A Night on the Esplanade with Friends
G and I met up with some dear friends recently at the Hatch Shell on Boston’s Esplanade for their free orchestra and a picnic. We brought snacks and beverages. I brought the camera with the brightest and most distracting flash I own.
Here we waited for our train into the city.
Our walk alongside the Common on our way to the river. The sprinklers are so perfectly designed not to touch the sidewalk, but to get just that close. We stood a minute and watched the mist.
I got that feeling when we approached the park from the pedestrian bridge, that flipping feeling. I could hear the music even over the sounds of the highway, and the multicolored sea of people in their summer garb was welcoming.
After choosing a spot as close to the nearby Geese as possible, we set up camp and opened the snack reserve. We brought some chips and dip, cheese, dates, etc. I’ve never been a fan of these healthier snacks, I’m more of a Doritos man.
Watermelon is our favorite, and it reminds me of my dog. It is the only food he has ever taken without permission. We sat on this same picnic blanket and sipped win in a park in Washington DC on a summer evening. One of us turned to regard the dog and he was halfway through our watermelon supply. I think of him every time I see it.
Meg tried her first cheese-wrapped date. Her “positive” reaction was lackluster to say the least, but she swore she enjoyed it for G’s benefit. To be honest, the snack is not great. Cheese does not belong with dates, and I’d hardly consider eating dates at all. I appreciated her effort.
Meg and Nick are good people. Always a fun time and excited to do anything new.
At the conclusion of the concert, the broadcast speaker made an announcement along the lines of “The park is now closed, please exit immediately”. It was a mad-dash exodus. Hundreds or thousands of people funneling over that same pedestrian bridge we had taken into the park hours before. We broke through the crowd and made our way back to the station, free at last.