A day in Boston

It’s easy to take the train (MBTA) into Boston for a day trip. This time, I drove to one of the end-of-the-line stations near me; next time, I will try the commuter rail and compare the experiences. You can buy “T” tickets from kiosks for one ride or several.

 

Boston Public Garden

I walked around the North End, with a destination of “Mike’s Pastry”. I originally planned to get a cannoli, but when I saw that they were $5 each (probably worth it), I decided to get a “Napoleon”, which looked fabulous (and tasted marvelous) for the same price. I was going to get a cocoa at Caffé Vittoria and use the rest room there, but the plan changed a bit when the wait staff took the orders for a group of male customers who sat down next to me after I arrived, and completely ignored me. When more male friends of the neighboring table arrived, I gave them my table, used the rest room, and left. This ended up being a good thing, as you will shortly see.

 

Stephanie's Restaurant

I walked through the farmer’s market and wished I had a wheelie cart with me like many other shoppers did, because I was hesitant to lug around bags of affordable fruits and veggies for the rest of the day. Faneuil Hall has many name-brand shops now and fewer local places as in years past. The food stalls looked great but it was crowded and I decided to look for a restaurant with tables where I could relax a bit. I walked past Park Street Church and through the Boston Common, pausing to admire the trees and the State House.

 

Copley Square, Trinity Church

In the Boston Public Garden, I found a bench and decided to sample the pastry I got earlier. In the blink of an eye, a large squirrel climbed onto the bench near me and leaned against my bag in an effort to snag some dessert! My phone was in a zippered pocket so I didn’t get a photo of the squirrel, but it seemed to understand “no” (like my cats do!), and it lumbered off without any human snacks. 

 

I walked along Commonwealth Avenue, where crews were wrapping trees with sparkly lights. I didn’t do any shopping, but wanted to experience Newbury Street, and found a restaurant I’d been to many years ago. This resulted in a stupendous hot cocoa that was every bit worth the calories, along with a tasty sandwich in a comfortable place to warm up.

 

Boston Public Library

I walked along Boylston Street for a few blocks, then caught the T back to my car. FYI, train parking garages have a payment system by app, which is not the same app as other town parking apps, such as Salem. Of course not! Anyway, it was wonderful reconnecting with Boston, and I look forward to future visits to museums, a walk along the Charles River, Harvard Square and more.

Donations are getting more difficult

Donations are getting more difficult  

 

I realized that it’s going to be more challenging to post a weekly list of what I passed along. At this point, monthly might be more reasonable since I gave away the “easier” items already. I’ve continued to sort through letters and even my high school graduation program. Now it gets tough. I’ve been mulling over my high school yearbooks- stay or go?

 

Gloucester, MA

I donated some children’s books last time and am now struggling with keeping my very favorite ones. They can stay as I continue to sort through other books. I have a pile of papers to shred, and buying a shredder is on my list. 

 

Salem, MA

Are you a “saver”? I’ve found two other things that I’ve saved, and am ready to stop saving them for now. In addition to the body care items I mentioned previously- it’s great to have 4 containers nearly empty, almost to the recycling bin with toothpaste, lotion, eye cream, etc., I have stockpiled travel snacks for years. Not to say that one exact item was saved for years, but that I’ve had a “travel” storage area for years, and there has been an increasing amount of nonperishable food items in it, and that’s stopping as of now. I started bringing my own coffee on trips when I discovered a fabulous German invention of individual packets of coffee that already had powdered milk, sugar, and/or a spoonful of cocoa in the packet! Even lactose free! Some hotel breakfasts are robust with healthy options, while others (in the US) have relatively unhealthy options, especially since COVID. With an increase in Air B & B’s and hotels with microwaves and mini-fridges, I’ve been bringing my own packets of oatmeal, single-serving tubes of peanut butter (some even come with half a tube of jelly attached!), crackers, etc. Most of those items are good for a long time, but I don’t have any travel on the horizon, so it’s time to enjoy them at home. Here’s to 9 mini peanut butter packets and a bunch of oatmeal/grits envelopes. And a pile of mini-toothpastes from the dentist that might as well get used instead of saved for trips!

 

25 pounds went out the door last week!

Letting go of the past in week 5

In my favorite basement a few years ago, cute storage boxes organized everything from old school papers to Christmas decorations to tax records. This recent move included:

·      6 waterproof hanging file folder bins 

·      5 small “apple green” boxes with music and other paper/storage items 

·      5 white and black boxes with old calendars/journals/other stuff (2 large, 3 small)

·      9 medium sized charcoal-colored boxes with Christmas items and other stored things 

Topsfield, MA

They all sure looked good in that former basement, fitting perfectly between the shelves.

 

And now, they take up a lot of space in a basement-less place. The weight challenge started as a physical invitation for me to feel relieved when sharing items with other people, such as photo frames last week. Now the weight feels more emotional. I am not going to weigh a bag of letters that I wrote to my Mom, which she kept for decades, and then I kept when cleaning out her apartment. After looking through them, I realized that I cannot keep 25 storage boxes of history for the rest of my life. I was going to scan the letters I sent to my Mom years ago, before setting them lovingly in the trash compactor, but admitted that I would probably never read scores of scanned letters again. It was good to see sketches of former gardens that I made for her, and reports of vacations to exotic destinations.

 

Topsfield, MA

I’ve also begun going through a box with old journals. I am not asking myself to toss them all right away, but I found a few that it’s ok to part with, such as reports from summer camp in junior high. They brought a smile to my face, and although it’s sad to part with parts of myself, as represented in those journals, I’d like to free up some floor space that is filled with boxes because the closets are full. 

 

Gloucester, MA

I’m still glad to have the charity donation bag with items to weigh, and am finding more uncomfortable shoes in said closet, no matter how good they look! For those of you who have kept history, do you have a ritual for letting them go?

 

20 lbs donated this week, not including bags of letters unweighed but let go of.