Monthly Archives: May 2022

May22

A flight of New England Fancy – Rest and Relaxation in Medway

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It’s been a while since I’ve been back to Massachusetts… I think it was for Dillon and Liz’s wedding, wasn’t it? That’s sounding right… though I frankly can’t believe that was only six months ago. These last few months have felt like forever, and it was high time that I got back East. The rock was calling, family and friends beckoned, and I hadn’t seen my Grandma in far, far too long…


Tuesday through Thursday, 19-Apr-2022 to 21-Apr-2022


There’s some turmoil in the United States these days over working remotely.

Some people are for it, some people are against it… Mostly employees being for it, and executives being against it, from what I can tell…

I’ve never really had a horse in the race, to be frank. I’m operations support, so I don’t have the option to work remotely… at least not regularly. I work with people on the production floor, and I get pulled away from my computer to deal with physical problems at least a few times a day.

At the beginning of COVID I worked from home every other day… and that was glorious – I got to catch up on work, and could stay a bit calmer than normal on the days that I wasn’t in the office. It did make my days on-site a bit more crazy, and I had to make a point to go for more walks when I stayed home, but… yeah, it was nice.


The chance to spend a whole week working remotely was excellent, and I hugely appreciate the freedom to do that every so often. I definitely understand the draw… especially after spending three days working out of the dining room in Medway.

It was glorious – I started the week with nearly a full hundred to-do items on my list (yep, that over-booked at work), and I ended with maybe a dozen left. Granted, I had coworkers shouldering some of the burden while I was gone, and I didn’t want to think about all the “fun” that the production folks were saving up for my return, but… you know what? That’s fine. It’s all fine. I can live with that.


I spent time catching up with my Mom and Stepdad. I took walks, enjoyed the garden, and went to dinner with friends who were great enough to drive out from Boston to visit.

It was a good few days.






Of interesting note… I never noticed this before, but Medway has a memorial to the “Grand Army of the Republic”, listed as 1861 through 1961. Which is interesting… since the G.A.R. was an organization for civil war veterans founded in 1866, and then dissolved in 1956.

So I’m not saying this is definitely Star Wars, but… pretty sure it’s Star Wars.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Army_of_the_Republic

May19

A flight of New England Fancy – Easter in New York

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It’s been a while since I’ve been back to Massachusetts… I think it was for Dillon and Liz’s wedding, wasn’t it? That’s sounding right… though I frankly can’t believe that was only six months ago. These last few months have felt like forever, and it was high time that I got back East. The rock was calling, family and friends beckoned, and I hadn’t seen my Grandma in far, far too long…

Saturday to Monday, 16-Apr-2022 through 18-Apr-2022

Man… how long has it been since I’ve been in New York to visit my Grandma?

I’d been to Upstate New York back in October of 2021, for Dillon’s bachelor party… but before then? I think it must have been 2017, maybe? Five years… that can’t be right…

It’s been along time, we’ll leave it at that.

I met my Dad and Stepmom there – they’d actually driven out from Arizona (!!!) to visit for a week or two, so just like the Seder earlier in the day, we were getting the whole family together for a long-overdue visit. It’d been ages, and I was absolutely looking forward to a good bit of time catching up with everyone!

And… we spent a good bit of time catching up!

There’s not really too much to go over, as a blog post, for this one. We spent time together, we talked, we told stories, and we took the time that we had as a very appreciated gift. We didn’t rush, we cooked great meals, and I wrote down as many stories as I could get from everyone. We helped out around the house a bit, took walks, played with the cats, and enjoyed the calm and quiet.

It was an excellent few days, and even the unexpected snowstorm on the drive home somehow felt… right.



And, as a quick addition… did I mention that we cooked a lot? I think I poached more eggs that weekend than I have in the last year – having a few experts on hand definitely helped me out, and I’m pretty sure I leveled up my Hollandaise sauce skillz at least a few points…

And, along with the excellent cooking… New recipes to try out!

May18

A flight of New England Fancy – A passover Seder!

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It’s been a while since I’ve been back to Massachusetts… I think it was for Dillon and Liz’s wedding, wasn’t it? That’s sounding right… though I frankly can’t believe that was only six months ago. These last few months have felt like forever, and it was high time that I got back East. The rock was calling, family and friends beckoned, and I hadn’t seen my Grandma in far, far too long…


Saturday, 16-May-2022

Man… I can’t remember the last time I had a Passover Seder with my family in person. It must have been at least three or four years… Pre-Covid, definitely, and I’m pretty sure that it was noticeably before then.

This was a unique chance – COVID had died down enough that everyone was (hesitantly) comfortable meeting in person, assuming we all took a couple tests ahead of time, and the whole family was in one place for the first time in… jeeze. At least 10 years, if I’m remembering correctly.

Granted, it was also a bit melancholy… this was the first year that we were missing an entire generation. Melancholy, but also important – as the first year without either my Grandma or Grandpa, it was important for us all to get together and celebrate our heritage, family, and the spirit that the show goes on… even if those who founded the show have passed away.


We ate, we drank, we fulfilled the mitzvot of the Seder.

We caught up, played with the newest youngsters, and used the time we had together as best we could. It was, undoubtedly, a good Seder.


As a small note to future version of myself – this is a good spot to note just where my mental state was, these days. It wasn’t great, truth be told. Spending time with family, and away from my normal haunts, was absolutely good for me… but it was being a tough year.

As a tangible example: I didn’t realize that it was Passover until I arrived, and was looking for crackers to snack on. “Cracker’s aren’t kosher for Passover, Ben!”

I knew that I was going to Mass for the Seder. I knew that a Seder meant Passover. But I never made the connection that “Going to Mass” meant “Passover”. I just didn’t have the spoons to make that connection, until it was kinetically right in front of me.

Yeah. I needed that break.