Stories from the road

October 19, 2016

Beverly, Mass.

The air is warm and heavy this morning on Massachusetts’s North Shore. Soon we will head south to play golf with high school classmate Tony Jones and his wife Anne. Tony grew up in San Francisco whereas my family lived near Boston. We have switched coasts, as Tony now lives in Scituate, a seaside community on the south shore of Massachusetts.

Last night we had dinner with our friend, Cynthia, at Legal Seafood. Vicki and I had scrod, which was delicious. We encouraged Cynthia to take a cruise she had been eyeballing. I learned this morning that she will be sailing to Norway and other destinations in 2017. Cynthia is an accomplished artist, who seriously began painting in adulthood.

Golf yesterday was fun at the Marshfield Country Club with Tony and Anne Jones. It was Indian Summer, and the temperature must have been in the mid seventies. Later we dined at a fine restaurant in Hingham. Tony and Anne met in Beirut in the 60’s, and their meeting and courtship sounded like something out of a Hemingway novel.

Tony told a story of giving a ride across many countries to a penniless man. His rider would slip across the borders and meet Tony on the other side. Tony paid for many of his meals, and 6 months, after dropping his passenger in France, Tony received a check in the mail, covering what he had given the man.

We drove along a number of seaside communities last night including Hingham, Cohasset, and Scituate. The air was clear and the light sharp. I thought I was driving through a series of paintings. The towns were classic New England. I can understand why super wealthy people own multiple homes. There are so many nice places to live.