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it's been a while since i've been to haymarket in boston. pretty much ever since i got my new motorcycle, i haven't been back there. it's hard enough finding a free parking space with my smaller old bike, so it's virtually impossible with my larger new bike. to spare myself the headache, i went down today via subway. i got off at park street and walked down towards quincy market. completely random, but my godmother's son jack called out my name from a passing car. not sure what he was doing in boston. i got to haymarket in the mid-afternoon and several vendors had already left since saturday is the last day. i bought some cilantro, some scallions, some corn, and some peaches. i noticed an overall reduction in fruit selection, which makes sense, since they're out of season now. no more bags of cherries or grapes, nor baskets of strawberries, or the boxes of oranges.

another reason for being in boston was to check out the 350 boston under water climate festival happening in nearby columbus park. the weather looked like it'd be a washout but the day was dry for the most part. i still don't exactly know what was going on - other than the fact that they were protesting climate change. and what's the significance of 350? is that street lingo for global warming? volunteers were going around getting people to sign up for their mailing list; i managed to avoid getting snagged into divulging my information. i stuck around long enough to see them assembling for a group photo (by then there were about 200 people there). i left soon after that, making my way to chinatown via the greenway.

the greenway seems like a failure, as least on the weekends. during the weekdays, especially during the summer, i'm sure nearby city workers congregate here en mass to enjoy a nice outdoor lunch. but the financial district is a ghost town on the weekends, and that desolate extends to the greenway, particularly this time of the year, when people have no reason to be outside. the lack of people on the greenway actually makes it seem dangerous somehow, like walking down a dark alley way by yourself. i'm not sure how the area can be improved. historical, at least since the inception of the elevated I-93 expressway, that area's been a dead zone. now that it's redesigned as public space, the public has managed to keep away.

in chinatown i went to c-mart to get some snacks, a bakery to pick up some pastries, and a butcher shop to buy some crispy fried pork. i asked for a pound, but the butcher pulled out a large slab of pork and said, "why don't take the whole thing? i'll give you a discount." when the second butcher rang me up, there was no discount, i was about to pay $16 for 2+ lbs. worth of meat. "just give me half," i told them, "it's too much." they both eyeballed the cash i had on hand. "how much do you got there? just pay us what you have." so i ended up paying them $14, which is still more than i originally planned.

returning to cambridge, i was exhausted. i'd been carrying a backpack full of produce for the past few hours, i'd been walking around boston, and now i was carrying my chinatown spoils. i managed to shuffle home, my feet absolutely killing me. i stripped out of my sweat-soaked clothes, downed half a can of grape soda, and jumped into the shower. afterwards i had some of that crispy fried pork. it was pretty delicious, i'm not sorry i got so much of it.

i had a late dinner of a 3x3x2in slice of lasagna. i feel stuffed after just a single slice (i still have 6 more slices left) and the amount of cheese induces some lactose intolerance a few hours later. maybe i can freeze the remaining slices and save them for the near future instead of having to eat the whole thing within the next few days.