The Mid-Day Walk of Orion Sauter

We had our first splendid spring day here in Boston and I warned Orion that we needed to make a significant effort at walking. He chose to head first to one of the Apple stores, this one at the Galleria Mall in Cambridge. He assured me that he was feeling fine, even though this past week's chemo session had exhausted him and left him five pounds lighter. Off we marched down Temple, turning on to Cambridge and heading for the Charles River. This morning there was a great commotion of emergency vehicles whose cacophony raised me from my bed. Out the window was a TV news helicopter pointing it's camera laden nose at the hospital. I turned on the news to see the very chopper. A T worker had fallen thirty feet down a shaft at the Charles St. Station, breaking both legs. When we reached the station all emergency workers had left but the news crews were milking the story. I loved that the story said that they had taken the injured worker to a local hospital. How much more local could a hospital be than walking across the sidewalk into MGH?

We picked our way across Storrow Drive and on to the Longfellow Bridge. Great views of the city but no birds on the water. None! Reaching the Cambridge side we headed east to the Galleria mall. Pretty bland stuff but I enjoyed handling the new iPad 2 and the Mac Air laptops. Orion shopped for new headphones and had an iced coffee to fortify himself. We struck out along the canal and walked to the science museum where I asked a Statie in dark sunglasses who was as big as a mountain for directions by foot back to Boston. He grinned and laid on his thickest accent. I thought of Alec Baldwin in "the departed".

We crossed the road and walked along the Charlestown shore where the Mystic river mixes in the marshes now largely drained and tamed. This is where the British Warship the Somerset was anchored the night of Paul Revere's ride. We angled and twisted along and finally landed in Little Italy. All along I had been asking Orion his status and watching him carefully. We had now walked more than two and a half miles. He replied that he was fine but fading. Quickly I chose lunch at Antico Forno and we were quickly seated with ice water in our hands.

Orion chose a three course lunch with an Italian beer, I went with my perennial favorite the pizza Margarita, also with beer. Delicious warm bread with oil and olives kept us busy. I delighted in watching him eat.

Back out into the sunshine we headed past Government Center and on to our apartment. More than four miles and now he sits reading. I am happy.