Sunset

Last week I went up to Portland, Maine for a couple of days for a conference. While I was there, a friend and I drove to Freeport, a village in Maine known for its outlet stores. Being the efficient shopper that I am, it took me all of about 30 minutes to hit the 6 stores' sale racks that peaked my interest. It was a beautiful, cool Maine night, so I decided to walk around the town for a bit. As I was walking, I noticed a couple of people had stopped and were starring at something. As I got over to where they were I immediately knew why they had stopped. One of the most beautiful sunsets I have ever seen was on display and I had caught it at its most brilliant moment. It was as if the sunset's color had spilled over onto the entire sky. I quickly grabbed my camera. Here is one of the many pictures I snapped.

Fall Foliage pt 2

Earlier this week, a couple of my friends from college were in town and I met them for lunch in Lexington, MA. Lexington is a beautiful little town just north of Boston. For all of you history buffs, it is the site of the first skirmish in the United States' War for Independence. Here are a few pictures I took while I was in Lexington. Even though the peak foliage season has come and gone and a lot of the leaves have already fallen off of the trees, it was still very beautiful. Click on the images to make them larger.

Fall Foliage

D and I had the opportunity to take an afternoon to drive and observe all of the fall colors last week. Although it was a rainy day, we had a blast spending time together and looking at the beautiful, although wet, leaves.

I'm always amazed at the colors we see. Even the trees that are a bit faded stagger me. For some reason I never tire of this time of year. It makes me thankful that I have the opportunity to live where I live and see all there is here. Even more, it makes me extremely grateful that I have an amazing wife with which to experience it. Thanks for a great day!

Home

Yesterday I got back from a two week trip filled partly with visiting family and friends and partly with business meetings. It was great to spend time with family and to meet my new niece. I also enjoyed catching up with some old friends whom I have not seen in a very long time. I love the friendships where even after many years, you can pick up where you left off as if you had stayed in touch the whole time.

Being in the south for two weeks allowed me to experience weather that was hot and humid. My southern family and friends will say they were having cool weather. But after living in Boston for 7 years, I have come to associate September and October weather with milder temperatures. It was a real wake-up call when I stepped off the plane and the 90 degree heat and 99% humidity slapped me in the face. Coming back to Boston, I greatly enjoyed the opposite greeting. Instead of 90 degrees, I basked in the 60 degrees and no humidity. I also love that I got back just in time for my favorite season of the year- Autumn. Sights like this one welcomed me home. Bring on the color of Autumn!

Unexpected Passenger

Last week I was driving west of the city for a meeting. As I exited the Mass Pike, traffic slowed to a halt. The car that I stopped behind had a peculiar passenger. As you will see, his size almost makes the vehicle look like one of those clown cars. I couldn't resist snapping a quick picture. You can be the judge on why he doesn't seem amused. I am not sure if unhappiness is directed toward me taking his picture or his having to endure the drive. Either way, his expression is classic. At least he had a nice breeze on a hot day.

Safe!

A while back I wrote a post about our softball team. We are almost to the end of the season and it has been a ton of fun. Before the season, I had forgotten how much I enjoy playing softball. I also had forgotten how competitive I can get (sometimes to a fault). It has been great to know several new people while playing a great sport. I have also enjoyed many victory celebrations with them (although, the victories were mostly in our hearts and not as a result of our efforts).

Last night we were in the midst of an intense game. I had gotten a single and was waiting on first for the batter behind me to hit. As he hit the ball, I took off (with every ounce of blazing speed I posses, which isn't much). I saw the center fielder bobble the ball so I made the decision to run for third base. As I approached third, I could tell from my third base coach and the third baseman that the throw was going to be close, so I followed my instincts....and I slid.

In my former days of playing baseball as a kid, I don't seem to recall a slide ever being painful. Unfortunately, that is not the case in this story.

As the moment passed between my momentum carrying me from a sprint and into the slide, I knew I had made a mistake. As I was sliding, I could not help but make the observation that I was sliding on mostly gravel. This is a moment with which I am sure you are familiar. In my experience, when an injury occurs, there is a span of time that ranges from 1 to about 5 seconds where a conversation happens inside my head. It usually goes something like this: "Oh no, this is really going to hurt!!! Oh wait, no pain yet, it may not hurt after all. [deep breath in relief]. [Suddenly, intense pain]. OUUUCH!" That was basically what happened yesterday as I slid.

However, I would like to point out that I was safe at third. And I was able to score on the next play. Here are some pictures of the resulting battle wounds:

Spring/Summer in Boston

Late spring and early summer is an amazing time to enjoy Boston. Everything is green. People are happy because we no longer have to wear our winter gear and shovel snow. Although your schedule may be just as busy during the summer, for some reason the atmosphere of the city seems a little more laid back than the rest of the year. This could have a lot to do with the fact that most of the 300,000 college students who live here 9 months out of the year have taken a three month sabbatical. Personally, I think the the general mood of the city is tied to the Red Sox. People in Boston (and New England, for that matter) love their sports teams. They love them so much so that I am convinced that Red Sox Baseball is the largest religion in New England. Seriously.

The Red Sox are a common bond between people in the city. If you have nothing else to talk about in awkward silences with strangers, it seems that most people inevitably turn to them for conversation? "Did you see that Ortiz is finally breaking out of his slump?" "How about that Kevin Youkilis?" "Did you see Dustin Pedrioa's defense last night?" Almost every time I have witnessed something like this happen, inevitable the other person responds with an intelligent, knowledgeable comment in return.

Although I can think of a whole host of topics that carry a lot more significance to life than the Red Sox, having them as the common bond among Bostonians is a fun thing to witness. Here is the lesson for everyone not living in or visiting Boston: if you are going to spend some time in the city, make sure you at least catch the box score from the last game the Sox played.

My View in Class

What I Miss

D and I have lived in Boston for seven years now. We moved here from the deep south. At first, there were several things that I missed. Even though I loved my new culture and tried to embrace it fully, there were still things that I missed. Besides the relationships that we left behind, the tension of the culture shock we experienced left us missing certain cultural elements. One of those elements was familiar food.

After 7 years, there are very, very few things that I still miss (again, not including relationships). Even when I think about food, there is not a lot that I miss to the point of deep craving. However, there are a few exceptions. One of them is my grandmother's cooking (As long as I live, I will never be able to get enough of her cooking). Another exception is Krispy Kreme Donuts. D and I were very excited a few years ago when KK tried to break into the Boston area. As it turns out, they just could not make a go of it in the Boston area. It is too entrenched with Dunkin Donuts. Now, every time I am in a place where they have KK, I try to get at least a small sample.

This week I am in Louisville, KY for a class. As I was visiting with a friend, I inquired about KK Donuts. Sure enough, there is one here. Upon hearing the good news, I responded in kind. Tonight I treated myself to a couple of donuts and a few more to go. To all of my friends in Boston (and other places where KK is not available) who love KK Donuts, I am thinking about you as I eat my donuts.

Class

This week I am in Kentucky to take a class. This is one of the few classes I have left before I am finished earning my Master's Degree. While on campus I will experience about 40 hours of lecture. This week is designed to cram a semester's worth of work and lecturing into the period of one single week. Thankfully, we are usually given a couple of weeks after the class is over to complete papers and reading. Even though it will be an extremely long (and potentially brutal) week, the good news about this is that I can take an entire class in just one week.

I am currently getting ready to go to sleep so I can get some rest before class starts tomorrow. I keep thinking of a quote from The Return of the King when Pippin and Gandolf are overlooking the battlefield. As they are waiting for the enemy to attack, Pippin asks Gandolf why it is so quiet. Gandolf simply responds, "It's the deep breath before the plunge." I will keep you posted on how things go.