Legacy

We were throwing out some ancient computer equipment at work. This is a 5 1/4″ floppy disk drive (remember those?) The beast underneath is one of the first laptop docking stations.

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Calamine older than you…

I got some poison ivy around the ankles while running the Warrior Dash on Saturday. Last night I was looking for some Calamine lotion under the bathroom sink. I found this bottle, which expired in… get ready for this… January 1985. It’s the same stuff my mom used on me when I was nine years old. I was so desperate I used it anyways (and it seems to be working fine).

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Something you don’t see everyday…

…Three cross-country walkers in one place. Me (2008), Mike Korpi, who started hiking from Seattle in October 2010, and is finishing up in Boston on Thursday, and Francis Camosse, who walked from Newport, OR, to Boston in 2010. Mike wanted some good pizza, so we brought him to Flats in Worcester, and now we’re hanging out on Fran’s back porch, drinking beers and trading national stories of police, blisters, and stalkers. (Thanks to Fran’s roommate, Alex, for the photo).

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Warrior Dash 2011

Jake and me at the 2011 Warrior Dash in Amesbury, MA. Jake’s my drinking buddy from college, and we hadn’t seen each other in a few years since he lives in Rochester now. Congrats to Scott Erb, a friend from Worcester, for finishing also. The final few obstacles, including mud slide, are on the hill behind us. It had rained the previous morning and halfway into our 9:00 am heat, so the trail was just one big mud pit. This photo was taken after we had changed clothes and cleaned up as best we could… dirty pictures to come soon. Thanks to Jen for being a sport, coming with me, taking photos and standing in the rain to cheer us on.

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Happy Birthday, Jamie!

Jamie is one of Jen’s best friends from Clark U. Tonight Jen and I went to his place in Cambridge for his birthday potluck.

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MassWalkingTour.org

Another photo of musicians Raianne Richards, Mark Mandeville, and Matt Fox on their Midstate Trail Trek, this time giving a show at local landmark Carter and Stevens farmstand in Barre, Mass. There was a pretty good turnout, depite the rain. I was kind of dreading driving the 30 minutes in the bad weather to see them, but then I remembered these guys had walked twelve miles in the downpour. That put things into perspective. Fortunately the owners of the farm let them bunk in the warm, dry barn. www.masswalkingtour.org finishes in Ashburnham on Sunday.

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A Taste of Shrewsbury Street

Jen and I try gelato from Via at A Taste of Shrewsbury Street.

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Mass Walking Tour

Musicians Matt Fox, Raianne Richards, and Mark Mandeville have a cool concept – walking around Massachusetts, playing music in small venues, and bringing awareness to arts and music in schools and communities. Last year Mark and Raianne of Webster, who normally play together as a folk duo in gigs across the country, camped and walked west to east across the state, from Beckett to Somerville. This year they, along with Worcester-based songwriter Matt Fox, are walking from the Connecticut border to the New Hampshire border on the Mid-state Trail. Mark and I had exchanged a handful of emails last year, but never had the chance to meet up… when I read in the newspaper they were playing a concert at the library in Spencer, just one town over from me, I packed up some chocolate chip cookies to bring to them. It was a good show in a small space, interspersed with some stories from the road thus far. They are talented songwriters, and they are already planning next year’s hike. You can learn more at www.masswalkingtour.org

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Clean Up Crew

This afternoon I drove out to Sturbridge to volunteer with Tornado Aide+. I was sent to help clean the yard of an elderly couple on Streeter Road. The last two weekends I’ve been working in this area with the Red Cross, helping at water/food distribution points. Today was all pulling stumps and moving logs. I’ll definitely be feeling this tomorrow.

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Andy and Tara

Last night I drove into Somerville to meet up with Tara, my friend from AmeriCorps, and her boyfriend Andy. Or should I say fiancé? Andy asked her to marry him yesterday afternoon, in the middle of the thunderstorm (nice move!). Congratulations!

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