after eating a microwaved chicken sandwich, i got dressed and went out running. it was warm, 78 degrees, and by the time i got down to the charles river, i was so sweaty i ripped off my t-shirt and threw it by the side of the road. running topless, just doing my small part to keep the city of cambridge sexy, me in all my unevenly tanned jiggly glory. i'm so ashamed of my body, i wish i could lock it up forever and only feed it by slipping food underneath the door, that's how ashamed i am. it was only guys running for some reason (if i'd known i probably would've just stayed home and watched the red sox beat up the phillies), women taking advantage of the good weather to do other things besides exercising. once i finished my loop, i retrieved my t-shirt and walked back home.
a hot shower later i drove to the cafe to pick up my mother and aunt, and went to belmont, where my father was waiting. the belmont backyard was abundant in two things: unripened grapes and fragrant honeysuckle flowers.
 squirrel |
 grapes |
 honeysuckle |
 wild strawberries |
we drove out to burlington where my aunt liwen and her husband tyrone invited us to dinner. my great aunt was there, as well their friend gary, an american who spoke fluent chinese. the food was american style, roast beef, mashed potatoes, steamed vegetables salad, fish, and crockpot-cooked mixed vegetables and chicken. after dinner, our tour of the house continued with peeks into the backyard and the basement, then we all came back in for dessert, strawberry shortcake. i also checked out their library, an interesting book about learning how to swim in one weekend (funny, i've been trying my whole life, still can't get it quite right), and a legal seafood cookbook, where they explained the different between a cod and a scrod and farm raised versus wild salmons.
the evening was over by 9pm, and i got a ride back to cambridge, carrying a bag full of uprooted mint plants from belmont in my hand.
back to work tomorrow. i forgot to pick up the coyote urine this weekend, hope squirrels don't pillage my plants again tomorrow, although today i saw a suspicious bluejay hanging out in my backyard, and was absolutely horrified when i saw it hop by one of the pots and began to dig through the dirt with its beak. what if the culprits aren't really squirrels, but birds instead? are our flying friends even afraid of coyotes, much less be able to smell their pee? the plot thickens, but all this won't save me from 5 scheduled days of work. at least i hear the weather next week won't teeter on the edge of perfection, there will be less temptation to be somewhere else.