Monday, March 12, 2012

Mighty fine weather

So here I sit. Outside it's sunny and near 70 degrees. I have some windows open. It's the first time I've done this so far this year. I can hear The sounds of power saws and hammering. It's actually kind of nice. People fixing things up. There's been a push by Verizon in the area. They came to my house about a month ago. There's an ad war going on between Comcast and Verizon on television. Well today I saw 3 different Verizon trucks on my street. But overall it is  nice to hear and see activity. I should be out enjoying the sun and the early warmth but I was out all day yesterday and though it wasn't quite this warm, it was a nice sunny day.

Well when I say all day I actually mean my day started around noon. The plans were to eat then drive to Marblehead, A city on the north shore with a sea faring history and all the quaint New Englandy charm you can stand. My lady friend and I went out for "breakfast" at our favorite spot. A little place called The Light House Cafe'. There's nothing really charming about  the place except for the great omelet's and food in general. All at reasonable prices. Now I'm not sure I know what a lighthouse has to do with breakfast. Though not far away from the ocean this town is not on the coast. As we talked over coffee waiting for our meals, I suddenly remembered a notorious event that happened in this very place back in the early 70's. It was a time of gang warfare in greater Boston. Back in the early 70's this place was known as the Pewter Pot Cafe'. All dressed up in colonial era fashion. One day a local bookie was bumped off while he was eating. This had a very detrimental effect on the Pewter Pot's business. Anyway as I thought of that I realised an even more notorious event occurred on this same street, a few doors down on the other side. One that became national news. What is now part of a restaurant was once part of The Depositors Trust Bank. On Memorial Day Weekend in 1980 three cops, one being a chief and three career criminals broke into an ice cream shop then into the bank. They were in there for three days going through all the safety deposit boxes. They were in there as the local Memorial Day Parade went by. Nobody will ever really know how much was stolen. Estimations ranged from 1.5 million to 25 million dollars. Who knows who had what in those boxes. It eventually all unravelled years later. I remember 60 Minutes doing a segment on it. There is one more very notorious event connected with the Mob that happened elsewhere in this city 9 years later but that's for another time.

After eating we went to a bakery for some bread and pasta. That really sounds weird but it was a Sunday.
Marblehead is a quint fishing town on the northshore. It's roughly 25 miles north of here. I haven't been there in 30 years. Getting to the city limits is pretty easy, getting around the place can be a confusing nightmare if you don't know where you are going. We had no clue. We did find the ocean but how hard is that? Finding a place to park was pointless. The streets are a tangled mess with annoying one way streets. I had had enough. We headed home. To bad. The part of the ocean we saw was picturesque and there was a walkway, but enough was enough.

As I mentioned earlier today was a gem but I stayed in. It's nice not to be beholding to anyone or anything for one day. I have spent a leisiurely day leisurely enjoying leisure at my leisure.

Wilma! Peel me a grape!
I'm outta here.        



  

7 comments:

  1. OK Fred!
    I am so glad to read this post. You sound happy Paul and that is great.
    Marblehead, that sounds like a nice place to visit. Lots of local history there.
    It is to be in the 70s here all week. Sure saves on the heating bill.

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  2. What a nice post. Very interesting. We only have Charter or dish for choice here. AT&T Universal is suppose to be around but when ever called they say not in our area.

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  3. What an interesting place, Marblehead. I remember seeing the 60 min show about that. Now the one being bumped off while eating there, well wow it would make me scared. So glad you had a great day I hear the smile in your written words. Good to have a day of rest resting the rest of the day. Have a great rest of the week.

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  4. blessings....
    seems life is treating you well. Beautiful temp isn't it. today i had on only one layer and no jacket!

    stay blessed.
    Rhapsody

    oh by the way,
    I have an award for you. Please stop by and pick it up. Its in the post dated Mar.8.2012

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  5. I'm with you..it's nice to not be beholden to anyone or anything and just be. I agree too that sometimes the sound of saws and other activity on day like that are pleasant. I thought I was the only nut who felt that way, I have company! Welcome brother! :-)))

    I am not getting notification that you blogged, Paul. I will have to specfically come over (not a prob) and see from now on. So I'm still there..just I don't know when you are.

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  6. Hi, Paul!

    I'm glad you're still around; I've missed you and the other migrants from the old Spaces venue. A lot of water under the bridge, isn't it?

    It's good to know you're enjoying life away from the deli. I kinda miss your stories about your crazy customers, though.

    Enjoy the nice weather while it's there; you know how Mother Nature gets.

    I'll be around.

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  7. Great post Paul glad I popped over. Good to see you enjoying life.
    Blessing Sheila

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