The reality of turning back into a pumpkin truly hit when it was pointed out that I did not properly clean the kitchen after dinner.
On the bright side it was nice to have someone familiar to share events of the day with. Often we do not appreciate how much of life is shared and how precious that really is.
I also do fully realize that I share the kitchen counter tops and appreciate how valuable life is, particularly when discussing the matter in a room filled with knives and other sharp objects.
I managed to get all paperwork from the workshops sorted and appropriately filed, sort through and retrieve essential articles from 22 days worth of newspapers, line up the next projects on tap (yardwork - 3 days needed; garage reclaiming - weeks, as it will take a skilled team of excavators working around the clock with no sleep (it would take even longer if they worked in their sleep)weeks just to reach floor, let alone try to organize. The problem is they have already organized and have gone on strike so I will have to do it myself.
However, tonight I received 3 catalogs in the mail from CD and/or DVD warehouses, and I feel an urgent need to conduct some extensive research into their contents. The kitchen counters will, thus, have to wait for another day....
But first I think I will move the knives to a safer place.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
July 12
Arrived home early in the afternoon, despite a vicious rainstorm around Gainesville that forced me to pull off the road since I could barely see to the end of my car's hood. The final tally...3916.8 miles, averaging 59 miles per hour, using 130 gallons of gasoline (at an average $2.60 per), and getting 30.5 miles per gallon.
I started with an audiobook on the way back from Savannah (Wicked), but quickly lost interest and moved back to music....listening to 70's music for most of the last 7 hours.
I have to admit a sense of sadness upon my return. For the last 3+ weeks I got to do and experience incredible things....the Planting Science workshop was absolutely amazing in terms of both content and people....The Blue Ridge Parkway was AMAZING and I really would love to go back and take a couple of weeks to explore and hike the trails.
But the most amazing thing about it were the people...The Texas group was PHENOMENAL and I will miss the conversations and the company. There were so many that I wish I could have spent more time with...gotten to know better...had the opportunity to see in a classroom..and gotten to know as friends (for more than just 9 days. Gosh I hope they were serious about going back next summer. WRITE ME IN!!!
As to the Blue Ridge...the scenery and the campus were GORGEOUS!!! A lot of this large workshop (38 attendees),were from private schools, and there was a different attitude here. There was a lot more ego....a lot more cliques....and a lot less genuine sharing....although I met 3 or 4 people here that I felt just as strongly about leaving as I did the folks in Texas.
I have never done this before and now I am ready to try this every summer. IT WAS FANTASTIC! However, I am back in my normal life and role...paperwork still has to be done....the garage is again a disaster and I will have to clean it....the weeds invaded the landscape during my trip and have gained a foothold which only a massive assault (which will be hot and sweaty) will have any effect.
I am back to being a normal schlep...but for three brief weeks I was a contender...
I started with an audiobook on the way back from Savannah (Wicked), but quickly lost interest and moved back to music....listening to 70's music for most of the last 7 hours.
I have to admit a sense of sadness upon my return. For the last 3+ weeks I got to do and experience incredible things....the Planting Science workshop was absolutely amazing in terms of both content and people....The Blue Ridge Parkway was AMAZING and I really would love to go back and take a couple of weeks to explore and hike the trails.
But the most amazing thing about it were the people...The Texas group was PHENOMENAL and I will miss the conversations and the company. There were so many that I wish I could have spent more time with...gotten to know better...had the opportunity to see in a classroom..and gotten to know as friends (for more than just 9 days. Gosh I hope they were serious about going back next summer. WRITE ME IN!!!
As to the Blue Ridge...the scenery and the campus were GORGEOUS!!! A lot of this large workshop (38 attendees),were from private schools, and there was a different attitude here. There was a lot more ego....a lot more cliques....and a lot less genuine sharing....although I met 3 or 4 people here that I felt just as strongly about leaving as I did the folks in Texas.
I have never done this before and now I am ready to try this every summer. IT WAS FANTASTIC! However, I am back in my normal life and role...paperwork still has to be done....the garage is again a disaster and I will have to clean it....the weeds invaded the landscape during my trip and have gained a foothold which only a massive assault (which will be hot and sweaty) will have any effect.
I am back to being a normal schlep...but for three brief weeks I was a contender...
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Day Twenty Two
Way too many states (Maryland, DC, Virginia, North Carolina)....way too many miles (550 perhaps???).....no audiobooks....went for MUSIC today....started with Eddie Rabbitt, moved to Don McLean, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, the Beatles for a couple of hours, and the an hour of Ringo to commemorate his birthday this past week...ending with Wicked.
Tonight is a night of quiet sadness....the Netherlands played brilliantly for 115 minutes (however the game lasted for 116)....Amanda is at the beach, Gwen is headed to Europe, my girls have all gone home, my wife left me (well, she took a plane back to Tampa but its the thought that counts), a new group has already taken their first ride on the Blue Ridge Parkway, while another group has already been greeted and presented with their honorary celery by Claire in Texas....
In short...I have been replaced!
And I still look like somebody's grandfather because I have not yet died my hair.
I think I will eat some worms (the non gummy type).
Tonight is a night of quiet sadness....the Netherlands played brilliantly for 115 minutes (however the game lasted for 116)....Amanda is at the beach, Gwen is headed to Europe, my girls have all gone home, my wife left me (well, she took a plane back to Tampa but its the thought that counts), a new group has already taken their first ride on the Blue Ridge Parkway, while another group has already been greeted and presented with their honorary celery by Claire in Texas....
In short...I have been replaced!
And I still look like somebody's grandfather because I have not yet died my hair.
I think I will eat some worms (the non gummy type).
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Day Twenty One
3 states (Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina)...754 miles....3 sodas....1 audiobook (on the theft of the Mona Lisa in 1912....great book, by the way!)
Left the friendly confines of the ASU campus, where the cool mountain air (the gal in the 24-hour check out center had not one...not two....but THREE, count 'em three fans pointed in her direction as Mountaineers don't need AC. The average day temp in Boone this time of year is in the 70's.....and I had to pick the week where they were setting heat records!
But I was treated to some great views on the way home, and, to be perfectly honest, would have driven the Parkway all the way through Skyline Drive if I had not been meeting my family.....
Next time...
Great to see everyone in Baltimore! Dinner was at Phillip's where the crab cakes were good but the bread pudding was even better! One night in Charm City and then back on the road and heading back to Tampa after a short stop in DeeCee! Check out the cool crab hat picture!
Left the friendly confines of the ASU campus, where the cool mountain air (the gal in the 24-hour check out center had not one...not two....but THREE, count 'em three fans pointed in her direction as Mountaineers don't need AC. The average day temp in Boone this time of year is in the 70's.....and I had to pick the week where they were setting heat records!
But I was treated to some great views on the way home, and, to be perfectly honest, would have driven the Parkway all the way through Skyline Drive if I had not been meeting my family.....
Next time...
Great to see everyone in Baltimore! Dinner was at Phillip's where the crab cakes were good but the bread pudding was even better! One night in Charm City and then back on the road and heading back to Tampa after a short stop in DeeCee! Check out the cool crab hat picture!
Friday, July 9, 2010
Day Twenty
And now, the end is near, and so I face the final curtain.....
Workshop #2 is history, but it was a very good last day. Although I did not win a Mercedes for the second straight workshop, we started the day off with a blast as a design engineer gave us an excellent 2 hour lecture on the design elements of the Parkway, followed by a couple of hours on the National Park Service and the things those nice folks do for teachers.
The bus trip was less exciting....my excellent bus companion of a day ago ran off and left me for another camper....and while hitting the scenic overviews one last time it immediately started to pour (buckets, folks...I am talking buckets here...not drizzle, not a mist, not a light, hot, or baby shower....buckets...in like 5 seconds....we are talking 0 to drenched in 5.2 seconds)
And it did this not once but twice (the second time as I am carrying an umbrella and I STILL got soaked before I could get the darn thing open!).
I am glad to be leaving Boone.
The plan is to hit the road by 4:30...and get to Baltimore by 1-ish, weather permitting.
Guess I will fire up the ol Willie Nelson...."On the road again...."
Workshop #2 is history, but it was a very good last day. Although I did not win a Mercedes for the second straight workshop, we started the day off with a blast as a design engineer gave us an excellent 2 hour lecture on the design elements of the Parkway, followed by a couple of hours on the National Park Service and the things those nice folks do for teachers.
The bus trip was less exciting....my excellent bus companion of a day ago ran off and left me for another camper....and while hitting the scenic overviews one last time it immediately started to pour (buckets, folks...I am talking buckets here...not drizzle, not a mist, not a light, hot, or baby shower....buckets...in like 5 seconds....we are talking 0 to drenched in 5.2 seconds)
And it did this not once but twice (the second time as I am carrying an umbrella and I STILL got soaked before I could get the darn thing open!).
I am glad to be leaving Boone.
The plan is to hit the road by 4:30...and get to Baltimore by 1-ish, weather permitting.
Guess I will fire up the ol Willie Nelson...."On the road again...."
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Day Nineteen
Well, it was the best of times and it was the worst of times. First, I had an exceptional partner on the bus for the first time all week. Not that the others were terrible, but today I enjoyed the company and the conversation, as well as a short nap, but then again, I do look like somebody's grandfather so I guess a nap is not out of the question!
This morning we went to Price Lake, another man-made lake, and set off on what was to be a 2.5 mile walk and talk around the lake, but it turned into about a half mile walk (we ran out of time), and while the talking part was terrific (with lots of ideas on in-the-field field trips, I really wished that we had completed the walk.
After a really long bus ride with a really underwhelming lunch, we arrived at a parkway stop for another incredibly rambling lecture. The topic was interesting....only the lecturer was not. We then drove around the corner (where we could have held the lecture with greater effect) to see an old, overgrown picnic site and rest cabins that were designated for blacks only during the segregated period on selected stops on the Parkway. A very enlightening visit.
We then visited the site of Brinigan's Cabin...built in the 1870's it was used by a 4 member family until the early 1940's. This was how the true, old-time, Appalachian families lived before the Parkway.
Tomorrow, we will bid our farewells at the end of the day, and I must say, while I really regretted the Texas workshop coming to an end...I have few regrets that this one is almost over. A week was all that was needed here. It was informative, enjoyable, and it will be good to be heading to Baltimore!
This morning we went to Price Lake, another man-made lake, and set off on what was to be a 2.5 mile walk and talk around the lake, but it turned into about a half mile walk (we ran out of time), and while the talking part was terrific (with lots of ideas on in-the-field field trips, I really wished that we had completed the walk.
After a really long bus ride with a really underwhelming lunch, we arrived at a parkway stop for another incredibly rambling lecture. The topic was interesting....only the lecturer was not. We then drove around the corner (where we could have held the lecture with greater effect) to see an old, overgrown picnic site and rest cabins that were designated for blacks only during the segregated period on selected stops on the Parkway. A very enlightening visit.
We then visited the site of Brinigan's Cabin...built in the 1870's it was used by a 4 member family until the early 1940's. This was how the true, old-time, Appalachian families lived before the Parkway.
Tomorrow, we will bid our farewells at the end of the day, and I must say, while I really regretted the Texas workshop coming to an end...I have few regrets that this one is almost over. A week was all that was needed here. It was informative, enjoyable, and it will be good to be heading to Baltimore!
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
A note...
I forgot that the pictures are reversed when downloaded. The first pix are from the App State campus...then the Cone Manor on the hilltop down to Bass Lake, a man made lake at the bottom.
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