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| Siam Lotus dining room |
After the four-hour drive from Colchester, Vermont to Norwood, Massachusetts, I pulled into the hotel, the Residence Inn where I’ve been staying for the last several years, every month-end; and then I went out to have my last meal at Siam Lotus. I’ve been going to this restaurant for about 15 years. After a few years I settled on a specific meal, Duck Panang with a side order of baby bok choy and sometimes white rice, sometimes not white rice. I’ve had the same waiter for about the last 10 years, maybe 15 years in total. He was probably about 20 when he started serving me, I think he’s part of the family that owns the restaurant. He’s never been personal with me. Ever. He’s always been incredibly professional, and I’ve always just liked to have him serve me. But, after 15 years, he certainly knows who I am. Finally, one day in the middle of this past winter, I came in and I wasn’t wearing a hat. I always wear a hat. Much to my surprise, he said to me “where is your hat?” It was the first personal remark he ever made to me. He always knows what I’m going to order, so I just tell him the usual, and that’s what he brings me. Last night, the meal was fabulous, and I made sure to let him know it was probably the last time I was going to eat there. He was a little surprised. I told him that I’m retiring and I decided that tonight I would have my final meal in his restaurant in honor of the wonderful food that he’s been bringing me for the past 15 years. He seemed pleased. We shook hands and I was on my way.
The real reason that I’m down here, though, is for mandatory fun. Every year Subaru of New England has a company picnic and I always come down. Mostly, because I didn’t have a choice. Hence, mandatory fun. Funny thing is, I don’t really know any of the people here at this picnic. Our company is about 150 people and I really only know about 20 of them. When I started with the company they’re were only about 40 or 50 people, so I knew them all by sight, if not, by name. I’m famous, among those that know me, for coming to this picnic and being the old guy sitting in a chair smoking a cigar out on the lawn, kind of watching everybody doing family picnic activities. And I know people are saying, like, “. . . who’s the old guy over there in the hat smoking a cigar?” I’m getting ready to light it up right now, in fact, while I write this. A great cigar, too: Ashton Churchill. This will be my last company picnic and I came willingly, however, mostly I came, because I wanted
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| Rebecca, Jagger and Phoenix in the hospital |
to see my friends Michael and Rebecca Carr. Michael has been my boss for about 17 years. He and Rebecca, who also works for Subaru of New England, just had a brand-new baby boy, his name is Phoenix, and I was a little concerned that I wouldn’t have a chance to see Rebecca next week when I retire, because she’s on maternity leave. So, I stopped by their house on Mirror Lake and got to see Phoenix, Rebecca, Michael, and their two-and-a-half-year-old son Jagger.
This morning was awesome. I got up and I did my core exercises and then I went on a hike. All the years I’ve been coming to Norwood, MA, and I come here every month, I’ve never been on a hike. Frankly, I wouldn’t know where to go. How I knew where to go hiking this time is really a credit to my son, Colyn. Last week he turned nineteen and he decided he was going to take the dog and go on a birthday hike. Unbeknownst to me, he and the dog took the ferry across Lake Champlain and drove for about an hour into the Adirondack Mountains. He and Teddie hiked a seven-mile trail on a mountain that I’ve never heard of, in fact, I was getting a little worried about him because he wasn’t home yet, around 6pm, the night of his birthday. Finally, he called me from the ferry to let me know what happened. I asked him how the heck he knew about this mountain
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| All Trails screenshot |
trail in the first place. He uses an app called All Trails. I’d never heard of it. So, I downloaded it. I decided to give it a test run this morning here in Norwood. I went on a three-mile loop up Moose Hill. The app uses your GPS location to serve you up a trail that filters to match your stated options, like dog friendly and degree of difficulty, etc. It’s very detailed. It includes a map of the trail that it recommends. And then it follows you on the trail with the GPS, so you don’t get lost. This trail, like almost every other trail in New England, is studded with rocks and crisscrossed with tree roots that are tough to negotiate. Get a little water on the trail
and those roots can be deadly slippery, especially if you are going downhill. One of the reasons I wanted to walk on a real trail, before I take off on my trip, is to test my ankle, which I broke a couple of years ago. All is good; and the walk this morning did wonders for my confidence.It has always amazed me how the original colonial farmers ever were able to get this rock-strewn land to be productive. As you walk on any trail in New England, especially when you get into the backwoods, you’ll suddenly come across a fence made from huge and small granite boulders. And you just know that those poor subsistence farmers had to take those big rocks out of those fields by hand, and, if lucky enough to have some, with the help of a horse and their young families. They used the boulders to make boundary markers and cattle fences. All that back breaking work, all to be able to get any production out of this nutritiously poor farm land. Knowing this, it is not surprising why so many of those Massachusetts and Vermont boys, once they saw the Midwest during the civil war, promptly left their homesteads and moved out west where the black soil is rich in Illinois and Missouri.
At the summit of Moose Hill, I got a pretty good view of Patriot’s stadium, known as Gillette
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| Moose Hill Trail |
Stadium. The home of the once and future world champion New England Patriots. Michael Carr has major Tom Brady love going on. Poor Rebecca is forced to share him with Tom Brady every season. I need to ask Michael Carr if the Patriots are going to be competitive this year. He hates it when I ask him that.
About halfway through my hike I got a phone call from my niece, Aramenda Perry. She was calling to see whether I was going to be getting on the road here soon to come and visit her. She’s my first stop. I can’t wait to see my lovely niece and my two grandnieces. While we’re there, we’re going to go see where I spent most of my formative years, living in a little 1,500-foot square brick ranch, at 449 South Wildwood in Westland, Michigan. I lived there until I got out of the army. I also want to see my high school, John Glenn High School. In addition, she and I are going to go to the Detroit Institute of the Arts, so that I can see Diego Rivera’s classic mural painted on the Institute’s walls. I’ve visited it a bunch of times when I was growing up and I’ve always liked it. Frankly, it’s my favorite part of the Institute. He painted it during the heady days of workers rights demonstrations during the 1930s. I also want to see some of the things that Freda, his wife, added to the mural.
Great day today. Leaving the picnic now. Trying to beat that Boston traffic.
September 9, 2018
Too bad we didn’t have time to get to the Detroit Institute of Arts this trip. It will have to be on our list for your next adventure to the mitten!!!
I will however on my next trip to DIA, snap a few photos and of course a selfie – just for you!
Xo – Aramenda
September 9, 2018
Thx. Love you and my beautiful Grand nieces!