Yesterday’s non-Mother’s Day post was really about both my parents, not just my mum (people in comments were very impressed about the sharp knives). But I thought my dad deserved some attention too. So here’s my thought for the day on What I Owe My Dad. My dad loves getting lost (I’m sorry: exploring). He’s the one who showed me that the best way of getting to know a new place is just to start walking.

And in a city like Boston, I doubt you could live here long enough to be done finding new places to explore. Today, another gorgeous spring day, I decided to look for alternate routes home from work, rather than taking the usual major arteries of Commonwealth Avenue or Beacon Street. Commonwealth, particularly, can be a brutal trek in the summer and we always find the last mile or so an absolute drag. So I skipped off the main drag and wandered around the back neighborhoods of Brookline for a while. Here are a few pictures I snapped along the way.

(Click here for the larger version).

Turns out there’s a whole neighborhood of beautiful (if slightly delapidated) old houses, reminiscent of Heritage Hill in Grand Rapids (Mich.) and to a much lesser extent the neighborhood where I grew up (although the property values in Holland, Michigan, are likely much less than the property values around here!) There were lots of shaded sidewalks to wander down and a passing kitty who came over to check out my ankles.

I did actually have a destination in mind: the Clear Flour Bread bakery just off Commonwealth Ave, a five minute walk from our apartment (Larry: you’ll be pleased to know they sell dagger bread!). Now that the dinner Hanna made has settled, it’s off to unpack that Rustic Strawberry and Rhubarb Tart I bought for dessert.