Setter in the country

Went home this weekend -- and it was very brief, so if you didn't know about it, don't feel too bad, I still try to avoid talking about long trips on the internet, even if all anybody could steal from my apartment would be the cats. I'll try to make better, non-internet warnings when I'm going to land for more than 48 hours.

The Boston angle on this is that I finally figured out how to get to the airport without dropping $45 for a taxi. There are actually two ways on the T -- one involves switching trains twice, and the other involves the so-called "Silver Line". So far as I can tell the Silver Line was supposed to be a dedicated train to the airport, but they dug out a bunch of tunnels and then lost interest or ran out of money or something, so they put buses in them. Which works acceptably well, really (though I hear that the SL3/4, which goes to the west and doesn't seem to have much point kind of sucks). So I know yet another way to get somewhere new.

Arnold Arboretum

So the boss tipped me off to an Arboretum run by Harvard and right near the T. He's the Kenyon grad, so he's familiar with central Ohio and confirmed that it was like Dawes. Naturally I was interested.

I headed out there today -- on the way taking a ride on the Orange line, the last one I'd not been on.

The Arnold Arboretum was just what I needed in greenspace. Right on walking in I could tell I was going to enjoy it. It *is* a lot like Dawes -- the primary difference being that Dawes is better signed, so it's hard to tell where you're going up here sometimes. Also, most of the "trails" are really roads (though they don't let cars in), so they're paved, which is a little hard on the feet. There were a couple dirt, grass, and gravel trails, though. A number of these weren't on the map, so I'm not sure if they were really trails or if there were places where a lot of people just walked and killed the grass.

My favorite spot so far was in the azalea collection. There's a small dirt path, and then off that there's an area that runs down to a creek. Everything was in bloom and it was absolutely amazing. I may go back with a towel and just sit down there for hours.

Photos don't do it justice.

I had to give in and go back a little early due to a bruised heel -- which also put paid to my plans for tomorrow, which were to scout one of the urban beaches -- but it was a nice morning. The afternoon was a little less nice, because after getting back and taking an unplanned nap (I sat down to read and the next thing I knew it was two hours later) I popped up with a fairly spectacular sun burn on both shoulders. No sign of sun anywhere else, and it certainly wasn't showing before I fell asleep, so it snuck up on me. I thought I'd hugged the shade pretty good out there, but evidently not.

Anyway, that makes tomorrow a get-things-done day, which is probably what it should have been to begin with.

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Preakness Stakes

Did anybody else see this? Well, or listen to the webcast, like me, since I don't have a TV? Just Wow. We've got this tough smallish colt, a trainer who hadn't won either race before, and a prodigy freshman jockey. If that's not a story made for a movie, I don't know what is. Will that bring the blessing of the Triple Crown gods? I don't know, but I sure hope so.

Wish I had somebody out here who knew NYC, because I'd totally get on the bus and go to the Belmont.

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Strawberries

Yes, you can grow food in a studio apartment. Just don't expect it to be enough to live on.

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Bucket List

So I should probably keep track of what I'd like to see out here:

• The Aquarium
• The Franklin Park Zoo
• A local beach
• Cape Cod
• North Shore beaches
• Salem

Salt marsh

So yesterday I headed down to the Belle Isle Salt Marsh down in Boston proper (and right across from the racecourse; Suffolk has money issues, though, so I'm not sure I'll go there to bet the ponies ever).

A salt marsh is... well, a big brushy field with muddy creeks and small ponds in it. I think I was a little early in the season for it to green up, but I still saw small crabs and things in the water. I will say that it sure smelled salty enough -- made me think I was right on the ocean (it's not, it's back from the ocean maybe a half or quarter mile).

I think I spent more time on the subway than I did in the park, though. But at least the result was that I have now learned how to change trains and where you get off for the airport I also discovered the oldest subway in Boston -- well, I didn't discover it, obviously somebody else knew it was there already. It's a weird line, it splits off in all directions and the trains are only two cars long compared to the other lines. Luckily, unless you're actually going somewhere on the green line, you just have to randomly jump on a car going in the general right direction and get off at the next station -- or as I found out after the fact, you can just use the orange line, which is less weird. The Green line is also the one that's had two recent wrecks, it runs with very short distances between the "trolleys."

The plan for next weekend is to find the Harvard Arboretum. Originally from Ohio, my boss tells me that it's much like Dawes, so I'll probably be very happy to visit there.

Punkin loses his ranking

So we had a vet trip this morning. Punkin took surprisingly well to being dragged around in his carrier on my cart.

I warned the vet, and he was glad that I did. They got him out of the cage OK, but as soon as he hit the table, that was it (they have their scales built into the tables there, pretty sweet). Squalling, flailing, hissing, and then onto the floor he goes. That was it, they got the cat gloves, and pinned him to the table. He got his shot and went back in the box. No bloodshed.

And that was when the vet said that he wasn't anywhere near the worst they have -- the worst have to be sedated to get their shots.

I think Punkin was disappointed. I expect him to try harder next time.

To add insult to injury, since he made a big old mess like usual, he got a bath when we got back. He's actually good about baths, but he did look like a drowned rat after.

Windy city

No, I didn't suddenly land in Chicago.

One thing I'm having trouble getting used to out here is the wind. It's not really all that windy, as such -- gusts have only been in the high 20s, which is a breeze at home. We don't get excited until they're talking gusts in the high 40s any more. And if it's windy enough, it'll get you wherever you're standing, possibly including inside.

But here the wind behaves differently. You'll be walking along and it's dead still, and suddenly you'll get blasted off your feet. Then you walk 30 yards and it happens again -- from the opposite direction. Neither direction is the one they're reporting at NOAA.

Clearly it has something to do with the buildings (and I could probably find someone to tell you exactly how it's doing it and show you a model of wind in action, perhaps without even leaving the building), but it's weird as anything. And rough on umbrellas. I'm starting to get used to where the strange winds happen, and you start to angle your umbrella without really thinking about it to a) keep it from turning inside out and b) maximize the number of drops you're keeping off your shirt. Massachusetts Ave. is about the worst spot; it really wails down through there and spills out into the side streets. This ought to be very interesting come February.

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I guess I've officially been here a month; we rolled in with the uHaul on April 11.

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For anyone that's reading this, you tell me what sites you'd like to see me check out. There's a lot here, almost too much to really pick what I want to see. I can only really do things on weekends that aren't close in, but I'll check out restaurants, go see museums, and report back. I know I want to go to the Aquarium and find a beach (or marine nature preserve), find the location of the Boston massacre, and go to the Boston Commons. I think they'd probably kick me out of Symphony Hall. What else would you like me to report on?

Brownies

Well, I finally fired up the oven... literally. I do not like gas ovens. I'm only now getting used to the gas stovetop, but I don't like the oven at all. There's enough of a gas smell when it starts up to put me on edge.

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I noticed something this weekend, or, I guess, noticed over time. There's always music in the city. Whether it's impromptu, street music, or planned, it seems like everywhere you go there's somebody playing. I've seen a guitars by the dozen, banjos, harmonicas, trumpets, a trombone, a harp, and who knows what else. Kind of makes you feel like you've walked into a sitcom while the starting credits are rolling.

I haven't really dropped off the face of the earth

Between doing some contract work, general exhaustion, rain, and just trying to keep up with chores, I haven't done a whole lot else of interest.

I did go to the Arts First festival, which is, well... and arts festival. Unfortunately, since I'm still not real oriented to the campus, I didn't enjoy it as much as I probably could have. There was an incredible amount of things going on. I stuck with things that were out in the open, so I got to hear some music (a capella and some instrumental, and a few other things I can't really define), see some installation pieces, watch the students helping kids throw clay pots, and see some people spattered with paint in a conga line.

No, I have no idea what that last one was all about.