Just back in town from a day trip to Boston. I went down with my friend Paul to attend an IBM meeting in Cambridge. It was really good talking to Paul on the drive. He’s a man with many impractical hobbies.. That’s something I really admire in a friend J . One bonus of the trip was the chance to catch a quick lunch with my folks before the meeting. We met at the Middle Eastern Restaurant.. (Catchy name.. no ?)   in Central Square.. I don’t think I’d been in the pkace in more than 25 years.. but it hadn’t changed a bit. The place is excellent.   My mom gave me some really nice pictures of Sam and brought me a nice wooden frame that he’d once for her. It was great getting the pictures… though it really choked me up seeing them. Luckily, Paul is funny and smart enough to keep my parents amused and busy during lunch  so I didn’t have to talk much. It really was great seeing them.  I gave them a bag of SamStones to distribute for us.
    The IBM meeting turned out to be  very  interesting. We were down talking to IBM Research folks on tools for building communities. My experience with Sam’s and my  MySpace  and this blog have made me a big believer in ‘virtual communities’ I’m hoping to use what I’ve learned here to help other folks in my day  job life find their way to these technologies. Our meeting ended at about 6. We stopped by the food court in the next door mall to grab a byte to eat before the ride home. As I walked into the food court I realized that the last time I’d been there had been with Sam on his 4^th grade overnight at the Boston   Museum of Science. We had sushi that time.. Sam loved sushi….  We got the car and headed towards home. Paul was kind enough to drive me by MIT to drop off some SamStones. I dropped one under the window of my old dorm room in  Bexley Hall .. I then took Paul on a whirlwind tour of the main MIT building complex. We went up to the 4^th floor of Building 4 (MIT buildings also have creative names)   to see the Edgerton Center. Doc Edgerton was the father of strobe photography… and was one of my favorite profs at MIT.  They’ve built an open laboratory in Doc’s honor for folks who want to build things   I left a SamStone there  because Sam loved building things.
    The drive back passed quickly.. We spent the time talking about the meeting, Pails project.. our families, and of course Sam ..I’m in the habit of touching the button I wear with Sam’s picture whenever I’m thinking of Sam.. I realized I was holding the button nearly the whole way back  to Vermont. I got home at 10PM to a quiet house. Max, Scott and Mason were still awake, Diane and Gabe were asleep. I spent about a half an hour trying to coax the heat in the barn to start, but no dice. It seems that all the major system in our house are failing.. the barns heat, our septic system. The woodstove, the blinds… I think the house is ging through a mourning phase as well. It’s funny that these house calamities don’t even phase me these days.. I wonder if it’s resilience or apathy…?
   Tomorrow evening I am doing the first Mad Science show that I’ve done since Sam died. I don’t know what it will feel like to be in front of an audience again.. Sam used to help me do these shows occasionally just like Gabe helps me sometimes now. I’m hoping it feels good to be back in action. My heart tells me that working with kids is a good way to honor Sam’s memory..

   Speaking of Mad Science.. here are some more pictures that Max, Gabe, Scott and Mason made using time lapse the other night.. Cool or what Sam ?

Here’s Gabe:

Here’s Max

Here’s Scott

And here’s Mr. Robot (Mason)

ps. Hannah has been listening to Azure Ray’s ‘November’ and thinking of Sam. I think it fits.  Take a listen .. The lyrics are here.