This is one of my favorite weekends of the entire year.
1. When I was a kid, it symbolized the start of April vacation, which we kicked off with the reenactments and parades in Lexington. It's the holiday that only Massachusetts people understand. April 19 is just another Monday anywhere else, but here, you get to see Paul Revere riding around the north end on Sunday, and follow his route as he travels around the Boston countryside alerting the Minutemen that the British are coming. This is where our country and independence started. HOW COOL IS THAT.
2. Once I got to college, we started volunteering at the Boston Marathon. I miss the revolutionary activities, but the Boston Marathon is a legend in its own right. Boston becomes this hub of energy for runners, their families, and everyone else who comes to gawk at the crazy (and inspiring) people who run 26.2 miles. As we headed to our hydration station at Mile 25 today at 9 am, the city was already abuzz with excitement for the Marathon and the Red Sox game. Passing off the water cups to runners is quite an art, and we take it very seriously. There's nothing worse than dropping or spilling a cup and denying the runners of that desperately needed water. And there's nothing better than seeing a runner's face expand into a grin when you holler his name and tell him he's doing great and is almost at the end. It astounds me that these runners, who have already run the outrageously uncivilized length of 25 miles, still take the time to thank the volunteers and to tell us that we're the ones who make this happen. I'm fairly certain that I wouldn't be quite as kind and grateful after running that far. These people are amazing. Afterwards, when we walked around in our fluorescent volunteer jackets, everyone we spoke to was so appreciative and respectful of our volunteering. An inebriated BC law student gave quite a speech to our car on the T, informing us that we're much bigger people and much better humans because we took time to give the runners water, while he just drank beer. It wasn't quite the most eloquent speech I've heard, but the sentiment was there. The whole city seems to come together in this magical way every Marathon Monday. The best way to experience it is by volunteering and getting on the race route at a hydration station, where you're right in the midst of it. Being part of it will be worth the sore body parts, sunburns, and waking up early on a holiday.
Pre-marathon excitement: Poland Spring truck bearing hundreds of gallons of water, thousands of paper cups waiting for the runners, volunteers wearing offensively bright jackets, and police gearing up for the big day.
3. Record Store Day was Saturday, April 17. I spent 3 hours at Newbury Comics and Stereo Jack's browsing and buying, and generally just soaking up the atmosphere. For the most part (caution: music snob comment is quickly approaching), only people who are rabidly passionate about music know about Record Store Day. And that means you get these frighteningly devoted music fans flocking to their local record store, grabbing new releases, taking advantage of special sales, and bonding with fellow crazy people about their favorite albums. As I picked up a Magnetic Fields CD, I had a truly High Fidelity moment. As I picked up a Magnetic Fields CD, a guy came over and gave me a 5 minute spiel on why it's such a sublime album and why I had to buy it (I did). For the most part, everyone silently focuses on the goods, but occasionally you hear a gasp of delight when someone finds a treasure they've been looking for since 5 years ago. At Stereo Jack's, which is your quintessential old school small used record shop, I love flipping through the rows and rows of albums and listening to the chatter of the obsessive music geeks. Someday, I will be knowledgeable enough to converse with them.
When I got home with my new wares, I set up an old record player that one of my students left for me. I picked out a couple records and lay on the couch listening to the quiet and calming sounds of the record player. In case I haven't already made this excruciatingly clear, sometimes I like to pretend I'm in High Fidelity. It feels good.
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