random thoughts – Day 2,277 (Thursday) – socializing

The steaminess of the day made me glad I had the option to be indoors, at least until it was time to head to an outdoor event in Lowell. The City of Lowell hosted an event recognizing non-profit organizations, and I attended as part of the contingent from The Brush Gallery, one of the honorees.

The traffic heading east on Route 2 was lighter than the volume heading west, but I-495 was the usual crap shoot with congestion at Route 2 and even worse at the Lowell Connector. The A/C was blowing chilled air, the radio was playing alt-rock music, and I wasn’t on a tight timeline, so it was all okay as far as I was concerned.

I went to The Brush Gallery before going to the event, and was able to look at the Lowellscapes show, which opened last weekend as part of Lowell’s bicentennial celebration. It looks great. Each photographer has a wall of work, and the images cover varied scenes in color and black & white. Some of the images are from several decades ago, so it’s a nice mix of old and new.

Entertaining the kids.

From the gallery, three of us headed to JFK Plaza outside City Hall. The sun was blasting full force and it felt like a concrete sauna. Areas of shade and a periodic light breeze kept the crowd from keeling over. I saw a couple former bank colleagues and more fellow board members from my time with The Brush and it was fun to catch up a bit.

Long lines formed at the food trucks serving ice cream and chicken on one side of JFK Plaza, and the grill setup with hot dogs and hamburgers on the opposite side. Two jugglers in hot pink pants (that I now want) roamed the crowd and were a hit with the young kids in attendance. 

The group of teens standing nearby was not as impressed as the youngsters and I could hear their commentary about the tragedy of the little kids who will now grow up wanting to be jugglers. As I see it, there are worse things. And they kept the people in the long food lines entertained/distracted, and there is value in that. It was pretty impressive when one of the jugglers had a bowling ball, a big knife, and a bowler hat in motion.

There was a recognition ceremony for 65 or 70 local non-profit organizations. I must have spaced out somewhere along the proceedings, because when The Brush was recognized with a banner and a photo, I was not with my people in the photo tent next to the podium. Oh, no. I was at the ice cream truck ordering and then consuming a cup of cold and creamy “berry spice” ice cream (blueberry and black raspberry).  It was delicious, but I felt dumb when I looked over and saw the artists and board members from The Brush grouped for the photo. Oops.

Library book sale treasures.

Next door to City Hall, The Friends of Pollard Memorial Library were having their spring book sale. It was steamy in the room crammed with tables piled with books. Floor fans were a popular stop for a quick breeze during the shopping.

I went there in search of The High Calcium Low Calorie Cookbook. My target may have been too specific and I didn’t find a copy of that title, but I did find The Deliciously Cheesy Cookbook. My deli drawer is full of cheese and I can’t wait to get busy. I also got a couple paperbacks to continue my reading frenzy without interruption, so it was definitely a success. And a fun night overall.