On Easter Sunday we spent a relaxing morning at home before getting outside for some exercise on a super windy day, with 40-mph gusts. Kathleen’s sister Scarlet came over for dinner and made us a special holiday meal of amazing Mexican food and margaritas. We finished off the evening with a game of Carcassonne and Scarlet’s chocolate cake with homemade whipped cream. Yum!
Today is Patriots’ Day, the third Monday in April and a holiday observed in seven U.S. states. It commemorates the inaugural conflict of the American Revolution, fought at Lexington and Concord on April 19th, 1775. It is an important local holiday and this year marked 250 years since the original battle. Bonus Question: What is the word for a 250th anniversary? (Answer at end of post).
Patriot’s Day is also celebrated by the running of the Boston Marathon. More than 30,000 runners begin in Hopkinton with the goal of making it 26.2 miles to Copley Square and getting their finisher’s medal. Participants must qualify for this race and only about 10% of all marathon finishers are ever fast enough to compete in Boston.
Twice we walked the 20 minutes from Danielle and Jay’s house to Commonwealth Avenue in Chestnut Hill, where we stationed ourselves at Mile 22 and joined the estimated 500,000 spectators who watched the race in person. The first time was to see the elite racers whiz by at their five-minutes-per-mile pace. The second was to cheer on Kathleen’s friend and former colleague, Kari, a veteran runner from the Twin Cities who was competing in her first Boston Marathon. Police presence was heavy, the result of the 2013 terrorist bombing near the marathon’s finish line which killed three spectators and injured 264 more. There were no incidents today and the weather was pleasant, with temps in the mid-50s and moderate winds.
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| Our favorite spectator sign |
Bonus Question Answer: A 250th anniversary is commonly referred to as a semiquincentennial, literally meaning “half of five hundred years.” Other terms sometimes used are sestercentennial, bisesquicentennial and quarter millenium.
Bonus Quote: “Borrow money from pessimists, they do not expect it back” - Stephen Wright
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