Monthly Archives: June 2013

Jun22

An emergency trip to Rhode Island

Posted on by
Standard

Saturday, 13-Apr-13

 

The first time I heard my friend Mike cry was when he called me at 18:15 on a Saturday, while I was doing some grocery shopping. He called me, and all he could say was,

“I need you to come over… can you drive me down to Rhode Island?”

When I got to his apartment, he was on the floor, random stuff strewn out around him, and our friend Sarah was sitting next to him.

He was crying.

Sobbing, really.

His mom had just died. Complications from the Flu, combined with a long fight against Cancer that had been going on for the better part of 15 years. Mike had heard about it from a police officer who had been called to check in on her, since no one had seen her in a few days. That was the first Mike had heard of it… a call from a police officer.

Almost as soon as I walked in the door, his phone rang. I answered, politely told the officer on the other end to call someone else, and went back to talking with Mike…

  • Sarah and I packed a “Week away bag” before heading out, tossing everything including a laundry hamper worth of clothes into the back seat of her car.
  • From there, we drove. Straight-shot down to Rhode Island, stopping once or twice for gas and food… or just to sit down in shock about what had just happened.
  • I’ll never forget the look on Mike’s fathers face when we arrived. I’ve never seen a man so hurt, so in pain for someone else. Mike was already in a bad way… I can’t imagine seeing your son in so much pain. And after seeing Mark (Mike’s father), I don’t think I want to imagine it.
  • We go inside, crack open a few beers, and talk… sometimes about what just happened, and sometimes just about anything else.
  • We head outside after a bit to sit around the fire that Mike’s brother had made, and just spend the rest of the night watching the flames and talking about life.
  • After a good few hours we let the fire die out, and head back inside. I crash in a spare bed in Mike’s old room, and him and I talk late into the night, before finally giving up and falling asleep.

 

Sunday, 14-Apr-13

  • The morning started slow… Mike and I chatted a bit, we had some coffee, and Mark and Mike took some time to discuss the logistics of a loved ones death. Not a pleasant conversation to have, but unfortunately completely necessary when the end is so sudden.
  • I spend some time catching up with Mike’s family, since we hadn’t seen each other in a while.
  • We head out into town for a bite of lunch and end up at an extremely good, extremely typical, cape cod restaurant.
    • A conversation with the server;
      Ben, to Mark – “I can’t decide between the cheeseburger, or the Reuben…”
      Server, just arriving – “By the way, one of our specials today is a combination plate, a cheeseburger / reuben combo”
      Ben – “Done.”
  • After eating, Mike and family head back to their house to finish dealing with logistics, and Sarah and I head back toward the highway to Boston.
Jun21

Climbing at the Fells in April

Posted on by
Standard

09-Apr-13

 

A mid-week trip to the Middlesex Fells with Marla, after work.

 

  • Work was annoying, but somehow I was able to sneak out and bike home a bit early… and since Marla had already gotten home by that point, we decide to head out for a bit of rock climbing.
  • We leave the house at 5:45, and are parked at the Fells parking area by 6:30. We didn’t even get lost once!
  • After hiking in a bit, we have some trouble finding any rock that’s worth setting up… and definitely nothing that I’d want to lead. Everything is either too easy, too wet, or just silly.
  • Finally, after wandering deeper into the woods, we find one climb that looks viable! No cracks to place gear into, but other than that it appears to be a clean slab climb, with a scar of quartz running through the middle, up to the top.
    • An anchor is set up top, and a rope is dropped down to the base
    • Unfortunately, there isn’t really much to build an anchor off of, and it takes a while… the rope is first tied into roughly 10min after official sunset at 7:20.
    • We climb it. Not a bad route! It’s fairly easy, but definitely interesting slab climbing. If you use the Dyke of quartz it’s much easier, but sticking to the slabs yielded a neat puzzle.
    • Route name: Ben’s folly
    • Rough route grade: 5.4 with quartz, 5.6 without
  • We pull the anchor, coil the rope, and pack up my gear as the sun finishes setting… and we’re back at the car before it’s really dark enough to need headlamps.
Jun20

Big T comes up, and a visit to Heartbreak Reservation

Posted on by
Standard

07-Apr-13

 

This is a weekend that Big T had a Sunday off, and drove up to Boston to hang out and visit. Mike, Chirag and I all met at my place beforehand, to make a quick breakfast before we headed off on the days adventures…

 

  • Get up semi-early… ok, not so much. Maybe 09:30 or so.
  • Chirag comes over, bringing a tribute of Munchkins for the house. We start prepping breakfast.
  • Mike arrives, and cooking tentatively commences, waiting on Big T’s arrival.
  • Cooking continues, as Big T doesn’t plan to arrive until after noon rolls around.
  • T finally arrives, and eating begins in earnest! Slow breakfast… more of a brunch now, to be honest. But we chat and relax and catch up, taking our time and going slow.
  • We spend a bit of time cleaning up and trying to decide what we want to do, and where we want to go. Not really sure… too many options.
  • In the end, we settle on hanging out at the driving range for a bit, and then doing a bit of a hike at a place Mike knows, called Heartbreak Reservation.
  • Drive out to the driving range (heh)
    • Mike and Chirag are quite good at this… I am not so much
    • Big T and I get a few lessons on how to swing a club like an intelligent human
    • The lesson’s don’t stick too well, but they are quite fun.
  • After busting through a few buckets of golf balls, we move out toward Heartbreak Reservation for a bit of a walk.
    • Start exploring! We take a random trail, and make our way deeper into the woods, making a few detours to work our way around a rather large pond.
    • Mike and I take a detour around to a small summit while T and Chirag continue down the pathway.
    • Mike and I summit, if you can call it that, and find a neat little shelter and campsite. It’s got an A-Frame, a rock pillow that’s amazingly comfortable, and a wee campfire that’s obviously been used once or twice. Amazing views of the city are found as well.
    • I find… “the dragon staff”. We named it that because why not, and it makes an extremely helpful walking stick until I try to do a “You shall not pass!” moment… and it snaps in half.
    • Mike and I reconnect with T and Chirag, and the four of us keep exploring ’till we get bored and decide to head back to the cars.
    • A wrong turn is taken that leads us to the far end of the reservation… a four mile walk from where we wanted to be. Ohh well. More hiking, yay!
  • From here we head back to my place, ordering Pizza along the way.
  • Pizza is eaten, Top Gear is watched, and scotch/wine/beer is drank. An excellent night is had by all.