Braintree, MA 9/15 10 walking miles

 How quickly we've turned to decadent slugbates. Neither Ed nor I raised an eye lid until after seven this morning. We didn't muster our adventure energy until after nine when we decided to test Ed's Google Boy skills and walk to Marylou's, the best coffee shop in Braintree. Ed failed miserably (Me, too, truth be told), and we turned a 2.7 mile walk into a circular ten miler. Our problem with these smart phones (We both changed from flip phones for an apple six just before we started the trip) seems to be that we're not smart enough to use them. We've both agreed we need any one of our former students to teach us things. Anyway, Ed tried to follow a Google map. The first issue was he couldn't figure out the little arrow thing, but the main problem is that he'd get to an instruction: say turn right on dumbshit road, but there are no road signs visible. Invariably, because neither of us "gets" the arrow thing, we choose a wrong direction. Secondly, in the harsh light of a sunny day not only can we not see the screen, but even if we could, our eyes are so weak we can't read the symbols. I know I'm making it sound really good, but one of the truly good things about being retired is we have the time (And lack of concern) to wander aimlessly in a strange city. We finally flagged down a mailman (Jim Wilson) who turned out to be our favorite human of the day. He gave us clear directions, complete with accurate visual landmarks and we successfully made it to Marylou's where the girls were cute, friendly, and spirited. One even hassled Ed squealing, "You come all the way here just to have regular hot coffee!" As for me, I had an exotic cinnamon hazelnut  Iced coffee. I would have taken pictures, but the line was so long I couldn't. Our only disappointment was Marylou's didn't have any seating. We asked the girls if there was a park nearby, but (As usual, they didn't know their own local area). Fortunately, a policeman was in line after us and he directed us to a park just a block away. We enjoyed our coffee in a shade covered gazebo where we discussed our good fortune, our quite different world views, and our hopes for the future. I then told Ed since it was now near one o'clock, "Let's get lunch". We turned off the smart phone and relied on my spatial sense. I'm happy to say, I guided us right back to Weymouth Square where we ate an average lunch at the Four Square Tavern. On the way to lunch, the postman, Jim Wilson, came rolling by. He yelled from his truck, "Did you find Marylou's?" We laughed and chatted him up for awhile. He grew up in Boston and is about two years away from retirement. He's just another example of the great humans living the dream that we've come across on this trip. It's so reaffirming and energizing, I keep thinking isn't it great to be us. We got back to Johnny's sometime after two, read the Boston Globe, and had a serious conversation about whether we should be using our good fortune in service to others. This has been on my mind for a while. I'm trying to reconcile on the one hand that I've earned this time with the other   hand that I should do more than just give money to charity. To date, the self serving aspect is winning, but when I read about the suffering that so many others   endure, I can't quite shake the pangs of guilt. Stay tuned. My general approach to prickly problems like this is to pick at them until they go away. In the meantime, life is good, especially today and I'm enjoying good grace as it comes.. 

Two feeble Google Boys "lost" in Braintree (Ironic, huh?)

Whew! Marylou.

Marylou's is shockingly pink.

Selfie of the day.

We're thinking about making an offer on this baby for the road trip.

Jim Wilson, American Dreamer.

Tomorrow morning, we're taking the commuter train into Boston. We have a fifty-fifty chance of going the right way.

Now all we have to do is figure out how to use  these train tickets. There isn't any mass transit where we come from so I hope we find great humans rather than sour Massholes.😀😡