Here are two cartoons from recent New Yorkers Chris handed me today. First, this one which Fern* and I both found quite funny, and secondly, this cartoon which only I laughed at. But I laughed hard enough for both of us.
I’m fond of the “Get busy living or get busy dying, that’s goddamn right,” quote, but I surfed around and found this . My, what a voice that man has.
* ” Jim Brandon who fought crime as the Avenger was a famous biochemist who perfected two inventions that aided him in the fight against crime: the telepathic indicator allowed him to pick up random thought flashes, and the secret diffusion capsule cloaked him in the “black light of invisibility”. The only person that shares his secrets and knew that he was The Avenger, the man feared by the underworld is his beautiful assistant Fern Collier.”
For the time being I’ve decided to call Diane Fern Collier. I think it fits.

Welcome home, Adam and Trica.

But do they have a ranking for timely cleanup?
To paraphrase Tip O’Neil, all weather is local .

On the way to Mark’s to return his lawn mower, borrow more firewood and have donuts and coffee. This early Saturday morning drive is traditionally one Adam and I take together, but he’s far, far away.

View across Lovewell Pond from Mark and Jan’s property.

Last Saturday, I sped out to Mark Queijo’s house to borrow his lawn mower and grab another trailer (his) load of firewood, and of course there is no getting near that guy without helping him do seventeen other things (you might call it equal trade, but believe me, he’ll be in the red as long as he lives).
Mark’s adding a set of stairs to his back deck and hacking them out of rough cut lumber. Lumber that’s one step away from its source – the bark is removed and it’s cut to width and length but not dressed. Think wood that actually measures 4×6 or 2×4. “Wait until you see this lumberyard, you’ll love it,” he cooed. As if to make the extra hour away from my weekend chores worthwhile. But, as usual, he was right. Buried off in the woods of Orange, Ma., this place is a step above the Walton’s saw mill.

Sign on the door.

Forty-eight inch saw blade. Where’s Nell?

View from the backside.
However, and this is where this ditty is going, what do you suppose was the first thing Mark did after he jumped out of my truck? It is such a typical guy thing .
It reminds me of the end of my Maine canoe trips with Dan, when he changed his shoes and socks in a restaurant in Millinocket. Might not look like much to a Bostonian, but it is a place where others enjoy food. Alright, it’s not an exact parallel…still.

So we found a place with a card reader — let me know how the attached come through (shrunken with Microsoft Paint, whatever that is).

We took a bus to Siena today, which was beautiful but even more of a ripoff for unwary tourists than Firenze. Glad to be back. Tomorrow we climb the Duomo (we hope) buy some last stuff, and Friday we fly to Brussels. We’re there all day Saturday and fly home Sunday via New York, arriving in the neighborhood of 4:30.

The weather sucked yesterday, which gave us a good excuse to do little and retire to our hotel room to read and nap. A nice dinner out, the evening ambling abbreviated by iffy weather. Today was supposed to be a big adventure, somewhat soured by tourist trapping.

We may or may not check in one last time before leaving, or possibly from Brussels.

Take care!

Adam and Tricia

Siena

San Lorenzo
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Lunch
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Well, Internet here’s pretty low-tech, and picture uploading apparently not really an option, so we’ll have to make do with words.

We’ve been having a great time, walking everywhere until our feet and hips finally say “Basta!”. Then we return to our hotel room for a nap before heading our for dinner. Last night at a great pizza place we each pretty much killed our own bottle of wine … They’ve been great at our hotel, explaining things in English or Italian, as I’m able. They steered us to a great pen store at our request today and have been wonderful about restaurants, giving us our most memorable night out yet (which we’ll probably repeat for our last night here). Tomorrow we’ll go to the Accademia and maybe climb the Duomo (I read all about its execution in Brunelleschi’s Dome on the flight over and want to see the inside). Wednesday I think we’ll go to Siena (it’s Ognissanti or All’s Saint’s today, with reduced schedules). It’ll be good to leave the bustle for a bit — being a holiday today, it’s been incredibly hectic.

Adam

Well, Internet here’s pretty low-tech, and picture uploading apparently not really an option, so we’ll have to make do with words.

We’ve been having a great time, walking everywhere until our feet and hips finally say “Basta!”. Then we return to our hotel room for a nap before heading our for dinner. Last night at a great pizza place we each pretty much killed our own bottle of wine … They’ve been great at our hotel, explaining things in English or Italian, as I’m able. They steered us to a great pen store at our request today and have been wonderful about restaurants, giving us our most memorable night out yet (which we’ll probably repeat for our last night here). Tomorrow we’ll go to the Accademia and maybe climb the Duomo (I read all about its execution in Brunelleschi’s Dome on the flight over and want to see the inside). Wednesday I think we’ll go to Siena (it’s Ognissanti or All’s Saint’s today, with reduced schedules). It’ll be good to leave the bustle for a bit — being a holiday today, it’s been incredibly hectic.

Adam