Jen and Julia

Jen made dinner tonight – chicken with roast potatoes and carrots.

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Forest Cafe

Tonight Jen and I drove to Boston to pick up Jen’s friend from college, Kelley, from Logan Airport. Her flight didn’t get in until 11, so first we stopped by Forest Café near Porter Square for a drink with another of Jen’s friend from college, Jamie, and his girlfriend Corey.

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Well, it’s good once every seven years…

I got a haircut today, but before I sat in the chair I asked if I could use the barber’s restroom (I had by driving around non-stop all afternoon). The storage closet-plus-toilet was pretty much the grittiest, sketchiest thing I’ve seen this side of a child abduction flick. What made it authentic, though, was the wall calendar from … Wait for it… 1995.

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Salt Pizza

I met up with a friend tonight for dinner at John Harvard’s Brew House in Framingham. I ordered a chicken sandwich, and she ordered the plain cheese pizza. My meal was pretty good, but Christen barely touched her dish. When the waiter came by a little later, he asked if se wanted it wrapped to go. She deferred and the waiter was about to trash it. I’m all about proper etiquette, but since there was still 3/4 of a pizza facing at stake, I jumped in and said I would take it.
So I brought it home and had a late-night slice, and realized why Christen was so eager to get rid of the pie. To quote Futurama, “It was the saltiest thing I’ve ever eaten… And I once ate a whole bowl of salt!”
But I guess that’s a perfect business model to serve salty pizza.. in a bar

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Harvest Time

The September weather is definitely getting cooler here in Central Mass. Here’s a tractor baling hay in Leicester.

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106.1 FM “Walk” Radio

This morning I drove into Boston and did a live interview on Roxbury Community radio station 106.1 FM. We talked about my Walk across America and serendipitously, the show host, Charles Clemons (middle), had a unique perspective -earlier this year he had walked from Boston to Washington DC to promote rights for small urban radio stations (www.walkforpower.com).  And two times the  serendipitousity, Skip Potts was in town! Skip also had walked across America in 2008 to raise funds for educational awareness. He was walking east to west, and I was walking west to east, and we actually met up for one magical day in Charlotte, North Carolina. So when I learned he was coming to Boston, I had arranged for him to guest on the show as well.

It was fun to talk about our respective trips with Skip and Charles, fellow veterans who truly understood what it was like to do an adventure like this. Unfortunately the hour passed all too fast. Skip and I left the studio, found a quiet park in Belmost where we did a quick interview for  a documentary he’s putting together. Then he, too, had to leave.

I just wish we had more time.

Labor(?) Day

Today was Labor Day, and Jen had some labor for us to labor over. She had installed a chair rail about 3/4 up the wall of her bedroom, and painted the lower portion a neutral gray. She wanted to paint the top quarter a color that would really “pop,” so after debating all summer, she picked out a tone called Sexy Pink. Here Jen is getting her Sexy Pink on. The walls, I mean. She later paid me with an all-you can eat at Imperial Buffet in Shrewsbury, and I was happy.

I’ll Drive

Another beautiful day, and Jen and I went for a round of disc golf. (If you’re keeping track, that’s four times in five days for me – trying to cram it in before the cold weather hits!) We decided to switch things up and try the brand new course at Newton Hill, across from Elm Park, in Worcester. The terrain is rougher and hillier than what we’re used to at Pyramids, and since the course is still a work in process, most of the baskets have yet to be installed. Instead, we were throwing for trees with a hole number painted on them.  Here’s my action shot, overhanding the disc up a hill.

The course has promise and it wil be interesting to see how it develops in the next year or so, especially since it’s set right in the middle of a city.

And that’s bringing disc golf to the people!

The Time Traveler’s Wife

This afternoon Jen and I met up with my cousin Carol and her hisband John to see the matinee of The Time Traveler’s Wife. While I was walking across America last year, my friend Pam in Wyoming gave that audiobook to listen to to pass the time across Nebraska. At first I thought, OK whatever, but the more I listened to it, the more I got pulled into Henry and Claire’s weird and tragic and beautiful lives. Audrey Niffenegger is a fantastic story teller, and her scenes, along with William Hope and Laurel Lefkow’s talented voices, still give me goosebumps. The Time Traveler’s Wife was one of those things that I’ll always rememeber about walking across America, and I would recommend it to anyone (in fact, I bought a few copies of the book last December to give out as Christmas presents).

Unfortunately, the movie lacked teeth. The screenwriters had removed all the best scenes and the gritty edges and made the film as bland as sand.

But it was still nice to spend time with Carol and John.

Jen Drives

After Jen got outof work, we went for a round of disc golf at Pyramids in Leicester. No birdies today, but it was a warm, beautiful, late-summer evening to be outdoors. Here Jen is getting ready to drive uphill on Hole 11.