Greetings from Elm Park

It was raining when we got up on Sunday morning, so we had a slow morning reading, then we ate lunch and went to Elm Park to walk, see waterfowl and turtles, and do some Mewtwo and Mega raids for Pokemon Go Fest with the big local crowds that always gather there for Pokemon events. It drizzled a couple of times but was mostly a nice day, not too hot or cold, and after a couple of hours, we went to the nearby Tidepool Bookstore because it's nice to have an independent brick-and-mortar shop nearby! 

 

We came home late in the afternoon and took a walk around the neighborhood, then I took a shower and did a little organizing. We had French toast for dinner with veggie bacon, talked to my parents and kids on Google Meet, and saw the start of the Wisconsin-Notre Dame game. Then we watched this week's very well done Lanterns and now we're watching the start of Marble Hall Murders, the sequel to Magpie and Moonflower Murders, with a fun cast and split storyline with actors in dual roles.

Greetings from Wingaersheek Beach

We went out early Tuesday to drop a package off at the post office and to pick up bagels (plus I got Pokemon into four showcases, three of which I won). Then I folded and put away laundry and did some other chores, we ate lunch, I did some reading, and then I got a package containing the Oracolor deck Illuminated Paths so I read with that for a while. It was another gorgeous not-too-hot day, so perfect for walking and seeing bunnies. 

My DS9 group watched "Shakaar" (Kai Winn! Lupaza! Bajoran politics! And, fine, Shakaar, though he and Kira bother me less together since I know it doesn't last). Then we watched the end of the extra-innings Red Sox-Marlins game (grand slam!) and a bit of coverage of the Orioles blowout of the Cardinals (13-1!) before the new episode of Futurama (Taylor Swift?!). A gull and her very hungry child we met at Wingaersheek Beach seeking potato chips:

Greetings from Gloucester

We spent Saturday in Gloucester, about an hour and a half from Worcester, starting with a trip to Wingaersheek Beach at low tide so we could see the tidepools. They aren't as dramatic as the Alki Beach tidepools on the west coast -- no 10-inch sea stars -- but there are snails, barnacles, little swimming crabs and isopods, schools of fish, and many seagulls trying to eat all of the above, plus whatever they can beg or steal from people's lunches. It was overcast and cool; the water felt the same temperature as the air, and we could see the Annisquam Harbor Light. 

We brought a picnic for the beach (I had a young gull date while I ate), and after we finished, we drove to the Gloucester Fisherman's Memorial, where we met my friend Marty from high school, though we haven't seen each other since except on Facebook and in Pokemon Go (it was a raid day, but I only caught one remote Starmie). He took us on a walking tour of the western harbor to Stage Fort Park and Half Moon Beach, then we drove together to Eastern Point Lighthouse and walked out on the Dog Bar Breakwater, where we saw ducks, ships, and a grey seal. 

 

We stopped at Panera for dinner on the way home, arriving in time for the end of both the Orioles and Red Sox games which both ended with walk-off victories. We're watching another episode of Avatar: The Last Airbender while I upload photos and post this.

Greetings from Fitchburg and Worcester

Sunday was another gorgeous day. Adam's brother-in-law Sagar, who is training for a marathon, wanted to run a 5K with his friends for his birthday, so we went over there to offer cheering and dog-walking, though Pepper only made it 1K before she had had enough so we went back to hang out with Hildy and Tom plus others who did not want to run a 5K. There were snacks and eventually pizza and cake, so it was a lovely morning. 

It was also Pokemon Community Day, so Paul and I went to the Fitchburg State campus and then Elm Park, where I caught a bunch of shiny Nickits and saw many geese and ducks. We got home in time for the end of the rain-delayed Red Sox game, then we ate dinner and watched the new Lanterns, which I liked but I'm hardly enough of a Green Lantern fan for my opinion to count. Now it's more of the Worcester-hating Kevin Can F Himself.

Greetings from Old Deerfield

I had a quiet Tuesday morning, then went with Paul to a doctor's appointment at UMass Medical Center so I could hang out and catch Pokemon in downtown Worcester while he was getting poked and prodded. It was a gorgeous not-too-hot day, so we also took a walk, and though we only saw a couple of bunnies, we got the full fountain rainbow. 

My DS9 group watched "Explorers" -- the one which not only introduces Leeta and Kasidy Yates (the latter not even by name yet) but has Jake writing, drunk O'Brien and Bashir singing "Jerusalem" while the latter is stewing over med school regrets whose origins we don't even know yet, and Dukat has to admit that Cardassia knew Bajor got to space first. 

We also watched some of the Red Sox loss to Toronto (Adley started and played fine, at least) and some of the Orioles win over the Twins, and our past hour has been more Kevin Can F*** Himself; I like the lesbian storyline, though I doubt Patty and Allison get to live happily ever after. Here is the Barbie exhibit at the Memorial Hall Museum in Old Deerfield:

Greetings from Boston Seaport

On Sunday morning we drove to Billerica to pick up Meredith, then we headed to the Seaport District for Sail Boston, where over 50 tall ships are visiting along with dozens of local ships and a festival grounds with a ferris wheel, food, and lots of other things. The only ship we toured fully was Esmeralda from Chile, but we saw most of them, including several we've been on before (Pride of Baltimore, Kalmar Nyckel, Sagres, Mircea, Lynx, Mayflower II). The USS Constitution was afloat yesterday in the parade of sail, but we didn't see it in the water today because it back at the Charlestown Navy Yard. We got lunch at Better Bagels and took them to eat at Fan Pier Park within view of many schooners, and we got fresh-squeezed lemonade when it got warm.

 

 In the late afternoon, we took Meredith home, then headed back to Worcester, where I wanted to stop in Elm Park to do a couple of Mega Mewtwo Y raids before Pokemon Go Fest ended. (I had a successful weekend with over a dozen shinys despite not spending much of Sunday playing.) We had soup with crusty bread for dinner, then we watched the end of season four of Star Trek: Discovery -- I liked how things were wrapped up and I loved Stacy Abrams as President of Earth -- around The Vampire Lestat, which was romantic and powerful, I was so happy finally to get an episode fully focused on Louis and Lestat's relationship and how scarred they both are by what Armand did to Claudia, and then it ended insanely and I have no idea where it's going!

Greetings from Boylston

Saturday was the first day of Pokemon Go's global fest, so mid-morning we went to Elm Park, where at least a hundred players were circulating around the various gyms, including people older than me and young children with their parents. I fought a lot of Mega Mewtwos, talked to a bunch of ducks and geese, admired many turtles, and eventually walked to Mia Cane for acai bowls and Vietnamese coffee. We stopped in the anime store Otaku Sekai to see their Pokemon specials on the way back to the park, where I did some more raids before we got in the car and headed to Boylston. 

We met Adam and Haley at Tower Hill Botanic Garden along with Pepper, who wasn't thrilled about the warm paths but was happy to try to eat grass in the shade. There's an exhibit of huge stained glass sculptures in the outdoor gardens and lots of summer color, and it wasn't too hot in the woods. We stopped at Shaw's before we got home for dinner, then we watched most of the Orioles victory before Hoppers -- which is not as beautifully animated as Swapped but is a flying Bechdel Test triumph with women scientists and activists -- around Argentina's World Cup win.