Day 307: Beautiful, healing Boston

On Day 106 of this year — the day after the Boston Marathon bombings  — I wrote a post called “Beautiful, wounded Boston.”

In that post, I included this photo, which I had taken at the Public Gardens, two days before the Marathon:

Yesterday, I returned to the Public Gardens, with thousands of people, to watch the Red Sox parade.

For much of my life, I’ve associated April with living and November with dying.

Not this year. This year, it’s been about all of it, every month.

Here is a photo essay, about yesterday:

My Day At the Boston Red Sox  Parade

by Ann

Minutes after I finished yesterday’s blog post, which helped me gather the courage to JUST DO IT! and go to the parade on my own, I rushed out of the house, to wait at the nearest bus stop, to start the journey into Boston. Two people at the bus stop told me they had originally planned to take the commuter rail, but they received word that the commuter rail was packed and running very late.

Why did I choose the bus, yesterday morning, over the commuter rail?

It’s familiar. I’ve never used the commuter rail. However, my fear of the new (which I’ve written about several times, this year), made me look like a friggin’ genius yesterday:

This was the way the bus looked, at the beginning of the journey. And while Red Sox revelers did hop on, it never got crowded.

Distracted by many things,  I didn’t take photos for the next hour.  The next time I remembered to capture an image was when I was walking down Charles Street, which separates  the Public Gardens from The Boston Common.

If you like maps and would like to feel located at this point in my essay, here’s the map, from yesterday’s post, of the parade route:

While Charles Street isn’t marked in that map, you can see the white line between the green of the Public Garden and the Common.  I had gotten off the “T” (our name for the subway) at the Charles/MGH stop, and was walking that white line toward Boylston.

For those of you who don’t like maps, we’re moving on!

So, as I walked down Charles Street, between the Public Garden and Boston Common, I passed by several fire trucks, accompanied by ….

…  Boston Fire Fighters!  I stopped to ask these gentlemen (and others, who did not pose), if I could take a photo of them. These four, named Dennis, Danny, Danny, and Nick, said, “Sure!” without any hesitation.  When I told them it was for my blog, they said, “What kind of blog is it?”  Because I was in such a good mood, I immediately said, laughing, “It’s a blog about handsome guys!”  They liked that (although much ribbing of each other ensued immediately).  They also liked the actual name of my blog (although additional ribbing ensued about that, too).

As you can see, I was anxious to get to the parade route, because I didn’t get a very good shot of these wonderful Boston firefighters. I still love the photo, though.

I hurried up Charles Street, pausing for a moment to turn around and take this view of it:

Yes, it was another beautiful day, and unseasonably warm.

Just a few minutes later, I was in a great position, to see the parade. Here are a few shots of what I saw, waiting for the parade to come down Boylston Street:

I wanted to be at this location, so I could see up Boylston Street, the location of the Marathon Finish Line, and see the Red Sox after they had finished their journey down this street.

Here’s what I saw, as we all waited for them, on this beautiful autumn day:

What I didn’t know, at the time, was that the Red Sox parade had stopped, on Boylston Street.

This is the way CNN reported it:

Boston Red Sox parade reclaims marathon finish line

Boston outfielder Jonny Gomes on Saturday sets the World Series trophy wrapped in a ‘Boston Strong 617’ jersey onto the finish line of the Boston Marathon.

See here, for the full article about this, from CNN.

Yesterday, though, all I knew was that the Red Sox were coming down Boylston Street, in Duck Boats. Here’s where I first spotted them:

I don’t know if you can see them, way off in the distance. I was also tipped off they were approaching, by audio clues from the crowd, including,

“THERE THEY ARE!!”

Because I’m pretty short, I don’t have a great vantage point, to show you the parade approaching and passing by, but I will do my best:

I knew I wouldn’t get great photos of the Red Sox on their Duck Boats, but I couldn’t resist trying. (See here, for example, for some great shots of the parade.)

Here are some more photos I like, which I took during the parade:

And I have to include this one, because it shows a giant red shoe!!

Anyway, after the parade passed by, I walked around The Public Gardens for a bit, and took some more photos:

As they say in “The Wizard of Oz,” there’s no place like home.

Thanks to CNN, The Huffington Post, the Boston Red Sox, all those who were celebrating yesterday, and to you — of course! — for visiting today.

Day 306: Parade day!!!!

That’s a quote I just read on a friend’s Facebook page:

Parade day!!!!

And, immediately, because I’m in Boston, I knew what that meant.

Today, Boston will honor their baseball team, the Red Sox, for winning the World Series, with a parade, all around town.

Here’s the parade route (thanks to boston.com):

The parade stretches over two of my favorite types of places: land AND water.

Here’s a view, from an earlier post, of part of that parade route (photo taken from the Longfellow Bridge):

Here are some quotes about today’s parade, from bostonglobe.com:

The path down Boylston Street will provide a poignant backdrop to the parade and pay tribute to a team whose stunning success came to symbolize the city’s resilience and resolve in the aftermath of the April 15 Boston Marathon bombings, which killed three people and wounded more than 260.

Outside Sólás, an Irish pub near the finish line, Peter Fiscina, 66, who lost friends in the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center towers, said Thursday evening that he feels that the parade will help the city heal.

“I think it’s good for Boston,” said Fiscina, 66, of of Staten Island, N.Y.

…..

Across the street at Marathon Sports, where mannequins sported Boston Strong shirts in the display window, assistant manager Dana Jamieson said it felt strange to be celebrating in the same area that was a scene of devastation in April, but the parade will “help put a sense of community back for the residents of Boston.”

Michael Parillo, who also works at Marathon Sports, welcomed the celebration and said that in many ways, the team’s victory has made the slogan “Boston Strong” as much about triumph as tragedy.

“It’s becoming more of an icon for the whole city, not just what happened that day,” he said earlier in the day.

After the bombings, in April, I returned to Boylston, for my own healing walk down that familiar street. (Here‘s my post about that.)

I wasn’t sure, when I woke up today, whether I was going to go to the parade.

Why the uncertainty?

1. My sister — the person I most wanted to go with — cannot go, unfortunately.
2. Going alone, into something like this, with lots of crowds and unexpected possibilities, can be daunting and even scary.

Writing down that short list, above, however, reminds me of this:

I’ve gone, alone, into similar situations before and …. LOVED them!

Okay! Case closed.

It’s time for a song!

I’m Off to See the Red Sox

by Ann

(Sung to the music of “We’re off to See the Wizard*)

I’m off to see the Red Sox

Those wonderful Red Sox of ours,

You’ll find they are a whiz of a team

If ever a team there was,

If ever, oh ever, a team there was,

Those Red Sox of ours are one, because

Because, because, because, because, because,

Because of the wonderful things it does!**

I’m off to see the Red Sox,

Those wonderful Red Sox of ours.

Thanks to the Boston Globe,  Harold Arlen and Herbert Stothart***, all the Boston teams (sport-related and otherwise),  paraders everywhere, and to you — of course! — for reading today.

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* Here’s the original song:

** Did I follow the rules of grammar here?  What do YOU think?

*** The lyricist and composer for “The Wizard of Oz.”