Saturday, May 05, 2007
Giant sloths were twenty feet tall and weighed as much as a bull elephant. But they're extinct now. I'm very sleepy. Fifth Day of May, and it didn't rain here, but on the way to Jaffrey I could see broken silver streaks of rain in the air, far down below. They were horizontal (parallel to the ground) and very sparkly. Maybe it was because we were zipping along above them. They really looked silver and sparkly, like bits of tinsel; I'm not just describing it that way. It was extremely cool.
Posted at 11:39:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
The Connecticut River Valley is green now (pale spring green, soft textured, and very beautiful), but the rest of the state is still brown. We flew up to 10,500 feet and it was -8°C (17°F). I took some really good photos (esp. of Middletown) on the way home because it was overcast high above, so the lighting was wonderful, not all hazy blue and washed out looking. After Jaffrey we flew down the CT River and then followed Rt. 9 (like I did every day when visiting the Gs at their timeshare) instead of flying home right away. I'm too sleepy now but I'll post some photos tomorrow. The River doesn't look like a snake that swallowed a melon anymore. I couldn't see the shad but I could imagine them. I think there should be a Kimball Farm tunes Internet radio station.
Friday, May 04, 2007
I fell in at our land (because the stump I stepped on collapsed), trying to look closer at some frog eggs in the brook. Didn't get too wet, fortunately--just my right foot (100% soggy) and lower leg, and a little bit of my right leg. And somehow I got all these spectacular dramatic blood red scratches on my left wrist/lower arm. I don't even know how, and they don't hurt at all. I didn't even notice them until later. Anyway, I dried out on the BWP Dragonfly and we had a fantastic peaceful day floating on the pond. Saw two different (I think) large fish. I mean actually large ones! Like at least 18 inches long. One was kind of spotted with a dark stripe down the back, long and narrow shaped. We think it might be a pickerel.
Posted at 7:42:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
Thursday, May 03, 2007
Good deal!! Dean's home from Schenectady! And he's now 100% certified with his brand new shiny instrument rating. (That means he can fly when the visibility isn't good enough to see where you're going by looking out the windows, like if it's really cloudy out. He can fly using the plane's instruments instead.) He finished sooner than expected, but I'm not surprised. :-)
Posted at 5:33:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
It's so pretty out today. Suddenly there are spring leaves everywhere. And two of our tulips are out! I went to Rocky this afternoon (haven't been there in at least a week) and that little weeping cherry tree is all green. After going to the Old Saybrook and Madison SBUX, I realised that even though Rocky's gone downhill, it's still The Best. Far and away the best. For lots & lots of reasons. Driving home, I was amazed by all the new green. I think the Gs picked the prettiest week of spring to visit. Last week, the trees weren't yet blooming; this week there's pink and white and yellow and violet everywhere; next week the flowers will be gone, replaced by green.
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
Posted at 10:18:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
Guess what I ate today, on my last day with the Gingers? Yes, SHAD! (!!!) The Gs spotted a shad sign along Boston Post Road in Old Saybrook, quite close to where they're staying, so we checked it out this afternoon, and it was a very nice fish store with all kinds of fresh fishes slabbed out in cases, plus oysters and lobsters and mussels, and pretty much everything seafoody and fresh that anyone might want to devour. The Fishmonger Extraordinaire (what it says on her business card) was Nadine Sabrin, and she told us that today was only the second day that shad were available this season! They don't catch them themselves, unlike Hale's, but get them already boned from fishermen (since the secrets of boning shad are known only to a privileged few). They didn't have any roe or milt on display, though the monger did mention roe. She gave me a slightly weird look when I told her I eat milt too.
Here are some photos: 1) Atlantic Seafood from the outside (looks kind of boring--and the Gs thought it would be just a shack-ish place--but it was actually nice inside); 2) The Atlantic Seafood fish fan lure setup as seen from the road; 3) The shad (and some neighbor fish) in the fishcase! I commented to the Gs that the shad was such a warm friendly color; it looked much "nicer" than any of the other fishes. But the poor shad was the only fish with a crude hand written sign and NO picture. The hand written sign definitely suits it, but it needs a picture! Maybe I should draw one and mail it to them. 4) Here's the shad we bought, skin side up. It was beautiful! (Oh, and it was also really, really, really delicious. Sapidissima! x 1,000.)
P.S. Went to another new SBUX today. Old Saybrook.
Tuesday, May 01, 2007
Visited a new (new to me, that is) SBUX today: Madison. It was a very poorly laid-out store (looked like the home of someone who was just moving in and hadn't finished unpacking or figured out where to put the furniture) but the baristas were nice. They made my dad a new cappuccino (and brought it outside to us, where we were sitting in the sun) after all his foam collapsed when he sprinkled on nutmeg. (Then the barista sprinkled on nutmeg to make it the same as the first one, but all the foam collapsed again. So he added more foam on top.) Right after we shared my Vosges chocolate (with our coffee, of course), we walked by a fancy chocolate store with a zillion different kinds of Vosges bars, plus ultra-pretty chocolates (not Vosges), including sea salt topped dark chocolate caramels. (I didn't buy any, though.) Luckily, the Gs didn't make any comments about how expensive Vosges is. Too late, they'd already eaten it and declared it very good! Heh.
Posted at 9:33:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
Cafe Routier was wonderful. The Gingers were very impressed with the food. We each tried the other dudes' meals, and each thought each meal was exceptional, but each dude thought his/her own meal was the best. :-) I had rabbit and it was the best. (Since I'm the guy writing this blog, I get the final say.) And we all thought the creme brulee was the Best Creme Brulee Ever, by a very wide margin! It was quite incredible. The other dessert we ordered (an apple crepe type thing) was very good too, but the creme brulee was overmuch inexpressible. I felt very mature as the host. I was a good host! Suitably assertive, talking loud enough, taking the lead in all the staff interactions, etc. I even figured out the tip all by myself. :-) I was impressed.
Monday, April 30, 2007
I love Rt. 9 South. Speedy speedy, rivertown after rivertown, and no traffic.
Posted at 9:00:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
Today we had Ashley's brand ice cream, voted "Best Ice Cream in the State" by Connecticut Magazine, but apparently CT mag's voters are fools, because the ice cream on Sunday was leagues better, as is We-Lik-It, and probably tons of other places (I won't even mention Kimball Farm, since it's not in CT) (won't mention Tropical Dreams or Lappert's either). It was much too icy and non-creamy. I didn't finish mine (dulce de leche flav), but the Gs ate the rest of it. I didn't know the Gs were such big ice cream eaters!! :-) And, I didn't know what a huge chocolate fan my G is either (we went to an outlet mall with lots of truffle free samples). I'm going to bring a bar of my fav-chocolate-ever tomorrow and see what they think of it.
I also had another lobster roll, but this one was the hot kind (buttered, with no mayo), so now I know what it's like. Verdict: the cold kind is superior! But I'm glad I tried it so now I know. (And it was lobster, so it was good, natch.) Non-New England Style hot dog roll this time, though. Scandalous.
Tomorrow I'm taking the Gs out to dinner at Café Routier, which is supposed to be really good. I made the rezzes online using OpenTable while at the Gs' timeshare, using my new laptop pal and the timeshare's wireless network!! I'm so clever.
Other than going to the outlet mall and eating stuff, we did nothing but walk on the beach, and it was NICE. The Gs commented that they liked this vacation. Particularly the doing nothing (aka slacking) part and the spending time with me part. Or doing nothing while spending time with me.
I have sand under my nails. That purple sand wasn't as purple today! I think it was the big overcast bluegrey sky that made it purple. Today in the sun it was lots pinker. The weather was perfect. Clear blue sky with fluffy clouds, ocean breeze, 72°.
I took some pictures with the real camera this time: 1) me in front of a big glacial rock (actually my mom took this one), 2) cool tree-like wavy patterns on the shore, 3) silver sands looking out over the ocean toward Long Island, 4) me with the Gs, 5) a cool beach rock with quartz and garnets (I love this one), and the gorgeous magnolia tree near the Gs' unit.
Sunday, April 29, 2007
Posted at 9:33:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
Ack. It's so cold again. The forecast (claiming 67° and showing a sun) is a total lie. It's 100% overcast, raining lightly, and freezing (lower 50s, I think). I got some more books illustrated by Karen Barbour at the library, though! And I avoided a gigantic traffic jam on the way to West Hartford, which was still going on when I came home hours later. Also, Oats now sells my fav-chocolate-ever.
Posted at 6:34:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
Posted at 12:59:00 PM by Laura W. Petix.
Ella's just starting to get her leaves! Her bark looks amazing.
After reading/looking at Marvelous Math last night, I am officially a huge fan of Karen Barbour (the illustrator). I want to see more Karen Barbour art! Some of her people massively remind me of my favorite Starbucks brochures.
Latest news from the Connecticut River: "Shad are starting to show up!" Still only just a few, though. Apparently, the riv is extra-cold this year.
Carrington was wonderful.
Posted at 1:22:00 AM by Laura W. Petix.
