#42 Boston - Spring, haltingly.... March 25, 2005
Dare I hope that spring has arriveth? It looks alarmingly good, even though the threat of snow and cold weather still lingers in the air - for next week the folks at the Weather Channel are hopeful that temperatures will soar into the upper 50s, I even saw a 61 F in there somewhere. This week has been wonderful weather-wise, with a tiny little storm in there and some snowy-looking rain, but New Englanders are hoping that they have finally exhausted Mother Nature and her winter habits.
It has been a week with lots of activity, especially the healthy kind, as an anxious glance at the scale indicated that it is time to get movin' (the scale was supported in its assessment by my "benchmark" jeans, who have requested a bit more air between me and the fabric). My days (and meals) have been filled with salads and vegetables as opposed to the winter-root-carbo-loaded victuals of the months past. The gym has been visited quite often, and thanks to the television sets across from the cardio equipment I am now again up to date on every reality TV show on the planet. Celery combined with celerity is the motto for the upcoming weeks, and with the weather on the mend, I am looking forward to releasing my bicycle from winter prison and get the roller blades going.
The past weekend was most pleasant (except for a little "let's get lost in Brighton episode") - kicked off by a Thai lunch in lovely Brookline with my friends Mona and PJ on Saturday afternoon.
In the evening, I joined my friends Linda (still #1) and Roger first for a beer at Ned Devine's Irish Pub at Quincy hall before heading to Faneuil Hall to hear the Musicians of the Old Post Road. [http://www.oldpostroad.org/] This chamber music ensemble that specializes in period instrument performance of music from the Baroque, Classical and early Romantic periods was founded in 1989 and brings its lovely music to beautiful historic buildings along the original route of the old Boston Post Road, the first passage connecting Boston and NYC in the late 17th century. The first post rider hustled from NY to Boston on January 22nd, 1673 and thus established the first major overland route in the American colonies. It took the poor chap almost three weeks to cover the 250 miles! "Music from Madrid" featured two Italian composers, Gaetano Brunetti (1744-1798), who was a composer for the King Charles IV of Spain, and Luigi Boccherini, who wrote tunes for the King's brother.
I know I have provided you with numerous iterations on how great Faneuil Hall is (you can pronounce it the French way or Boston style, which sounds more like "fennel") - it still never ceases to impress me! http://www.nps.gov/bost/bost_lographics/faneuil.htm Its amazing history and development from marketplace to the "cradle of liberty" is adequately stated in this little poem by Francis Hatch (1958): " Here orators in ages past - Have mounted their attacks - Undaunted by proximity - Of Sausage on the racks." An extra little tidbit about this great building is that the weathervane on top, which prominently features a grasshopper, is the only part of Faneuil Hall that remains totally unmodified from the original 1742 structure and according to the brochure is "a fine example of colonial artistry."
Sunday was entirely devoted to St.Paddy's day celebrations and we started off with (what else) a road race - the Ras na hEireann race in Somerville - 2500 motivated (mostly by the promise of free beer and soda bread afterwards) runners lined up in front of my favorite Irish Pub, "The Burren" and got crackin'. Now, bottom line is, I did well with a time of 9:16 minutes/mile, but I tell you folks, it was not pretty! I was seriously huffing and puffing - thoughts of impending death and immediate collapse were on my mind, and I could see myself sprawled out on some side street in Somerville with 1500 of the remaining runners trampling over my exhausted body. After the race and after receiving a medal (everyone did for finishing), Elaine and I went to The Burren for our free beer (alas, t'was not green), and then I got myself on public transportation and headed over to Southie (aka South Boston) for the annual St. Patrick's Day Parade. Considered the heart of Irish Boston (http://boston.about.com/cs/government/a/south_boston.htm), Southie is quite wonderful, and the parade is a very old-fashioned, traditional parade - with lots of firemen, police officers, veterans, marching bands and bagpipe players, and girls twirling batons high up in the air. My favorite group were the Cycling Murrays, Irish flute players on uni-cycles (only in America!!!) and some guy who was running for office who came over personally to shake my hand. Little does he know that I can't vote squat in this country. Main thing I made his day, eh?
I hung out with my friends Barbara and Anita who just recently purchased a condo across from the L Street Bathhouse, just down the street from Fort Independence and Castle Island - one of the Boston Harbor Islands that is really not an island any more (sort of sticks out into the harbor - http://www.nine3.com/MDC/history.html). The two took me on a tour of Southie - and of course, we had to stop at Barbara's brother Michael's house for some tasty corned beef and cabbage.
Aside from the no-nonsense exercise regimen this week, I got a little cultural fix in by volunteering with Boston Cares, this time at the American Repertory Theatre for the play "Dido - Queen of Carthage" (http://www.amrep.org/) - the tragic story of Queen Dido who rules over the very civilized city of Carthage in North Africa. She fatefully (and with the help of some nefarious deities) meets Aeneas, who with his son Ascarius has survived the Trojan war. A very well acted play - full of drama (of course) and humor with some interesting interpretations of some of the characters. Cupid was effeminately gay, Aeneas sounded a bit Irish and Juno, sister of Jupiter was played by a drag queen. That's Cambridge for you!
My friends, with these images in mind, I bid you farewell - may you have a enjoyable weekend!
pet:)
Quote of the Day: "If you cannot convince them, confuse them." (Harry Truman).
It has been a week with lots of activity, especially the healthy kind, as an anxious glance at the scale indicated that it is time to get movin' (the scale was supported in its assessment by my "benchmark" jeans, who have requested a bit more air between me and the fabric). My days (and meals) have been filled with salads and vegetables as opposed to the winter-root-carbo-loaded victuals of the months past. The gym has been visited quite often, and thanks to the television sets across from the cardio equipment I am now again up to date on every reality TV show on the planet. Celery combined with celerity is the motto for the upcoming weeks, and with the weather on the mend, I am looking forward to releasing my bicycle from winter prison and get the roller blades going.
The past weekend was most pleasant (except for a little "let's get lost in Brighton episode") - kicked off by a Thai lunch in lovely Brookline with my friends Mona and PJ on Saturday afternoon.
In the evening, I joined my friends Linda (still #1) and Roger first for a beer at Ned Devine's Irish Pub at Quincy hall before heading to Faneuil Hall to hear the Musicians of the Old Post Road. [http://www.oldpostroad.org/] This chamber music ensemble that specializes in period instrument performance of music from the Baroque, Classical and early Romantic periods was founded in 1989 and brings its lovely music to beautiful historic buildings along the original route of the old Boston Post Road, the first passage connecting Boston and NYC in the late 17th century. The first post rider hustled from NY to Boston on January 22nd, 1673 and thus established the first major overland route in the American colonies. It took the poor chap almost three weeks to cover the 250 miles! "Music from Madrid" featured two Italian composers, Gaetano Brunetti (1744-1798), who was a composer for the King Charles IV of Spain, and Luigi Boccherini, who wrote tunes for the King's brother.
I know I have provided you with numerous iterations on how great Faneuil Hall is (you can pronounce it the French way or Boston style, which sounds more like "fennel") - it still never ceases to impress me! http://www.nps.gov/bost/bost_lographics/faneuil.htm Its amazing history and development from marketplace to the "cradle of liberty" is adequately stated in this little poem by Francis Hatch (1958): " Here orators in ages past - Have mounted their attacks - Undaunted by proximity - Of Sausage on the racks." An extra little tidbit about this great building is that the weathervane on top, which prominently features a grasshopper, is the only part of Faneuil Hall that remains totally unmodified from the original 1742 structure and according to the brochure is "a fine example of colonial artistry."
Sunday was entirely devoted to St.Paddy's day celebrations and we started off with (what else) a road race - the Ras na hEireann race in Somerville - 2500 motivated (mostly by the promise of free beer and soda bread afterwards) runners lined up in front of my favorite Irish Pub, "The Burren" and got crackin'. Now, bottom line is, I did well with a time of 9:16 minutes/mile, but I tell you folks, it was not pretty! I was seriously huffing and puffing - thoughts of impending death and immediate collapse were on my mind, and I could see myself sprawled out on some side street in Somerville with 1500 of the remaining runners trampling over my exhausted body. After the race and after receiving a medal (everyone did for finishing), Elaine and I went to The Burren for our free beer (alas, t'was not green), and then I got myself on public transportation and headed over to Southie (aka South Boston) for the annual St. Patrick's Day Parade. Considered the heart of Irish Boston (http://boston.about.com/cs/government/a/south_boston.htm), Southie is quite wonderful, and the parade is a very old-fashioned, traditional parade - with lots of firemen, police officers, veterans, marching bands and bagpipe players, and girls twirling batons high up in the air. My favorite group were the Cycling Murrays, Irish flute players on uni-cycles (only in America!!!) and some guy who was running for office who came over personally to shake my hand. Little does he know that I can't vote squat in this country. Main thing I made his day, eh?
I hung out with my friends Barbara and Anita who just recently purchased a condo across from the L Street Bathhouse, just down the street from Fort Independence and Castle Island - one of the Boston Harbor Islands that is really not an island any more (sort of sticks out into the harbor - http://www.nine3.com/MDC/history.html). The two took me on a tour of Southie - and of course, we had to stop at Barbara's brother Michael's house for some tasty corned beef and cabbage.
Aside from the no-nonsense exercise regimen this week, I got a little cultural fix in by volunteering with Boston Cares, this time at the American Repertory Theatre for the play "Dido - Queen of Carthage" (http://www.amrep.org/) - the tragic story of Queen Dido who rules over the very civilized city of Carthage in North Africa. She fatefully (and with the help of some nefarious deities) meets Aeneas, who with his son Ascarius has survived the Trojan war. A very well acted play - full of drama (of course) and humor with some interesting interpretations of some of the characters. Cupid was effeminately gay, Aeneas sounded a bit Irish and Juno, sister of Jupiter was played by a drag queen. That's Cambridge for you!
My friends, with these images in mind, I bid you farewell - may you have a enjoyable weekend!
pet:)
Quote of the Day: "If you cannot convince them, confuse them." (Harry Truman).
posted by My Boston at
5:53 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home