Boston Weekend

 M-S had a conference in Boston this week, so I decided to join her for the weekend. I took the bus and forgot my earbuds, so I missed a chance to see "Frozen"...well I saw it but couldn't hear it. Luckily they showed it again on the way home today and my wife had an extra pair of buds. Now that song is stuck in my head. Friday night we went to the North End:

 and had dinner at a small family-owned Italian place. The food and atmosphere were very good. Also saw this guy outside of a cigar bar that I'm sure I'll visit someday:

 We had a very good Saturday walking around. Its hard to get both of us to fit is a selfie:

 This was a blast:

 Think of EVERY "Southie" caricature and we saw it at this festival. It was a lot of fun.

 And you can tell that this is a great and very close-knit neighborhood. These are young Irish step dancers:

 A couple of my pictures loaded twice. Not sure why.

 Later in the day we went to see Chris and Lo's new place:

 Its nice and they are still getting it ready. We all went to a couple of pubs in Cambridge for a beer and some dinner. This place was very neat:

 with some very interesting decor:

I bought a t-shirt that will be a sure-fire discussion starter. 

Another double pic:

We had a very fun visit with some great discussion. As soon as I got home today I went for a visit with dad, as I'm heading to DC on Wednesday. Lots of travel and busy times ahead.
~MET

Whitefield Has a New Gym...

 ...well, my kind of gym. The Marr's Hill Trail officially opened a couple of weeks ago so M-S and I gave it a look today. Its a four mile loop, but you can get to the highest point in Whitefield in a little less than one mile. Its gradual, but still an uphill walk. The trail has old stone walls in the beginning:

 And its very well maintained:

 You have to keep your eyes on the blazes as there are some sharp turns. The view is nice:

 But I think it will be even better in the winter. At the height of the land there is a big granite sundial - Whitefield's stonehenge:

 There's a chair on top with a 3-inch think granite "pillow."

Its a good little workout and we are looking forward to doing the whole loop at some point this fall.
~MET

Hope Elephants

 Today we went to see the Hope Elephants - who live just a couple of towns down Rt. 17 from us. Its always more fun to see elephants with kids, so we invited the Hargroves to come along for brunch and pachyderms.

 The Hope Elephants, Rosie and Opal, are 42 and 44 years old and are former circus performers. After years of tight living quarters and not the best treatment this organization has brought them here to retire.  They will hopefully live another 10 or 15 years.

 They both have some physical issues to deal with, but get special care and lots of room here.

 They both seem pretty happy and I hope this group can expand the barn space and bring in even more. To see more of what they do check them out here: http://hopeelephants.org/  and here:https://www.facebook.com/hopeelephants

Even Baxter's latest toy was an elephant. We all had a good time and learned a lot about elephants and the ways people can help them around the world.
~MET

The Loss of a Good Friend

 Tomorrow morning M-S and I will attend the funeral of a very dear friend: Mark Hiendlmayr. I've only known Mark for about five years, but M-S and I spent a lot of time together with he and Linda - a lot of time. I was amazed at how many pictures of dinners and day trips that I had of the four of us. There are dozens.

 
 Mark has had multiple myeloma since I've known him, but he was full of life and energy 100% of the time. I don't think anyone would have known he was even sick until the last few months, and especially the last few weeks. The downhill slide in his health was faster and much more extreme than I could have imagined. It was difficult to watch this man who was so full of life have to deal with such a rapid decline.

 Linda took wonderful care of him in his final days, and I'm sure that his still very positive outlook on life as his body was shutting down was due in large part to her constant company. I loved hanging out with Mark. He was simply a friendly man who never had a bad thing to say about anyone or anything. He would try anything and I enjoyed hearing about his adventures.

 The four of us never had a bad time together and every visit included a great deal of laughter.

 Mark would do just about anything for anyone. If someone needed help of any kind, he was there.

I'll miss him a great deal, mostly because he was always in a good mood, and his demeanor was infectious.  M-S and I went to see him a couple of days before he died. He was very weak and in obvious pain, but his attitude was still exceptionally positive. Mark was looking on the bright side of things hours before his death. I hope more than anything that I keep that memory with me and bring it  out every time I start to complain about having a "bad day." As we were leaving the other night I wanted very badly to give him a big hug, but his condition wouldn't allow it - so I took his hand and told him to hang in there. His last words to me were, "You're a good friend." I'm sure that he knew that this might be the last time we would see each other, and in true Mark fashion he used that as an opportunity to compliment me...to make me feel better. Rest in peace, Mark. YOU are a good friend.
~MET

No Regrets

 Today M-S and I celebrate 14 years together, so we made sure to make a weekend out of it. On Saturday night we had dinner at one of our favorite places: Three Tides in Belfast.

 They brew their own beer under the name Marshall Wharf, and I'm sure I've written before that it is without question the very best beer in this great state. We also walked across the Belfast Walking Bridge:

 The Hargroves were having dinner in Camden so they joined us for drinks after our walk. Belfast is a fun town. On Sunday we went to Freeport for some shopping with Jacob and Kori, and had lunch at the Tuscan Cafe:

 I looked at fishing stuff and managed to "audit" this fly-fishing course for a few minutes:

 The highlight of the Freeport day was a trip to The Bow St. Market:

 Its like a local Whole Foods. Lots of local everything, including meats:

 This morning (our official anniversary) we walked the dog and then toasted the day with Bloody Caesars:

 And a delicious brunch:

Mira-Su is a wonderful wife and friend. We have navigated through good times and tough times and always seem to come out better on the other side. I am a very lucky man.
~MET