Hi everyone,
Just a quick post to let everyone know that I got a new job! I am going to be working as Education Assistant at The Dozier Centre for Performing Arts. I'm very excited about this opporunity, and will post more information along with the Dozier web address as soon as it is available so you can check it out. It's really an awesome place. Thanks to everyone for all the support while I whined about the whole job search process... thank goodness it's over!
So this weekend was the big “bachelor/bachelorette” party for Donnie Biggs, and his fiancée, Meghan Montgomery. However, in a decision that everyone supported, rather than the normal and totally cliché party plans, we all decided to get together, and have a wedding party gathering, in Fayetteville, WV for some whiteater rafting and camping. Personally, I take a little pride in the trip as Im the one who did the research, planning, and found ahome for us, and wound up making sure everything was tied down prior to all of us arriving. Logistical planning props to me, Ill take what I can get.
I arrived on Friday evening about 5:30, after seven and a half hours on the road, and Donnie, and his fiancée and two others in the group arrived shortly after, and it was just the five of us for a bit, as others trickled in throughout the evening, coming from Pennsylvania and other parts of VA. I won the “traveled the furthest” award, but the PA folks were close. I was also the only Front Royal person there other than Donnie, all the guys in his wedding parties are non FR friends of his, but I didn’t feel left out by any means, Donnie’s non FR buds are just like him, cool, down to earth and good decent dudes.
We set up shop at a campsite, and as soon as we were all settled, and started cooking food, the rain started. Luckily we had a canopy of trees, but that didn’t shield us for too long, as the heavens opened up. Im wet in most of the pictures, although being dry wasn’t much of an option the entire weekend.
Saturday we did the lower portion of the New River, and hit one Class V rapid, the highest in the class system, which the guides say is pretty arbitrary anyway. I was in the front of the boat with Donnie, and the two of us got to be the ones who saw the boat actually drop into the rapids….pretty intimidating, but someone has to do it. I may have uttered a few expletives now and then when I realized that I was headed straight into water going about 30 miles an hour-I even smacked Donnie in the arm with my paddle, which he repaid me for later. I can say with pride that I didn’t get thrown from the boat, it tried to throw me in a few times, but I managed to stay in the boat and roll with it. Even our guide got tossed….not fun turning back and seeing no captain of the ship. Grab the gun boys, the general is down, and your in charge now is what I was thinking…
The river was awesome, and I did have some reservations about the whole thing, having never done it, but I can say with no hesitation Id do it again in a split second. It was an awesome time, and the guides are great, it really had a 4H Camp for Adults feel to the whole weekend, I picked the outfitter at random, and I think I wound up with a pretty good one. Our guide was actually doing her first un-chaperoned trip, she was recently certified and we were the first group she got. Yay, what luck we have. She was pretty intense, but I would be too if it were my first time, and all the other guides were watching to make sure I didn’t screw up. Unfortunately we don’t have any pics of the actual rafting trip, we didn’t have waterproof cams, and the whole “buy a pic of you on the river” is a little too touristy for me, but I found some stuff online of what we were dealing with, the spot known as Upper Railroad, Donnie and I sat in the very front of the raft, so we were the first two to experience that water up close…..Pretty unnerving, but I loved it…
Post-river activities were great, we ate some dinner the outfitter provided for us, they even had a hang out bar kind of place, and the guides hung out as well, and everyone jammed to some live bluegrass all night, a downright hootenanny if you ask me, was awesome. I realized that if I lived near a river, and could be a guide, it would be a pretty nice life….spend the day on the river, come back, wind down with some live bluegrass, wake up and do it all over again…….Anyway, a good weekend, a long drive back, and back to the corporate world tomorrow, which, seems kind of lame after being outside, and once again getting some time in WV, which I might at some point adopt as my second home state, was nice to go into the New River Gorge on Route 19 in Bluefield with Country Roads playing on the radio…….
Pictures to come...
Got the developed pics from Costco along with CDs. Now I have to learn how to post them so they show up here...
Mom
Just so you all can see the evidence, this is what I deal with on a daily basis. No wonder they think I am Stalin... yes, they really are playing soccer in the house. I try and maintain some semblance of control... it's hard.
Well, in an attempt to keep the blog alive and interesting, here is a report on my most recent travels. Last Thursday, I flew to Indianapolis, Indiana to visit Rachel. She has been in school at IU for two years, and has one semester left. If I'm going to see her there, I figured it had better be soon. So, now or never. So I arrived in Indianapolis around midnight, where Rachel picked me up at the airport. We drove to Bloomington, which is about 45 minutes away. We were both pretty tired, so after taking Lucy for a walk we both crashed. Friday morning we got up and walked to the Bloomington Bagel Company (Rachel's equivalent to Aurora). It was yummy. After breakfast, Rachel gave me a little tour of Bloomington by car. It's not a big place, pretty typical college town. VERY granola. And flat. Well, it is the midwest... We then decided to play some tennis. The weather was really nice, not as hot as Atlanta. After some good exercise, we did some shopping to get ready for the picnic and borthday cook-out planned for Saturday. Friday night we met some of Rachel's friends and went out in downtown Bloomington. Saturday morning we took another trip to the BBC (Bloomington Bagel Company) and then... I don't remember what we did then. Oh yeah, we went to the library so Rachel could take care of some business. Saturday afternoon we went to the Oliver Winery, where we tasted some wine and then had a picnic on the lawn (see pic). It was fun, a little hot, but very fun. Saturday night Rachel had a birthday party at her house. Some of her friends came over, and we cooked out and had birthday cake and sangria. Yummy again. (As you can tell, we ate a lot -- it was a good trip :-) Rachel took me back to Indianapolis Sunday, and I came home to Atlanta. It was a great trip, and I was glad to get home. It's been an extremely busy past month, there has been a lot of travel and activity. Fun times, but I have to say I am looking forward to hanging in the 'hood this weekend. This weekend I will be hanging in the 'hood, but I have a visitor coming from Front Royal. One of my co-workers from WCSAC is coming to spend the weekend, I will be picking her up from the airport tonight. I'm sure she will enjoy her stay in Atlanta... everyone loves the Highlands!!!
Waiting for pics...
I read a lot of blogs and I know what makes them interesting. Long, unbroken reports of boring activities are not one of the more interesting elements.
In an effort to liven up our own News From Browntown, I have just delivered two rolls of film to Costco for developing, instructed them to be put on CD and will post the most incriminating - oops, make that interesting - ones as soon as I have them back. I am studying up now on how to post CD pics to this format.
More to come...
News From Browntown
Even though there are no pics, we did actually get our yard work done this week-end as promised in Friday's blog entry. It took three separate trips to the hardware store and one trip to Lowe's but Dad persevered and we finally have the pig set up and functioning. At this point we will have to trip the sump pump manually every now and then because the rain seems to have stopped and no more is forecast - why am I not surprised that drought would set in just as we finally have our water collection system in place?! Anyway, it is a beautiful thing!
Sorry there are no pics as yet. Dad has found the camera instruction manual and e-mailed me the web site but I have had no time to study up yet. Maybe this week I will get the hang of it. Then all can see the pig in it's newly renovated garden spot along the side of the house where Nana's ramp used to be.
Char, there will also be yarn pics! Good idea about our very own craft blog by the way. We could work on a lot of collaborative stuff I think.
It is so nice to know that you are practicing your instrument, Andrew, even though Em has been out of town and unavailable to sign practice cards. Good Boy! I know your teacher will be pleased at your progress. We can work on the squirrel problem when Grammy and I get down there. She will be rested from victory in the groundhog wars and will have all sorts of experience to draw from in engaging the Rodents of Rupley in battle.
Win must be totally immersed in camp - no surprise there - I am assuming that he is still within the borders of the Commonwealth since we have had no notice to the contrary.
Em - pics of Rachel in Indiana are coming, we hope.
News From Browntown
The rain has stopped for the time being and unseasonally cool, dry weather is forecast for the next few days. The rain was so good for the plants and everything is just glowing sparkly green. Of course, where I see lush, healthy, growing greenery, Dad sees mowing... He was called to work in Baltimore unexpectedly yesterday and had to be gone on the best mowing day in more than a week. He is champing at the bit to get back and on that tractor this afternoon.
As always, it has been peaceful and serene here in Browntown (other than the Fourth of July fireworks earlier this week although even that was somewhat subdued - humidity, I guess). I am hoping to give myself a lesson on camera use this week-end so I can post some pictures of the flowers, veggies, etc. Maybe throw in a picture or two of yarn (Auntie Char is the only one interested in that stuff, I know). The egg plant and tomatoes are looking very healthy and potentially productive. The peppers are also looking good. Unfortunately, the resident groundhog up at the pool garden has destroyed some of the squash and zucchini so it's hard to say what the output there will be. The pool garden tomatoes, however, are spectacular! Of course, the herbs, flowers and other stuff Grammy tends so carefully are looking very hale and hardy, especially with the rains we have had these past couple of weeks. Usually by this time of the summer it is tough going to keep everything watered sufficiently to offset the blazing heat but this year it is working out really well - at least for us - of course, there are those who have suffered with flooding. Both of the rain barrels are completely full and this week-end Dad and I will work on getting the "pig" set up to catch the water that pumps from the spring under the basement floor. That little spring is running high since the rains and there is plenty of groundwater now. The sump pump is humming right along to keep the basement floor dry.
We are getting some very interesting letters (via e-mail) from Kris Iden describing her first experiences in her new home in Germany. She is settling in well, it seems and it will be fun for her to look back at those letters a year from now. By then she will be really settled in and those experiences will, no doubt, seem like ancient history.
Will try to post some pix this week-end!
I hope everyone had a great 4th. Mine was excellent, I spent the weekend at the beach. I had never been to the Gulf of Mexico before, and I took this opportunity of a long holiday weekend to take a road trip to visit a friend who just recently moved there. I had a travel partner most of the way, which made the drive much more fun. St. Petersburg is a beautiful little place, and I was fortunate enough to witness one of those famous St. Pete sunsets I have heard so much about. Enjoy the pictures!
News From Browntown
Happy Fourth of July!
Does anybody else remember how much Pawpaw loved the Fourth of July? It was always one of his favorite secular holidays, as I recall. Every element of Fourth of July celebration was something he particularly enjoyed. Even the patriotic colors motif suited him. He could actually see red, white and blue.
For another thing the timing of this holiday suited him to a Tee. Portsmouth-born and raised, he preferred hot weather (no matter how high the temperature climbed, it never got too hot for him) and blazing, steamy July Fourth was a book-end to cold, white Christmas. July 4th stood as the pinnacle of the summer for him and more than once he told me that "after that it was downhill" to winter time.
Outdoor socializing and eating was his favorite way to entertain. If cooler heads had not prevailed (ie. Grammy, who did all the cooking), he would have declared the whole summer season one long week-end picnic which was pretty much how it happened anyway in later years in Browntown.
As little children, we looked forward to the Fourth of July picnics at Aunt Emma's and Uncle Floyd's house just two short blocks from Ocean View. Not even us kids were more excited than Daddy was about being with the family, going to Ocean View amusement park and watching the evening fireworks from Aunt Emma's back yard- a pretty spectacular display over the park and beach to the accompaniment of amusment park music and thrill ride screams - 100% Americana.
Of course, there were the years when we stayed in Arlington and had the real Fourth of July thrill of a lifetime watching - in person - the fireworks display at the Washington Monument. We all remember how Daddy loved old-fashioned band music, the more rousing the better, and John Philip Sousa marches were at the top of his list. Is there any bigger thrill than watching fireworks bursting over the Potomac and listening to the Navy Band playing John Philip Sousa marches in the background? Even the Boston Pops Fourth of July cannot beat that! Pawpaw loved it!
The Fourth of July for Pawpaw in later years was quiet, low-key and relaxed and what you all, Win, Emma and Andrew, will remember. Fourth of July Browntown style - usually a picnic at our house or Grammy and Pawpaw's with friends and family and maybe a short walk down to the Bowntown celebration sometime during the day. Pawpaw seemed to enjoy it in a different way after 10 years of living outside of the U.S. Or maybe it was his age and the national political climate, or maybe it's my age and my memory.
Anyway, Happy Fourth of July, 2006! PLEASE BE SAFE
