Jonathan spent almost a week with me during his July 4th vacation, and, on the 4th, I took him to the city to ride the swan boats before taking back to his residence. It was a very bright day, but, amazingly, it was quiet. There were no crowds to speak of. Nothing going on out of the ordinary. It really looked like any other day.
The Swan Boats are “famous” in these parts. They are flatboats with a swan facade at the stern (we watched “Pirates of the Carribean: Dead Men Tell No Tales” a few nights before, so now I know “boat terms”), where the navigator sits working the paddles and steering. The pond that we navigate on is small, and there’s a bridge over it, reminiscent of Bow Bridge in Central Park, New York City. In fact, the woman behind us was telling her guest that (and I don’t know if this is true) that the same person who designed Central Park, designed the Boston Common and the Public Garden. Whatevs…
During our ride, we saw a three-piece woodwind band playing for the crowd. On our approach, they started to play Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline”, which became a staple during eighth innings at Fenway Park. I recently found that out, though, but for the first four years in this state, I was wondering what was up with Neil Diamond and the people of Boston. People in the boat started to sing-a-long with the anticipation of the chorus, where they chant “So good! So good!”. To me, it’s a bit annoying.
As we were leaving the garden, we came upon a family of four. The parents trying to take birthday portraits of their one year old (there was a huge number “1” next to the baby). In the spirit of giving, I handed my card to the mother and offered to do a small photo shoot at no charge. I took one shot to show them what they would get and they agreed. So they set up Lia next to the “1” and I took a few shots trying to catch some expressions. Out of 20 shots or so, I was able to send them about a dozen that same night.
