Third Encounter of the Close Kind
Ever had one of those? I thought I did, until Stephanie again alerted me to the fact that I stepped full-force into a Petraism. You see, what I was trying to describe at this particular moment was the scene last Sunday night in Foxboro, Massachusetts when my friend Chris and I attended the game between the New England Patriots and the Philadelphia Eagles. Smoke, loud music, fire pits and eerie flood lights gave the appearance of either Armageddon or the recent landing of an alien spacecraft. And this being Massachusetts, I know either scenario seemed quite possible. The football game was a first class nail-biter, and thanks to a couple of heaven-sent interceptions, the Pats prevailed and remained undefeated, and the Eagles were sent packing. Chris and I sat up in the nosebleed section wrapped in a blanket – it was about 30 degrees Fahrenheit (around 0 Celsius) and up where we sat it was a bit windy. Just to illustrate the kind of fashion effort that is required to attend a professional sports event that is played outdoors in winter, here is what I wore: long underpants, winter running pants topped by my fleece-lined ski pants, long tech fabric shirt, topped by fleece, topped by sheepskin-lined vest, topped by down jacket. Head band, wool hat, two pairs of gloves, handwarmers, toewarmers, and blanket. I bore a striking resemblance to the Michelin Man ready to go an expedition to Antarctica.
Only thing we did not enjoy during the game, and there is an entire section on the upper deck who will back me up on this, were the Philadelphia Eagles fans, who (as I subsequently learned) are not even nice to their own team. Not far from us sat a whole gaggle of them who were so unbelievably rude, insulting and obnoxious, it was a miracle that they got out of the stadium alive. Hats off to the Pats fans who kept their tempers in check and proofed that they were clearly above such unmannerly behavior. If a fan of the opposing team would exhibit such behavior in my old hometown of Oakland, I don’t think the Raider Fans would show the same kind of courtesy (not really something they are known for).
Well, what I can say. They lost, we won, they gloated about the fact that they messed up the point spread, and we are going to the Superbowl.
The Ice Zone
That would be that little Commonwealth of ours, who has started winter pretty early this year. Temperatures have been quite nippy around here, with the occasional decently temperatured day thrown in for good measure, but today with 10 degrees Fahrenheit (= Minus 11 Celsius) and 35 mph gusts of wind, it was a bit on the chilly side. I was on my way back home on my bike early this afternoon, and was a wee bit worried that my nose might not survive the trip home (fall off or retreat back somewhere) and sans face mask I was not a particularly happy camper. I know I know I could have taken the caaah…. so just shut up….
It is supposed to stay cold; snow and wintry mix is expected late tomorrow or Monday – I guess it is December alright.
Veggie Heaven
A drastic change has occurred this week in Casa Petra. I am now a happy and content member of Boston Organics (www.bostonorganics.com) and every Wednesday, or miracle of miracles, a nice box with fresh organic fruits and veggies appears at my doorstep. Similar in concept to CSAs (community-supported agriculture), where one subscribes to a farm, Boston Organics provides all organic fare, and that all year round. Most CSAs in New England do not deliver during the cold seasons, which can come as no surprise to anyone (remember the Ice Zone? Nothing grows here – the produce sections in the store look as if they have been robbed). When my first box arrived this week, I attacked the fresh Arugula as if I had never seen anything green in my life before and then continued to eat three apples, an orange and a tangelo, just because I was on a roll. My body must have been in complete shock.
Bring me the Damn Quail
Here I was on Thursday night with a group of new friends at Restaurant EVOO (stands for Extra Virgin Olive Oil – woohooo) in Somerville
(http://www.evoorestaurant.com/) , where eclectic American cuisine is served, or so they promise. Actually the food was pretty eclectic, come to think of it, I had a soup made from sunchokes (Jerusalem Artichokes - a tuberous gnarly ginger-ish looking root), a main dish that involved a quail, and a superb Apple Butter Crème Brulee. The wine was decent and priced accordingly, the company mostly entertaining, except for one guy at the table who without missing a beat or even introducing himself to the rest of the gang dove head-first into a story about how his lovely and high-quality wool overcoat was almost stolen in the airplane. This seemed to be quite an important story in his life, as it came up again later as we were about to leave the restaurant, and said coat emerged from the closet. Now the wait staff in this place was somethin’ else – apparently emphasis is placed on eating slowly and savoring the experience, so things moved a little sluggish at EVOO. If you are hungry, this is not the place for you. It took the waitress several attempts just to get the drink orders, and she kept coming back telling us yet again how special and unique the chef was and that everything at EVOO is created “in the moment”. She failed to convince us to order the “in the moment” chef’s special, a kind of mystery meal I guess, and after eating three hand fulls of breadsticks and half a baguette, I was so hungry, I was just waiting for her to come back and say one more time that the chef is spending his time “in the moment”. I felt like yelling across the restaurant “just bring me the damn quail” I was so hungry. She also did not quite get all the orders right, and I had to ask for the crème brulee twice – she may have been “in the moment” and forgot.
“I have no Friends”
Community Running, that wonderful running club of mine (that I have not been running with for 4 months on account of my ongoing plantar fasciitis which shows really no signs of improving at all), hosted one of our monthly trivia runs, and I had kindly volunteered to be one of the quizmasters. 20 Runners braved the chilly weather and ran from quiz station to quiz station in either Cambridge or Boston, and answered questions in a quite interesting variety of categories such as Middle Name of Presidents, Seinfeld, The Simpsons, Endangered Species of Massachusetts, Phish, the 1980s, the Wives of Henry VIII and so on. One has to collect as many “smiley face” points, which are then heaped upon your fellow contestants during several penalty point rounds. Whoever ends up with the least amount of penalty points wins. Let me tell you, not everyone plays nice, or as Robin said quite frankly during a particularly rowdy bit - “I have no Friends” (not surprisingly enough she was one of the two winners).
Petra’s Precious Pug Palace
Just a thought, but I would really like to get a pug and name him Walter. Stephanie has agreed to get a pug girl named Penny. We’ll have them breed like crazy, and will all move to the country and open a pug farm. As I said, just a thought.
Aspiring 30-Year Old Artist
To boast a little and toot my own horn, another six of my photographs have been accepted for the next Illuminations exhibit at the MGH Cancer Center. Come February you can see more of my work exhibited there. I will keep the Boston contingent posted as to when the reception is (free wine). In the meantime, I will spend my inheritance at the art store.
I am heading off with Hannah shortly to help someone I don’t know decorate their Christmas tree; we’ll see how that goes.
Stay warm, stay dry.
Happy pre-Holiday season.
Pet
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