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around 10am lucas sent me the massCEC technical application, the first step in applying for a mass solar loan. i raced down to the cafe by bike to help my father fill out the application, which essentially just involved getting his digital signature, as most of the form was already filled out. after we submitted the application i returned home, stopping by the community garden first to water my plot.

the new fence was up, a far fancier affair compared to the chain-link fence we had before. one issue i noticed right away was the door can no longer swing all the way inside (our previous door had a large gap at the bottom); this is a problem if i want to bring in my bike, so instead i had to swing the door outwards, which was a little awkward. while watering the plot i noticed the new shrink hose had already developed a leak 8-10 feet down from the sprayer. that didn't take long. who the hell is destroying all these hoses? or are they naturally delicate by their very design? i collected some vegetables before a left, a cucumber, an eggplant, and a collection of cherry tomatoes and deformed plum-sized tomatoes. it was a hot and humid day and i was sweat soaked by the time i returned home.

i left the cafe far too soon because when i got home i noticed that massCEC had sent me a new message with another form to fill out. i raced back to the cafe, this time via motorcycle. they required my father to submit to income verification. this involved setting up an account with massceciverify.com and filling out a 4506-T form with electronic signature. after that was done, i returned home once more, where i made chorizo oatmeal for lunch.

i was taking GC to the museum of fine arts today. i told him about it when he first arrived, but knowing him (a self-confessed homebody), he would never go unless someone took him. i also thought he'd appreciate it, since he told me he visited the met when he visited new york. just so happens i was in the mood for some museuming (last time i was at the MFA was back in 2015 with eliza where we saw the hokusai exhibit), so figured i'd take him. late wednesday afternoons beginning at 4pm the MFA is free for all (though a donation is suggested but not required). in order to maximize our museum time, we decided to get there at 4pm, so agreed to meet at harvard square at 3:30pm. the weather looked very threatening with dark ominous clouds and there was a forecast of some heavy rain but we'd be in the museum by that point but i still brought my umbrella anyway just in case. i arrived at harvard square the same time as GC, waving to me from across the t-shirt in his red manchester united t-shirt. we made very good time and got to the MFA exactly at 4pm.

there didn't seem to be many people outside, but inside the museum there was a long line as people waited to claim their free ticket. we stood behind a few millenials, who kept holding up the line because they were too busy talking with one another. elsewhere was a large chinese family with 2 annoying boys who looked especially spoiled, vacationing with their family in the US for the summer, a few members of their entourage wearing disney t-shirts.

we started with the asian wing first, before heading to the european painting wing, followed by the american wing. i explained impressionism to GC, having never been educated in art history before, as we looked at paintings by monet, van gogh, and munch.

climate control in the museum is a little wonky, some rooms would be nice and air conditioned, while others would be stiflingly warm. we kept hearing loud thundering outside, and whenever we passed by a window we were greeted by dark clouds and heavy rains.

we then saw egyptian, middle eastern, greek and roman, southeast asian, japanese, oceania (including maori hei tiki pendants, which i've seen before in an exhibit in chongqing), and finally african. by the end, after 4 hours, we'd basically seen everything. i bumped into garden dave, doing a sketch of a roman bust. we left a bit after 8pm (the museum closes at 10pm). there was still a little bit of rain, but not too bad if you had an umbrella (which we did). we caught the green line train right when it was about to leave, courtesy of some slow tourists trying to figure out how to pay. the train was cold which felt nice, as it was warm and humid outside.