Mid-August 2008, 1 pm
I went out for an afternoon walk, and as I was waiting to cross the street in front of 77 Mass Ave I could hear a man shouting something in the distance, but couldn't make out what he was yelling. This isn't entirely unusual on Mass Ave, so I didn't think too much about it. A few seconds later, a man ran by at top speed, running with dog along side him. Again, a little weird, but nothing too out of the ordinary. A few seconds behind him comes another man running at top speed, looking upset and shouting at the first man to STOP STOP. I thought it looked like the first guy had stolen something from the second guy, but it really wasn't clear. The light still hadn't changed, so as he ran by everyone waiting to cross was asking each other the same thing I was thinking - did he just mug him?
Everyone seemed to think so, but it was all a little strange. The first running man did seem to have something in his hands, but if you're planning on robbing someone, why would you bring your dog along? The second man was yelling at him to stop, but never yelled anything about being robbed or asked for help from everyone on the sidewalk. Maybe it was all just a joke.
Friday, August 22, 2008
Slugs part II, and an unfortunate wardrobe malfunction
This has absolutely nothing to do with lunchtime walks, but since you brought up slugs first, I'm going to continue the thread. Brookline seems to have some kind of slug problem, and almost every morning for the past few weeks I've narrowly avoided stepping on a different enormous slug dying on the front path of my building. I came alarmingly close today, but managed to stop in time. I agree, stepping on one must feel absolutely disgusting. Especially in sandals. And this morning I encountered the slug only a few minutes after walking out of my bedroom door and coming face to face with a huge spider dangling from the ceiling right at eye level. Ugh.
Now, on to somewhat more related material. This happened at the gym after work, so I'm 0 for 2 on actual lunchtime stories so far, but since it's related to MIT I'm including it. It's probably terrible karma to blog about an old man at the gym, but he was kind of asking for it this time. There is this little old man who randomly jogs around the floor of the gym all the time (not on the track, but just weaves through the equipment on the main floor). I see him a lot, and he's always wearing a short-sleeve button down shirt and really short shorts. Well on Wednesday, as he ran by me on the treadmill, I noticed his little short-shorts had a big rip in the back. And he had absolutely nothing on underneath. Charming.
Now, on to somewhat more related material. This happened at the gym after work, so I'm 0 for 2 on actual lunchtime stories so far, but since it's related to MIT I'm including it. It's probably terrible karma to blog about an old man at the gym, but he was kind of asking for it this time. There is this little old man who randomly jogs around the floor of the gym all the time (not on the track, but just weaves through the equipment on the main floor). I see him a lot, and he's always wearing a short-sleeve button down shirt and really short shorts. Well on Wednesday, as he ran by me on the treadmill, I noticed his little short-shorts had a big rip in the back. And he had absolutely nothing on underneath. Charming.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Bats and Spider and Slugs, Oh My!
The highlight of my walk this afternoon was seeing a bat flying over the Charles. It was flying in circles just over the water near the Yacht Club (apparently that's where all the excitement is). This is the first bat I've seen out during the day and after observing it for a few seconds I realized I had probably met him before. A few weeks ago as I was leaving the library at 7:00, something nearly flew into my head as I entered the hallway outside Rotch. I assumed it was a bird, but once I got downstairs it flew by me again, this time low to the ground, and I realized it was a bat. People were holding the door open for it and it eventually got out, but continued to circle near the front of the building. According to information on the Mass Audubon web site, it is a large brown bat, however most don't come out until dusk or dark. Mating season is coming up so perhaps this bat was just a little restless.
I also saw several scary spiders on the green railing where Mem. Dr. juts out over the Charles. I first noticed these spiders on Monday during my walk. The entire railing is covered with spider webs and many contain numerous, large, black spiders. I guess they figured out that the combination of being over the water and being close to street lights attracts a lot of insects.
Finally, I can't resist mentioned the huge slug I saw this morning, even though it wasn't during my lunch time walk. As I was heading out for my run in Watertown I passed a huge slug on the sidewalk. It was about 6 inches long and an inch or so across. It made me kind of want to throw up since it was so yucky looking. At the time it was heading up the sidewalk, but given the fact that the sun was rising quickly and the sidewalk has a good amount of foot traffic, I didn't think it would be around much longer. About 25 minutes later on my way home I saw it again, further up the hill. It appeared that it's insides were oozing out, either due to an injury (I feel sorry for whoever stepped on it) or the sun.
Who knew I'd see so much wildlife so close to the city. I need to start bringing a camera along.
I also saw several scary spiders on the green railing where Mem. Dr. juts out over the Charles. I first noticed these spiders on Monday during my walk. The entire railing is covered with spider webs and many contain numerous, large, black spiders. I guess they figured out that the combination of being over the water and being close to street lights attracts a lot of insects.
Finally, I can't resist mentioned the huge slug I saw this morning, even though it wasn't during my lunch time walk. As I was heading out for my run in Watertown I passed a huge slug on the sidewalk. It was about 6 inches long and an inch or so across. It made me kind of want to throw up since it was so yucky looking. At the time it was heading up the sidewalk, but given the fact that the sun was rising quickly and the sidewalk has a good amount of foot traffic, I didn't think it would be around much longer. About 25 minutes later on my way home I saw it again, further up the hill. It appeared that it's insides were oozing out, either due to an injury (I feel sorry for whoever stepped on it) or the sun.
Who knew I'd see so much wildlife so close to the city. I need to start bringing a camera along.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Our 16th President
Tuesday, August 19, 2008, 5:00 pm
This was not a lunch time walk, but rather a end-of-the-day walk. Because it happened on the Mass Ave bridge though, site of many lunchtime sightings, I think it counts.
I was crossing the bridge to get to the T, listening to my Ipod and minding my own business, when I noticed a man on a Segway coming my way. That in itself was a little unusual, because you don't see a whole lot of people tooling around Boston on one. Once he got a little closer though I noticed he was not only riding on a Segway, but was also dressed as Abraham Lincoln, complete with black suit, beard, and tall hat. It made me wish I had a camera with me.
This was not a lunch time walk, but rather a end-of-the-day walk. Because it happened on the Mass Ave bridge though, site of many lunchtime sightings, I think it counts.
I was crossing the bridge to get to the T, listening to my Ipod and minding my own business, when I noticed a man on a Segway coming my way. That in itself was a little unusual, because you don't see a whole lot of people tooling around Boston on one. Once he got a little closer though I noticed he was not only riding on a Segway, but was also dressed as Abraham Lincoln, complete with black suit, beard, and tall hat. It made me wish I had a camera with me.
The pudding stalker
Monday, Aug. 18, 2008
12:00pm
I was so excited by the bridge jumpers that I totally forgot about the pudding stalker I encountered right before I set off on my walk.
I was sitting in my usual spot near the bus stop to eat lunch and warm myself in the sun before heading out on my walk. I had finished my sandwich and was eating my chocolate pudding cup. When eating foods that are somewhere between a solid and a liquid, such as yogurt, pudding, ice cream, etc. I like to take small spoonfuls to savor them, though I don't think my style of eating is all that unusual. Or at least no one has mentioned anything, until the pudding stalker.
Anyway, I was eating my pudding and the man sitting further down on the bench said something like, "Wow, you really savor that pudding. Some people would eat it all in three bites." I agreed that I liked to savor it and then I turned away slightly because this man was clearly watching me eat. A few minutes later he said, "Is that dessert or the main course?" That sounded kind of dirty, but I replied that it was just part of my lunch. It was then blatantly apparent that this guy was infatuated with my pudding and I was scared that he may jump up and grab it. I casually got up and walked away, deciding to enjoy my peach elsewhere, lest this man desire that as well.
12:00pm
I was so excited by the bridge jumpers that I totally forgot about the pudding stalker I encountered right before I set off on my walk.
I was sitting in my usual spot near the bus stop to eat lunch and warm myself in the sun before heading out on my walk. I had finished my sandwich and was eating my chocolate pudding cup. When eating foods that are somewhere between a solid and a liquid, such as yogurt, pudding, ice cream, etc. I like to take small spoonfuls to savor them, though I don't think my style of eating is all that unusual. Or at least no one has mentioned anything, until the pudding stalker.
Anyway, I was eating my pudding and the man sitting further down on the bench said something like, "Wow, you really savor that pudding. Some people would eat it all in three bites." I agreed that I liked to savor it and then I turned away slightly because this man was clearly watching me eat. A few minutes later he said, "Is that dessert or the main course?" That sounded kind of dirty, but I replied that it was just part of my lunch. It was then blatantly apparent that this guy was infatuated with my pudding and I was scared that he may jump up and grab it. I casually got up and walked away, deciding to enjoy my peach elsewhere, lest this man desire that as well.
Attempted suicide or "harmless" fun?
Monday, Aug. 18, 2008
12:30pm
Today quite exciting things happening on my lunch walk and they involved emergency vehicles, an indication that today's events were quite interesting.
As I was walking back up Mem towards Mass Ave. a fire truck pulled up in front of the yacht club. My initial thought was that there was a fire at the club. Last week there was the strong smell of pot coming from the club so this pot smoker could have very well started a fire. However, as I walked by the club the Cambridge Fire Boat, which is docked there, was starting up and one firefighter was being helped into his dry suit. This was quite more exciting than I had expected.
Right around this time about 10 other emergency vehicles descended on the Harvard Bridge (which is actually crossed by Mass Ave. and is not near Harvard). I thought that perhaps someone was trying to kill themselves. Luckily, at this very moment, the guy who called 911 happened to walk right past me and was exclaiming to someone about what he knew. He kept saying, "I called it in! I called it in! They were jumping off the bridge!"
The emergency vehicles stayed around the bridge for a few minutes and then all left, so I'm thinking no one killed themselves. Who exactly was jumping off the bridge, though? And if you were to jump off the bridge why would you do it in the middle, rather than toward the edge where you could easily swim to shore? Maybe there were triathletes jumping off or Olympic swimmers. It would be a pretty tough swim from the middle of the Charles to shore. I did a quick search online but only found out that Houdini had jumped off the bridge for one of his stunts. Perhaps someone was trying to recreate that. Regardless of who these people were or why they were jumping, it made for yet another exciting lunch time walk.
12:30pm
Today quite exciting things happening on my lunch walk and they involved emergency vehicles, an indication that today's events were quite interesting.
As I was walking back up Mem towards Mass Ave. a fire truck pulled up in front of the yacht club. My initial thought was that there was a fire at the club. Last week there was the strong smell of pot coming from the club so this pot smoker could have very well started a fire. However, as I walked by the club the Cambridge Fire Boat, which is docked there, was starting up and one firefighter was being helped into his dry suit. This was quite more exciting than I had expected.
Right around this time about 10 other emergency vehicles descended on the Harvard Bridge (which is actually crossed by Mass Ave. and is not near Harvard). I thought that perhaps someone was trying to kill themselves. Luckily, at this very moment, the guy who called 911 happened to walk right past me and was exclaiming to someone about what he knew. He kept saying, "I called it in! I called it in! They were jumping off the bridge!"
The emergency vehicles stayed around the bridge for a few minutes and then all left, so I'm thinking no one killed themselves. Who exactly was jumping off the bridge, though? And if you were to jump off the bridge why would you do it in the middle, rather than toward the edge where you could easily swim to shore? Maybe there were triathletes jumping off or Olympic swimmers. It would be a pretty tough swim from the middle of the Charles to shore. I did a quick search online but only found out that Houdini had jumped off the bridge for one of his stunts. Perhaps someone was trying to recreate that. Regardless of who these people were or why they were jumping, it made for yet another exciting lunch time walk.
Introduction
After observing yet another weird event during my lunchtime walk, I realized that between Andrea and I, we had seen some pretty incredible things - robberies, wrong way trucks on Storrow, bloodshed, joggers in sandals, etc. I decided that these things needed to be recorded if for no other reason than to give is something to look back on and laugh at in the coming months.
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