pain seems to....

be subsiding, probably a result of my carrying that heavy bag back and forth to Boston. Feeling better now, though some stiffness in the back. Lots of events in the next two days.
Trip back from Boston arduous, but a little better than the trip going. Only took Amtrak to New Haven, really needed the break---had a decent pizza slice,  then trip back to NY via the Metro North train a little bit more viable. Took subway back to apartment, had no real problems, then went out and bought a banana shake, really needed it before going to sleep.
Very tired on trip back, probably result of my not sleeping very much Sunday morning. Slept well enough yesterday, not feeling particularly tired today.
So, was the trip necessary..? Well, yes in the fact that it enabled me to experience Natasha and Pierre again---certainly love the music and the energy of the whole piece, will give me something to discuss with theater friends (that is always important). Also, remarkable coincidence of meeting up with Bill and Nancy and later having coffee and sharing things with them was also important. Neither of those things would have happened if I had rejected the trip and spent the two days in NYC.
But a lot of restlessness. The hotel was far enough away from Harvard Square that on Sunday, once I got to Harvard I was stuck there for about two hours before entering the theater. Spent a lot of time wandering through the COOP, that brought back memories from the past (Bonnie, Susan) and was too restless to just read something to pass the time. Reaquainted myself with Harvard Square and the blocks surrounding it---stores very familiar to me have gone but atmosphere, filled with kids, remains. Spectators at ART always amaze me. The majority of them seem neither young or old, almost all in the middle aged zone, very different from NYC, where audiences seem either completely under 40 (downtown theater) or sixty or over. At ART it seems like there is just a tremendous supply of middle agers in the surrounding areas to come see their work.
  So trip seems to be a mixed bag, maybe I am simply so enmeshed in my NY city experience that traveling just doesn't work. Or maybe it is Boston. Want to go to DC possibly in the winter, and of course, there is Baltimore, always feel comfortable there.
That seems to be all for now, have the rest of the day to live through, report tomorrow on how it went.