coming back, i visited the community garden to water my plot. lynn was there tending to her own garden. she was completely covered up with a hat to prevent any mosquitoes. surprisingly i didn't get any mosquito bites while i was there. maybe the sunny breezy weather kept them at bay. all my garlic chives are in bloom now, attracting all sorts of pollinators.
i didn't get home until almost noontime. i picked two small semi-ripe tomatoes from my own plot while lynn gave me two small garlics she'd been growing.
i ate the last of the leftover dark soy noodles for lunch, mixed in some sliced cucumbers and chopped scallions as well as a dollop of huy fong chili garlic sauce.
at 1pm i left for a supply run to collect all the things i need to repaint the honda shadow replacement fender. i decided to go by bicycle because it'd give me more time to take photos and i could ride on some of the mystic river paths. first stop was the autozone auto parts on washington street in somerville. i bought an 800 grit scuff pad ($6.99). i almost bought the 800 grit wet/dry sandpaper by mistake, which is a completely different thing.
from there i cut through east somerville to get to the somerville home depot. it wasn't that hard since i already made the exact same ride on tuesday morning via bluebike, so this was actually my second trip through east somerville this week. the only slightly difficult part was there was a bit of an uphill section on myrtle street. at home depot i got some turtle wax brand rubbing compound ($5.98) which is cheapest i've seen anywhere.
after home depot i cut through assembly square to the path along the mystic river. instead of crossing the fellsway bridge, i went underneath it and took the path all the way west to the mystic valley bridge. this was a much longer route, but there were no cars (nor much pedestrians for that matter) and it let me explore the area a little more as i wasn't in any hurry. the last time i came here via bike was more than 10 years ago, september 2012. crossing the mystic valley bridge, i continued along the sidewalk until i got to commercial street, where i cross the parkway and continue up commercial to harbor freight.
at harbor freight i got some 9x11" 1500 grit wet/dry sand paper ($4.99) along with a 4-pack of microfiber clothes ($2.49). so all these areas i visited, none of them had bike parking. i either found a signpost i could lock my bike to, or some other structure.
i retraced my steps on commercial street and took some paths in the mystic valley state reservation. i'd been here once before (couldn't remember how) but riding here now on a bike, it seemed much smaller. what i was searching for was a secluded clearing so i could launch my drone. i found it by two park benches along a paved path facing the mystic river.
what i wanted to do was to go as high as could, but that area was height restricted to only 400ft (due to it being in the direct flight path of a logan airport runway). so i maintained my height of 400ft but followed the mystic river towards boston. i crossed the fellsway bridge and got as far as a mile before it gave me an additional height restriction of just 200ft. i did want to risk my drone being forced to land, so i flew it back. i got good looks at assembly row, and behind that the city of boston. i'd like to get closer to boston but because the city is so close to the airport, a lot of that airspace is restricted to just a few hundred feet.
i finished flying by 2:45pm and started to map my way home. instead of retracing my steps back across the mystic valley parkway bridge, i decided to cross the fellsway bridge instead. i then cut through ten hills to get onto temple street, which is the usual way i get back from a supply run. not wanting to climb the hill that is school street, i got halfway before taking a detour on the new somerville community bike path. i went as far as lowell street before i exited the path. i kept going west, up highland, trying to find a flat place to cross into cambridge. i finally settled on porter street, which brought me out to the cumberland farms gas station. in hindsight i should've just kept going on school street instead of taking a massive detour, but at least i got to try out the somerville community bike path for the very first time.
i made one last stop at star market to buy some more boneless chicken thighs before finally making it home by 3:30pm. i needed some groceries from market basket but decided i'd do that tomorrow, i was already too pooped to go back out again.
my parents were at portland maine this afternoon. later i lost their signal when they departed maine and left for the high seas. they're scheduled to arrive in saint john (canada) by 9:45am tomorrow. the emerald princess is traveling about 20mph, which isn't very fast, but the ship has all night to get to its destination. it has a draught of 28 ft which is kind of crazy but given the size of the cruise ship, i shouldn't be surprised it displaces that much water.
i took a nap around 7pm and woke up an hour later. for dinner i reheated the last of the persian leftovers (one beef koobideh kabab, one piece of grilled salmon). i tried the hard cider i bought yesterday - angry orchard crisp imperial. it tasted pretty good, sweeter than the usual hard ciders which is the style i like. i prefer woodchuck hard ciders but the nearby liquor store doesn't seem to carry those anymore. crisp imperial is like their regular crisp apple but just with more alcohol (8% instead of 5%).