Lighted Window

Accidental Tourism

(with apologies to Anne Tyler)

I took the day off work yesterday and struck out for the wilds of North Jersey. Amtrak, specifically the Acela, made it possible to enjoy the trip -- I knit from sunup (Dedham, MA) to middday (Pennsylvania Station, NYC) and then again to sundown (somewhere in Connecticut or RI). The reason for all of this rolling along on the rails was a luncheon honoring my father for 25 years of service to his employer, and unfortunately, cameras were not permitted. So I made careful mental note of a few images, instead:

• A businessman who, at first glance, appeared to be knitting. His gaze was focused downward, at the little fiddly motions his hands were making. He was just untangling his earbud wires, though (how conventional).
• The big, round harvest moon setting in the west as we pulled out of the station just before dawn.
• The big, round harvest moon rising redly over the coast -- just the same and yet utterly different.

It's been years (nine? ten?) since I went to New York City to go to rather than through, and although yesterday was another just-passing-through, I went up to the surface in between trains. The beautiful Manhattan Post Office is right across the street from Madison Square Garden; the one that says "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds". It is marvelous to behold. So I enjoyed it, and then went back downstairs to wait for my train.

Oh yeah, knitting. I took the yarn and pattern and began a modified version of the Traveling Hat -- will post the tweaks. So far so good.

Sais Tu, Acadie

(I uploaded some larger pics here; just click on the thumbnails.)

A trip to Maine has been in the cards for a while now, and we've been listening to Richard Shindell's excellent cover of Acadian Driftwood nearly daily since we picked up South of Delia earlier this summer. Acadia National Park is not exactly the Boundary Waters of the Northeast, sad to say, but it was well worth a visit. We packed up for the five hour drive and hit the road on Thursday (the tent stakes were all there, though I wasn't sure until we pitched the tent).

That's how much Fake Isle Hat I can knit in five hours (or more, since I cast on en route to hockey on Wednesday night). Worsted weight feels pretty bulky compared to the stuff I've been knitting with this year.

I forgot to take pictures of the campsite (within Blackwoods), which usually helps with future trip planning -- just picture a level, gravelled spot, three feet off a paved road, thinly surrounded by pines and thickly surrounded by identical campsites. This was the offseason and it still felt extremely crowded by state park standards (and cost twice as much). Just in case you were thinking of going. That said, the rangers do their best to space people out; the RVs are kept to one section of the park; the bathrooms are clean and the water tastes good. Best of all, there are free buses with bike racks to help you get around the park. This is especially helpful because the Park Loop Road is one-way for a while. There are also carriage roads all over the park, which make for very nice riding.

We were up in time to see the sun rise on Friday, and then spent the day biking around. For some insane reason we tried to climb the west face of Cadillac Mountain in bike shoes (it was there, so were we). A little steep for that. Had to stop and enjoy the view and knit for a while.

The sheer stupidity of our attempt is demonstrated by Tim's stocking feet:

Still can't get over how fast that colorwork went.

I mostly scooted down the mountain on my butt, like a crab, and I'm not ashamed to say so.

Saturday it turned grey and rather wet. We took advantage of the bus into town and tried to stay dry (and failed). By suppertime the storm blew out to sea, and we had a yummy dinner in Bar Harbor before taking the bus back to Blackwoods... where the number of stars up above knocked everything else out of my mind. Amazing, amazing sky. So many stars it was hard to pick out constellations, and a few shooting stars, too.

Sunday was sunny, windy, heavy with rose hips, just like a beach should be in the fall.

 

Go to Maine. They have SKY up there.

Back In a Few

The heat broke, it's fall for sure, and we are leaving for a few days' camping in Acadia. Just running around trying to find the tent stakes and other sundries before we hit the road.

The change of seasons has shown up another minor change. I love the local food thing, but right now it feels like a chore to blog about it. So that will probably fade into the background for a while, and other projects will take the stage. I'll probably keep participating in the Eat Local Challenge, but with a very low profile. Ravelry is sneaking up on my time, hard. Not to mention, some actual knitting!

So -- see you in a little while -- enjoy the weekend!

(More photos from the field work... spinners are a nice reward for being up before dawn.)

Field Work

I've been spending this week sitting in a field and trying not to get much sun -- in fact, that is what I'm doing at this very moment, thanks to the magic of EVDO. Someone asked a while back about fieldings. My job these days is software- and network-oriented, and I work with scientists to make sure that their data gets where it needs to be and gets analyzed usefully. So we're out collecting data this week. Also collecting some nice scenery and a few critters...

This was hardly the only critter -- we've also seen wild turkeys, deer, and quite a few insects and arachnids. This lady held still long enough to be photographed. (Not sure it's a lady, but given the size, it's a working hypothesis.)

Been getting up before 5 am to drive out here, and coming home exhausted at dinnertime, so cooking has been limited to finishing off the projects I started this weekend -- cooking down and canning tomato sauce, and baking with peaches. As it's the last week of OLS, I'll hit the farm stand on the way home and try to do something tasty with all those tomatoes in the fridge and on the porch. There was an interesting-sounding roulade in Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. Plus it's time to make yogurt again.

There's No Place Like Home

We returned this morning from a three-day vacation with my parents and sister. While I love them dearly, a visit longer than 24 hours can try everyone's patience. But they live in NJ and we don't see each other very often, so we jumped on a plane and spent a few days visiting Colonial Williamsburg, Jamestown, and Yorktown with them.

Details aren't necessary -- suffice it to say that I only fully relaxed once we were at the airport... on the return trip. We were blessed with unusually cool yet sunny weather the whole time, and Yorktown really knows how to celebrate Independence Day. Pictures after I unpack.

Williamsburg also has a farmers' market in the middle of ye olde touriste shopping blocke, all summer long. The corn was local, but we didn't make a meal of it (and I had doubts about getting it on the airplane). However, we did enjoy pies from the Jamestown Pie Company -- pot pies for supper and a strawberry-blackberry pie for dessert! Yum.

I fell deeply and tragically in love with Moorcroft Pottery -- tragically, I will never be able to afford it (and even if I could afford it, I couldn't bring myself to put something that expensive out in the open and enjoy it). Go look. This is unbelievably beautiful stuff.

Socks and baby blanket were knit upon, mostly while walking around the sites and sitting under trees waiting for others of our party to exit the gift shop. One of the historical interpreters in fake Jamestown inquired about the blanket... turns out he's knitting himself some WWII Red Cross sweaters to wear during reenactments. Apparently a reenactment society have entrenched themselves (literally) in Pennsylvania, reenacting the Battle of the Bulge.

Ok, time to make some supper and get some sleep!

PS -- yogurt and ice cream were both delicious. Yogurt was a little loose still; will try with local whole milk next time. It might just be cooling off too quickly, though.

Silver Lake, VT

We spent two nights up in the hills in Vermont this weekend -- beautiful country, and the blackflies waited to hatch until we were leaving. We've been to this campground before, and it's always a treat. The land is owned by the National Forest Service. The only buzz-kill was the unspeakably wretched behavior of the campers at the next site over. They were stripping bark off live birch trees, down to the golden layer where the tree starts leaking sap, which is a surefire way to kill the tree. Just for kicks. They were also burning things they ought not be, and the manager kicked them out, but they'd already stripped 8 trees by then.

There was a fieldstone foundation next to our campsite, which neighboring children found endlessly entertaining. We managed not to fall into it, coming back from the lakeshore after dark (good on us!). Most of the weekend was spent reading (The Omnivore's Dilemma) and knitting (socks, baby blanket) and taking in the view.

The socks smell decidedly smokey.

Misc. Updates

Sorry about the hiatus. I didn't think anyone was reading this anyway... now TypePad tells me there have been -- get this -- 1 or 2 views each day in the last week. And it sure wasn't me. Welcome, whoever you are, and feel free to comment.

There have been some things happening around here, despite having The Cold From Hell, working, etc. First and foremost, we spent three days biking in northeastern PA. We went on a self-guided tour called Bike Inn To Inn and for the most part it was outstanding. (If you go, skip the night at Pleasant View. The view is, but let's just say that the other two inns are better managed.) We, ok I, managed to get lost in the Catskills on the way back. But we (and our impressive sunburns) got home ok.

What else... well, the first sock is nearly done. The heel has been ripped back about one and two half times. Either Amy Swenson has narrow feet, or my feet bend the laws of geometry, but the heel was going to be about halfway up my ankle. (I'd blame the gauge swatch, but my row gauge is just the same in the sock.) Anyway the second sock is started, from the other end of the ball of yarn, lest I run out of yarn partway through. Can't be too careful on the first try.

Also, this morning we schlepped a few hundred boxes of books out of the basement and onto the lawn of the Concord Library for their annual fundraiser book sale. Tim is letting the Sudafed wear off... and I think I'm going to have a little lie-down too. Mmmmmmm, books.