Strolling through Boston on a Snowy Evening

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

By Robert Frost

Whose woods these are I think I know.   

His house is in the village though;   

He will not see me stopping here   

To watch his woods fill up with snow.   

My little horse must think it queer   

To stop without a farmhouse near   

Between the woods and frozen lake   

The darkest evening of the year.   

He gives his harness bells a shake   

To ask if there is some mistake.   

The only other sound’s the sweep   

Of easy wind and downy flake.   

The woods are lovely, dark and deep.   

But I have promises to keep,   

And miles to go before I sleep,   

And miles to go before I sleep.

The title makes this sound beautiful and romantic, doesn't it?  Bundled up, strolling through Boston Common, following parts of the Freedom Trail, passing the bronze ducks with their Santa hats, past the Old Granary Burying Ground (resting place of Paul Revere, Samuel Adams, John Hancock, and Mother Goose, among others), and past the new State House (without Mitt Romney inside), and the Old State House (site of the Boston Massacre).

Now think 2 miles, on icy streets, at 8 degrees, in the dark, lost.  Still want to try it?  We set off from Newbury Street with plenty of time to meet with our friend Abigail at 6 p.m.  All week we've hopped on the T, usually grabbed a good seat, made our transfers, and hopped out right across the street from "home."  On this evening, we went down the stairs to the T stop (which was uncharacteristically packed with people), and watched the train enter.  It looked like a sardine can (reminiscent of Barb's ability to sleep anywhere -- while packed in a train in Germany, standing up!).  Still not a problem.  When some of these masses get off, we'll cram in with the crowd.  Doors open.  One person gets off.  Two people get on.  We're still standing behind dozens.  No problem.  We're troopers, right?  So we decided to walk to the next train station.  Mimi is a fabulous navigator with a great sense of direction, and I really had absolutely no idea where we were going, so we set off confidently following Mimi's directions.  Needless to say, we didn't make it to the next train station, and after a couple of freezing cold (I'm talking about the temperature as well as my disposition here) zigs and zags through a dark, icy, Boston Common, we finally found the Freedom Trail (aptly named at this point) and just followed it back to our home base.  Mimi tentatively suggested we go directly to the restaurant to meet Abigail, but I needed a few minutes to defrost (literally and figuratively), so we went "home" first, changed clothes, cleaned up, and headed off to dinner!
Dinner with Abigail was fun and enlightening.  Who knew that the young woman who was so bubbly and positive, so enthusiastic and unbelievably helpful with our wedding was a graduate of Oral Roberts University!?!  We had a wonderful dinner with Abigail (marred only by the call from Calvin letting us know that Aunt Cal had died -- not unexpected, but completely heartbreaking).  Mimi finally got her lobster roll, and we went back to our digs where I immediately jumped into a hot tub -- the action I seem to take every time we come in out of the cold... a very effective way of warming up my core temperature!

BRRRRR!

Crazy cold!!  Couldn't live in it, but we're having a great time -- mostly eating our way through Boston!
We've gotten out and walked every day, despite the cold.  On Tuesday, we slept in (stayed up 'til 2 on New Year's Eve -- who are we?  Still, it'll make it easier to adjust back to PST), and then laid low watching old musicals (are there new musicals?).  We ventured out to the North End in the mid-afternoon and ate some great Italian food.  We felt a little as if we were being ushered into a speakeasy by a guy with a serious face, hat, and Mafia trench coat.  Once we were in though, the people were great and the food was wonderful.
Yesterday, I spent 2 more hours in the genealogical library.  I viewed miles of microfilm and found nothing :( .  Incredibly frustrating.  I was reminded, however, after viewing thousands of death certificates, that people died from a lot of stuff that doesn't exist today -- dropsy, consumption, apoplexy, smallpox, scarlet fever, exhaustion... Makes me feel quite fortunate to be living in the 21st century!
After returning to our home base to warm-up and re-layer, we set out for dinner at Marissa & Mel's.  Marissa is a former SL student with whom we've reconnected, and we had a great evening at their house outside of Boston eating (again!), laughing, and visiting.  Apparently they did not remember we're not city folk, because the directions to their house were "take the Orange Line on the T toward Forest Hills to the Stonybrook stop, and walk to our house."  Their confidence was encouraging, and we made it there and back without getting lost, falling on the ice, or getting mugged!  Thanks, girls, for a great evening.