Cool stuff and a COVID reminder

There was a left, and a right, then another left and another right … or maybe it was a right and a left, followed by another right and left … or perhaps there were consecutive lefts or rights in there somewhere.

But after all the lefts and rights, and passing through what looked like a staff lounge — the whole building had a 1970s elementary school vibe to it — we arrived at our destination.

Snow Village.

Advertisement

Nothing special, just routine

I’ve said for a while now that I hope someday writes a book or documentary about COVID focusing on the things we had to do just to make it through the first year.

I don’t want it to get into the politics of anything — honestly, it would make me tear my hair out — but I think that someday, once we’re far enough out that people’s memories may start to fade just a touch, we’ll revisit the events of 2020, of just trying to live life every day, and be gobsmacked by it all.

Going out to eat out: May 15

The TVs above the bar were all showing the Bruins game.

What looked to be a family of six included two boys in baseball uniforms, so it’s pretty obvious where they were coming from.

Between people eating outside to enjoy the warm weather — even if the view was of the Market Basket grocery store parking lot — and the fact it was 5:30 (we had a basketball game we wanted to watch at 7), there weren’t all that many people inside.

We get to go

Suzi sent me the National Theatre Live schedule the other day.

Some of it looks pretty promising, especially Jodie Comer’s one-woman show, “Prima Facie.” I didn’t watch the last season of “Killing Eve” because I felt like it had gone completely off the rails, but even when the show was sliding fast, she was always great.

I’m also intrigued by “Straight Line Crazy” with Ralph Fiennes, because I’m not sure what a play about Robert Moses would look like. (Robert Caro’s “The Power Broker” has been on my “maybe I should read that” list for years, but I never have, probably for about 1,344 different reasons.)

Soup, and all the other gifts: April 17

“Gift” … that was the word she used.

Suzi and I went to a Passover Seder at our friends’ house, and even though we’re not Jewish, we partook in traditions both standard — the rituals surrounding the reading — and particular to our gathering, namely jokes about having enough food to feed a small army and my lusting after the chicken matzo ball soup.

The week gone by — Dec. 5

It was a room that had probably heard a million stories, and more than a few lies.

At least that’s what I assume. I’ve never been to an Elks meeting — although the local chapter sponsored a team when I played Little League — but those are the kind of things that happen when folks get together socially.

Because of the vaccine

I finally saw “No Time To Die.”

Suzi and I went to the local theater with the plush, reclining seats, and since it was a matinee — we arrived just as the previews were starting — I enjoyed a pizza for lunch before the movie began.

I’m a huge fan of James Bond movies, and I enjoyed this one. Without spoiling the ending, I will say that it left me curious about what direction the franchise will take when the next movie comes out in another couple years or so.

It feels … so … close

“Are you a mom?” asked the cashier at The Odyssey Bookshop as she rang up Suzi’s Mount Holyoke College T-shirt.

Even though Suzi and I have long been old enough to be the parents of college students, I’m pretty sure it was the first time she had been asked, and I think she was a bit taken aback.

“I’m … an alum,” she said after a slight hesitation.

The annoying person in the office, automated

My phone rang.

Since I was expecting an important message — I’m basically in the fourth of these stages — I bolted from the laundry room to answer before it went to voicemail.

Suzi, having no interest in taking a charge, deftly stepped out of my way.

End of a season … start of what’s next

It was a beautiful afternoon for a baseball game — sunny, bright and pleasantly warm — but I decided to switch from the T-shirt and shorts I had been wearing all day to a long-sleeve shirt and jeans.

After all, the midafternoon start would mean a finish early in the evening, so I figured it would cool off once the sun started to go down.

As it turned out, between sitting in shadows and a slight, but steady breeze, I was happy about the decision starting in roughly the second inning.