Day 73 - Walking around Cambridge

I can't remember the last time I had a cold, but by Thursday I could no longer pretend that I hadn't caught something - my sneezing, stuffy/runny nose, and that weird feeling in the back of my throat totally gave me away. Luckily the co-op has an entire wall of loose leaf tea, so I gratefully dove right in to try and wash away the cold, if only by sheer echinacea persistence. I've never particularly used it for a cold but it did seem to help a bit, even if that was only the effect of being super well hydrated. Mary went to work but I sat and talked with Brittany for a while before she also left for work. As I was making a last cup of tea to take with me, I started talking to Paul, another member of the co-op, one who has probably been there the longest at 15 years. He was telling me about living in Denver when he was younger - I had never heard of boarding houses there but he was very nostalgic for the years that he had spent in them, back in the 60s and 70s I think. Kind of a cool random fact to learn about my hometown history!

I packed up my bag and walked to Union Square, just 25 minutes or so away, to meet Mary for lunch at Blok 11. As I was leaving the neighborhood I heard this crazy noise, almost yet not quite like birds calling or crowing "ke-ruuuuh" back and forth, but I couldn't see where they were no matter how hard I stared at the tree branches above me. Suddenly I noticed a gray squirrel, practically plastered to the tree trunk, making the noise! He stared back at me, not moving a muscle except his torso expanding and contracting while his mouth opened a little wider every time he made the noise - it made me laugh, he just looked so odd. There's a ton of construction going on in the area, often several houses in a row being rehabbed, adding on patios to each floor to divide it into apartments, or putting on new siding and windows.

I'm inherently a little against any place that charges for wifi when I'm already buying food or tea, but Blok 11 still a neat place - it has an old vault where they've put in benches and tables with board games, and the main eating area has a lot of small tables and a few larger communal ones, plus a decent menu. I later found out that charging for wifi is very common in Boston because a few providers like Comcast have set up hotspots all over the city that you can pay to access either by the hour or with a monthly subscription, so most coffee shops also charge as well. Mary arrived and we ordered a sandwich and a salad to split. The asparagus mushroom mozzarella sandwich was delicious, I think there might have been a little cinnamon in the mustard? It had just a hint of sweetness that was surprising but very tasty. We were talking about various locations around the Pioneer Valley and soon found that we were sitting at the communal table across from a Smith alum who is now at Harvard Divinity. We of course had to then play the name game and soon found several people we knew in common, including another MHC alum from our year and a recent former resident of Mary's co-op. Small world :)

After Mary went back to work and I finished the blog entry I was working on, I walked to Davis Square to meet Cleo. (Boston really likes their squares, this one was less than 2 miles away from Union Square). Cleo and I rowed together for three years, and it's always such a pleasure to be in her cheerful and thoughtful company. She was on break from her job as a software developer/programmer at a financial firm (I think I'm remembering that correctly?), so we walked home to get her dog, Gatsby, and take him on a walk. He's such a little cutie! Cleo and Sarah adopted him from the shelter and didn't know about his temperament until later, but they've gone to great and amazing effort to get him to behave and interact well, and he's so well trained now to focus on Cleo while they walk instead of being startled by unfamiliar people and noises - I was totally impressed, I've hardly ever seen a dog so well trained as to be able to come "say hello" to me by nosing my hand but instead of jumping all over me, he immediately goes back to Cleo (to get his treat, of course!). We walked and talked for a while, then took Gatsby home and walked back to Davis Square so she could go back to work and I could start heading home.

On my way home I finally caught up and chatted with my Mom (hi Mom!), then made some tea and put ice on my feet because I'd managed to give myself blisters walking 6 miles in new boots :p It was decidedly odd to be in such a big house that was somehow completely empty, I sat in the living room so that at least I was surrounded by tons of potted plants, blogging and waiting for folks to come home. Mary and I went to an open meditation class at the Cambridge Zen Center that evening. Mind quieting is still not my strong suit, especially for a 30 minute silent meditation, but the center was amazingly welcoming and it felt somehow very gratifying to even try and be still and quiet for that period of time, if I lived in the area I would absolutely be going back regularly. If you live in the area, go check it out! The morning and evening open meditations are free, although they do ask you to consider donating if you come regularly or want to participate in one of the monthly weekend-long retreats. When we got back, Brittany had set herself up in the living room on her computer, so we joined her and had a good laugh at the look of shock on everyone's face as they came home and saw people actually using the common area instead of retreating to their respective rooms. Perhaps a small change that will keep going in the future?


Pictures!

 "Looking For Something Exciting Never Gets Old" - I couldn't agree more ;)

 Tiny community garden

 The last fiery burst of fall

 Something you really don't see elsewhere in the country - old signs telling you which buildings have fallout shelters in the basement

 A pretty church on my walk from Union Square

 My GPS told me to take a certain road home but from where I was standing all I could see was train tracks. Then I got to this little artistic pedestrian underpass :)

 A dragon weathervane!

Such an amazing tea selection!