I spent the last couple days <s>cleaning up Kitty's basement in preparation for the arrival of new "guests"</s> cleaning up the apple crew bunkhouse in preparation for the arrival of the rest of the crew.
Kitty thinks it might help dispel the vicious (and largely unfounded) rumors about my being help captive in her basement this past year if I were to <s>invent</s> relate a brief account of my recent activities.
Friday, August 20: Hitch-hiked into Cookeville to catch the bus and start the journey to New England. I had excellent luck and got to the bus station 2 hours early -- so of course the bus arrived 2 hours late. Alas, that meant no time to see cheap movies in Knoxville (Man On Fire and Chronicles of Riddick were both playing at the dollar theater) but I did stop over for a few hours, time enough to begin reading an adaptation of (skeptical noir novel) Nightmare Alley at the library and browsing for a few hours at Borders, before returning to the bus station to catch a midnight bus and resume journey.
Saturday, August 21: Stopped over in DC to visit the National Zoo. Headed straight to Think Tank on arrival, in hope I might be in time for a presentation on the Orangutang Language Project (which I had seen and been impressed by a couple years or so back). Unfortunately nothing listed for the day, and no signs or other indications of when such presentations are scheduled, but I enjoyed catching up on the various displays about use of tools, animal deception, whether certain clever-seeming actions actually display thinking skills, etc.
On-and-off rain kept the crowd down but also kept many animals out of view. I glimpsed a tiger, and saw a pair of lions sleeping head-to-head, spent some time admiring the caracal, looked at the bats and other indoor exhibits. (Naked mole rats!)
A couple of things made me laugh out loud. One was the sight of zoo personnel at the new Kid's Farm area trying to weigh a roomful of ducks. (If you're able to visit the zoo, look for this!) The other was a sign: "Great Cats". Talk about redundant! At least they didn't have signs up for "winged bats", "amphibious crocodiles", or "footless snakes".
Walked over to DuPont Circle afterwards to browse in bookstores. Leafed through some of the recent political books on display, and read Birth of a Nation by Aaron Magruder and Kyle Baker. (Good stuff!) The bookstore closed at 11 PM, and since my bus boarded a little after midnight I decided it would be wise to take the metro rather than walk. A good choice: the escalator at the DuPont Circle station is a ride worthy of an amusement part. (And free, too! I'd have ridden it up and down several times if I"d had time.)
SUnday: arrived in Ascutney. Stan met me at the bus stop, and we were going to drive down to Westminster to visit the orchard except the car developed trouble a few miles down the interstate. So -- with help -- we managed to get back to the land trust instead (and to park the car near Charlestown where it could be picked up later). Luckily Stan and Jenny have another car, as they were planning to drive down to Maryland Monday to take their son Will off to college.
The apple crew for this year, so far, is Stan, VAnessa, Ruth, and me, with Jenny on tap to lend a hand as needed. That's several pickers short, so we've been trying to hook some new people. Two young folks in Ohio, friends of Ruth, had nibbled at the bait, so Stan called them back to see if he could reel them in. They sounded interested, and made a tentative commitment -- Stan will call them again Thursday after getting back from Maryland.
(If they do <s>realize the truth</s> change their minds about picking, I'll have to see if Kitty might lend us some of the JREFers she's planning to drug at the weekend get-together. Still no word on whether renata will be one of the ones attending, but even if she is Kitty says she's off limits for the basement-guest list. Apparently Kitty, renata, and Girl 6 -- "The Triumvirate" -- signed a mutual non-aggression pact some time back. Girl 6 agreed not to hypnotically entrance Kitty or renata, Kitty agreed not to drug and enslave Girl 6 or renata, and renata agreed not to clobber Kitty or Girl 6 at chess. Phooey! I quote Jonathan Swift to Kitty, about how promises, like pie crust, are made to be broken. Kitty, however, refuses to budge on this. She is far too honorable to break her word to renata, at least not until she can check whether Girl 6 would be willing to go along with it.)
Monday: no picking yet. Oh, well, at least I can catch up on sleep.
Tuesday: I bike down to Bellows Falls, and on to the bunkhouse for some serious pre-season clean-up. We time-share with a family of mice, and there is disagreement on housekeeping standards. The mice like our food selection and choice of insulation materials, but we have not yet been able to reach agreement on whether or not cupboards are suitable bathroom facilities.
There is a large (almost spherical!) cat who lives in the house next to the bunkhouse, but she seems to have made peace with the mice. What is it with all these annoying non-aggression pacts?
Thursday evening: I attend a free showing of "Outfoxed" at a church in Saxton's River, a pleasant 15 minute walk from the bunkhouse. The film is well-attended (about 60 people), with interesting discussion afterwards. (The church is doing a series of weekly films related to politics and the upcoming election.)
Friday (today): biking back to the land trust to help Stan and Jenny transplant pansies (and stopping off at library on the way). Monday Stan and I will pick some Macintosh, and later in the week Vanessa and I will pick some Wealthy. And next weekend I get to meet Larry, Scott, Suezoled, the Kittens, some guinea pigs, and more! Life is good.
...)
