Daily Archives: January 28, 2014

Jan28

Wandering around Cambridge and Alewife

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Saturday, 25-Jan-14

So I’ve lived here for a bit over a year at this point, but I haven’t honestly taken the time to just… wander around.  I’ve taken the various dogs for long walks around town, but walking with a dog is always a bit different… for some reason, I can’t retreat quite as far into my own head when I’m walking the dog – probably because I’ve got to keep an eye out for other dogs, cyclists, etc…

So today, I just plugged in my headphones, put fresh batteries into the fancy bass-booster thing on the cord, and started walking toward the Alewife parks.  It was nice and relaxing, and a good reminder about just how much I enjoy hiking in the winter.

So I wandered for an hour or two, before heading into Davis to meet a friend for coffee.  Solid afternoon activity… and I got to see some rather cool stone placards!

Jan28

A family birthday

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Sunday, 12-Jan-14

Uncle Bill’s 60th birthday

  • Get a call from Aunt Irene early, who’s worried about ice and slipping… so instead of canceling everything, I just bring ice melt
  • Head to Lexington and pick my Grandma up, then we start the real part of the drive.  Yes, I had the top down driving to get her.  No, I didn’t leave it down after we left her place.
  • The drive is long, but pleasant.  The car’s GPS directs us cleanly, and we make it there without much trouble
  • Chatting with family, eating cheese and crackers, the usual family gathering things
  • My Aunt arrives, followed by my cousin.  My cousin Emma’s arrival was a surprise to my Uncle, and you should have seen his face when she walked in!  She lives in California, so who knows how they could have kept that trip a secret
  • People start arriving… my Mom and Steve are still not here though
  • My Mom & Steve finally arrive, after being in a full 4-car accident (not 100% sure about the first two cars), where they got stuck under the bumper of a huge SUV ahead of them.  The Civic was rather impressively damaged… but it was still running without any trouble
  • Relax and eat and drink and chat
  • Dinner – tell Mom and Aunt Irene about all of the gossip in my life; explaining everything always helps me focus my own life, I find.  I bet it’s a bit like how teaching someone else actually helps you understand it better
  • Speeches for the birthday!
  • More relaxing and chatting, but it is getting a bit late… Grandma starts to worry about heading home
  • I drive Mom & Steve home, since they’re leaving the Civic to get repaired.  Long drive to Medway, then a short run out to Brookhaven, before I can finally head home myself…