A Few of My Favorite Things...

The pool water was very pretty to look at in Cancun but much chillier than the ocean! If you can get to the top of any of the hotels in the tourist strip (and it's tough because they are purposely designed to display views that eclipse the surrounding buildings and properties), you can see the whole coastline of the hotel strips is filled with them! Our hotel alone had something like four pools - all on the beach side of the building. It's their winter season over there and tourism is just starting up for the year, so the pools and beaches aren't completely packed just yet. It makes for more privacy but less sampling of the swim-up bar! They also had an on-site DJ who sat in a little grass hut by one of the pools all day long playing thumping dance music... it made me happy we came here early in the winter. You won't find us dancing poolside on Spring Break Cancun 2009!

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We recently got back from a long-weekend getaway, and this picture really sums up the experience for me. It was one of those all-tourist vacations; we didn't try to travel to all the historical sites or explore the depths of the city like we usually do, and it was so relaxing! I'd forgotten how amazing beach vacations can be. And Cancun truly has some beautiful beaches. The surf knocked me over a lot, but it was warm! How very un-North Shore Massachusetts! We had planned the trip in the fall, for a grand birthday celebration/reunion that Jason's friend's wife had arranged, but the timing couldn't have been more perfect. We had gotten engaged the weekend before, and had a glorious few days of sun to celebrate.

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Against this beautiful seaside backdrop, I was impressed to see these hardy kids playing in the English surf... chilly! I was interested by how, from a distance, their shapes made them appear like skinny little spiders scampering around in the glassy water.

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That title makes me sound far more academically ambitious than I actually am, but what the hell? The other day, I dropped by the Harvard campus and got my feet wet in their funky rock fountain ouside the Science Center. This has always been one of my favorite fountains in town, and yesterday it was so sunny that you could actually catch (and photograph) a rainbow in the spraying water!

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The Connecticut River, shot off a public dock in Hanover. The dogs found plenty of ways to launch off (and climb back on) the platform, and blew off a lot of steam swimming on their "walk"!

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During Jill's wedding weekend in Chatham, we stayed near this terrific little cove. Today the water was so still you could see perfect reflections of everything above it. The whole weekend provided a welcome feeling of calm. Despite the Memorial Day weekend and the busy traffic entering and leaving the Cape, the place itself, along with its relatively deserted beaches on these not-yet-swimmable days, was completely relaxing.

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Next time I'm here, I'd love to go sailing. This day seemed like a good day to bundle up and enjoy the ocean breezes, and from what I could tell on the drive around and the small window of the flight out, this coastline is a treat to tour. We witnessed these guys pulling out of a protected cove and then snuck into a private marina to check out the fancy boats - the parked ones.

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A view of Anthony's Pier 4 during a visit to the new Institute of Contemporary Art location here near the city's Courthouse silver line stop. The whole building is focused toward this view, and with all its harbor-facing windows, the ICA is like a squared eye atop a pedastal watching the traffic of the water and sky.

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The waves gently rolling in at Walden Pond this morning. We were amazed to see people swimming this far into October, but when I dipped my finger in the water it was surprisingly warm! Even had I known this, I'm not sure I would have been the first in. I swear I saw a few folks in wetsuits in deeper waters...

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