After driving through the downtown Lawrence, MA area last night, I can state for the record we won’t be moving there. While I’m certain many people happily call Lawrence home, I won’t be among them. It’s just a little too run down for my taste.
On the other hand, I drove up to Lowell — just 10 miles away — this afternoon and found the downtown core charming. I’m told there are regions of Lowell that aren’t quite up to par, but that only serves to keep real estate prices reasonable. The stately homes along Rt-133 down to Andover were quite impressive. The word mansion comes to mind, but then what would I call the ones in Andover?
I’ll be heading back to the Hudson Valley Friday afternoon. While it might be nice to explore the area without the burden of work, it’ll be even better to see Anna and the kids again. Augustus must be ready to burst a seam because he hasn’t had a real walk since I left (I should be fair to Anna, she’s willing to throw mushrooms at the squirrels to scare them out of the trees into Augustus’ waiting claws, which I’ve never been comfortable with).