Massachusetts - Marblehead (May/June)

I have joked about being boomer digital nomads because we have to go back to be closer to our home town in Massachusetts to do annual and semi-annual visits to doctors.

I expect if we applied enough thought to it we might have come up with an alternative plan, but for now we are just setting our annual checkup appointments to coincide with when we expect to be there.  Most of these appointments are in December but Anne and I both had something set up for May so there we were.

Portugal rotary sculpture: metaphor for digital nomads and the danger of inviting them to stay

 

We have dear friends in Massachusetts and most of them have offered to have us over to stay when we are back there.   We are very grateful for the offers which are so appreciated. 

New York train to New Haven

It's a little tricky of course.  Such generosity should not be met with a resounding "thank you", followed by hauling out the calendar to reserve dates, because having people stay in your house for a while is hard work and we know it. 

We do make arrangements to stay where we feel we will be the least intrusive and are able to lend a hand by helping out with pet-sitting, internet or computer-related fix-ups, and that feels more comfortable.  We have also used AirBnB, long stay hotels and the house-sitting app (Trusted House Sitters) to find places to mix into our trips back.

The first friend we made in the USA lives in Marblehead and we stopped there in late May taking care of a few appointments.

Spring in the North East of the USA is breathtakingly beautiful. The explosion of new leaves and blossoms reminded us of our first Winter transition to Spring in May 2001 and I found myself (true to form) thinking - "Wow, we should buy a house here!" as we were walking down the street to the shoreline in Marblehead.

It's a vain hope, of course - we already know we can't really afford to retire in the USA and the houses in this little town are selling for well above what we can comfortably afford, but I did allow the thought to linger - thinking how as you get accustomed to your surroundings that they become bland to your eye.

The striking town vistas that I have enjoyed photographing in the places we have visited would all become ordinary once we have lived there for a while.

Anne will quickly point out that this is never true with a vista over the sea because those are so dynamic. 

After a few days in Marblehead we had a house-sitting set for the town of Amesbury which is north of the town of Essex where we lived for so many years.  It turns out that Amesbury is a quaint and very walk-able town with an attractive center featuring coffee shops and a variety of restaurants.

Right behind the town center is a stream with a small waterfall.

Our house-sit was a quiet few days with two King Charles Spaniels and two cats in a house full of rustic charm.

It was really great to be back in the vicinity of our work -  I had an opportunity to go to the RedHat Summit - what my Uber driver called a "nerd event" in Boston.

The Uber drive, over was probably the most interesting of my life.  My driver was a young man, Jerry Semper, who grew up going to Boston public schools and who took an opportunity to work for one of the large hospital organizations when they started a program for children to work for them over weekends and holidays.  He was able to buy an apartment after he left school and raise two deaf children before going back to school himself.  His daughter graduated from Boston University in 2023 (she was summa cum laude).  His entrance to Boston University is credited to an admissions officer who took an uber ride with him, heard his story and then suggested he apply for a scholarship that she knew matched his circumstances.

I was also able to take a hike with my hiking friends and ex colleagues, some of whom had done every one of the 4000 ft New Hampshire peaks with me.  The hike was short with not much elevation gain but the vibrant green of the new leaves underscored the beauty of spring in the North East.

We also took a drive down to Cape Cod to visit friends who took us for a walk on one of the local beaches.  The photo barely hints at what this beach looks like when the tide is all the way out - the beach extends for what seems like forever!

And of course living close to Nahant, we spent lots of quality time with our friends there.

We sold both of our cars on this trip which promises  a new challenge when we return.  Depending on the cost of car rental we might well buy a little beat up run-around for a few months and then sell or donate it to charity when we move on - we'll have to see.   We save enough to cover a good portion of a short rental but longer stays in the USA may require a more creative approach.

Our next stop is the UK to visit with our daughters and to take a look at Cornwall - a region of the UK that we have been encouraged to visit before we make up our minds where we will make our permanent home.  We have been traveling for 8 months and have given ourselves till the end of the year to finally decide.