"What do you want to do tomorrow?" That's what Ahmed asked me on the phone this morning and I had to really think. Because I have a few favorite things to do, but when he comes home after being gone a whole week I always want to do something very special. Somehow, though... we end up doing the same thing all the time. Most people who know me will predict it: hang out in a cafe and read, drink great coffee, eat yummy scones, then go home and have a nice dinner just-us-two. I know it's predictable but it really does make me happy.
Of course, I like other stuff, too. When the brand new House of Blues opened in Boston we signed on as charter members and there are some shows we never miss. Poor Ahmed probably signed on for the VIP package just so he'd have access to the private lounge as an escape. Get the Dropkick Murphys going and I go completely batty on the floor. He even suffered through J Geils and learned to like them! HOB is another stand-by that always makes me happy. Great music, cool people, incredible wings. And my obnoxious cousin Jim is almost always there. (Hey Jimmo!!)
Of course... the season isn't open yet, but perhaps my happiest of happy places is across the street from the House of Blues. The Cathedral. The Holy of Holies. Fenway Park. Give me a warm day, a sky-box, bleachers, pretty much any darn seat in the house. I'm there. Fenway Frank, root-beer (ok, maybe one Sammy), and my peeps. Screaming obscenities at umpires and Yankees... really, it should be its own sport in the Olympics. *sigh*
But if the weather is good... and sometimes even when it isn't... there's a single, fool-proof stand-by. For as long as I can remember I've loved sitting with a few good friends on the beach. I grew up on the beach; regressed on the beach; figured out my life on the beach; lost loves on the beach; found them again on the beach; and some of the best and longest belly laughs have rolled on for hours there on the beach. So where is your happy place?
