Becky's photoblog

Today was quite a day, ending with a lovely walk along the Charles River with an old friend and her adorable dogs. Today, the Supreme Court of the United States made it legal for all couples to marry – something that should simply be ordinary rather than incredibly momentous, and yet, seemingly out of nowhere … a victory for common sense, a victory for decency, a victory for what never should have been illegal in the first place, a victory for love.

Today, one of my student’s slept through her final, and I helped her navigate a tricky situation. Today, another office gave us the rest of a delicious ice cream cake. Today, the president led an enormous group in singing Amazing Grace at the funeral of a victim of an unthinkable crime. It was a day for very small victories and very big victories.

Today also marks one year since the death of my father-in-law, and although we missed him very much yesterday and we will miss him very much tomorrow, today we stop and think about 525,600 minutes … what it means when a whole year has passed without him.

I took a nice long walk around Boston, starting and ending at Symphony Hall. I walked through the Christian Science Plaza, passed the reflecting pool, passed the Prudential Center, down Huntington Ave, and left on Ring Road at Copley Plaza to Boylston Street. Left on Boylston, right on Fairfield, straight down Fairfied Ave to the foot bridge over Storrow Drive and down to the Charles River Esplanade. At that point, I realized that there was some kind of walk for something going on because there were TONS of people walking along the river in blue t-shirts. I took a closer look, and realized there were tons of little kids walking. Their t-shirts said it all: Boston Children’s Hospital: Raise funds, Save lives, Repeat.

As I crossed the little bridge to my favorite part of the esplanade, the little island that gives you a great view of Back Bay, I was so moved to see so many families walking together on such a gorgeous day and raising money for sick kids. There were even a bunch of what looked like high school cheerleaders cheering everyone on. From where I was, I could see two long streams of families in blue-tshirts, some coming towards me along the island, and some crossing back over to the Storrow Drive side and walking in the same direction as me.

Later, I looked it up and learned that the event was NStar’s Walk for Boston Children’s Hospital, and that there was a 2-mile route and a 7-mile route, both starting and ending at the Hatch Shell. I was right at the turn-around point for the 2-mile route which I why I was seeing walkers in both directions.

I continued along, and crossed back over Storrow Drive near Clarendon Street, then walked down Clarendon towards Back Bay Station. As I passed through Copley Plaza, I was pleasantly surprised to see rainbow flags and an American flag flying from facade of Boston Public Library (it’s usually several American flags). Not sure if there’s some occasion I’m not aware of, but I don’t care – it looked absolutely amazing! I stopped to watch some street performers, then continued on down Clarendon.

Across from Back Bay Station, I took a right into the Southwest Corridor Park, and walked through the gorgeous tree-lined park that runs through the beautiful residential neighborhood of the South End. That brought me back to the Prudential Center, and then again through the Christian Science Plaza and back to Symphony Hall!

Date night with D! We walked along the esplanade to Beacon and Exeter, then along Beacon Street to Charles Street for dinner, then across the Public Gardens and down Newbury Street to take the T home from Copley Square. I love this city

Click here for photos from a similar walk a few years ago

Gorgeous day for a lunchtime walk along the Charles River to the Mass Ave Bridge and back.

I’m attending a WordPress conference in Cambridge this weekend, and this is the gorgeous view of Boston from where I’m sitting – at the Microsoft New England Research and Development (NERD) Center.

This one's a bit out of order, but it's my favorite

I used a handful of vacation days to make long weekends this summer, and in honor of my last official summer vacation day, we used a groupon and went on a sunset cruise on the Charles River (with the Charles Riverboat Company). It was an absolutely gorgeous way to see the city, and I highly recommend it! Very relaxing and pleasant, very beautiful.

Who doesn't love a sunset walk along the river? The sun was setting (and reflecting off the water) directly behind Randy's head.

Kathy, Randy and I met up downtown to take advantage of the gorgeous weather and a perfect dusk. We walked and walked, then enjoyed an amazing dinner, then walked some more! Starting at Park Street, our walk took us towards Government Center, then through the maze of Beacon Hill, past churches I had never seen before, then across the Fiedler Bridge to the Hatch Shell and the Charles River Esplanade (just as the set was setting behind the skyline) and down Mass Ave. We took the T back to Beacon Hill to use a groupon and try out an amazing sushi restaurant, then we walked it off all the way down Charles Street, through Beacon Hill again, past the Public Gardens and then to Copley to wait for my bus. Great exercise with great friends!

Click here for photos from another walk along the Charles River Esplanade

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I took an incredibly beautiful walk along the Charles River Esplanade, from Mass Ave to the Hatch Shell, for a free concert on the lawn — summer in New England, as God intended it. The esplanade is a park that runs along the southern bank of the Charles River, which means that it also runs along the northern edge of Boston’s Back Bay neighborhood. The Back Bay is all landfill, and our forefathers saw fit to make a little island of landfill in the Charles River just so we could have an even more beautiful place to watch the sailboats, or take a refreshing after-work stroll to meet a friend. We joined a few thousand Bostonians at the Hatch Shell for a picnic and some great classical music, courtesy of Boston Landmarks Orchestra.