Boston: City of spiritual refreshment, at least it is for me.
Hannah and I haven’t lived together since 2013, but every (non-lockdown) year, one of us has made the Amtrak pilgrimage to see the other for a weekend involving food, wine, window shopping, a performance of some sort, an arty excursion, long discussions that remake the world, and at least one transcendent, unplanned experience that transmutes the weekend from a visit to a homecoming.
This time around, it came from visiting a shop on 6 Birch Street, which is depicted in the uppermost sections above. I won’t be able to recount my experience with the purveyor, Joanne, in any great detail that will do the encounter justice. All I can say is that it is such a rare thing to be in a shop that is infused with such caring energy and even rarer to feel personally blessed by its owner. After we had a brief exchange about jam, loss, friendship, the pace of life and its many crossroads, she told me she was honored to have a New Yorker come visit her shop. How validating and nice that felt to be seen that way.
Other highlights I have to record here before they float away:
- A warm welcome meal at Ten Tables
- Meditating at 7:30 am both mornings in the perfect quiet stillness
- Meandering around Papercuts, the platonic ideal of a bookstore if there ever were one (I do regret not buying the sweatshirt I was contemplating)
- Finding TWO ‘90s-era iMac desktops this weekend: one grey, one blue, both smaller than I remember.
- A very good chat (and smuggled-in apple cake) at Ula Café
- Provocative first readings with my newly acquired Pulp Tarot deck
- An incredible pre-show meal (and deeper than deep conversation) at Frenchie
- Mass confusion and ridiculousness in line for the Dita show
- Having our minds melted by the exquisite sensuality and strength AT the Dita show
- Our Sunday morning jam-on-toast flight, stroll through the Arnold arboretum, stop at the farmer’s market, and serendipitous visit to see Joanne one last time
…and so much more that can’t be put into words.