Diggity Dig Dog

"I love the way it follows him around like a puppy."

"What?"

That was Cathy being her usual cryptic self. She was talking about the drill shown below. We had 3 holes bored in back of the Library to determine the soil for the future expansion. I'm told they went down 30 feet.

In the center of this flatbed is the digger. The guy's hat is the back end and the front is 3 red and white markers to the left.

It turns out, it's a big remote controlled toy. Nobody "drives" the drill; the operator has a remote control unit and he walks slowly and carefully in front of it guiding it to where he wants it to go. I was fascinated watching him get the tank-like treads onto little ramps. Can you see the water bottle on the ground behind him? There was one on the other side. I'm thinking it's a bit more subtle than if, "You hit the water bottle and you're screwed," but it did seem to be a way for him to measure how to get the drill onto the truck.

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Deb and I met for lunch at the wonderful Met Grill which is in the Natick Mall. After lunch, we strolled around the Mall. I felt like the Country Mouse -- there are so many stores, so many sights, so much bling! I enjoyed it thoroughly!

This is one of three crystal columns in the Swarvoski Crystal store. It reminded me of a waterfall.

I cannot eat cupcakes, but nobody says I can't look at them!

How about the fish below? Yup, it's made all from recycled plastic containers such as Wisk liquid laundry detergent, Folger's coffee can, Era containers, etc. (There were many fish in this store window.) The artist is from Quincy and I think her name is Sara Allesandro -- I took a picture and cut off her name. Darn!

The window goes with a tee shirt store, but there were lots of local artists' offerings as well. When we got there, there was a fellow about to play an acoustic guitar. He was about 7 feet tall (hyperbole, he probably was only 6'6") with black eyeliner, black clothing and black hair -- except where it was green. He had an entourage of people who were also goth. When he began to play, I had to swallow laughter. He was playing lilting folk noodling.

As Deb said dryly, "That's not the type of music that I expected to hear from him."

Birch trees are my favorite trees and the trunks of these trees caught my eye.  It turns out, they are not real, they are art. When we got closer, I realized that I did not care for the leaves (which are pieces of metal), but the tree trunks are masterful. 

And here is the roof on the top floor. I like the natural light and for some reason, I felt as if I were on a ship.

I had never seen this in a mall food court. Those are sushi on the round plates on a conveyor belt. You are charged by the number of plates you have on your table. I had first seen this when YaoYao took me to a sushi place in Hawaii.

I was fascinated by the barn board on this store's facade. It really seemed to be real reclaimed wood -- not made to look old.

After we relaxed in my hotel room (across from the mall), Deb and I went for supper at Ken's Steak House.  Yes, it is the one and only as in Ken's Steak House Salad Dressing. I don't know if it's only a local salad dressing brand, but it has been around here for years.  As we drove up, Deb said she expected to see mob types ... what we did see was many senior citizens (she lowered the age in the place a lot!). Can you believe the dark paneling? There were many stained glass windows -- of ducks! I don't know if Ken was a duck hunter or just liked ducks.

The food was delicious! I don't know why the place wasn't packed. In fact, the prime rib and Deb's steak were better than any I have had elsewhere.

They also had a singer in the lounge who was playing a very nice, mellow, acoustic guitar. I wondered if it were the goth guy from the tee shirt place who had removed his wig and makeup. A quick change into polyester slacks and !voila! lounge singer at night!

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Today, Sunday, I met YaoYao and her mother, Mary, at a "diner" that she had picked in Framingham. It turns out that it was only 4 minutes from my hotel room which was great. When I got there, there was a line out the door of people waiting. In fact, the wait was around 35 minutes. I say "diner" because it's a little hole in the wall in a small strip mall. It's not a separate diner and there's no aluminum colored siding. 

The breakfast/brunch was fantastic. I think my omelette had 4 eggs -- it was huge. YaoYao had banana pancakes that were each about a half inch high and large dinner plate size. She will be eating those for two days!  Of course we had to get pictures because YaoYao is leaving Boston on Friday. She will be living in Georgia.

 YaoYao's baby boy is due around the end of September. She looks great! I was/am suffering from very puffy eyes and sinus pain. Maybe I'll take an antihistamine.

By the way, the Chinese don't say, "Say cheese!" when they take pictures. They say, "Say eggplant!" That word in Chinese makes them smile. (The stranger who nicely took our picture said, "Say cheese!")

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As I was sitting in traffic on the Mass. Turnpike (stop and go for about 3 miles or so), I glanced and saw a very welcome text -- Lisa invited me to go to her pool. Ever the ready, I had my swim suit in the car, so I had a wonderful afternoon dip and chat with Lisa. 

She had had a wonderful weekend in NYC. Her daughter, Abby, played with her band (Potty Mouth) at the MOMA Sculpture Garden. Lisa sent us a picture and behind Abby was a huge glass wall (on the Museum) which reflected skyscrapers. Lisa and her husband stayed at the Warwick which is very close to the MOMA.

I can't begin to describe how beautiful Lisa and Chip's gardens are, so I brought a picture of one of her many gorgeous lilies. Of course, yellow is my favorite color.

Now it's off to work tomorrow (Monday). Have a great week!