film festival and feijoada

Last week I spent an evening in Boston to see the  Banff Mountain Film Festival, which is an annual event for me. I had two favorites this year. The Last Ice Merchant is about a man in Ecuador who harvests ice daily from nearby glaciers-- well worth watching. The film that won best feature-length film was Ready to Fly, the story of Lindsey Van and how she worked toward getting women's ski jumping into the Olympics. It just amazes me that it took until this year to make it happen, and it made watching the event in this year's games that much more important. There were a number of other great films, so many that I didn't make it home finally until about 1 am. So tired.

The next day was an all-day work day, and since I hadn't had time to make food the night before as I usually do, during my lunch break I was dreading having to find something decent at Dunkin Donuts or some other fast food chain. Then I noticed a small cafe, sign out front that read "Now Open". I thought it was Mexican by the name (my least favorite), but I decided to give it a try anyway. I was the only one in there, but was greeted by a very friendly couple who own the restaurant. I looked at the menu: Brazilian! Feijoada! The woman gave me a sample and was amazed I knew how to pronounce the name. I explained that my mom often made the dish growing up, and she was surprised again. (Thanks mom!)

I ordered and ate, and then she and I started chatting again. She and her husband had opened the cafe only a few weeks ago, and it was going pretty slow. I assured her the food was excellent and it was only a matter of time, because really, they are making true homemade food. It was delicious. Her husband is a trained chef, and she worked various jobs including teaching English to Brazilian children near Boston. They seemed so proud having finally started their own business. Then she told me that because she knows what it's like, [retail] employees get a discount. Just pay what you can, because they may not have much, but they have food. Of course I will always pay the fair price, but having someone show that sort of generosity is uncommon. It's not something you'll find at Dunkin Donuts.

marine biology

Last week I picked up this on the beach:

 

I had no idea what it was, but I knew it wasn't a part of any inner skeletal structure, even though that's what it looks like at first glance. It was later made known to me that it's actually an egg case of the knobbed whelk, which I often see on the beach. I picked up this one too, for reference.

We've been having a snow about once a week lately, and this past week's snow day I spent dissecting this egg case. This is what I found.

Miniscule sea creatures! The top is the tiny whelk, which I was expecting to find. But also within a few of the other egg cases I found a tiny sand flea, and then what looks like a tiny quahog or some similar bivalve, separated. This was the highlight of my day, obviously. Growing up inland, we didn't often get the chance to explore this area of the natural world-- except for my high school marine biology class, which I loved. 

In addition to my growing shell collection, another find on the beach has been a snowy owl that I can invariably locate at the end of our run near the water each morning. It blends in beautifully with the snow.

 The beach we frequent is home to piping plovers that the dog seems to herd down to the end of the beach and back as we go. They are fun to watch, and the owl is watching them as well. It's amazing to see it swoop down over the water and back to its perch on the dunes.

Anyway, I don't understand the people who make the mass migration to Florida to stay with the 70 degree weather. Cape Cod in the winter is just beautiful.

the kindness of strangers

It was a foggy morning this morning, but much warmer than it had been, in the 40s. I had even opened my living room window to let some fresh air in. The pup and I went out for our morning run as we always do, although since I had to work, we had to make it a quick run, doing one loop instead of three. It was all going well until Shahna decided she wasn’t ready to go home yet. She refused to be caught, so I ended up chasing her about a quarter of a mile back down the trail. I bribed her with a stick to fetch and eventually got her on leash, but quickly realized I had lost my car keys in the process.

So back and forth that section of trail we went. I had my eyes on the ground, scanning, and the next thing I knew, there was a large barking dog on top of Shahna, who had been knocked to the ground. She had slipped out of her collar, and this dog was dragging her. I was terrified but had my pepper spray ready in seconds. Just before I was about to open it up, the other dog bolted back to its owner who had appeared over the hill. She assured me he was friendly, just an alpha male type. So he was, and off he and Shahna went down the trail again.

I was rather distraught at this point and explained to the woman that I needed to get to work soon but had lost my car keys. She went off after the dogs and I for my keys. Only the dogs were retrieved and the woman offered to drive me home. Also a runner, she and I ran our respective dogs to her car and piled them in the back, windows down to enjoy the mild air. Shahna loves car rides, but on a car ride with her new friend, she could hardly contain herself. The two dogs began roughhousing in the back, and the next thing we heard was clunk, clunk.  We both looked back to see only Shahna in the backseat. The other dog had somehow exited the car via the open window-- I kid you not. He was just standing roadside, oblivious to what had happened. We all made it home, with me thanking the heavens I hadn't closed my living room window yet. I climbed through, got my spare car keys, and a short bike ride later, I was back to my car.

Later at work today, a woman came up to me, and said “It’s me! From this morning!” We had been chatting in the car on the way home, and I told her where I worked and she had showed up just to let me know she and her husband had searched for my car keys but had not found them. Nevertheless, I was incredibly grateful for her kindness.