well.

[Tulips in the Public Garden; 5/2/15]

So yes, spring has finally come to the Boston area. And then some. Out in the suburbs, away from the city's cooling ocean breezes, temperatures this week have gone beyond springtime to the heat of summer. At least during the day. The evenings still cool delightfully, full of birdsong and, well, pollen. I'll take it over this.