Hunger Games in the park and absolute loveliness in Boston pre marathon

I was in Boston for the marathon.  I don't think I'm ready to tackle the entirety of the situation, but prior to the tragedy, I had a chance to see a wonderful city and interact with such lovely people, making the future events  a stark contrast.

You know sometimes when you are just in the right mindset to enjoy life? That Sunday, I was in that mindset.  Taking it all in, walking around with a content smile.  There were swing dancers in the park, families picnicing, skateboarders hitching rides from duck tour busses, and Kelsey Grammar at the Cheers Bar.

I walked by a baseball field and saw a flurry of activity and went to investigate and to my absolute delight people were playing Hunger Games!  The players were students from Emerson.

In case you have some people and want to set up your own game:
There were two people from each district (shown by number on their white t-shirt)
Many players were armed with pizza box shields.
All players had a sharpie in their hand, a balloon taped to their backs, and a flag tied around their waist.
Like the real Hunger Games, the goal was to be the last person standing.
To be eliminated from the game three things must occur:

1. A player must be marked by a sharpie somewhere on the t-shirt
2. A player's balloon must be popped
3. A player's flag must be grabbed.

It was awesome.

During the race,  I so much support and passion and goodness and humor.  Just a reminder of how humans have such possiblity of goodness and kindness and of being their best possible self and there is also such potential for such terribleness.



Side note: so many of the lovely people I met were from Canada, reaffirming my belief that Canadians are the best.