#12 Boston - Painting Summer in New England - August 25, 2006

Nooooooooh, not another museum!!!! If that's what you're thinking - you are out of luck my friends! Yes, I went to yet another museum and yes, you will just have to hear about it!! So grab yourself a strong cup of coffee and off we go!

Enticed by the Marcel Proust quote listed on its website "The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes", I finally succeeded in getting to the famed Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Mass. (http://www.pem.org/homepage/ ). It was only my third try and the visit was more than worth it. First of all a quick little word of thanks to the city of Salem, who lets their inhabitants visit the museum for free (and on occasion also bring a friend along - for free). Definitely beats standing in line, in particular this past Sunday - as the final two weeks of the very successful exhibit on "Painting Summer in New England" are about to start and six million people and their brothers were trying to get into the place. Starting with the mid-19th century the five galleries featured paintings by artists, some more well known than others, depicting the leisurely and unpersevering state of mind us New Englanders tend to assume during summer time.

Among the artist stars were our old friends Winslow Homer, John Singer Sargent, and Edward Hopper, who I have started to appreciate more and more lately, and new discoveries - Alex Katz, whose barn-door-size paintings are just so much fun and made Stephanie realize that she will have to purchase a warehouse first before acquiring one of his oeuvres; Scott Prior, a contemporary realist painter, who happens to be the son-in-law to author Kurt Vonnegut and who resides in nearby Northhampton, Mass, definitely needs to be mentioned (see attached picture) as does Andrew Wyeth, a member of the Wyeth family from Pennsylvania who seems to be spewing one talented painter after another: Newell Convers Wyeth, the patriarch, famously sketched for Scribner's Illustrated Classics such as Treasure Island and Robinson Crusoe. His children Henriette, Carolyn and Andrew are all internationally renowned painters and grandson James (Andrew's child) is now also attracting attention (for painting, not because he robs banks or stars in unsavory movies).

Aside from this wonderful exhibit, the PEM has tons of other stuff to see, and there will have to be repeat visits to the place. For someone who gets seasick by the mere sight of a boat, I have an unusual fascination with anything natatory, and the museum's maritime collection was no exception (http://www.pem.org/collections/maritime.php). I love ship models and there are a gazillion of them there. My favorite room, East India Marine Hall, was the size of a ballroom and was adorned on all sites by ship's figureheads four times my size. How cool is that? (http://www.pem.org/collections/architecture.php?itm=3)

Culturally satisfied?? So were Steph and I and we quickly headed to the ever so delightful Front Street for some Milky Way ice cream and to the Salem Beer Works for a little something to wash it down with.

Other goings-on this past week - continuation of marathon training with supportive therapy. Successfully upped mileage this past weekend to 10 miles (woohoo!), and on the way to recovery. Still plenty of work to do there, but the big day is coming up in less than five weeks. Helped (a bit) with Ellen and Patrick's move to Watertown and checked out their new digs, including the super cool "Schlitz" beer lamps in the basement bar. I think a shopping excursion to acquire a Budweiser mirror to go with it, is in order. What are friends for, right?

Celebrations for my 18-year anniversary in the United States have been ongoing - thanks to all my friends who have been participating in various gaieties and the occasional hullabaloo, including a visit to Tommy Doyle's near Kendall Square for a couple of beers and a movie ("Little Miss Sunshine") with Denise and Natasha, dinners, lunches, coffee brakes, and tonight's upcoming visit to the Ryles Jazz Club in Cambridge (http://www.rylesjazz.com/) - unless we get distracted and head for the Irish pub next door.

I am heading to Cape Cod tomorrow for a comfy day-and-a-half and will return Sunday afternoon for a long run along the Esplanade. Enjoy the weekend!

Petra

And for a little laugh for those of us who are just not 20 anymore:
THE SENILITY PRAYER

Grant me the senility to forget the people I never liked anyway,

the good fortune to run into the ones I do,

and the eyesight to tell the difference.

#11 Boston - Turtle Jogging - August 17, 2006

Hello my sweet friends,

Thanks to so many of you for your words of encouragement after I was struck down with Runner's Knee. Recovery and healing are both going well - it is a somewhat painful process and requires focus and persistence (which happens to be my middle name :) ). Patience too (definitely not my middle name!!). Hard for me to keep my butt in one place and not hop around all the time. But there are so many movies in the world one can watch resting comfortably on the couch, and if you need any recommendations, just let me know. I can provide list upon list upon list. I watched a bit too many serious ones though this weekend ("Veronica Guerin", "Matewan" and "Munich" - none of them cheerer-uppers), so when my friend Pauline invited me on Monday to come to her place and watch "Muppets from Space" I zipped over there in a jiffy (Gonzo! Gonzo! Gonzo!). Good to mix it up, definitely and we are all in love with Kermit, are we not?

I have now slowly resumed my running schedule, turtle jogging as I call it, and so far two attempts at this slower version of running have proven to work quite nicely. Next time running will be this Sunday where we will up the ante just a wee bit, slowly building up the mileage. The days in between are spent at the gym, stretching, strength exercises for the muscles that were not doing what they are supposed to be doing, and, the good old foam roller, a most demanding and most effective tool in the recovery process. Things are looking up.








So, this past weekend, in an attempt to feed the cultural part of my soul, I joined a happy gaggle of women - Pauline, Joo, Sunshine, Chloe, Rebecca and Julie and we zipped down to Providence, Rhode Island (http://www.visitrhodeisland.com/). PVD is the capital of this our neighboring state, about an hour's drive away, and has the claim to fame of being New England's second largest city. It was founded by Roger Williams in honor of "God's merciful providence" - he was a bit in a bind, our dear Roger, after the Puritans kicked him out of Massachusetts, so he decided to make a name (and a place) for himself here. He was known as a theologian, and a serious advocate for the fair treatment of Native Americans, in particular when it came to the purchase of lands. Some of you might remember the story I related quite some time ago about the fact that the corpse of Mr Williams got devoured by a tree - ring a bell?

You see, Roger was buried on his farm, but being the founder of the state and such The Rhode Historical Society decided to unearth him and give him a more appropriate, stately funeral and resting place. Well, wouldn't you know it, when they opened the coffin they found - nothing, zip, zilch - not a bone in sight. Our Roger - completely gone. The culprit was determined to be an apple tree growing right above the grave, the roots of the tree had infiltrated the coffin. According to the website roadsideamerica.com they found "...a large root curved where his head should have been and entered the chest cavity, growing down the spine. It branched at the two legs, and then upturned into feet!" The same website also says that the historical society is too embarrassed to show the roots and are hiding it in a basement somewhere, but that they (the website) received a note from a reader stating - "My family is from Rhode Island and I am a direct of descendent of Roger Williams. It's kind of something my family is proud of. Never heard that story but am thrilled to think that I can actually go back and see my roots -- so to speak." (ha, ha....).

Back to the cultural part - our first item on the agenda was a visit to RISD (pronounced RIZ-DEE) - The Rhode Island School of Design, which is known to be one of the world's top art colleges (http://www.risd.edu/). This was definitely worth the trip alone. Aside from art work generated by RISD students, you can admire anything from Picasso, Monet, Renoir, Rothko, Andy Warhol - the collection is more than impressive. There was an exhibit of works by German artist Kaethe Kollwitz, well known for her portrayals of social struggle, poverty and suffering. Her husband's work as a doctor dedicated to helping the poor in the slums of Berlin, provided Kollwitz with impressions for her illustrations; the fact that she lost two sons in the two World Wars made her an ardent pacifist.

RISD also features a house within the museum - an early 20th century historical building known as the Pendleton House. It was built in 1906 to display Mr. Charles Pendleton's 18th- and 19th-century furniture, related decorative arts (lots of figurines, LOTS of them!!) along with an impressive display of American painting and sculpture, silver and ceramics, Oriental carpets, fancy wallpaper - you name it!!

Among the school's alumni, filmmaker Gus van Sant stands out ("Good Will Hunting", "My Own Private Idaho", "Finding Forrester"), and David Byrne of the Talking Heads emerged onto the scene from there. What cracked me up most was a write-up on the sports activities at RISD campus, wonderfully described on wikipedia.com: "RISD does have several intramural sports teams including a basketball team named the "Balls," who have the slogan, "When the heat is on, the Balls stick together." The team with the most infamous name is the hockey team, which proudly carries the title: "Nads." Founded in 1963, the customary cheer at hockey games is go Nads! (deliberately sounding like gonads). The RISD mascot is "Scrotie," a giant penis with a red cape. The cheerleaders are named the "Jockstraps," because they support the Nads. RISD students claim Cooper Union to be their arch rival in sports events, and the two hold an annual hockey match known as the "Supportive Cup".

Alright - after being very enlightened, at least culturally, we had some time to waste until the water fires started, so we stuffed ourselves big time at the Cheesecake Factory - gargantuan portions and deserts from the category "triple bypass special" - you can feel your arteries harden and watch as every bite of cheesecake adds a new little bump to your already birth-friendly hips. But sooooooo worth it!!

We then moved our glutted little stomachs over to the riverside to check out the Providence Water Fire spectacle - it started in 1994 with an art installation by Barnaby Evans (http://www.waterfire.org/photos/indexTrue.html) and was such a huge success that they have been doing it ever since. Vessels called braziers on some kind of floatation systems are stacked with logs and kindling of pine, cedar and oak origin and set on fire. There are 97 of them thingies, and they are floating around on Providence's three rivers - Woonasquatucket, Moshassuck and Providence. It is quite a display and if there weren't six million people around and what my friend Pauline called "extremely tacky elevator jazz", it might actually be enjoyable. Maybe it was my agoraphobia or the fact that the sheer weight of the cheesecake made me feel like taking a nap somewhere on a nice spot of grass, but I certainly was glad to hoof it out of there.

As to the final highlight for this past week - Tuesday - Bank of America Pavilion - SNOW PATROL CONCERT!!!!! It was awesome, man!! They have been my new favorite group since last year when they performed at the Avalon Club here in Boston, and this time they packed the pavilion with 4000 screaming fans!! (www.snowpatrol.com). If they come your way, you must, must, must go!! Of course, I had to run out yesterday and get their new album ("Eyes Open", but also check out their first CD -"Final Straw"). No one sat down throughout the entire concert and every single person seemed to know the lyrics to "Run" - which is their best song I think. Absolutely wonderful - I had such a marvelous time!!

So, that is mostly it. Unless you want to hear how I dinged the side of my head on my car on Sunday and gave myself a nice little shiner (who needs running to get injured?). Klutz really could be my last name, if there is an open cabinet door within 5 miles of where I am, believe me I will find it and give myself a black eye in no time. Oh well, we can't all be well coordinated right?

I am signing off for the weekend - I will be helping my friends Patrick and Ellen move into their new dwelling in Watertown on Saturday, in particular checking out the basement with the Budweiser Bar and then do a little running, a little movie time, just enjoying the summer. I hope you do the same. Be well and don't get into any trouble (or at least if you do, make it entertaining....).

Love to all of you,

pet:)

PS: A movie warning - I am the midst of watching what seems to be one of the top contenders for a "what-the-hell-where-they-thinking?" movie list, this one called "Color of Night" with our old friend Bruce Willis. On Netflix one of the reviewers described it as follows:

"This could have been written by a transplanted brain being kept alive in a jar of saline solution and fed low-voltage electric shocks. There are many, many shots of Bruce Willis naked. That alone is enough to spur calls for the return of 50’s-style ratings commissions and a need to re-invest our nation in family values."

#10 Boston - Sidelined, Somewhat - August 11, 2006

Well. I never saw that one coming, and never knew about such a thing as runner's knee aka Iliotibial Band Syndrome - now I know! Here I was, plodding along in my marathon training, running a mere 4 miles last Thursday morning, no biggie. I arrived at home, sweaty but happy, said a few kind words to Oscar, grabbed a cup of coffee and a few minutes later after feeling a bit of a pull on my left knee, could not lift my legs anymore. It was unbelievable, and I had no idea what happened. I literally could not walk to work, so I doddered down the street to the T in order to grab the train for one stop. The whole way down there I was literally in tears, and unsure as to what to do.

Well, it got worse there for a while, I was in the T and did not realize (there sure are no warnings...) that only the front doors open in each train and when I was trying to get out at Science Park nothing happened. By the time someone pointed this out and I went hobbling though the car waiving and yelling "wait, wait", it was too late and I ended up at North Station. I had to lug my sorry self upstairs and take the next train back to Science Park and finally escape from this nightmare. Of course the one good thing is that I work in a hospital with tons of docs and they all jumped to my rescue. By 1 PM I was in the sports medicine clinic, got a nice little cortisone injection and some instructions from the physical therapist to stretch, ice, stretch, ice, ice, ice, stretch some more.

Team Petra is now in full force, consisting of the personal trainer at the gym, my running buddies, and the herbal supplement section of Whole Foods, which I believe is now empty, since my shelves are full of any proven (and even some more cockamamie-ish) remedy known to mankind. I smell like an herbal garden to the delight of my colleagues at the Mass General and I have noticed that they avoid stepping into my office these days. Hmmmh....

It has been a learning experience that is for sure - in today's training session we figured out that the left side of my body is wound up horrendously tight and completely out of whack. I get to use one of those wonderful foam rollers and move my sore spots over it all day long - apparently it is one of those "work through the pain" kind of deals, but everyone, physical therapists, runners, trainers - they swear by it. Apparently I have to work on my gluteus muscles (you know the ones we sit on), which are not cooperating, and there is lots of strength to be gained. I have been doing everything I am allowed to - elliptical trainers, swimming, weights, you name it. This Sunday, after a 10-day break, I will make a first timid attempt at running, not much, just a bit, and we will see how it goes.

While I can handle the physical aspect of this and have thrown the same kind of enthusiasm into my recovery as I do into my usual training efforts, the mental challenge posed by this is not an easy one. Something happens to us runners, and it is not just the "runner's high" that hits me usually somewhere around mile 5 or 6 (followed by "what the heck am I doing" around mile 11). Running has been my kind of meditation, it clears the mind, it is just me running out there, maybe a little music along the way. I have been all over the map since this happened and I thank all of my friends for their patience and my running buddies for their advice. Hang in there with me!

So this past weekend up in New Hampshire was a new experience for me, everyone went hiking and I sat on my lazy little behind and watched movie after movie after movie. Iced my knees, did a little Pilates, but mostly took it easy. In particular Saturday morning, I got up at 6:30 AM, sat by my lonesome self on the patio with a cup of coffee, Oscar (his first outdoors experience) and Phoebe and enjoyed the view of Mt Cannon (http://www.hikethewhites.com/cannon.html) and Mt Lafayette (http://www.hikethewhites.com/lafayette.html).Saturday. The troupe of merry hikers left me to my wits and headed to Mt Pemigewasset (http://hikethewhites.com/pemi/p08.jpg), a nice little hike with some very rewarding views up top. Dinner on Saturday night was followed (no we are not tired of it yet) by another rousing round of Taboo - again we have to admit that Chris Gibbs is and will remain the champion - the use of the word "tasting hole" will remain a classic for years to come.

Sunday I decided to join the group who had promised to pick some easy hikes to accommodate my impaired physique - so we headed out to drive along the very picturesque Kancamagus Scenic Byway in search of Rocky Gorge, a lovely little spot, rocky, gorge-y, with opportunities to dip your feet in the cool water of the Swift River and hike around Falls Pond a little. (Of course we first had to stop in Lincoln and just like so many other rubberneckers ogle at the car fire on Highway 93 - quite spectacular I have to add!). The highlight of the day certainly was Sabbaday Falls, a very brief 0.5 mile walk on a nice boulder-free path and so worth it! (http://www.northeastwaterfalls.com/waterfall.php?num=418&p=0).

I have to mention of course that our friend and nature guide Boot Boutwell joined us on this trip, so there was a lot of stopping and oohing and aaahing about plants, mushrooms, trees - you know the drill. We all certainly had a good time learning new things and for once not zipping up the mountains like crazy people....

A little trivia here - Kancamagus (pronounced by the locals as kanga-mangas) is translated as "The Fearless One" and was an Native American tribal leader in Southern New Hampshire in the good old days. In the late 17th century he got a bit too tired of wrangling with the English settlers, decided he's had it and zipped up north to Quebec, and was never seen again.

It has been a trying week to say the least, but a little diversion was given last night, when I met my childhood friend Frank (who also happens to live in my home town in Southern Germany) and two of his colleagues at my favorite beer station in Boston, the Parish Cafe (http://www.parishcafe.com/).- many beers were consumed, spirits were high, and let's just hope the waiter does not follow through on the suggestions we wrote on the bill after paying...

I am signing off, see you next week, the weekend promises R&R, and a trip to Providence, Rhode Island to see the water fires. Oscar sends his regards to all of you, he has been talking up a storm and has now learned two new words - "baby" and "stinkbaer". Essential words to master if you are a little budgie living in Cambridge.

Cheers,

pet:)

# 9 Boston - Muy Caliente! - August 2, 2006

Do you feel like frying an egg on the hood of your car?? Come to Boston! No problem! It is freakin' hot here!!! Muy caliente! The temperature topped out at 105 Fahrenheit (41 degrees Celsius) this afternoon at 4PM and it was more than advisable to not go outside. It is currently 101 degrees and I am just glad that my little house, for some strange reason, is actually pretty agreeable. A fan is humming along and blowing air in my face, and the ice coffee I am drinking helps for sure. I hear that Washington, DC has it worse, they maxed at 112 - I don't even want to imagine what that is like. Summer hell.

Marathon training had to be adjusted of course and moved to 6 AM in the mornings, when it is only 82 degrees and that is not too bad, considering. I have to do only 4 miles tomorrow, and by the time I have to do my long run for the week (16 miles), I will be up in Franconia, New Hampshire, on a shaded bike path with proposed temps in the mid- to upper 70s. Relief is on the horizon!!

Aside from having to go to bed at a decent time to accommodate the early running schedule, and a fairly mushy brain as a result of the heat, things are going well here in Bostonia. The past weekend was fun-filled as usual, starting out on Saturday with some weeding in front of my house (hehe....). Really, it is very therapeutic and now my street looks all pretty (aaahhh). It was hot, and there was traffic everywhere, so I hopped on a train in order to reach the very alluring town of Salem, Massachusetts (there is also a Salem in New Hampshire) - http://www.salemweb.com/. Known mostly for its history surrounding the witch trials in the 17th century, it has lots to offer, including my friends Stephanie and Dan, who just moved there - it was time to check it out some more. The main attraction is the Salem Witch Museum, which tells us all about the mysterious events in 1692, where young women started to exhibit erratic behavior such as screaming fits and seizures (it is now believed that this was due to some type of encephalitis) and were henceforth declared witches who were in cahoots with the devil. The first two affected were Betty, daughter of the Salem Village minister Sam Parris, and her cousin Abigail. Total hysteria ensued, and all in all 24 people died, most of which were hanged. (http://www.salemweb.com/memorial/). Of course the city proudly displays its heritage, and you can see witch logos everywhere (even on police cars). The Salem High School football team's name is, yes, you guessed right "The Witches", and a sports field called Gallows Hill is where they used to hang people. There are palm readers, six million witch museums, stores with witchy accessories and you should see this place on Halloween, apparently it is a zoo!

Salem is also the birthplace of 19th-century American Novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne - "The Scarlet Letter" and "The House of Seven Gables" were among his literary achievements, and Salem is chockfull of Hawthorne references. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathaniel_Hawthorne) You can visit the Turner-Ingersoll Mansion, which is the actual House of Seven Gables, the Nathaniel Hawthorne House and of course, don't forget the "Hollywood House of Wax" , a Must-See.

There is the Peabody Essex Museum, which is just fantastic and which I have yet to visit (http://hawthorneinsalem.org/Introduction.html). Its exhibits are renowned - and I learned that you can visit the Yi Tu Tang, a complete Chinese merchant house from the late Qing Dynasty. (http://www.pem.org/yinyutang/). Next time, definitely.

After visiting a street fair at the Salem Common (where we just had to buy some jewelry), Steph and I met Dan for lunch at the Salem Beer Works for some delectable grub (http://beerworks.net/html/locations_salem.html) and some local brews, such as the Witch City Red, which so nicely tickled the palate and delighted me to no end. This was followed by ice cream of course at Captain Dusty's and a visit to the extremely charming harbor - it does feature the cutest little light house ever, and usually "The Friendship", a reconstructed 171-foot three-masted Salem East Indiaman built in 1797. The "Friendship was out that day, hanging out at the Cape in Provincetown, so we'll have to wait for the next visit to admire her.













And this was just the afternoon! I hopped back on the train and straight to the TD Banknorth Garden for a concert - my friend Ellen had scored some tickets to the Dixie Chicks (http://www.dixiechicks.com/), courtesy of our volunteer organization Boston Cares (Thanks BC!). Not only were the tickets free, but just when we had settled comfortably in the nosebleed section, some staffer came by and gave us a free upgrade, so we ended up sitting right next to the stage. So cool!! The concert was a blast, the acoustics sucked, which they always do in sports arenas - the crowd was jazzed, in particular when the "Chicks" arrived on stage to the tune of "Hail to the Chief".

Sunday - oh yeah, 15 miles running for marathon training along the Charles River Esplanade - it was hot, but doable, and I had ample time for R&R the rest of the day, so all was well and the weekend ended on a very nice note.

Well, that is all the news for the day - a weekend in Franconia is coming up with some running, hiking and swimming, and time to smell the roses. Which is always a good thing.

Stay cool amigos!!

Petra