2021-09-13 42 -71

Location

On a sidewalk in a bustling suburban area of Brookline, Massachusetts.

Participants

Expedition

It had been almost two months since I last attempted an expedition, for various reasons. Not having my car during the day while my sisters used it to get to work was a big part of it, and I just happened to endure a tough stretch of time with no suitable hash locations. Now, come the middle of September, my luck started to change. I was packing my bags and moving from my very familiar 41, -73 graticule to the much less familiar 42, -71 graticule. I may not have reached every centicule in 41, -73, but I did see plenty of cool stuff in the half year I spent geohashing there that I wouldn't have otherwise.

And wouldn't you know it, in the very first day after I finished moving to Boston and got back from a trip out west, the geohash was ridiculously close to my new domicile! I might have walked if I fancied a stroll, but I was getting home late from work and also needed to pick up groceries, so I just drove. Getting through Allston and Brookline was pretty chaotic, I'm still getting used to city traffic but it's nothing I can't handle. I parked at a metered stop not too far from the destination and briskly walked in the hopes that I wouldn't be ticketed in the five minutes it took me to get there. On the way, I walked past a school with tons of tiny tots playing soccer outside. There were also plenty of people walking home, or picking up kids, or just hanging out on their porch, so overall it felt very busy for the kind of neighborhood that it seemed like on the outside.

I eventually found the spot, but there was a woman walking two kids to her car and I had to wait a bit to take photographs so I wouldn't come off as a creep. I may have come off like that anyway, since I was just lurking around with seemingly no purpose for my presence, but these are risks I guess you take sometimes in this business. I was really lucky that the spot was smack dab in the middle of the sidewalk and not a couple feet over in someone's yard. I'm used to being fairly sure, but not completely certain that I stepped in the exact spot, but this time I knew. Once I did, I hustled back to my car, and thankfully pulled away without a ticket. I didn't have time to take a look at JFK's birthplace, which was literally on the street next to the one I was on. It'd be better to go back another time when I can actually go inside though. I'm very happy to be back onboard the geohash express, but maybe next time I can find one with a bit less commotion around and a bit more accessible parking.