On Shabbat, I went on a couple of free walking tours of Cambridge. One was about old Newtowne, so kept around Harvard Square (which is to say, not much actual walking). I learned a number of stories, and the tour leader was careful to have shady spots to stand in. It was a bit more dramatic than I'd anticipated, but the guy leading the tour is a voice actor, so I wasn't too surprised. He used a mic, and I wondered how much this annoyed other people around. Lots of quotes from Longfellow were worked in; I ought to try reading some of his work.
Side note: Some days I wonder whether there are any Japanese people over the age of 20 who haven't been through Harvard Yard.
The other tour was about the architecture of MIT. The guide didn't use a mic, and didn't use her voice in a carrying sort of way, plus the group was larger; I'm not sure how much I missed because of that. Also, she wasn't as organized as I'd've hoped; I had to leave 75 minutes into a 60-minute tour (skipping the Stata Center...), having made other plans. That said, I learned more about the MIT campus, and got to see the inside of the chapel (which reminded me a bit of Harvard Business School's chapel, surprisingly), and found a fruiting cherry tree along Memorial Drive. Oh, and the common theme between the two tours (other than the obvious): how much of Cambridge along the river is landfill; it's not just Boston that has changed the coastline. Cambridge filled in a lot of marshland.
And the day was rounded out with a game of Cities and Knights and interesting conversation.
Sunday I went out to Red Fire Farm to pick strawberries and sugar snap peas. Foolishly, I did not bring my camera, so I couldn't take pictures of the farm stand by the barn, featuring not only their own produce (and honey), but other local products (cheese, bread, eggs, and so on). It's been a long time since I was anywhere that payment was on your honor; I'm glad it still exists. And I got a map of all the farms and wineries and such in MA, too (perhaps I really will take myself horseback riding somewhere this summer; the map has a number of places on it. Oh, and there's a bison farm in Rutland. Who knew that MA had that?).
Picking peas that have grown upward is noticeably easier than picking strawberries hidden under leaves close to the ground, even though the peas are the same color as the plant. Both taste heavenly just picked.
Afterward, we took a side trip to Northhampton, my first time there. Again, I regretted not bringing the camera: there were lots of beautiful murals along the way, including one that was a history of women in the town. Very cool. And on the way home, I got to see the house I grew up in, the first time I went to look since my parents moved out of the house. It didn't feel as strange as I thought it might. Whoever lives there now has changed the grounds a bit, paving the driveway (I so wish Dad had paved it; shoveling a long sloping circular gravel-covered driveway in a snowstorm is no fun), grassing over the circle (but leaving the two 'dragon's teeth' boulders), putting up a tree house near the living room side of the house. I wonder how much has changed inside...
And now I have two bags of strawberries in my freezer. The peas I blanched, then ate. Yum. Crunchy and delicious, addictive as a snack. All gone now...
Yesterday I went to the aforementioned reading of the Declaration of Independence, and saw Howl's Moving Castle (already reviewed). And like the rest of the weekend, the weather was lovely, bright without being very hot, and breezy.
Really, an excellent weekend. Now if I could just face getting caught up on laundry and dishes...
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