Normal-day randomness

Random fact: Today is Norman Rockwell's 116th birthday. Jim and I have been to his museum and studio in Stockbridge, Mass. (in Western Mass., closer to Albany than Boston). I remember that we went there while I was in law school, and it was in the fall. I needed a break from the books, and this was an easy road trip. While we were there, we saw a special traveling exhibit of all his work that was quite amazing. The town of Stockbridge is also quite beautiful, and his studio overlooks rolling hills, which were especially beautiful while we were there, with the changing colors.  I remember looking out over the hills and being amazed that this place was only a couple of hours from our house.  I thought that we'd come again soon, but that was 8 or 9 years ago now.

Today Annie and I met a friend for lunch at the Channel Cafe in the Fort Point section of Boston. This is sort of an artsy area of Boston, with old warehouses that have been turned into art studios and condos. The cafe is owned by an artist and feels very trendy - it is well decorated and the architecture of the building is interesting. The food is great, and Annie got to try some of the tuna that was in my salad. It was mixed with lemon juice and capers and I'm not surprised that she liked it! I need to make tuna like that, especially since I have so many lemons on my tree that I'm not sure what to do with them all.

Later, Annie and I went grocery shopping and literally ran into all of our neighbors! Cathy, who used to live next to us and whose son and family now are our next-door neighbors, Larry, from directly across the street, and Sarah, who lives across the street and down a couple of houses (and who was on the phone with Cathy's daughter-in-law as we were all talking!). They were all at the store at the same time as me. Then I ran into this man that I used to walk by on my way to the T stop, back when I took the T to work and had time to walk to the T station. It felt very small-town.

Now Annie is in bed and we've had a pretty typical evening - we had leftovers, watched an episode of NCIS, and now Jim is working on his homework. Time for some reading and my warm flannel sheets!