This is the Green Goddess, the delicious entree I had at the Life Alive Organic Cafe in Central Square, Cambridge, MA. I also had a Superhero juice which was made from apple, carrot, spirulina, cayenne, garlic, honey and even contained apple cider vinegar. These people know how to whip up some fast, healthy, delicious stuff. There are currently two of these establishments in operation and they're opening a third this spring. In my dreams Life Alive supplants McDonald's and people in America walk around with a glow--instead of looking pasty, misshapen and tired. Ouch. Was that mean? I'm sorry to anybody who might have taken offense; but then, I doubt anybody feels like they're doing their body a favor by eating at McDonald's. I don't know, it just astounds me that you can buy crap at every corner, but you have to go out of your way to get tasty nutritious fare.

Yesterday we made our long way home from Boston--the Green Line to the packed Trailways bus to the drive down lonely Route 9. But it was well worth it, that's for sure. I enjoyed every minute of my time visiting family in the big city. I woke up this morning in a languid state, content to just enjoy the view out the window. After a couple cups of tea and a big bowl of Mike's Muesli and blueberries I tapped a few trees, dropped off our seed order and got a pot of bean soup going. Now, though, I need to pack again, as tomorrow we drop Judy off at the airport, visit the Sweet, then attend a workshop on Monday in Bangor. We're practically jet-setters, I suppose, outside of the fact that we don't travel on jets.
Darn me, I almost left out the most important thing. This morning I shaved with the free shaving cream that Alice gave me from her coupon haul. She also sent us home with toothpaste, deodorant, mouthwash and various other sundries. And not only that, it's all the ritzy stuff, like Tom's of Maine, that I would normally be too cheap to buy. So when it comes to couponing, my sister is a wonder. Come to think of it, she's a wonder in every way.

The time has come for me to chronicle the toes-to-bar demonstration that Kevin requested at the parkour course. As you can see, Kevin has moves most people could scarcely imagine, let alone emulate. At first I thought, "hey man, this isn't going to work if you don't at least get your feet off the ground," but as it turned out he completed the exercise and flew off the bar before I even completed one rep. When we were younger I might have been wounded to be bested so effortlessly, but now, what can I say, I am humbled.

OK, this is the photo where I show my love for Cousin Kevin. In the next post I might have to poke fun at him--depends how he treats me when we do Linsanity at the the sports bar. Having a fantastic time here in Boston. I think we've walked about a 100 miles. I just had a vegan lunch (Kevin's treat!) from a food truck and it was delicious. This followed a fitness walking tour that Alice led us on that included some gear shops and a new fitness facility and the parkour circuit down on the Charles River--but more on that later. Right now it's time for a nap.

Reporting live from Boston! Yeah, that's right, the Birch Wisdom goes mobile like Roger Daltry wailing. Mobile, mobile, mobile... yeah! Yeah, so anyway, calm down. But soon as we got off the bus we came across this most fascinating sight. The demolition of a building was carried out while protecting the original facade. Now a new skyscraper will go up in its place while a wee bit of history is preserved. Neat.
So after that I took us a couple of miles out of our way on our paved backpacking journey--as I am wont to do when I rely on my instincts for direction. Now our dogs are killing us as we wait for Chris and Alice to get home from work. Luckily Max is already here to keep us entertained--if you can call watching him eat, drink and stare into his laptop entertainment. Side note: I just saw a smile cross Jake's face and I'm pretty sure he was thinking, "Dad thinks I slurp my tea?!--listen to uncle Max, now he makes some noise!" On second thought, he's just laughing at his Hunter Thompson book. People with the same genetic code are sometimes oblivious to the emanations of their kind. It's left to me and the Sweet to take note of these trifles.
But back to Max. When we were kids my father used to say, "all Max does is eat, sleep and watch TV." So that was my little takeoff on that up above, and I've probably mentioned that quote before. I just don't think you should mention something just once when you have the opportunity to rub it in again and again and again.
Well, that's it for now, but I promise a full report on Alice's coupon mania in the near future.

I love a chili Sunday--but not so much as I love my Chilly P. !!!! 'Course she left me for the weekend so the absence is making my heart grow fonder and fonder. But then, on the other side of the coin, she left crowin' over the fact that she was going to see Jessie Sweet and I was not, and that's more like a dagger through the heart. Plus, you know what, Jake and I had a great time doing man stuff. For instance, we just got done enjoying some serious Linsanity. For all you sports fans, let me break it down for you: the New York Knickerbockers defeated the champion Mavericks with Jeremy Lin scoring 28 points to go with 14 assists and 5 steals. Spike Lee, who's slated to make an appearance at Colby, was sitting courtside in a facsimile Harvard jersey with Lin emblazoned on the back. Go Colby, go Harvard, go Spike, go Linsanity!!!!

As I write this post I'm enjoying a cup of loose leaf Oolong tea. I watched a surprisingly fascinating documentary about the search for the best tea in China. Aficionados say that once you drink loose leaf tea you'll never go back to tea bags. Apparently the tea that goes into tea bags is not only inferior but likely grown with the use of pesticides. The guy featured in the movie could smell a handful of tea leaves and instantly know whether it was "organic." He didn't use that word, and as far as I could tell, neither do the Chinese, but he had to travel to distant regions to find old farmers who did not use chemical fertilizers. You wouldn't think it would be this way because they have these competitions in China where the winning tea is valued at thousands of dollars an ounce. But you know how it is: big business is big business.

There is one certain somebody I wish was joining me for a cup right now. My sweet Jessie turns 20 today. Oh my beautiful child: Happy Happy Birthday.