Boston–day 1

I came to Boston almost 40 years ago for a summer job on the Cape. On that trip, I caught a bus right at the airport and stared out at the city through a grimy window. I’d been in big cities before, but not on the East coast which seemed so much older than out West. I remember the laundry hung on lines between the buildings. Back then we didn’t have cameras on our phones. Or I would have snapped a million shots. I have wanted to photograph laundry ever since.

Maybe that is part of why I have always wanted to come back. There are places we pass through in our lives that stay with us for reasons we don’t completely understand. Sometimes it is a person. Sometimes it is a smell or a song. Sometimes it is something as ordinary as laundry blowing between two buildings.

My trip has gotten off to a rough start. First off, there was long layover in Dallas and then the plane was delayed. When we did board, we sat a pretty long time on the plane waiting for clearance. I am traveling with my son. Mostly, we roadtrip together, because I have more control over things and can give him breaks when he needs them. If I get upset, he gets upset, and being upset doesn’t make the plane move any faster. There was a woman behind me who didn’t feel the same way. She kept dropping the F bomb. I kinda wanted to tell her to shut up, but I practiced my Zen skills.

We made it to the hotel pretty late and didn’t get to explore. I took a walk along the harbor at dawn in the rain. The air here is delicious. Cool and crisp. After the dry, hot air of summer in a high desert drought, it was blissful.

And then there is Shayne. He is still sleeping. Traveling with him is a good barometer for me to see how he is doing. So far he has been remarkably calm and symptom free. He thanked me for bringing him. He did watch Mission Impossible all day and he is wearing a Hello, Kitty t-shirt, but it could be a lot worse.

I suppose that is another reason this trip feels important to me. Forty years ago, I came through Boston alone, looking out a dirty bus window at a city that felt impossibly old and far away. I never took the photographs I wanted to take.

This time, I get to see it up close, not behind a dirty bus window.

And I get to see it with my son.

I am looking forward to finally getting to experience the city that I have always felt that I missed out on.