Adrien, the owner of Bottega, transformed a fading-into-the-cityscape row house into rough hewn wonder, with wood salvaged from a barn in Harpers Ferry (also a Craigslist find). DSC_0836The fact that Bottega is open also means he managed to traverse a bureaucracy that hasn’t quite embraced one-stop shopping.

I’ve often toyed with the idea of joining a boxing gym to get into shape, but then passed on the idea when I envisioned younger, stronger, faster men kicking my ass without threat of criminal charge. It seems that with each passing day in the span of our lives, we lose options. I can confidently say that boxing is one option I no longer have.