Gonna Fly Now
When I first moved to Salem from Somerville a few years ago, I got a lot of questions from people asking if I was really into Halloween. I think overall, I’m pretty indifferent to it. I like fall a lot, but as far as the holiday itself...I don’t know, it’s fine. I’ll watch whatever movies are on TV, listen to the Misfits, etc. but I can’t say any SPOOKY reasons really factored into my decision to move. And I’m hardly alone. The joke is that Salem is also known as North Somerville due to everyone fleeing skyrocketing rents and overcrowding. Not all those people are goths.
Also, since this will be my third Halloween here, I’m going to say that qualifies me as enough of a local. With that being said, I’ve earned the right to complain about weekends in October. It’s a lot of people! It’s hard to go anywhere! On one hand, I’m glad it helps the local economy, but on the other...well, the town DOES exist the other 11 months too. But instead of just complaining, Lydia and I decided to get out of dodge for the (typically busiest) weekend and head to Philly for a bit.
What a great city! We had gorgeous weather on Saturday, so that morning I went for a run by the river, trying to plan my route so that I could finish by the art museum. I’m sorry, was I supposed to not run up the steps?
I don’t care if I’m a cliche, this ruled. With running, like most things, there are good days and bad days. I’ll have some runs where I’ll seriously struggle and wonder how I can possibly go for a whole marathon. But then there are runs like this one where I feel like, hey, why not?
I would go see a lot of movies during treatment because I felt like I was doing something, but really it was an excuse to sit and not move for a few hours while still technically going out. I believe the first one I saw after finishing chemo was Creed (release date November 25, 2015...checks out!). In the final scene (spoiler alert for a four-year-old movie), Rocky has just finished chemo (like me!) and works his way up the museum steps...understandably much slower than he had 40 years ago. I remember sitting in the theater (with something stuck in my eye) and thinking “I don’t know, Rock, that seems like a lot of steps. I’m getting tired just looking at it.” Well, it took me four years, but I’m glad I was able to make the climb. I didn’t even need Michael B. Jordan to help me.
Hey, we’re at $2017! A little over 20% there! Thanks again for all your support. Have you checked to see if your work does gift matching? They might! They take enough of your time and cause you enough stress that they should! Let me (or your HR department) know if you have any questions.
My favorite thing to do on vacation is to eat, so I got to do a lot of that this weekend. Monk’s Cafe and Pizzeria Beddia were two of my favorites...I’ll be thinking about that pizza for a long time. I also went inside the art museum too, which was great.
Anyone on Strava? Let’s be friends!
Thanks for reading! Any questions? Fundraising suggestions? Want me to shut up? Would love to hear it! Except maybe that last one, seems pretty rude. Until next time.