Here’s a story my father wrote for his local paper that has been a family legend since I was Finn’s age: A night on the Southampton hills with the 'snow custard'.
I’m filing this one away for Science Tuesdays: What are cool and inexpensive home science experiments I can do to blow my son's mind? – Quora.
Ugh. I’ve spent the last week knee-deep in WordPress, resurrecting one site from the dead, building another, and preparing for a third. It’s actually going smoother than I thought it would, for having been away from anything under the hood more than a year. What I remember came back quick, what I forgot was easy to refresh, and what I’ve learned has been relatively quick and painless. I don’t know if it’s my mindset, if I’m cresting a mental peak, or if shit just got a little easier since last year, but I have a lot more respect for my own skills today.
Thanksgiving was great, as usual, and the house is quiet now that everyone is gone. We’re on the tail end of the leftovers, which is good because I’m getting sick of turkey, and bad because there’s nothing else in the fridge to eat. It was great to see the family. Renie helped me rake all the leaves up and throw them into bags or into the compost bins out back, and the very next day a strong wind kicked up and blew more back into the yard. So it goes.
The Saturn is no longer with us. A man with a tow truck came yesterday and pulled it out of the driveway, closing another automotive chapter in our lives. I was sad to see it go but happy to have it out of the driveway and off the insurance policy. Hopefully it will make MPT some money and kick back a little tax writeoff.
Speaking of cars, I found an iPod adapter for my Honda this afternoon, which appears to be compatible with my stock radio (I was under the impression I needed to have an XM-ready model). Apparently half the dashboard has to come off to access the radio, but once it’s in place an iPhone can be connected to and controlled by the radio, as well as the steering wheel buttons. Slick.
Mom and Dad are safely back upstate; we had a great time together exploring Gettysburg, checking out a real St. Mary’s County stuffed ham and oyster dinner, doing some work/sightseeing in downtown Baltimore, and meeting up with a cousin to tour the Antietam battlefield. Mom got in some quality granddaughter time, Dad got some scenic exercise, and we all were treated to gorgeous fall weather and turning leaves. I’d place a bet that 50% of them will be gone by next weekend.
I finally got dome light bulbs for the Honda that fit, so I can now see in the dark. I installed them just in time for some asshole to walk down Frederick Road and lift valuable items from unlocked cars at 5AM; I’d forgotten to lock mine so he walked away with my old 60GB iPod. Later that morning (5:30, to be exact) the police knocked to see if we’d been burglarized, and to report they’d caught the guy, but we were too tired to get up. Later, our neighbors let us know what was happening, and I confirmed our loss. I’m supposed to call the officer when he gets on duty tonight and see if I can recover my iPod. While I was at the dealer, I picked up some touch-up paint to cover a scratch I hadn’t noticed on the passenger door. I have to scuff off a little rust and brush over it before the snow flies.
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I’m trying not to let something that happened on Tuesday bother me too much. A 75° ride in the Scout today helped a little bit.
There’s not much to report around here. I spent the majority of the weekend behind a desk working on an illustration, but we were able to get out a bit on Saturday to run errands with the girls and visit the Hoerrs’ barbecue in the evening. Sunday I ran the Scout up for the first time in two weeks and took her for a quick drive to the hardware store in beautiful fall weather.
While working, I’ve been doing a lot of research online about the battle of Gettysburg. My Dad has been talking about coming down to visit the battlefield, and this coming Friday we have plans to drive out there and see it. In preparation, I figured I’d find a copy of the Killer Angels, a historical novel based on the battle–something I’ve been meaning to check out for a while now. I got it on Amazon and started listening to it while at work, and it’s very good. I also had Netflix send me Gettysburg, which was made in 1993 and based on the novel. Certain parts of the film feel very dated (the production started out as a miniseries and from an aesthetic point of view it still feels very much like one) but the battle scenes are breathtaking and it definitely helped put faces to names and places (now I can only see Tom Berenger sporting a huge set of muttonchops when I hear of General Longstreet).
The novel focuses on several characters instead of jumping all over the battlefield, so it does a great job of personalizing the experience, but it fails to give a clear overall picture. I found several programs on Youtube dedicated to the overall battle, one of which was produced by the History Channel and which provides a broader view, and goes into detail about the technology and backstory. The show explains the design of the minié ball, different types of cannon ammunition, and reliance on Napoleonic tactics in the face of modern ballistics, helping make sense of the battle and why it was fought a certain way. It also sheds light on the incredible courage and waste of famous maneuvers like Pickett’s Charge; why else would thousands of men line up in neat rows and march straight into cannister fire from massed artillery?
There are also some podcasts available to help tour the battlefield, which I downloaded and put on my old iPhone for our trip. By the end of the week, I won’t be an expert on the subject, but I’ll at least know enough to be informed.
Monday we have plans to see Antietam, in Sharpsburg, which is another story entirely. I’ve done some preliminary research on this battle, but we’ll be joined by my cousin Brad, who I’m told is well schooled on the subject and willing to take us on a tour.
This afternoon, we met the family up at the Cumberland Railroad to take a scenic steam train ride through the woods. The train is a Baldwin 2-8-0, and it makes a beautiful meaty sound as it powers up the incline from Cumberland to Frostburg.
Update:
There are four passenger cars hooked up to a dinette car with snacks, toys, and drinks; behind the tender is a club car for first-class tickets, and at the end is a caboose. We found seats in the last passenger car and flopped seatbacks to face each other, then settled in for the ride.
Restless, we explored the train after it was underway, and found wide viewing areas in the mail car. Finn stuck her head out and came back with a face full of cinders; after that she borrowed Uncle Rob’s sunglasses.
Arriving at the depot in Frostburg, we got off the train and found a good vantage point to watch the train spin on the turntable.
It was pretty impressive.
After a quick lunch at the depot, we got back on the train for the return trip.
Everyone had a great time, and I think we all are going to bed early tonight.
On the Metro, heading to the National Zoo
Making friends wherever she goes (human and animal)
She was very interested in the dinosaur, even when there were big cats right over her shoulder
There weren’t many perfect photo ops, but this was one of them.
Wow, we were social butterflies this weekend. Friday night we hosted Dan and Elena for an evening of food, brewing, and storytelling on the front lawn. Dan got a batch of saison in the can to ferment in our basement (the climate is much friendlier to beer down there). Saturday afternoon Finn stayed awake through naptime to attend a birthday party across town, where swings were swung, bubbles were blown, capes were worn, and laughter was had. When we got home she stayed awake with Mama while I brewed my beer—a partial mash recipe which took longer than a standard extract kit. I chilled it a little too cold so it had to sit overnight to warm up before adding yeast, but the starting gravity is within .002% of where it should be.
Sunday we drove up to my boss’ house for a pool party with the whole office, where the adults may well have been outnumbered by the kids. The water was 85° so Finn was happy to get in, and within about 30 minutes she was paddling around by herself. I was lucky enough to win one of several games and walked away with $50, which was a happy surprise. At 2:30 we scooped Finn out of the pool and headed home, where she crashed out until 5:30. Our neighbors invited us over for dinner, so while Mama was out shopping Finn and I walked down the street and played until almost 10PM. When Jen and I headed back upstairs for the evening, Finn’s light was shining under the door, and this is what we found after tiptoeing inside:
Mom and Renie packed us up for the trip home with two boxes of books from the family archives. Richard Scarry is heavily represented, as is Dr. Seuss and much of the pre 1970 Little Golden Book catalogue. We have some of the Seuss and Scarry already, but it was great to read some old favorites to Finn- If I Had A Circus was a big hit the other night.
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Taking advantage of the singular day of 80° weather, we walked her down to the ice cream store last night and indulged in some cool refreshment. I think Jen and I had the same feeling at about the same time—the weather was perfect, the ice cream was delicious, the smell of Old Bay and fresh cut grass wafted over us, and Finn happily spooned her italian ice in between us; life was good.