A Lovely Day

Long day, long lovely day. We drove out to Amherst and Hadley this afternoon. Yes, Mom, we knew it was going to snow later. But we needed to get out of the house, away from reams of charts and graphs that show how much money we will or won’t have when we are each dead at age 95! Both our colds were sufficiently in the past that we were hungry to get away and walk and breathe. So we stopped first at the Rail Trail entrance behind the Whole Foods store in Hadley. Sneakers on, we headed out under a cloud deck and didn’t care. It felt so good. The temperature was in the mid thirties, but without a breeze, with the impending storm still off to our west.

After our walk, we ran a bunch of errands - Whole Foods, Barnes and Noble, Trader Joe’s - all the usual suspects. Then we drove back to Amherst and went to Bueno y Sano for dinner. The local NPR radio station is WFCR, of which the FC stands for Five College = Amherst, Smith, UMASS, Mount Holyoke and Hampshire. School is in full swing, so Bueno y Sano was packed with college kids. That can make you feel old and decrepit, or it can make you feel just old enough to remember college fondly and be grateful that it is in the past. Luckily tonight it was the latter! Their burritos are scrumptious and it was fun to sit and watch the passing parade and eavesdrop on conversations. Of course it’s not really eavesdropping if your fellow diners are laughing and talking at full volume!

When we left the restaurant, the snow was coming down steadily in heavy, wet flakes. It was beautiful! As we drove home, the Subaru handled perfectly as the snow began to build up on the roads and cling to every branch. Home now - safe, sound and refreshed! Hopefully, tomorrow I’ll be able to get some pictures snapped and uploaded.