Upstate State of Mind
I spent four days over the Fourth of July holiday upstate with PF and NT, and a full recap is not necessary. A straight laundry list of our endeavors should suffice to give an idea of our blood pressure while away: wine drinking, barbecuing, card playing, Scrabble playing, croquet playing, whiskey drinking, more barbecuing.
It was a nature-heavy trip, particularly at the cabin owned by NT's parents (not where we primarily stayed), which is surrounded by many, many acres affording views like this one:
Then there were more specific views of nature, like the turtle we found birthing and burying eggs near the barn. She conveniently scooted a few inches prior to dropping each parcel, so that PF could time her camera moves perfectly:
The croquet was a highlight, for several reasons -- I'd never played before, it was the only thing I did that even resembled physical exertion all weekend (other than when I chipped in with about .00001% of the work necessary to plant an apple tree), and it taught me a lot about NT, who I had previously considered a very gentle soul (not really, but go with it for the sake of the story). If any of you are familiar with the game, you know that hitting another person's ball during your turn gives you the option to place your ball next to theirs and knock it far afield. NT chose that option over and over again, so I saw a lot of this over the course of the afternoon:
But aside from that aggression (and I'm leaving out the fact that I committed similar crimes, of course), the weekend couldn't have been more pleasant. I came back to wait 15 minutes for an A train on a subway platform that was sporting humidity levels of approximately 342 percent. As trains useless to me rattled and screamed in and out of the station, I could barely hear the very loud rock song that I had up near top volume on my iPod. When my carriage finally arrived (this was the night of the Fourth), it was crammed with people going to and coming from their various celebrations. A stark contrast from the previous days, to understate it.
It was a nature-heavy trip, particularly at the cabin owned by NT's parents (not where we primarily stayed), which is surrounded by many, many acres affording views like this one:
Then there were more specific views of nature, like the turtle we found birthing and burying eggs near the barn. She conveniently scooted a few inches prior to dropping each parcel, so that PF could time her camera moves perfectly:
The croquet was a highlight, for several reasons -- I'd never played before, it was the only thing I did that even resembled physical exertion all weekend (other than when I chipped in with about .00001% of the work necessary to plant an apple tree), and it taught me a lot about NT, who I had previously considered a very gentle soul (not really, but go with it for the sake of the story). If any of you are familiar with the game, you know that hitting another person's ball during your turn gives you the option to place your ball next to theirs and knock it far afield. NT chose that option over and over again, so I saw a lot of this over the course of the afternoon:
But aside from that aggression (and I'm leaving out the fact that I committed similar crimes, of course), the weekend couldn't have been more pleasant. I came back to wait 15 minutes for an A train on a subway platform that was sporting humidity levels of approximately 342 percent. As trains useless to me rattled and screamed in and out of the station, I could barely hear the very loud rock song that I had up near top volume on my iPod. When my carriage finally arrived (this was the night of the Fourth), it was crammed with people going to and coming from their various celebrations. A stark contrast from the previous days, to understate it.
posted by JMW at 10:38 PM
5 Comments:
It looks gorgeous, but I'm sure after living somewhere like that for a few months you'd be missing different views and the lack of activity.
(That turtle shot is amazing!)
This is ridiculous. I'm being libeled. It's like talking about what a meanie Patrick Fitzgerald is for going after that cute li'l Scooter Libby.
Nick
Save it, Nick. You had to know I'd corroborate JW's story. I've never seen such unprovoked malice, such bloodthirsty predation in the gentle sport of croquet. Compared to your conduct on the field, Zidane's head-butt looks like a curtsy.
That said, as a hockey-lover, I enjoyed stooping to your level. The high point of my game was when I knocked your ball from the opposite end of the lawn. Next time, let's try to work in some body-checking.
Collusion. Point-fixing. I was fighting an unholy alliance by the only means at my disposal.
JW, I hope you kicked NT's butt in that woosie lawn game?
...As someone who was stuck in the city all weekend long, for absurd and infuriating reasons, it is hard to work up a lot of sympathy about your plight while waiting for the A train.
And normally, you know, I'm so sympathetic. -- tavia
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