Following this thread, some of us Bostonian Dopers got together at Frog Pond for skating and general merriment.
OK, I think there was supposed to be general merriment, but I had a crabby 3-year-old with me and I think I may have missed it. You may well ask yourself why I saw fit to bring a 3-year-old on a Dopefest anyhow, and I can honestly say that, hours before I even left the house, I commented that it was likely to be ‘disastrous’ and it almost was. Hey, she’s obsessed with ice skating, and my husband and I were trying to work out the child division, and, well…it seemed like an idea at the time (not a good idea, just an idea).
OK, so it wasn’t disastrous, but I certainly would have loved to speak more with Robot Arm, The Weird One (who seems surprisingly unweird) and her (also unweird) friend, and bizzwire. It was great to see all of you, however briefly, and please accept my apologies if the crying child got to you. She was cold, tired, and frustrated. Practically fell asleep before we even exited the Boston Common Garage as well. I promise not to bring her if we have the next get-together at a bar (hint hint).
Her crying didn’t bother me, except that we lost you early. We didn’t stay too much longer, though; around 3:00, the sun disappeared behind a skyscraper and a bit of a breeze kicked up. It was too cold to hang around outside after that. It was great to meet you, though!
It was great to see everyone, some for the first time, but hopefully not for the last. After you all left, the sun came out from behind the Hancock Building, people were still skating; smiles, rosy cheeks, and long shadows over smooth ice.
On the drive home, I circled the Common once, listening to This American Life with a story about riding with Sir Sterling Moss in the same Mercedes that he drove to win the Mille Miglia in 1955, and I got passed by this.
A wonderful day all 'round. But when this board becomes a sovereign nation and forms its own olympic team, I think I found one event we won’t be medalling in right away. No need to apologize for you daughter, lorene; I just wish we’d all been able to show you both a better time. Next time we’ll just get you all liquored up. Sound good?
Still important to practice, in case one of the tasks on The Amazing Race involves skating, no?
Interestingly enough, she is now claiming to have had “a really good time at the skating pond.” So, I can stop with the near-paralyzing guilt about potentially traumatizing her.
My chief regret is what I didn’t get to actually talk to everyone very much, what with the multiple line-standing (now *that * I could medal in) and the hot dog debacle and all that.
Let’s not wait so long for the next time, 'k? And we don’t have to get really plastered; I was just envisioning a more relaxed (for me) atmosphere. It’s a luxury to be able to sit among other adults in a non-work situation and not have to jump up every 20 seconds to fetch something, y’know?
