It’s mid-July 1973
A sunny late morning
Red Sox are playing at home—hosting the Yankees tonight
WBCN is the cool station with Charles Laquidara ruling the airwaves.
High school is over forever for us. My friend Jerry and I make the trek into Boston snaking our way through the sooty Sumner tunnel, along the way we rolled the car windows all the way down, and WBCN turned up as an array of cool songs are interspersed with lofty commentary by the one and only Charles Laquidara–the last real DJ in America.

In Kenmore Square, there is a hip sub-shop named Mississippi’s that is advertised on this groovy radio station, and we have decided to make pilgrimage there instead of eating locally at Nicks. Of course, being Boston, there is nowhere to park, so we double-park right in front of the restaurant chancing getting a parking ticket. 

Upon entering the space, we instantly feel the energy of this urbanely hip cafe, which feels a million miles away from Winthrop which induces us to feel part of the coolness that is here. The fixtures are shiny silver. the menus are long. Prices higher. The staff personable. The customers that are seated are so well dressed. as intellectual conversations permeate the air.  The Rathskeller, that infamous music hall and bar is a few doors down and hadn’t yet awoken from its hangover induced last night. And storied Fenway Park looms a long home-run swing away. 

“If I could think of a way to do it right now, I’d head back to Louisville, sit on the porch drinking beer, drive around Cherokee Park for a few nights, and try to sink back as far as I could into the world that did its best to make me. It’s not hard to get tired of interminable palms and poinciana, and I could do at the moment with a single elm tree on a midnight street in the Highlands.”

-Hunter S. Thompson

“For my twenty-seventh birthday, I was really looking forward to your father’s gift…But there was no box. There was no bag with tissue sticking out of the top. We sat down on his bed, in his closet room, as he gave me an envelope…Instead, there was a blank card with these instructions: ‘Write down all of your goals.’ Then he had me recite them back to him. And after every goal I read out loud to him, he replied, ‘So it shall be. ‘

― Ali Wong, Dear Girls: Intimate Tales, Untold Secrets, & Advice for Living Your Best Life

Passing this along…..

“Go into yourself. Find out the reason that commands you to write; see whether it has spread its roots into the very depths of your heart; confess to yourself whether you would have to die if you were forbidden to write.

This most of all: ask yourself in the most silent hour of your night: must I write? Dig into yourself for a deep answer. And if this answer rings out in assent, if you meet this solemn question with a strong, simple “I must,” then build your life in accordance with this necessity; your whole life, even into its humblest and most indifferent hour, must become a sign and witness to this impulse. Then come close to Nature. Then, as if no one had ever tried before, try to say what you see and feel and love and lose.” Rilke

“ It is a peculiarity of knitters that they chronically underestimate the amount of time it takes to knit something. Birthday on Saturday? No problem. Socks are small. Never mind that the average sock knit out of sock-weight yarn contains about 17,000 stitches. Never mind that you need two of them. (That’s 34,000 stitches, for anybody keeping track.)
Socks are only physically small. By stitch count, they are immense.”

― Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, At Knit’s End: Meditations for Women Who Knit Too Much

“Travel is the epitome of expansion, connection, and discovery – both of the world and one-self. It’s a profound experience that transcends geography, opening our hearts to the mesmerizing tapestry of our world. Travel invites us to shatter the confines of our daily routines and perspectives, guiding us to embrace fresh outlooks, alternative lifestyles, and mind-boggling traditions.”

― Anastasia Pash, Travel With Style: Master the Art of Stylish and Functional Travel Capsules

“The value of your travels does not hinge on how many stamps you have in your passport when you get home — and the slow nuanced experience of a single country is always better than the hurried, superficial experience of forty countries.”

― Rolf Potts, Vagabonding: An Uncommon Guide to the Art of Long-Term World Travel

Duomo di Santa Croce in Florence, Italy. Martina Strihova/Shutterstock