On Friday, 19 April 2013, Janice and I worked from home, partly because Waltham, Mass., was among the communities under lockdown because of the manhunt after the bombing of the Boston Marathon. After a tragic and tense week, we were relieved when the second suspect was caught. I hope that justice will be served.
That evening, college chum David I.S. arrived from Upstate New York with his lady friend Sandra K. Even though the Boston Comic Con was postponed indefinitely, we resolved to make the most of our weekend together.
On Saturday, April 20, Janice, Dave, Sandra, and I went into town for sightseeing. On the way, we visited Outer Limits Comics and had a buffet lunch at Kabab & Tandoor in Waltham. We parked at my office in Newton, Mass., before catching the “T.”
We walked from Back Bay, through the Public Garden and Boston Common, to Downtown Crossing, Faneuil Hall, and the North End. Lots of Bostonians and tourists were enjoying the nice weather and recovering from cabin fever.
We later met Thomas K.Y. and some of Sandra’s friends for dinner at Nourish in Lexington, Mass. The food was good, but conversation was difficult because a musician was competing with Dave’s stentorian voice.
Although we didn’t get to watch any movies or genre television together, Dave, Sandra, Janice, and I enjoyed discussing travel, food, work, relationships, and religion, among other topics. If just Dave and I had met, we would have stayed up even later analyzing comics, games, and more.
The next day, we went hiking in the Blue Hills Reservation after Janice’s weekly stint at the animal shelter. I was the slowest of our foursome. After stopping by Pandemonium Books & Games and Cambridge Bicycle, we met Thomas and more of Sandra’s friends for a good dinner at the Asgard. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to see Thomas’ girlfriend Kai-Yin H., who was returning from a conference.
Dave and Sandra left on Monday morning, and I’ve been catching up on work and other stuff since then. This coming weekend, I’ll be traveling to central New York for a wedding. So much to do, so little time!
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