The week gone by — May 30

I assume that the point of turning 49 is the same as turning 9, 19, 29 or 39 … or 59, 69, 79 and so on.

It’s the last one before the next one.

Of course, when the next one comes next year, they’ll be throwing parades in my honor. (That’s what I tell myself, anyway, although the actual reason is far more important, since it’s Memorial Day.)

Advertisement

Reaching the end of the trail

The woman was sitting at the edge of the trail, painting.

I could see the river scene she was working on by looking over her shoulder, but her back was to the river, and the scene didn’t look anything like what was directly in front of her.

So I’m assuming she was working from either inspiration or memory.

All I am is me

“… Because I’m me, I don’t have to be like anyone else.

This doesn’t mean I’m some kind of wild nonconformist, because I’m really not. I’m actually fairly ordinary, even boring.

What it does mean is that if a highlight of my week is going upstairs on Thursday night to watch two hours of a former politician traveling around by train, it may not be your cup of tea (fitting, since the former politician is British), but it is mine.

Parties are fine, but I’d rather just hang out with one or two friends.”

The quote above is from a guest post my blogging buddy Renata was nice enough to ask me to write for her “Getting Real” series. To read the rest, go on over to Buffalo Sauce Everywhere, and if you like it (or anything else she writes), make sure you let her know on her blog!

You learn something new …

I noticed the mural on the side of a building as we pulled into the parking lot behind Nashua City Hall.

It was of legendary Brooklyn Dodgers Don Newcombe and Roy Campanella, commemorating their time playing minor-league ball in the city.

I thought it was interesting, and made a mental note to check it out when we came back, but we had another matter to attend to first.

The week gone by — May 23

I almost missed the boat.

For the third time, Suzi and I are taking part in a 5K fundraiser for a local school that serves students with autism, and unlike last year, we’d be able to do it in person and not virtually by walking around the neighborhood.

Except my “I’ll sign us up for it when I think about it” turned into “They could only have so many people in person, and they already reached their limit, so we’d have to do it virtually again.”

Finally … baseball

When we left Hadlock Field a couple summers ago, I didn’t know where and when my next baseball game would be.

It probably wouldn’t have been a return visit to Portland, not right away, but maybe there would be a road trip to Cape Cod in our future. Manchester and Lowell are two of my favorites. Hartford has a beautiful ballpark I have to get to again, and of course I’ll always want to see the Yankees if our mostly annual trip to New York City comes at the right time.

Perhaps our travels would bring us to a ballpark large or small, or maybe we’d go for a serious adventure … Boston.

The week gone by — May 16

Two tulips have randomly sprouted up outside our house.

They’re in the patch where the bushes will be when they grow in, although right now the green is still poking through the brown stalks left after we cut them last fall.

Eventually, the bushes will grow so large that Suzi and I are convinced the rabbits on our lawn not only live there during the summer, there’s enough space for them to install a large-screen TV.

And then, there were two (shots)

“Did he miss?”

Between barely feeling the needle for no more than a second and the strange sensation immediately afterward like someone pouring warm water down my side, I actually did wonder for a moment if the guy whiffed.

Then I realized that if he had, the Pfizer vaccine would be running down my arm, not my rib cage.

Another escape to the beach

Dogs … everywhere you looked, there were dogs.

Big dogs, little dogs … sometimes little dogs with big dogs … and when one dog saw another dog, they had to come together for a confab or a chase.

Lots were on leashes, but lots weren’t. That usually annoys me — large, jumpy dogs make me antsy and therefore don’t like when they’re running around loose — but everyone looked like they were having fun and I was in too good of a mood to complain.

The week gone by — May 9

Dear JetBlue,

I know you’ve been trying to reach me a lot lately, and that’s fine. I don’t mind.

And … yes, I know I should have gotten back to you sooner, but I honestly wasn’t really sure what to say.