Adirondack weekend

I had the fortune of spending time this weekend in the Adirondack Mountains, a 6 million acre preserve of mountains and lakes. The park was created in 1882 by the forward thinkers in NY State to guarantee public lands would remain forever wild, forever ours. The park is a huge expanse, greater in size than Yellowstone, the Everglades, Glacier and Grand Canyon National Parks combined.

Contrary to popular belief, the mountains of the Adirondacks are not old, worn down mountains, but relatively young land masses caused by uplift and carving during the age of glaciers. Below the mountains there is continuous activity, causing them to "grow," continually uplifting. The massive boulders rising to the surface, on land and within the lakes, may be some of the oldest rock in the world, but the mountains themselves are still growing up!

Within the mountains lie over 3,000 clear blue lakes surrounded by evergreens and deciduous trees, whose leaves this late in August are already turning bright shades of red, orange and yellow. We had the pleasure on Saturday afternoon to take a cruise along the 99 miles of shoreline of Raquette Lake. Nowhere have I ever seen cabins and camps like they have in the Adirondacks.
It is such a delight to see the quaint villages in this area. "Downtown" Raquette Lake sits almost in the exact middle of the park and consists of a small library, church, and a handful of businesses that look like they've just stepped out of the 1890s - when most of the "modern" buildings in this town were erected.

If you are looking for a visit to a bygone era of lumberjacks, want to spend a day canoeing in lakes like the Native Americans did, camp in the cool nights under the stars, wake to fishing and the call of loons, or dine with celebrities at the Great Camp Sagamore or with your favorite person by a cold mountain stream - try the Adirondack Mountains!
And if you want to go to church while you're there, you'd better have a boat or brush up on your swimming skills!

Duck Racing at it's Finest

The highlight of our small town summer is the annual Duck Drop. I call it The Duck Race, but race is probably too grand a word for this event.

We live along the Erie Canal. A waterway that was designed for boats pulled by mules. Speed was the great consideration in 1822 when this canal opened a gateway to the Great Lakes. The steam engine had not been invented yet, so the packet boats relied on mule power to make the trip from Albany to Buffalo and back. Speed in 1822 is not quite the 2008 equivalent.

On any given day, sightseers can enjoy dining along the canal. Or riding bicycles along the mule path, now a paved pathway that runs east and west for miles and miles. If you don't have a bike, you can rent one. Or try your hand on the open water renting a canoe, kayak or paddle boat. Although there is a current deep under the water, the placid surface is perfect for the ducks and geese that gather to entertain pedestrians and paddlers alike.

So peaceful are these waters, you can throw a stick in and an hour later still see it floating just a few yards downstream. Thus the term "race" is perhaps an exaggeration for our little event. The only reason the little rubber duckies move the alloted distance in less than 30 minutes is because the canal lock master upstream faithfully discharges a gush of water; he opens the lock at just the precise moment to give a little umph, a bit of a nudge, to hurry the duckies along.

The evening started out with a concert by a local band. A sea of lawn chairs and blankets. A gathering of young and old along the banks of the canal. Picnic baskets were wide open, wine was uncorked, the cheese perfectly sliced. A table sat off to one side where our local Starbucks provided free iced coffee. Could life be any better?


The crowd lined both shores. The air filled with anticipation. A local celebrity/news anchor was in place at the microphone to provide play-by-play and color commentary.

Close to 1,500 ducks were lined up, ready to launch. Ok. Not really lined up. But they were all boxed up, ready to be thrown off the Main Street bridge.

And off they go!

Regardless of which duck won, the real winners are the children in our community. All proceeds from the great duck race go to our Youth Services organization, providing free and confidential counseling to all children in our community. Children faced with challenging situations - facing difficult family relationships, family illness, substance abuse, divorce or just in need of someone to talk to... those children will have a place to go, or someone to come to them. Thanks to a little rubber duck race.

20 minutes later, the lead duck crossed the finish line. Backwards. Sticking his tongue out at the ducks behind. At least that's what I was told. And that duck's sponsor walked away with a $500 prize (for only a $5 investment).

I'm still waiting for my ducks to check in.

Growing Puppies and Back to School

img_0080_00, originally uploaded by MamaBear#1.

The boys are getting pretty big now and Oliver has left our den for a new one in the Steel capital. We miss his cute fuzzy face and Sherman misses his little brother.

I can't believe how fast summer is a passing. Just completed my 5th week of our summer school/camp for our students with special learning needs. We have one more week and then a short 2 1/2 week break before the first day of school. Of course, that doesn't mean putting my feet up. I've been transferred from high school to kindergarten! (No more teaching cooking skills every morning.) Our classroom has been completely remodeled so there will be some work to do getting everything in order for opening day.

And with back-to-school comes some new classes for me. I'm very excited to be working with students who use ASL to help them communicate. I'll be taking classes to improve my signing skills. Much needed. Unless all these students need to say is "please," "thank you" and "i need to potty."

I've been working on my rate and clarity of finger spelling this summer, which is coming along, and signing important things like the little fishy song, days of the week (sung to the Adams Family theme song) and "Let's go to camp." Yes, kindergarten is going to be a big change for me. There is something so exciting about going back to school. I can't wait!

Growing

Oliver 6-9 010, originally uploaded by MamaBear#1.

The puppies are growing up big and strong. Could be they found out where we keep the chow. Oliver is 30 pounds now at 3 months. Sherman.... well, we'll find out when he goes in on Tuesday for a little surgery.

And they did a good job of chewing through the CAT5 cable. We're back up and running.

My Parents

My parents are considering giving up their land line to save money and relying on their "new" cell phone for communication. I use the term "new" very loosely. They've had the cell phone for over 5 years, but I can count the number of times they have used it on one hand.

Here's the conversation we had over the phone yesterday... or perhaps I should say I heard yesterday:

(Mama Bear dials phone number and hears them answer on the other end)
Grandma: How do I answer this phone?
Poppy: Don't answer it. What if it's someone we don't know? I don't want to waste my minutes on a wrong number. What number is calling?
Grandma: I don't know. How can I tell?
Poppy: Look at the window on the front.
Grandma: I already opened it, but I think the area code was 555 (misreading the number)
Poppy: We don't know anyone in that area code. Don't answer it. I'm not paying for wrong numbers.
Grandma: But it might be an emergency. What do I push?
Poppy: The green button.
Grandma: ok (click)

Grandma called me this morning. She said she wanted to practice using the cell phone. She and Poppy are heading out on a week-long bus trip with the senior citizens to see famous gardens in North Carolina. She tells me their bus is currently passing through our area so the call won't be long distance. Then she asks me to call my sister "E" back home and ask her to check in on my sister "S" to make sure she made it safely home from dropping them off at the bus station. "S" has only been driving for 34 years, so she might have gotten lost traveling those 3 miles back from the bus station. And Grandma can't call "E" directly, now that the bus is 2 hours from home, because that's long distance. I just say "Ok, Grandma. Will do." It doesn't matter how many times I've explained her plan is free throughout the continuous 48 states.

Grandma says they only took the cell phone with them in case there is an emergency and we need to get hold of them. Poppy doesn't want to waste the batteries, she tells me, so she is going to turn the phone off immediately after she hangs up. However, she plans to turn it on again every night at 7PM just in case we have an emergency and need to get hold of her.

I silently promise to only have emergencies this week between 7 and 8 at night.

It's taken her 73 years to develop this wisdom. Who am I to second guess it?

Sherman gets a brother

My oldest cub is all grown up and living 5 hours away in the steel city. Also home to penguins and pirates. Too far away to get her fill of puppy breath from Sherman. So she decided to take the plunge and get a little guy of her own.

Meet Oliver

Oliver was born the same day we picked Sherman up. They share the same father. And Sherman's mother is Oliver's mother's mother (from quite a few litters back). So that makes them brothers. And uncle-nephew. Sherman is Oliver's bruncle.

They are best friends already.

And while my oldest cub is in the process of moving from her old place to a new pet-friendly place, we get to experience the joy of two puppies under our roof until the end of May. Individually they are sweet-smelling, soft, cuddly, tinkle machines. Together they are a tornado.

Newer and improved..... maybe

The Man of the House was recently provided with a brand-spankin' new 2008 Chrysler Town and Country minivan, similar to the one pictured here (photo courtesy of Chrysler). It's very comfortable, drives smoothly, stow-n-go seats, cool keyfob entry and "keyless" ignition. All the works. And since research shows that cup holders are so important to women, I can accurately report the cup holders in the sliding back doors are a vast improvement over the ones in the 2005 T&C.

So overall, we have been quite happy with this new Town and Country for the last month.

Until last night. Actually, last night precisely at 11:45PM. When all suburbanites are tucked safely in their beds, dreaming of a big yellow bus coming by bright and early to take their little cubs off for the day. Dreaming, that is, until AN ALARM STARTS BLARING for no reason.

Ok, maybe there was a reason. Maybe some wild animal snuck under it and jostled some wires. Maybe some adventurous hooligans were going door-to-door looking for an unlocked vehicle where they could quickly snag a cell phone or laptop. Who knows. Goodness knows we never figured it out. But at precisely 11:45PM, the high decibal horn began it's frightful call.

In the attempt to get into the car, we grabbed the cool keyfob -- this modern day genius of an invention. And discovered to our chagrin that when the alarm is going off, it is impossible to get any buttons on the key-fob to work.

On Chrysler's website they say -- "The intuitive keyfob that's available with Town & Country can do everything from starting the vehicle remotely to opening the available power liftgate and sliding doors." They neglect to say it won't respond while alarm is sounding and the owner is in complete panic mode.

So, where was the owner's manual that would explain how to stop the alarm? In the glove compartment where every able-bodied American keeps their car's owner's manual, of course. Just beyond the locked doors. Locked doors of a vehicle that is screaming into the night. And just in case the neighbors weren't quite sure who was disturbing their sleep, all of the lights inside and outside the vehicle were on permanent flash.

While scrambling around, adrenalin pulsing, we discovered the alarm will stop sounding all on its own after 3 full minutes. And eventually, we figured out that if you pull the keyfob apart, you will find a valet key allowing entrance to the vehicle - though using that key will also start the alarm sounding for another 3 full minutes. And in reading the owner's manual, we discovered once you gain access, the way to shut the alarm off is to start the car using the vehicle's keyfob. So simple, yet so confusing. Especially in the middle of the night. When your heart is racing a mile a minute. When the temperature is in the low 50s and you realize you are only wearing a sleeveless nightgown.

I think in my next life, I will go to design school to make car alarms more user friendly. I will also invest in long sleeved pajamas.

In the mean time, perhaps I should read the vehicle's owner's manual. On second thought, I prefer to enjoy driving my 1993 Honda Accord, without car alarm and keyfob.