Boston!

Omg... 2nd to the last stop on this voyage!!

At this point... I am tired and achy... and coming down with a cold... and so tired!! It is seriously gut check time now. And so, of course, I am here in Boston for grown up stuff actually: a conference.

First... I roll into town Wednesday midday. Everything on my flight is smooth. I actually paid extra for the legroom this time... and omg it was worth it! It went from no room... seat digging into my knees without the person in front even putting it back... to having *all* the room... I could leisurely cross my legs and pull my shoes on and off... and the person front of me could put his seat back and it was nbd... I watched 2 movies (Into the Woods and Theory of Everything) read a book (an Eloisa James romance...now that I know her I figured I owed it to her to read one of her books) and took a nap. So I was pretty relaxed and ready when I got to Boston... I even enjoyed the food... at least for airline food. The wine *was* atrocious... but I enjoyed every sip!

The only downside at all was that I landed at noon... Really feeling like I was done with my day... it was evening to my Euro-timed body. So I just tried to stay awake until 10pm or so... I checked into my hostel (I am a bit ashamed that I'm staying at a hostel here in Boston. But I had to self fund this conference and hadn't gotten into Airbnb yet when I made my reservation. A girl's gotta do...) And walked around town a bit... a very little bit. The big thrill of that day was going to see Mad Max... it was fun and loud and didn't ask much of me... so it was perfect for my jetlagged brain!

The next day and Friday were the actual conference. And a smidge of real life returning to me... this is when things started getting particularly difficult. I'm coming down with a cold I think... my body is sore... mostly my feet for obvious reasons... and I'm just bone tired. But this is important. So it's gut check time, sports fans! And the good thing is that the conference was great! Thursday was Thoreau day... I presented at 5pm... and hobbled around on my broken feet before then doing a bit of Boston stuff... but I actually came more to life at the Thoreau roundtable. We all had a great talk... my paper was the least interesting one there... in a good way! ... and then as this was the last session of the day we all went out for dinner and continued our conversation. And it was all about the Maine Woods... and book I'm focusing on for my next project but not many people do. And I was surrounded by Thoreau nerds... I was in heaven! *And* 2 people came up to me and actually told me they were reading my book and that it was really good. Call me shallow or needy or whatever... that felt amazing!!! Friday, then, was the Twain day. (I'm not sure how I didn't realize that this coference... this whole visit... was all about my 2 boys!) I had time in the morning to go to the Boston Aquarium. I made sure to wear my least painful shoes... and saw a little of the harbor area... (I was feeling awkward and kind of sick to my stomach... so I was trying to be particularly kind and forgiving to myself.) Then I went to the conference a bit before our panel. And it wasn't a proper panel. It was so much better! It was a dramatic reading of the Twain's famous Whittier Birthday speech. 6 of us read different parts... and that took up the time of the panel... and then we opened it up to questions the same way a proper panel would do. And it was amazing. There was lots of discussion and all kinds of academic analysis. It wasn't less rigorous of a panel just because it wasn't us reading academic papers. I have no idea how this will count at work...but I'm so happy with it. It's the only standing room only panel I've ever been a part of!! That also turned into drinks and continued discussion... this time all about Twain!! Swoon! I hobbled to my bed and slept before my head hit the pillow. (I'm gonna need weeks to recover from this last month!)

Today I gave myself a free day to visit the houses of Mark Twain and Harriet Beecher Stowe... finally! I've never been before! And here I've just taught a class on Twain where I focused on his house in London... and I've never seen his place in CT! And I figured I'd stick a visit to Concord on my way back into Boston and see Walden Pond in Spring... (making the 4th season I've visited there!) My car rental was fully meh. Chrysler 200... and in every way it was a disappointing car especially compared to the Hyundai I got in Cornwall... Uncool, American car company... uncool! Also, totally expensive... I rented a BMW with Shanna 2 years ago... also with Enterprise... for less money! Once I got over that, though, I just worked my way down to the museums. It was a pretty long drive. An hour and a half each way and the Concord bit added some. 

But it's totally worth it! The Twain house was amazing... it was so cool to see the place where these people *lived*. It felt very alive... very real... and Twain just gets more and more lovable the more we learn about him! One example: he had a painting of the Cat in the Ruff... a silly painting of a cat head wearing a collar like Shakespeare. He would tell his daughters stories that would start with that cat... and of course he loved cats in general... And then after a mediocre snack in the cafe I went to the Stowe tour... And there I kind of exploded. My poor tour guide! He made the mistake of saying he encouraged conversation from the tour... and so I said I was a lit professor and researched a lot about Stowe. So from then on he would turn to me after someone asked a question... or they would ask me semi-directly. And we went way long with our tour. It was *very* conversational!! And several of us kept talking even after that... even the tour guide... what with the 2 tours and the other museum stuff... that took till about 4 pm!

And the pics are the miniature that was *probably* the one Twain saw when he first fell in love with Livy. And the kitchen table where Stowe wrote Uncle Tom's Cabin... C: Also Lego Twain!!!

So it was definitely time for me to get to Walden Pond before they closed the park! I made it with about an hour to spare... and it wasn't until I arrived at the pond that I realized the extreme nerdiness of my day. Especially following the last two days! I hung out with my boys all weekend!! I took some lovely pictures, walked a bit, and dipped my fingers and toes in the water... and then treated myself to a proper dinner salad that involved kale and rice and lentils. It felt so good to eat something healthy!!! (This isn't entirely fair... there is a vegan thai restaurant right around the corner that I've been to twice!) And of course, after something that healthy, I follow it up with good old fashioned ice cream stand ice cream! Yay!!

After that, I cruised back... and was basically back to the hostel in time to watch the crazy boring Warriors game... boring except for Curry! And now it's *late* and I have lots to do before I sleep. So I should get on that! One stop left before my kitties, my bed, and new clothes and no more packing and suitcases!!!