I spent two days this week in Boston on business. It was great being back in town for a visit. Speeding west through Brighton on the Mass Pike I saw a good chunk of my twenties flash by in a blur. The next day, driving lazily down Fresh Pond Parkway towards Cambridge to visit Jeff Winter, I was moved at the persistent beauty and livability of the area. It has changed very little since I lived there in the late 80s and early 90s, and probably for decades before that.
We were working at a generic office building in Waltham where a generic company was sponsoring a party/conference in the lobby. Eric (my RDA project manager) saw that the Red Sox 2004 World Series trophy was making an appearance, and we talked our way in (they assumed we worked for Microsoft, and we didn't argue). We walked right over to the trophy and were first in line for photos.
I was really pleased to see the trophy in person. It's on a tour throughout New England, I think. It seemed quite flimsy in person (the flags aren't even straight), but that does nothing to dampen its importance to Red Sox fans everywhere.