29-May-99 Anne to Airport

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There were several last minute errands to run for Anne before she left today. I did some banking for her while she and Arlene went shopping to get some food, in particular, that she wanted to stock up on. By midafternoon she was packed up and we set off for Logan.

Just before going to the airport

Some friends of Anne's had been driving to Boston from the north the evening before and found the main highway reduced to one lane. Said the guy, “If they have this road closed to one lane on a holiday weekend, it had better be because the bridge is collapsing” Indeed, it was. A main support beam had begun to buckle, and by the time we went to the airport the story had been all over the TV and newspapers, so we weren't surprised to see the exit lane from the Pike backed up a quarter mile from the exit. There's an easy way to avoid it, and we had allowed plenty of time anyway. We were in loads of time to get into a long line at Lufthansa, and still had half an hour to talk between checking in and the time they started loading.

Anne was talking as though she's about played out this adventure, and will be ready to move back to the US in the fall. We hope she doesn't change her mind. We're proud of how accomplished a world traveler she is by now; I forget if she counted 16 or 18 countries she's been in.

Arlene wanted to look for some annuals for the garden out at Building 19 in Natick. We zoomed out route 9 almost as soon as we got home from the airport. I can't believe I've been writing this for over two months and haven't had an occasion to report on Building 19 yet, but that seems to be the case. People from outside this area say, “Oh, like Railroad Salvage.” It started in a building in the Hingham shipyard years ago, buying salvage merchandise, overstocks, bankruptcy stock, and so on. The motto is “Good Stuff Cheap.” You never know just what you'll find there, though there is always a big selection of markdown books and clothing. If you're not any fussier about fashion than I am, you can be happy finding a rack of shirts with the logo of Matilda Bay wine cooler at $2.98, or clothing left over from the Atlanta olympics. Oh, and last year's computer books for 50 cents.

Hanna and Ira brought my Mom over in the evening. We figured they wouldn't be able to leave Worcester until after 9 because they wouldn't drive until the sabbath was over at dark, but it ended up being 10:30 when they showed up. We had thought my mom's flight to Miami was too early for them to drive her to Logan from Worcester, but a closer reading of her itinerary showed that we had time to sleep in the next morning anyway.