Northampton, Mass

So here I am in Northampton, just back from a nice road ride (44 miles round trip plus a brewpub lunch) to Greenfield, the next town north of here... Yesterday was 25 miles on a nearby bike path, basically to Amherst & back, followed by dinner at a local brewpub, and breakfast was at a coffee shop. A guy could learn to like this...

We're up here visiting Anne's son Ben at college, saw him last night at the pub with a bunch of his friends. (In other words,this is just a quick min- vacation, checking to see whether or not he's been eating right.) We'll hook up with him again tonight or tomorrow, and head home in the afternoon.

These rides were a godsend, since otherwise this whole week was a wash: time commitments after work, bad weather, if it weren't for yesterday and today the week would have been a disaster mileage-wise, rather than middling-OK. (Granted, the weather's great at home as well as here, and even if we stayed home I probably would have been riding anyway, but still...)

Also this weekend: today is the big outdoor chili cook-off on Southside. I got home Thursday night and found the house in complete chaos, as Anne & Debbie made a huge vat of chili from a bunch of invasive plants they'd foraged that afternoon. Josh & Kim also came over and a good time was had by all as we made a huge mess. Good times! Debbie and Josh served it at his store today, and I hear it was a big hit, there are no leftovers. I hope they saved us some!

We're going out in a bit to do some people watching. Northampton -- home of Smith College (Emmi's alma mater) and with a bunch of other schools nearby -- is a neat town with a very crunchy Northeast vibe.