i called blue cross to cancel my health insurance policy. after 10 minutes of jumping through automated phone services, finally got a live agent. it was surprisingly easy and they didn't even ask me the reason for canceling (too expensive, switching to a cheaper insurance).

i went naturing with bruce around fresh pond when the rain seemed to have let up briefly in the afternoon. we went primarily to see the beautiful field of cornflowers we saw last year. however, there were practically no cornflowers to be had this year. my own theory is since they weren't a native species, somebody said something and they replaced it with more local wildflowers. there was more variety this year but it still would've been nice to see a field of blues and pinks.

bruce also spotted a medium-sized snapping turtle hiding on the other side of the chain-linked fence surrounding the reservoir. it wasn't particularly anxious and just laid there as we - and then many other curious passerbys - took photos of it. the only times i've seen adult snapping turtles leave the water is to either relocate to a different pond or to lay eggs. although big for a turtle, this particular specimen was small in comparison to the one i saw back in april at the arnold arboretum.

the rain started as soon as we made it back to the car (we parked at the fresh pond mall, we also went to whole foods and the nearby liquor store). in the evening jesse arrived, taking advantage of my guest room until the middle of next week. i'm going down to new york tomorrow, catching the 6:00 bus, will need to wake up at 5:00 in the morning. at this point not even sure if i should bother sleeping since i'm getting up in a few hours anyway.