Yes, I was thinking more of, "we declared a war and got our butts kicked and all we got for it was a bad poem for a national anthem".

We did lose the war of 1812?

My favorite is parking at the trailhead of the North Road. You can continue up to a scenic vista with a couple of nice picnic tables or take the left fork toward Balance Rock -- there's a very pretty pool on the way. In the winter, I avoid the steep side trails. The Echo Lake road with parking near Mountainside Bakery & Cafe goes to the lake, with another nice picnic table. At the lake you can go left along a popular route for cross-country skiers or to the right on a steep climb up to an old orchard/meadow with a comfortable bench.

Heavy snow pack is the best time to do the Bicentennial trail from the visitor center. Otherwise you're picking your way long a path of big rocks.

There's maps at the trailheads. It's safe to mostly wander, most days.

The west side of the mountain is awesome hiking this time of year. Snowshoeing, when the snow is deep.

I just checked. You can still buy wallpaper.

I only have one when ordering a grinder and a soda.

Permethrin is toxic to cats before it dries. There are no studies showing picaridin is toxic to cat.

This is a pretty good resource. https://www.mass.gov/lists/monthly-tick-borne-disease-reports

Lawn darts.

If you walk around your block and see a lot overgrown with weeds, or a wooded park, that's a coyote hunting ground. They often hunt in pairs, mated for life. They thrive in human communities and they're too smart to be exterminated.

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>Coyotes are killed by the thousands every year, particularly in Western ranching states such as Wyoming and Montana, but such measures are much less commonly employed in the Northeast.
>
>The animals are likely to return to Nahant after the cull, said Elizabeth Magner, associate director of the MSPCA’s advocacy team.

"We're only killing the coyotes who are not near people and this isn't going to work... So, here we go."

It was no picnic back when you had to go to Wayne's house and listen to whatever paranoia fuel conspiracy while he measured out a QP on a filthy coffee table, strewn with paraphernalia, and get a ziplock of crap dried out weed that was mostly shake.

Agree. This is literally, "Cake, or death."

Go to Cape Cod. Get cake.

One thing I liked about Shaws when it was nearby -- never crowded. I could go almost any time and there'd only be a half-dozen other shoppers.

You can have two armpits. It's not a competition.

Market Basket. They have a pretty good selection of weird cuts of meat.

Pepsi has the corn syrup that you'd get in a bbq sauce. The carbonation tears into the meat and tenderizes it. Root beer is a variation, but I tried that and it was awful. Smelled like chemical waste.

Speaking of...

I've recently discovered boneless pork butts, $1 a pound, makes an excellent pot roast.

Crock pot, onion slices in the bottom, can of Pepsi, slab of meat, envelope of pork gravy mix on top. Time.

I'm scared of what's in a 12-cent hot dog.

I will always upvote pictures of autumn in Mass.

Before the weed stand, that lot was a busy gas station next to a Chinese take-out. One stop for food and gas.

That could be a weekly youtube channel. Sadly, my drone license won't let me monetize.

Right? White, red, gray. Some blue. Looking down at the white cars is like looking down at the yellow cabs in NYC in that era.

People are finding unexpected entertainment in this video.

That's at least two guys.