The Lighter Side of Transformation

We decided not to travel this year and instead enjoyed the local culture and fare of our greater Boston area.

Overview for Friday 7/5/19 at the Museum of Science in Boston: We saw the new “Great Bear Rainforest” IMAX show (reviewed below), then visited the “Body Worlds and the Cycle of Life” exhibit featuring plastinated human bodies. These are real people who donated their bodies to science for this display! Learn more at http://www.mos.org

Yikes. It was difficult to process these deeply impacting visuals at times. There were embryos on display from 1-24 weeks, quite shocking to see up close. My husband kept saying, “This is so strange…” with a look of bewilderment and revulsion on his face. (He has a huge appetite for science fiction, fantasy and biological curiosity and can usually tolerate all sorts of shocking alien visuals).

Yes, this BodyWorlds exhibit  is an awesome visual presentation of  the human developmental process from week to week and of our health and aging process. 👍

We then saw the “Great Bear Rainforest” IMAX film, which had a lot of close ups of bears. At first, it was fun to watch them catching salmon and herring  (similar to what you see in Alaska).  But after a while it was repetitive and kind of slow, with not much happening. There were very few jaw dropping helicopter shots or amazing views. I love when IMAX films allow me to see vistas I normally can’t see on my own.   In sum, the rainforest of British Columbia, Canada, where this took place,  was NOT featured with great detail. 👎

We also stayed for the 7:30 PM Hayden Planetarium light show, The David Bowie Experience.  That was disappointing, too, on many levels. I love Bowie’s music, but the person who designed this one (every night there’s a different artist, sorry I did not get her name)  gave only a couple of beautiful fractal displays, and there were way too many long pans of a pseudo Earth just floating in space.  Lazy!  It’s supposed to be around 40 minutes (7:30 – 8:10 PM).  But this person had doors open late AT 7:30 PM,  gave a brief bio of her career, and then finally started  to roll at 7:40 PM, and ended at 8:10 PM!  This was just under 30 minutes, a bit of a rip off  IMHO. 👎

Good eats worthy of mention:

This Ahi Tuna Tartare at Seasons 52 (Burlington, MA) was extraordinary. It’s delicately seasoned with ginger, sesame and spices. The guacamole is punched up with wasabi! Oh yes, this appetizer is a home run! Good to share it, for it is very rich.  👍

Another sumptuous treat was had at Smokey Bones (Tyngsboro, MA).

Pros: These wings have no flour or breading, and are grilled in open wood fire stove. They are fabulous, and I appreciate having good leftovers.

Cons: On Weight Watchers (WW) Freestyle program, eight wings from SmokeyBones have 26 Smart Points! This is wildly surprising because they are not fried or breaded. I guess they are super high in fat?

Nevertheless, worth every point! I calculated the points into my day and used a few rollover points for the kickass Bloody Mary and roasted corn.

For those of you who don’t know WW, it’s not a diet. WW encourages you to eat savory meals and snacks. You just need to track everything, which is super easy with the WW app. (At this writing I’m down 40 lbs with WW.)

If you are interested in trying this amazing program for free, click HERE, where you can scroll down to the bottom of my post and receive a free one-month trial.  It’s worth giving WW a shake!

Over the holiday I also did one of my favorite hikes at Thanksgiving Forest (Chelmsford, MA). Seen here showing my appreciation for the exquisite beauty of the woods…

On Saturday, we had a delightful visit with friends who moved from New York City to Groton, MA, then to Nashua, NH, and now are living in Brookline, NH.  I’m always inspired by people who can pack it up and MOVE this way.  This downsizing agility is very impressive to me.

To cap off the weekend,  on Sunday evening we indulged in some deep tissue massage.

All in all, quite relaxing and rejuvenating. That’s my greater Boston Staycation!

💖Gratitude Hug to G-d💖 for all these magnificent blessings.

Onward and Upward,

Lisa Wessan