So how was your weekend?

It’s the irony of the modern day urbanite.

You just had a really stressful week of deadlines, meetings and pesky colleagues. It’s 5pm on Friday and you’re getting ready to pack up and leave. You turn off the laptop, pick up your office bag and suddenly you’re confounded by another type of stress…

“What shall I do this weekend?”

You didn’t plan anything and now it’s Friday night.

The horrors – there’s nothing going on tomorrow or the day after that.

OMG. Panic.

It was with dread that I realized I didn’t plan anything this weekend. There wasn’t the usual get togethers with friends nor was there the dim sum brunches I would sometimes do. Heck, there wasn’t even a wino vegout session I throw together when I’m feeling bored.

There’s just … nothing.

Thankfully,  one good thing about staying around Boston is the landscape. I now live in north Medford, surrounded by two really big nature reserves. I have walked around and jogged in them when the weather was warmer and now I have found another way to enjoy the scenery.

Drive through it!

Since today was a wet cold rainy day, I decided to head out to get some books to tide me through the night. Nothing like curling up in bed reading, while sipping hot tea. On my way to the store, I drove through Middlesex Fells and Lynn Fellsway, two really pretty stretches of road that New Englanders call parkways.

Apparently, New England (along with New York) has plenty of parkways, smaller roads that meander through parks and green spots. These roads are also exclusive to passenger cars and thus less stressful than highways or city roads.

With the fall season, leaves turn fiery shades of yellow, orange and red and coat the side of the roads with such beautiful scenery.

Okay okay, that’s not Lynn Fellsway. But it’s as close a photo I can find on the net….

New England is pretty in the fall. No doubt about it.

That is perhaps one of the pleasures living overseas. Something so ordinary to Americans can bring me so much pleasure.