Back to Boston

There’s no place I’ve been that’s quite like Fenway Park.  Each visit brings an intoxicating mixture of moments frozen in time, a century’s old lore, zealots united, traditions honored, and the promise of October baseball.

We were excited to be back in Boston for a couple days and even happier to have tickets for (likely) the last home series against the Yankees this season.  This is the second time that we’ve had seats atop the Green Monster and we’re fortunate to share the experience with Ali’s parents in celebration of their 40^th wedding anniversary(!).

One of this seasons little treasures is right to announce our disapproval of Alex Rodriquez with even more vitriol than usual.  By the way, he went 0 for 3.  The Boston faithful are somewhat of a spectacle to be observed.  I tried to record some of the fun but the audio didn’t do it justice.  I did, however, capture both the Boston accent and it's spirit in all it's glory.  This “offer” came from the gentleman behind us and was directed towards Red Sox left fielder Johnny Gomes (out of frame).

The Red Sox won and moved one step closer to clinching the top spot in the American League.  I wouldn’t be entirely honest if I didn't admit to the haunting memories of September 2011.  Fortunately, most of that team is long gone!  'Love That Dirty Water' is a little bit sweeter after the Sox beat the Yankees. 

Westward Bound

For the past couple of months, Wifey and I have ruminated about what might lie for us beyond Boston's zip codes.  Despite our love for this city, we've always known that a different place would usher us into the next stage of our lives.  After some intense competition, we've signed a letter of intent with San Francisco!

We'd like to thank the other contenders for their participation!  Washington DC, Baltimore, Dallas, and Chicago: I will always look back on your recruitment with fond memories.

Alas, we'll make our way to California during September (in time for grape harvest - I think?).  Hopefully, they'll have their debt situation worked-out by the time we arrive...

Boom Boom Room - No Evacuation Required

We had a nice surprise this July 4th: we could see the show from our couch and I'm not talking about the television!  The barges must've been in a fractionally different place from last year.  Go figure.  Here's a short clip from our vantage point.  While we could only see the top half, we were rather content watching the fireworks through the window and then on TV 5 seconds later (from the comfort of our air conditioned living room).

Jake and I both really enjoy this time of year.  These long summer days promise sunlight during our night walk.  This pic was taken at 8:30p(!) using my 360 Panaroma app.  I added the border with Pixlromatic (vintage Autodesk).

In case you don't recognize it, this is a shot of the Charles River looking towards MIT.  This is our go-to spot because it's so close to home.

Paper Targets Beware

In these here parts of the country (Massachusetts), firearms are a bit taboo.  In Boston, we're famous for enormous anti-gun signs outside of Fenway Park.  Imagine my surprise when Ali came home with a "Learn to Shoot" voucher from Gilt City!  I'm such a proud husband.

Thus, we spent our Saturday morning at the Massachusetts Firearms School.  We sat through a short firearms safety presentation and, before we knew it, we were in the indoor range preparing to fire the first of four guns; the Smith & Wesson Model 617 revolver.  This was the heaviest gun we shot and packed the biggest punch.  After that one, we shot a Ruger Mark III automatic pistol, Ruger LCR revolver, and finally an AR-15 rifle (a close relative of the M16).  Um, yeah.

The shot of the day was made by Frau Ali.  Note the horizontal and vertical centrality of this shot. The instructor turned to her and exclaimed, "you got him in his dome-piece!"

She must've felt bad for the paper target (or something).  She's so kind hearted that even her bullet holes are shaped like hearts.

Here are my shots.  They're arranged from left to right in the same order that the guns are mentioned above.

We had a blast.  Although, we were the only two in our class of nine that didn't immediately sign-up to take the MA certification course.  What will she think of next!?

Playoff Season

Ali and I rushed home last night from the Sox - O's game at Fenway so that we could catch the end of the Celtics - Heat game.  Boston split the games last night (Sox won, Celtics lost) but the excitement in the city during this time of year is special.  This city loves our pro sports teams and for good reason: each one of the majors have won a championship since I moved here in January '05.  Six months can't go by without one of the teams making a playoff run.  May & June are the peak of the insanity; as spring turns to summer, both the NBA and NHL are in playoff mode while the MLB season is hitting full stride.  Nothing stirs the pride like a Bruins jersey on George Washington or Celtic jerseys on the 'Make Way for the Ducklings' statues in the Public Garden.

Attending a home game is really a lot of fun.  Some of my favorite memories are singing along to Sweet Caroline at Fenway and the loads of Bobby Orr jerseys that surface at a Bruins game.  Speaking of which, why don't I have one of those yet?

We're not without our hiccups though.  Just yesterday, for example, Mayor Menino referred to Kevin Garnett as "KJ" and Rajon Rondo as "Hondo".  Ooof.  I was hoping that the incident could somehow be blamed on his heavy Bah-ston accent (which it couldn't).  ESPN had a field day with that audio clip...

Back to 02116

We landed our butts back on the mainland today. I'm unable to accurately determine who's depression is deeper: Ali or Jake's. They both long for the Nantucket lifestyle.  Ali for the carefree attitude Jake for the lax Leash Law.

Reality is a harsh wakening.  Construction on the Sagamore Bridge slowed us to a 3 mph for 40 minutes. Once we got inside the city limits, it only took four stop lights before we witnessed the first act of roads age between an 18-wheeler and a taxi (totally the taxi's fault).  A police officer briefly stopped all traffic through the intersection while the two drivers sorted it out.

On the upside, Spring has made a lot of progress on our street. Our "privacy screens" have returned in full force.

Yuuuuup!

Ali and I attended a charity auction to benefit the Farr Academy this week.  Since wifey is an e-Bay FANATIC, this live event was sure to test her grit.  It's easy to keep a cool appearance when you're competing against faceless binaries, but in live competition, the rules change.  The competitors are always observing the big dog.  Watching.  Testing.  Waiting for you to tip your hand.

This would be much more akin to Storage Wars than anything even she has ever done.  I knew I was out of my league.  Wifey would have to bare the burden of the paddle today.  We Positioned our chairs so that I could tap Ali on the back anytime I wanted to bid.  Armed with that information, Ali would decide whether or not Paddle #1 would make an official bid.

The good news is that my sports memorabilia collection has continued to grow!  Before the auction, I had a Paul Pierce basketball (a gift from Ali), Ted Williams baseball (a gift from Ali's father), and two Dave Mills Youth League trophies (!!).  Following the auction I was the proud new owner of a Kevin Youkilis baseball, Adrian Gonzalez baseball, and a Milan Lucic puck.

I also won a round for four at TPC Boston.  This is a private course where The Deutsche Bank Championship is played.  Woohoo!  We also won some other stuff...but that's far less exciting.

Recycle Bin Igloos

Do you remember the feeling of a first snow when you were a kid?  I was a geeker for that kind of stuff.  As a child, I can remember rushing to all of the different windows in the house to see who got the best visit from Jack Frost...which did little more than only point toward the mere possibility that the environment could sustain snow.  There was more than one winter where I used the recycle bin to make bricks for an igloo!  Granted, I never completed a recycle-bin-brick-igloo...but the effort was there!

There was a corner near the carport at Needle Drive that used to collect snow at a much faster rate than any other part of the yard.  If we were lucky, the snow would pile high enough that we could tunnel into a few feet.  I swear there's a picture floating around of me as a tyke in front of that snow drift...

For the first time this season, it feels like winter has come to Boston.  I think that dogs love the snow just as much as me.  Snow delivers the additional blessing of covering the goose poo (yep) from our young lad's scent detection device.  Which means, he can go off leash during the daylight!

Warmer weather and rain is in the 10-day forecast. It sounds like the snow will be gone just as quickly as it arrived.  Until then, it's game on!

Captain Beard’s Log, Startdate 65505.1

Yes, that is today’s real stardate.  Don’t believe me?

I was combing through the featured articles on Yahoo! today and recognized two of the homes in a real estate article.  They're in my neighborhood!

Here’s a link to the original, Urban Mansions Rich with History.  Both of these homes are along the morning dog walk.  The Ames-Webster Mansion is on Dartmouth St.  As you’ll see in my picture, the shades in the windows have been drawn for months.

The O’Connor Residence is eerily close to home.  I can’t believe they’re asking $12.75M for the property.  Unreal.  This house is equally unoccupied on a frequent basis.

It must be nice to have a mansion on the market and feel no pressure to close a deal!