since my return, i think i've become a junkie for anything unusual, anything that i've never seen before. this yearning for the extraordinary brought me to the north end this afternoon on a rather chilly sunday (chilly for me at least, i saw a few hardy new englanders wearing shorts). i came across a listing in the boston phoenix newspaper for the procession of st. calogero. i always knew that during summer weekends the streets of the north end become busy with religious processions, but never had a chance to actually see one. who is st. calogero anyway? a search online reveals that he was a hermit who later became the saint of the summer harvests. i arrived at the corner of north and lewis street at the designated time, but didn't see a thing. however, off in the distance i could hear some sort of music playing so i followed the sound, and sure enough, i came across the procession, men carrying a statue of (i assume) st. calogero, with a band following behind them. the sight left me confused as i had no idea what was going on, but my bewilderment only meant that once again i was seeing something for the first time, the novelty of the situation feeding my newfound addiction for the unfamiliar and the unique. i left the north end, but not without waiting in line at the busy mike's pastry for 15 minutes to get my hands on a batch of fresh cannolis.

earlier, i motorcycled down to the cafe and borrowed my parents' car so i could drive out to the winchester mahoney's garden center to pick up some vegetables for my backyard. i got a pot of sweet basil, a tomato plant, some rosemary, some parsley, and some habanero plants. i wanted to get some flowers but i want to start them from seeds, even though we're probably already a month into the growing season. i'm not sure if i'm ready to battle with squirrels who can't resist digging up my vegetables, but i'm hopeful that maybe they'll spare me this year (even the coyote/fox urine i got last year didn't seem to stop them though).

i was leaving for the north end when i bumped into my neighbor jeff. "long time no see," i said to him. turns out he didn't even know i was gone, even though i left sometime in february. "that would explain a lot," he said, "i just thought you were hunkering down for the winter." note to self: take jeff off of the neighborhood crime watch volunteer list.

in the evening, for the 3rd straight day, i had dinner with my family. for father's day my own father was happy with just kentucky fried chicken. after we finished eating the colonel's secret recipe, i gave my parents a slideshow, but only as far as cambodia.