the rusted-armed rocking chair

Last weekend was mothers day as well as the first full weekend of good spring weather – perfect timing for my mom and stepdad George to come into Boston. We covered two major bases over the weekend – visiting the Rock Port area and the Boston Navy Shipyard, two places I had yet to visit.

Halibut state park, just outside of Rock Port, is a beautiful rocky beach area with an extremely sizable man-made quarry. We hiked around, enjoyed the sun beating down on our shoulders and I attempted to take a single decent photo of a butterfly in flight (they were everywhere). We then walked around through the trails and took a gander at the ocean from the tops of a few cliffs. Our quads then took a beating climbing the super-cramped stairs to the top of an observation tower near the quarry, which provided a view only moderately more interesting than standing at the bottom. We ate our picnic lunch in a little pine grove and headed home.

The next day we visited the USS Constitution, an old, wooden, heavy frigate aptly named by George Washington. I’d never been up close to a sailboat quite as elaborate as this one (actually, its only the second sailboat I’ve been on, and the first was a sunfish). After taking a tour from a delightful sailor chap, we visited a battleship parked next-door. On this boat, any elegance whatsoever was sacrificed to fit more guns. It was big, metal, and I didn’t get to shoot anything.

Between the sightseeing we of course wandered the town and just enjoyed some good food and conversation. Successful Mother’s day weekend: check.

some photos from the beach near Rock Port

The bugs are chasing

Never ended up getting a butterfly in flight. They’re much quicker than you’d think.

USS Constitution and a Jet. Best modes of transportation in their respective eras.

angry battleship

Mom n George

A couple weeks ago, Emily, some friends and myself packed into a house for the weekend at Nantasket beach in Hull, MA. I love beaches in the off-season. The beaches are pretty much empty and the only wanderers in the town are locals. The weather is gentle and except for the occasional seagull they’re completely silent. With all of these details combined, it suits the constantly-on-the-edge-of-burnout graduate student quite well and so I took my opportunity to soak up the relaxation.

What I loved about this beach town in particular is that it embodies what our grandparents must picture when they think of the 50′s. It’s a Norman Rockwell painting you can walk through. There’s a centrally-located baseball field, an old-style firehouse, a quaint post office, flags everywhere and toys in the lawn. Love it.

settlers – if you know what it is, good. If you don’t; sad.

ah, some photos of america

We enjoyed some green smoothies

hung out at the beach. We’re staring at downtown Boston, where the view clearly illustrates that the Hancock building is indeed taller than the Pru

and some obligatory depressing shots

Some time ago, St. Patrick’s day occurred.

It was indeed quite an eventful day, which started out with a mild fever. This was a bit disconcerting, but I figured  a couple Tylenol® would remedy the situation and headed out with Emily to the Southie 5K. The weather was perfect for a run; Nice sunshine, gentle breeze, temp. around 60. Suddenly I felt great and assumed that the run managed to kick in my immune system and roundhouse kick the virus out of me. So, after the run we meandered over to the St. Patrick’s day parade, got some pizza and watched. The parade was unique in that it had a disproportionate number of bagpipes and Star Wars references compared to other parades I’ve been to. Though, I haven’t been to a parade since I was about 5, so maybe things have evolved. Lastly, we did as the Irish do and headed over to a pub in the mid afternoon. It was here that I was reminded that I did not actually have the ability to roundhouse kick a virus. I now had a rockin’ headcold and carried my delightful 103° fever through the following day.

-M-