Christmas shopping formed the main impetus of our second day in Boston, so we headed to Downtown Crossing and rushed through the usual haunts. I made it through most of the remaining names on my list, and by lunch time we were in good standing to enjoy a return to Pho Pasteur. The last time I had pho was likely when I was with Kira in 2019, and our weekend of re-establishing some comforting things to do found another happy full-circle moment. Kira had been missing it too, and as the shadows of downtown chilled the air, and the wind whipped down from the nearby skyscrapers, we found our favorite pho place and began to heat ourselves up from the inside out.
With our shopping bags filled, we headed back along Boston Common toward the condo, and as the day had turned even more beautiful it seemed fitting to soak in the surroundings. This much sunlight, and such deep blue skies, aren’t the usual background to a Boston November, and we took our time walking to make the most of it.
The Boston Public Garden was filled with rambunctious squirrels, and this view, in every season, is always a heartwarming one. On this day the trees were giving their last show before shaking off their leaves for the long spell of winter ahead. The thought lent a chill to the sun-drenched air, and so we hurled along to the condo for a quick afternoon siesta.
We had a hot chocolate, then ventured out one more time to hit some shops in the South End, and to pass by the Christmas tree lot and smell the arrival of the holidays. Hints of holiday strolls past, and the ones yet to come, made for happy memories and reminiscences, while paving a path for next month’s return.
In some ways, this is usually where the most exciting and perfect holiday ideas dwell: when they are all only notions and possibilities, like these tied-up Christmas trees, bound and waiting to be unleashed a little deeper into December. Returning to the condo to change for dinner, we lit more candles as the light drained from the day and the coziness began.
Trying out a new restaurant used to be one of my favorite things to do in Boston – but as we settled into The Banks Fish House (in the former location of Post 390, where we had spent a Holiday Stroll dinner a few years ago) the whole Friendsgiving Dinner – purportedly the reason for this weekend – felt almost anti-climactic. We didn’t need a reason for celebrating our friendship, or to bring out the gratitude we felt for each other’s company once again.
The moon – full just a day before – accompanied us home, sending us into another peaceful night – and into the holiday season. Friends and family – the only things that matter.
