Stones

Over the course of my life I have been collecting rocks. Not a ton of them, just the occasional one that I felt was cool or interesting at the time. Usually from beaches I've visited, but also from the occasional hike, I'd take one or two home with me to add to my little collection. And back when I still had my green Honda Civic (a 2002 that I bought new, from 2003 - 2019) I kept them in the coin holder between the front seats, kind of like 'portable art', since I never had any use for that spot in my car. Once I sold the car I moved the stones to a glass shower brick on my shelf above the kitchen sink.

Anyway, two days ago I washed the brick inside and out, and began soaking the rocks, since four years of dust and dried insect carcasses had slowly built up inside. I let them soak for a couple of days, let them dry on a towel, and now they are ready to go back in their glass home.

It's cool to see them all so clean, and to get flashes of memories from childhood trips to Hampton Beach and Maine; and adult trips to Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard, California, etc..., plus my three years living on Cape Cod. Not to mention all of the hikes from my Mountain Quest series, 2010 - Present.

It's like a whisper of a hobby, but it definitely has meaning, and history.

 

Brewery - Whetstone Beer Co.

The last time I went to the Whetstone Beer Company was back in 2016 on a rainy day trip. Today was a beautiful dry and sunny spring day.

It was a fantastic and scenic drive on Route 2 West, and then Siri sent me off the rails, and a 12-mile detour that extended what should have been a 55 mile (or so) drive. I had the shoegazing awesomeness of Prepare My Glider on my cd player though, so it was no problem at all!

Right when I walked in the lovely Mikaela greeted me, and swiped clean the bar. After a quick chat about my last visit, she poured me a Whetstoner Session IPA. It was light and refreshing, and had a very summery feel to it. After enjoying the beer and the view out the window (and of her beautiful face during our other interactions) for about 30 minutes, I bought a pint glass and then took a walk across the bridge, which also crosses the VT/NH border over the Connecticut River. Such a nice day!

Back to my car, and then across the bridge again for the scenic (and shorter) route home. On a whim I called Sarah, and stopped at her house to have dinner with her and Jon, Celia and Helena (home from UMass for the day). Hot dogs and burgers, and a fun couple of hours.

Pheasant

I decided to get out of the house (finally) and headed up to the Pheasant Lane Mall in Nashua, NH around 2:00 pm. It was a nice ride, no traffic, and I had "Spooky" by Lush playing on my cd player. First, it was off to the local Barnes & Noble, to use up the last $12 or so on two gift cards. I came away with "Leviathan Falls" by James S. A. Corey (the final novel in the 'Expanse' series) and "You" by Caroline Kepnes (the source material for the fantastic Lifetime/Netflix series I've been bingeing lately).

Once I got to the mall I hit the Newbury Comics. It's been ages since I was inside one of these cool stores. I wandered around amidst the toys, collectibles, vinyl music, mugs, stickers, tees, and oh yes, comics. I didn't buy anything, but it was a fun half hour.

Then in quick succession I went to:

• Starbucks for a bag of Siren's Blend beans.
• Vans to use points (they had nothing eligible in stock, but gave me a free pin anyway!), and buy a random pair of socks.
• Auntie Anne's for a couple of pretzels for the ride home, since I hadn't eaten lunch. SO good!

There was little traffic on the way home, too. What a nice way to spend a few hours out of the house...