Storming the Fort

*added to Doodle Week: Greed - I'm sure you're all ENVIOUS with GREED that I've met the illustrious Claire and Aerten*

Also, read Aerten's account here.

Yes, there is a real photo that this stick figure drawing is based on, but you'll never see it. See, I promised Claire aka CRPitt from A Little Piece of Me that I wouldn't post the photo, but I never said anything about doodling it!

I've been a follower of her blog since June something or other, and when she announced she was coming to America, more specifically the Northeast, I thought there could be a chance that I might meet this lovely English beauty.

She had already planned a couple days with fellow blogger Aerten in upstate New York, as well as some time in Boston, which put her within 3 hours driving time from my residence in Vermont. That was certainly doable. When she mentioned that they would be making the scenic drive up to Fort Ticonderoga in the Adirondacks on Lake Champlain, along the New York-Vermont border, I almost wet myself, putting them 1.5 hours away. Very doable.

I then decided to take a mental day off of work, made the obligatory sick call into my co-worker who would tell my supervisor for me (ah... pressure is off), then it was off to run some errands before we got the text saying meet us there in 2 hours.

Sierra and The Girl accompanied me and the wee one behaved herself very well. We took the fort tour, then wandered around the exhibit, discussing everything from "what would the British side of the history of the fort be?", "but wikipedia is the BIBLE!", my woes of my computer temporarily dying Sunday night (only to spring back to life Tuesday morning), and inevitably Claire's near Liverpudlian accent, which did sound quite akin to that of Sir Paul McCartney's.

After seeing pretty much everything there was to see of this smallish fort, the five of us headed to lunch in the small town of Ticonderoga at a small country diner called The Hot Biscuit for some country home cook'n. Actually pretty good for this sort of rednecky frontier small town of 5167 souls.

Our quick 3 hours had come to an end and we reluctantly parted ways, but our day with Claire and Aerten will not be soon forgotten. Also, I will now be a regular follower of Aerten after meeting her and her very interesting wit and weirdness (I mean that in the best possible way!). All in all it was a fantastic day - the weather was beautiful, Sierra was well behaved and slept all the way back home, and the only downside was losing my computer for the day.












*Ticonderoga was the hometown of one of my first girlfriends when I was 12. I once rode a bicycle that summer the 50 miles all day over mountains along Lake George to Ti in an effort to visit with her. Alas, she was spending the night at her grandparents after getting wisdom teeth pulled, and her parents drove me the hour plus back home to Glens Falls after midnight. It was the same day as SummerSlam 88.

Sledding Is Now an Approved Vermont P.E. Curricular Activity

Basketball, running, softball, and square dancing. This is the stuff of gym class, also known as PE or Phys Ed.

On my way into work this morning, I passed a Middle School for kids ages 10-13 that sits next to a sizeable hill as I do on a daily basis. This morning however I noticed there were a good number of kids at the top of it all with sleds. It was not a snow day as I verified with my coworkers, although we did receive about another inch of snow last night on top of the foot of snow we got Wednesday night. The time was about 8:15, so not knowing what time school began, I thought maybe these kids were getting in a last minute slide before school begins at 8:45 or 9. But no, this school isn't in a residential neighborhood, it is a good 1/4 mile from the nearest house, and all the kids are bussed in from neighboring towns.

Then I thought, they must have begun class at 8 and this is part of their PE class. Yes, that's it. How cool would that be? Go to school, grab a sled, hike to the top of the hill and go whizzing down it. I'm now insanely jealous.

However my elementary school had its quirks. In winters, when possible, part of the schoolyard was flooded creating a skating pond. The gym teacher had a collection of kids' ice skates, although I cheated in a way and had double blade skates my parents got me. Of course I was made fun of for this (shocking) and begged my parents for a pair of real skates with just the single blade. I eventually got some, learned to play ice hockey, and in my adolescent years made my way back to that schoolyard to play stick and puck / pick-up games.

Any quirky PE activities in your schools? Do tell.

Have a cracking weekend!

The Addition

When I was 3 or 4, my father built an addition onto our previously small home. This addition was comprised of a long narrow hallway leading to a door to the garage at the end, a large master bedroom on one side of the hallway, and a small office and the new larger bathroom on the other side.

Little did he know that this hallway would make a perfect bowling alley when I became 8 or 9.

Somehow I obtained a non-threatening foam Nerf-type ball sphere. I took 10 empty soda cans, wrapped them in construction paper and tape, numbered them one through ten (apparently it mattered which order I set them up in, I must have been anal retentive as a kid), and I threw strikes. After each throw, I would manually clear all the knocked down cans/pins, take score, then throw again as necessary. I would set up each pin about 3 inches apart (I wouldn't take a ruler to them, I wasn't that anal) so it wouldn't be that easy to throw a strike, I had to maintain some degree of difficulty. This was a quality operation, and it kept me busy and entertained on many a rainy day. The only trouble I got from it were the cats, they would chase the ball and scatter my meticulously positioned pins, frustratingly enough, however I did have a laugh. I hope one day to have a house with similar structure so I can bowl cheaply with my Sierra.

Have a picture of Sierra and her cousin when they came from New York to visit a couple of weeks ago. Her onesie says it all.

Ah, Childhood Memories

Jayne got me thinking of some of my not-so-fond childhood memories, and this old camping tale first sprang to mind.

Camping has always been a part of our family tradition. Of course it is the "poor man's vacation", but a holiday nonetheless. It's been compared to being homeless. We've never been wealthy enough to go RVing or even trailer camping, so it's always been the tent for us.

Camping isn't camping unless it rains. Quite often it rains. And in order to enjoy camping a little more during the rain is to cover the campsite with a tarp, usually just your typical blue plastic 15'x20' covering.

This particular time I was about 4 or 5, and my parents decided to bring along some friends. I don't remember where we were, either somewhere in upstate New York in the Adirondacks close to my childhood home, or possibly on the coast of Maine or even Virginia Beach. Hanging out at the campsite after a long day of rain and my dad and friends were drinking some beers, one of them has the great idea to start messing with me. "Hey kid, go over to the edge of the tarp, I got a surprise for you," one of my dad's buddies says to me. Unknowing of what was to come I do it, because like a good kid, I did what I was told obeyingly. Guy pushes up on the tarp where water has collected and...

SSSPPPLLLLLOOOOOOOOOSSSSSHHHHH!!!!

I am totally soaked head to toe. Like someone poured a bucket of water over my head, but from several feet away. I was shocked and a little sad, but I laughed anyway.

So a little while later, guy says again, "Hey kid, why don't you go over there again by the edge of the tarp? Don't worry, I'm not gonna get you wet again."

SSSPPPLLLLLOOOOOOOOOSSSSSHHHHH!!!!

I get wet again. I was gullible and trusting. I'm not really sure how the story ends, I may very well have gone back and got tricked again. I may have even liked it, I don't really remember. I'm too traumatized.