inkslinger at the medusa cascade

Well, I tried to upload, without success. a couple of short vids of autumnal colors glowing in the afternoon sun.

Tooo bad I'm all thumbs, as the colors are glorious. Boston was so good to me on this likely last visit, now that I've retired from VP. The weather was perfect, I had great food (I really was plunked into the middle of the prime restaurant area) and in two days I hiked over ten miles--a lot for this old bod. Especially over rough brick sidewalk obviously quite old. In fact the sidewalks were interesting, clearly reworked in patches over the years. Everything was wonderful, including the lovely garden at Old West Church, where I met a writing colleague.

Now trying to catch up on all the things!

When I began to write, the sun was going down and I heard a young man's voice singing vespers. The liturgy echoed between buildings in an ethereal way, so ancient the melodic line has slowly polished itself like pebbles between sand and sea.

I found a store that only sells Japanese food and drink items and snacks. Some packages had no English, but I was able to puzzle out the main idea as Kanji are close to Hanzi in most regards, and ad language is simple enough for kids to parse (and pay).

Today I meandered most of the freedom trail, breaking off to explore historical sites, and used book stores, to get lost, finally to sit and rest my arthritic carcass and watch the endless fascination of other lives. Met and scritched a bumper crop of three dogs, all of whom appreciated my fingernails.

Some more rambles tomorrow, and to meet a VP friend (I feel confident that I am not being presumptuous when I say friend, though I am increasingly cautious about my clueless assumptions) and maybe Beacon Hill?

Left the island this morning, amid poignant feelings, as I am retiring from Viable Paradise, to make way for younger blood. It was quite cold--42. I decided to go ahead and wear my pair of socks with my sandals, as it might be windy on the water, and 40 degrees is around my comfort level when wearing my sandals (which is all I brought).

The ferry ride was otherwise crisp and clear, the air so pure I couldn't snuffle in enough. And thought it was sunny, it still stayed cool! A miracle! At home, it's the sun is out, it's hot. Well, it's always hot, but sun means hotter. Especially this time of year.

After a pleasant ferry ride in the exilarating wind (Met one lovely King Charles spaniel of venerable years) I got a pesto grilled cheese and a cheese danish in Wood's Hole, and sat on a bench eating those and reading until it was time for the bus. I kept taking shots of the brilliant trees along the 28 as the bus bowled along toward Boston, which is where I am now. I actually managed to find a reasonably priced hotel right on the edge of the Boston Common, to facilitate my plan to walk the Freedom Trail tomorrow. In a few minutes I'll go out and scout the area; from my window I can see a promising French breakfast place in one direction, and a halal place next to a mosque on the corner. I will probably try it out tomorrow, as today that cheese danish will do for dinner.

I half-expected the place to be weird for so reasonable a price in this area, and, well, I was right. No reception desk. You have to call a number, where a studenty voice tells you the codes for all the doors. My room is four stories up, and the elevator had a big NOT IN USE sign. The disembodied voice told me to use the elevator anyway, since there was no way on earth I could drag all my crap plus my arthritic ass up all those stairs. Not in under three hours, at a guess. "Take the elevator," he said.

I took the elevator. It creaked and banged and bumped into heaven knows what, and I was composing my obituary when it actually arrived. I found my room, which is tiny but clean. It has a very uneven floor. Very. Uneven. A nice French lady came along to explain the heater (which doesn't work) and assured me that this room is very old, very old. They are in the midst of massive renovation, which got interrupted by Covid. Recently started again. Uh, yup. I could tell.

But it's clean, and has enough plugs for my electronic spaghetti, so I will contrive. It'll be dark soon, so I'd better face those four floors and cruise the lay of the land. I'm sure it will be good for me.