Forgot to post before bed last night!

Not a lot of time spent actually at Camp yesterday.

In 1963 when Dad moved out of the dorms at Clarkson, he realized he didn’t have a comfy chair.  He went downtown Potsdam and bought one–a really nice La-Z-Boy recliner.  He kept it and it was in our living room until the upholstery started to rip. I took it from my parents who didn’t want it anymore.  It is the most comfortable chair in which I ever have sat.  I used it for some years with a fitted cover on it until it mechanically broke.  It occupied the tiny foyer of our home for the better part of the last decade until I finally, about 2 months ago, took it to Fleming’s Fine Furniture in Malone to be repaired.  Al, the guy in charge of the repair shop, was almost giddy when I dropped it off.  I don’t think he had ever seen one that old!  Several weeks later he called to say it was all done and ready for pickup.  Yesterday Dad and I took his truck to Malone to pick up the recliner.  I’m not going to share the amount I was charged for this service, but let’s just say I was VERY happy and very impressed!  If ever I am in the market for new furniture, Fleming’s in Malone will be my first stop!

We took the chair straight to an upholsterer in Ausable Forks.  He probably won’t get to it until October; but I’ve waited this long!  Amanda and I will visit him in a couple of weeks to pick out fabric.  From Ausable Forks it was up to Peru to pick something up for Mom and then back to Camp by way of Ausable Chasm where we stopped to watch the work being done on the hydroelectric dam.

It was late afternoon and we all got ready for dinner–our cousins took us out to dinner at Dana’s Rusty Anchor in Valcour.  Always delicious!  We got back to Camp around 8:00.  I enjoyed a beer and a cigar on the porch and went to bed early.

1. An appropriate running board for a plumber’s truck!
2. Dana showing off his new stemware.
3. Work on the Chasm dam
4. The new choke “knob” I put on the Sea Doo yesterday #RedneckEngineering

Woke up around 8:00.

The cousins decided today was the day to see Ausable Chasm.  A good choice, given the weather forecast for the rest of the week.  I gave them a personal tour.  We opted for the riverwalk, as the youngest was not quite tall enough for the Adventure Trail.  I had forgotten about the accompanying adult requirement for the tubes, and so designated myself as such for the kids (9 and 13) who wanted to take the tubes instead of rafting.  Just as well, as I had never done it before.  But I wasn’t dressed for it.  Oh well!  Also, I should have had a heavier breakfast.  I ran out of calories about 2/3 of the way through the hike.  Hooray for fat reserves! (?)

I suggested Clover Mead Café for lunch, but they aren’t open early in the week.  So back to Camp for lunch it was.  After lunch I took a swim/bath. (Ivory: The Soap That Floats!)  Then I went into town to pick up some odds and ends at the hardware store, Red Stripe at Arnold’s Grocery, and gas. The odds and ends included plumbing for a custom toilet paper holder, zip ties to repair the flag pole that hangs our Canadian flag on the boat house at Camp, and a small collar with a set screw to jerry-rig the choke handle on one of the Sea Doos.  (Or, as the guy at the hardware store called it, “Redneck Engineering.”)  It worked!

I played banjo for a bit and then prepped the boat for an after-dinner ride.  I took the kids and their grandpa over to Port Kent.  LCT has been storing the Valcour ferry there this Summer, which is odd.  We looked it over and then I took them out to Ferris Rock and told them the story of how the Valcour ran aground there in 1975. We returned to Camp. I covered the boat because of the rainy forecast.  While we were out, Kelly and Dean came down to visit. (Happy Anniversary!!) I did the dinner dishes, tried new ink cartridges in my portable printer (they “fixed” it), and am heading to bed at 11:30 after publishing this post.

Slept in until 9:30!

Breakfast…waiting for the rain to come.  Watched the lake go by for awhile and eventually picked up my stuff in preparation for a scholarship luncheon my parents hosted today.  As guests started to arrive, I realized rain was also about to arrive and ran down to the dock to cover the boat.  While the luncheon was in progress, I called into a meeting at work.  By the time that was done, most of the guests had left and we had Camp to ourselves again.

I waited for the rain to stop for a bit and put the battery back in the Sea Doo.  Success!  It started right up.  I decided to make sure it was okay and went for a ride around the bay.  🙂

While dinner was cooking, our cousins arrived from Toronto to spend the week.  We ate while they got unpacked and situated, having stopped at Clare & Carl’s on their way in.  Then Family Time on the porch for the rest of the evening!

Sorry…I wasn’t much of a shutterbug today!  But here’s a picture of cousins Jaqueline and Ashton exploring the beach.

I’m spending a full week at Camp this year.  Let’s see how far I get with journaling it.

I left home around 9am and got to Camp at about 11:30.  Kelly (sister) was there with Mom & Dad.  She and Mom went to prepare beds for our cousins who are visiting later in the week.  Dad and I decided to go check out what was going on at Ausable Chasm.

The water in the river is near its all-time low.  There was some rain today–the first in a long time, but it won’t be enough to bring the water up.  Rafters are not able to traverse the rapids.  Indeed, even a raft with a lone guide had trouble getting through to pick up her passengers who had to walk around the rapids!

Whirlpool Basin is the lowest I have ever seen it.

Dean (brother in-law) and I moved the dock and boat hoist out for the third time so far this year.  The lake level is below 95 feet (above sea level) and falling.  Mission accomplished, Mom, Dad, Kelly, Dean, and I took the boat for a ride down Willsboro Bay and back.  Despite a raininy morning, it was a beautiful day on the lake!

While we were waiting for dinner to cook, we sat on the porch.  Seeing a massive plume of dark smoke on Trembleau Point, I hopped in the boat to investigate.  By the time I got out there there wasn’t much to see.  I suspect someone had started a fire using a serious amount of yard waste–probably a lot of pine needles.  The plume we saw from Camp had settled down to a haze that drifted down the bay and which we could smell back at Camp 45 minutes later.

Me on my way back to Camp:

After dinner, I futzed with the Sea Doos, which never seem to run exactly right for us.  The 3-seater’s battery was dead, but the 2-seater fired right up.  Both needed gas.  I removed the dead battery.  It’s charging overnight.

I put the boat on the hoist and then took to preparing a replacement manifold I had to order for my Dad’s air compressor, having broken it 2 weeks ago while working on his lawnmower.  Fortunately, it’s a standard part and was both cheap and easy to find online.

It’s ready to go.  I’ll install it some time this week, while I still remember where everything goes.

More porch time with Mom while Dad went for a walk.  When he returned he reported seeing a young deer lazing about in the weeds in the ditch next to the road.  He walked past very close and the deer did not flinch.  It was still there on his way back.  It seemed healthy…it just had no interest in being anywhere else.

I went inside to post some pictures on Facebook. Amanda called to say goodnight.  (She stayed home because she has a conference in Boston this week, but doesn’t leave until Tuesday morning.)

That’s it for today.  I’m going to bed (11pm).  Here’s a picture of a fawn I saw on the beach north of Camp shortly after arriving today:

I like driving in the snow. There. I said it. I know that makes me a freak by most people’s standards..

At the mere mention of the possibility of more than a dusting of snow, school superintendents furtively consult about if/when to cancel school and/or after-school activities. Since the Ice Storm, even colleges consider the same. Radio stations in urban areas broadcast interviews with highway superintendents talking about how they’ll react to the storm. Folks make sure they’re stocked up on groceries and heating fuel, the assumption being that they’ll be stranded at home for a week or more. And they cancel travel plans.

Good! That means they’re off the road.

And that’s where I like to be. Yesterday I drove from Albany to Potsdam, NY in the thick of a decent winter snow storm. As I left Albany, there was 2-3 inches of fine snow on the interstate—no plows in sight. The traffic was moderate, considering the conditions, but it was moving along faster than I expected; as we maintained 30-40 MPH. That’s not hard to do when there are three lanes at your disposal, even if you can’t see the lines dividing them anymore. The people forced, for whatever reason, to be on the road in these conditions were off to the right, many with their hazard light blinking. Those of us comfortable with the conditions were cruising along in the far left lane, leaving dozens of fellow drivers in our snow dust.

The farther north we got, the thinner the traffic got. Finally, I passed the last tractor trailer in 5 inches of still-unplowed powder. And I was alone. Bliss! There is a post-apocalyptic serenity (if that’s even a thing) about being, for miles and miles at a stretch, practically the only person on the road. And there I was: all alone, comfortably riding along at 50 MPH and not having to worry at all about other drivers. I had, of course, to pay attention to the condition of the road foot-by-foot, and that brings its own special kind of exhaustion after awhile. But for me, that pales beside wondering what everyone else is going to do (or not do). Will they fall asleep? Swerve to avoid wildlife? Text? Simply get distracted? Suffer mechanical failure? Anything could happen at any moment! But not when it’s snowing and you’re all alone. Bliss.

And then there’s the scenery. It is unfortunate that snow and sunshine are almost always mutually exclusive, but the lack of sun barely takes away from the natural beauty of the Adirondacks during a good snow. I drove up through Keene Valley, Lake Placid, and Saranac Lake, stopping briefly to photograph this year’s ice castle. It was gorgeous! Gobs of snow clinging to every evergreen bough. And it was quiet! The snow deadens almost all of the normal road noise. Several times I put my window down just to listen to…nothing, resisting the urge to pull over and walk a hundred yards into the woods and just stand there.

I know this experience isn’t for everyone. I know there’s an awful lot of white-knuckled drivers on the best of days. There are people who are scared, and there are people who don’t have enough experience to drive well in what they perceive as adverse conditions. I am neither of those! I also have made certain that I have a properly-equipped vehicle which is a must regardless of one’s proficiency. But I love winter driving!

PS: Ice sucks, and I’m not stupid. This was “just snow.” I don’t care if you’re driving a tank—if there’s snow-on-ice or sleet or freezing rain and you think that’s fun, well, then I think you have a warped sense of entertainment!

While sorting through digital detritus I came across this, which I must have posted to Facebook in response to someone having tagged me.  It’s something I am normally loath to do, and I certainly did not tag anyone else.  But this was fun to remember and write, and I want to save it.  Here is as good a place as any!

The rules: Copy this and post as your status, but delete my list. List 12 albums IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER that made a lasting impression on you, but only 1 per band/artist. Tag 12 friends to do the same, including me, so I can see what you listed.

———-

In no particular order:

1) The Roaring 20’s – Volume 4; Enoch Light and his Charleston City All-Stars

It’s a good thing my parents had two copies of this.  I’m pretty sure I wore one out!

2) Free To Be You And Me; Marlo Thomas & Friends

There’s a whole lot of Empathy and Golden Rule baked into this gem.  Lots of stories about how we’re all different and should realize and respect those differences.

3) Cocktails For Two; Spike Jones

My first experience with musical humor.

4) That Was The Year That Was; Tom Lehrer

The man is a genius and left the business when he was on top.  I know every song on this album by heart.

5) Pot Luck With Elvis; Elvis Presley

The rhythm of “Kiss Me Quick” was something I just couldn’t get enough of.

6) White Christmas; Bing Crosby

Christmas Morning would not be complete without it!

7) Xanadu Motion Picture Soundtrack; Olivia Newton-John and ELO

My favorite movie of all time, and my favorite soundtrack of all time!

8) Super Trouper; ABBA

I love everything they ever did, but to me this represents the zenith of their career.  If you can only own one ABBA album, own this one.

9) The Little Mermaid; Soundtrack

This movie heralded Disney’s much-overdue return to motion picture animation.  Menken and Ashman outdid themselves.

10) Uptown Girl; Billy Joel

Since I can only pick one per artist, this is the one I pick from Billy.

11) Delirious; Eddie Murphy

This album re-defined “raunch” for kids of a certain age.  Part of the fun and thrill was knowing we probably shouldn’t have been listening to it at our age…

And last, but certainly not least:

12) Allan Sherman’s Mother Presents: My Son The Folk Singer; Allan Sherman

One day while going through my parents’ record collection this cover caught my eye.  I don’t know if it was the pretty lady in the cocktail dress or the fact that she was holding a dead chicken; the fat, bald guy standing on the pedestal playing a guitar or the fact that he was barefoot; or the biggest (what looked like) sausage I had ever seen hanging from a tray being supported by a stone statue of a naked baby.  But I had to know what was on this record!

The album was 1962’s “Allan Sherman’s mother presents: My Son, The Folk Singer”.  The melodies of some of the songs were familiar.  I recognized “The Battle Hymn Of The Republic” in “The Ballad of Harry Lewis” and “Greensleeves” in “Sir Greenbaum’s Madrigal,” but the lyrics were different.  Many of them were outright funny to me in my pre-pubescent state.  “My Zelda found her big romance, when I broke the zipper in my pants,” sounded dirty (though I didn’t know why).  Regardless, it made me giggle.  Listening to Sherman say “Oh boy…” over and over in the midst of a comical string of pop culture references recorded almost 30 years before Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start The Fire” had me in fits.  And listening to the back-and-forth between Sherman and Christine Nelson in “Sarah Jackman” (Frére Jaques) was voyeuristic, like picking up on the party line at our camp and putting your hand over the mouthpiece.  But most of the material was over my head and only “funny” because the audience on the album was laughing.

This was my first taste of Borscht Belt humor, though I obviously didn’t know that’s what it was called at the time.  Not being Jewish, I didn’t understand most of the cultural references; not that I would at that age anyhow.  I have spent my life subconsciously tracking them all down.  My research is not overt, but every so often I will hear one and my brain will say, “Ah!  So THAT’S what ‘B’nai B’rith’ means!” or “THAT’S who David Susskind was!”

Judging by the reaction of the audience on the album, if nothing else, Sherman is hilarious without working blue.  I spent many hours listening, re-listening, and singing along to that record.  There are some references to which I am still not hip.  In this day of Wikipedia it would be trivial for me to track down each and every one about which I have question.  But there’s no romance in that.  My subconscious research continues.  Though I do wish someone would explain why the line “Stein with an ‘e-i’ and Styne with a ‘y'” is funny…