bruce and i almost didn't go to halibut point today. the rain was coming down so hard this morning, it was easy to imagine the rest of the day being a washout. but the rain finally stopped in the late morning and the blue sky was peeking out behind the clearing clouds. we left for rockport around noontime.

on our way to interstate 93, we noticed a partial blackout throughout somerville, from porter square to davis square. none of the traffic lights were working, which actually made for faster travel. it took us more than an hour to get to halibut point, traversing 93 to 128 to 127. it was a slow day at the state park, although more parked cars than the number of people there (maybe they were all hiding).

it was hot no matter where we were, although it wasn't humid along the rocks by the ocean. walking down to the rocky shoreline, we picked and ate sweet huckleberries growing all around us. we timed our visit just right so it was low tide (12:45), perfect for tidal pool exploration.

somehow i expected there to be more tidal pools. nevertheless, whatever that were exposed by the receding water was more than enough to keep us occupied for the next hour.

we saw a lot of crabs. the dead ones were easy to photograph while the live ones quickly hid once they saw us. unfortunately most of the ones we saw were non-native invasive species, like the green crab and the asian shore crab. i might've seen the shell of a rock crab (no photo) and there were no blue crabs to be found at all. there were also a few starfishes, and bruce even managed to save one that was in danger of boiling to death in a shallow pool. we also saw a lot of springtails, huddled together in a floating vibrating mass. i didn't see any sea urchins, nor any hermit crabs. no fish either, but they're probably too smart to get caught in a tidal pool.

we made it south along the rocky shoreline as far as we could before changing directions and heading north. bruce was far ahead of me. i figured he was either anxious to do some more exploring or possibly secretly making a phone call. however, when i finally caught up to him, he was hiding underneath the shadow of a large boulder, on the verge of stroking out from the heat. i gave him all of my ice water and said he was heading back inland by the quarry, just to get out of the sun. i was close to leaving as well, as rivulets of salty sweat trickled into my eye sockets and i was using the sleeves of my t-shirt to wipe my brow.

heading back to cambridge was slower going as we got snagged in a bit of traffic. fortunately the cool breeze of the air conditioning kept us sane, despite the driving antics of fellow travelers. going to rockport we were talking about mortality but heading back the subject of food came up frequently, to the point where i was getting hungry. returning to town, we made a pitstop at the wine and cheese cask so bruce could stock up on some booze and baget and where i could buy bottles of birch beer and jamaican ginger ale. once i got back home i was out the door again, riding out to market basket to pick up a few grocery items.

i'd had a hankering for tuna sandwich for a few days now. the only ingredient i was missing was a few celery stalks. that's what i ended up making for dinner, and it made me realize that this was actually the very first time i've made a tuna sandwich. although i have nothing against fish, i just rare use it as an ingredient at home because i don't like that lingering fishy smell. but now having realized how easy it is to make tuna sandwiches, i think i'll be having more of it for lunch and dinner in the near future.

so david ortiz might've tested positive for steroids in 2003 along with manny ramirez? somehow the news doesn't surprise me. i think a lot of red sox fans might've thought about it but the implications were too scary to fully consider. does that mean the 2004 world series win is asterisked? only in that i'm assuming there were power players on the opposition teams that were also on the juice as well. when everybody is on steroids, the playing field is even. the only sad sack are those few honest players who abide by the rules and have never dabbled in performance enhancing drugs. but i realized a long time ago that baseball (like all other sports) is a business, and when your goal is to win, nothing is beyond the realm of possibilities. it's a sad truth, but baseball isn't a game played and managed by saints. time to burn all those baseball cards you've been collecting.

my thumb is doing better, thanks for asking. every day i notice it less and less, and eventually it'll be back to normal. there's still an area of rough dead skin around the wound, which i believe over time with slough off. eventually the part of the nail where i cut will also fall off. [1], [2]

my nelles map of northeastern china arrived today. i'm starting to do my research for the 3 chinese provinces of liaoning, jilin (borders north korea), and heilongjiang (borders russia).