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OCT

09

2022

i left the house this morning at 11:30am, walking down to davis square via mass ave-beech to catch the return of the honkfest parade, which had been on hiatus since the pandemic. the last honkfest parade was 2019, so it'd been 3 years. temperature was in the lower 60's so i wore a fleece jacket and packed some hot tea to keep my warm. the sun was bright however, and soon i got hot enough to take off my jacket and rolled up the sleeves of my shirt as i continued walking to somerville. i packed my 55-250mm lens and my wide angle lens in case i needed it, plus the fuji 3D camera.

the honkfest parade is the only one that's almost right on my doorsteps, so i never miss it when i'm around. the quality of the parade has sort of diminished over the years (maybe i've just become jaded 2018 2017), but i was hoping after a lengthy hiatus, that today's parade would regain some of its former glory.

catching the parade from davis square allowed me to check out the assembly before they leave. but minutes after i arrived, the parade started (exactly on schedule at noontime), so i just found a good spot to take photos, and used the telephoto lens to get a sneak peek as to what's in store.

the procession wasn't that long. at one point i decided to walk to the end of the parade to see what else was there, but surprised it was just the street sweeper cars. so i tried walking to the start of the parade, stopping on elm street, beech street, and mass ave to take photos. there seemed to be fewer bands this year. the tibetan group was gone to, replaced by at least 3 different filipino groups. the only group that really caught my attention were the boston hoop troop and the SCUL customized bicycles.

i ran into a few neighbors, including renee who was marching in one of the parade groups, and ann, who was standing on an island on mass ave. i also bumped into wayne a bit later (i didn't bother saying hi to him, he never remembers who i am).

i followed the procession all the way into harvard square, where the octoberfest had also returned since the pandemic. there were less vendors than in past years, but there was still a good amount of people, i think those who came had a good time. by that point it was nearly 2pm and i quickly walked home so i could get to belmont.

i was sweaty enough when i got back home to take a quick shower before grabbing my things and riding the motorcycle to my parents' place. i'd wanted to do some gardening, but i was a little tired from all the parade walking i did earlier, so i decided to postpone it until tomorrow, where i can have a full day to devote to gardening. plus there was football on television. the patriots - with backup backup quarterback bailey zappe - was dominating the lions - with a final score of 0-29. new england goes to cleveland next sunday, hopefully that's another easy game, regardless who's quarterbacking.

we almost had a fire accident today: my mother told me she saw smoke in the pile of electronics by the dining table. apparently one of the wires from the current sensor to the lithium battery had fell off onto another wire, causing a dangerous short circuit. luckily they caught it in time, otherwise it would've definitely caused a fire or explosion.

my father and i wrapped the fudingzhu osmanthus in some plastic film with a tomato cage support, in an last ditch attempt to save the plant, which seems to be losing a handful of leaves everyday.

after dinner i returned to cambridge, the large full moon like a beacon in the sky. i took a shower and dried myself with the still-damp bath towel, which continues to be free of any mildew smell, despite the towel not completely drying since early this afternoon. i had the tv turned to football (bengals-ravens) but i wasn't paying attention, instead busy trying to backup and erase some files off of my computer so i can download my photos onto it.