I Love New England! Part Two

Jim has gotten into jigsaw puzzles in a big way this past year. After repeating all the puzzles we own (some twice, yes, two times), he ordered three online. In my Zoom support group two afficianados mentioned Eureka Puzzles in Brookline, a town that borders Boston. I navigated their website and ordered three more with curbside pick-up.

So, Saturday we got in the car and drove the scenic route through Belmont and Watertown. The sky was a brilliant blue with fluffy white cumulus clouds, the trees in full leaf of delicate spring green. The first of the rhododendrons are blooming. I’ve observed that azaleas bloom in a certain order: lavender is always first, then white, red, and then pinks and oranges. Then the rhododendrons start, in that same order.

We parked at Coolidge Corner, called the shop and waited for the clerk to come outside and deposit the shopping bag on a folding table. After he returned into the store, we retrieved the package, and I proudly showed Jim my selections. Then we continued down Beacon Street looking for some take-out food. Lots of hair salons, which opened this week, but few restaurant choices. On a side street we found an authentic Jewish deli. Back on Beacon St. we found a bench and enjoyed my Romanian pastrami on pumpernicle, Jim's steak sandwich, and some toothsome half-sour pickles.

Driving home on Route 9, we searched for ice cream and found a Shake Shack in Chesnut Hill. It’s got an interesting story: it started as a hot dog cart at Madison Square Park in Manhattan and now has over 200 locations. My friend Anna, who works at Harvard, introduced me to it in Harvard Square. It's modeled after an old-fashioned burger stand. I had a cherry blossom milkshake, doesn't that just sound heavenly?

I’m on a milkshake kick since Clayton Christensen died. He once consulted for MacDonalds and developed the idea that  a seller doesn't need to analyze customers as much as discover what job the customer wants done. People buy milkshakes in the morning because they want something tasty, fast, and portable for their commute.

As a child I loved milkshakes, vanilla or strawberry (never chocolate). Milkshakes and 7-Up. Did you know that Bib-label Lithiated Lemon-Lime Soda was created in 1929 (shortly before the stock market crash) and contained lithium? That's a mood stabilizer I’m intimately familiar with. The lithium was banned in 1948, the name changed to 7 Up, and by the time I was drinking it, it didn't have lithium, but I love that connection. 7 Up has always been soothing to me. It was something I could keep down those first months of pregnancy.

Give me 7 Up and a vanilla shake, rather than Coke and dark chocolate. I’ll eat dark chocolate, but it’s completely wasted on me: I just choke it down.

While driving on 128, we called Annie to chat. Jim described to her what a weird experience we were having. He's hardly been out of the house, except to walk in the neighborhood and one trip to Market Basket. It’s like waking from a dream and finding the world still there.