The Knob Behind the Potato
My friend Rick and I have slightly strange ways of describing a beautiful view in the White Mountains and at one point after our hike up Table Mountain we stopped along Bear Notch Road at a "vista" and were trying to identify the range of mountains we were looking at.
Rick: "I think that round thing is the mountain we hiked" (referring to Table Mountain)
Petra:" You think?"
Rick: "I wonder what the knob is back there?
Petra: "What knob - the one that looks like a potato?"
Rick: "No, the one behind the potato!"
Sooooo out of shape!
I am officially out of shape. It was a sad picture, hiking up the Attitash Trail up to Table Mountain. It was a beautiful day in the White Mountains, and if you are not a big time hiker or a slacker like me, this may be up your alley. It starts out easy, but then gets a little steeper as you go on. The weather was fantastic this weekend up in the White Mountains, and Mother Nature did something really swell - it was sunny and warm during daytime and only rained a wee bit in the evening (we made it off the patio in time after dinner, before the rain drops started falling. Table Mountain afforded spectacular views (all the way to Squam Lake and Lake Winnipesaukee), even though it was unclear as to where the actual summit was. We went as far as we could and stopped at the point where Rick had to crawl underneath a tree and still could not find the trail.
A Bear, Three Snakes and Two Rabbit Legs
It was an interesting day for wildlife, good for some - the snakes were out sunning themselves along the hiking trails, which delighted Phoebe to no end; Rick and I spotted a bear on Cannon Mountain (don't worry, we were on I-93 far away) - bad for others, as we saw two rabbit legs and a whole lot of fur along the trail. Some predator had a poor little bunny for lunch, but apparently did not appreciate the whole treat.
Knuckelitis
On account of the Plantar Fasciitis, I am now wearing my inserts in my hiking boots which makes them a wee bit tight (time for new boots, I say!). Since our hikes were steep this weekend, several of my toes now have knuckelitis, which is so much fun. Next time, I'll get taped up, I swear. I am a wreck.
BoocerBall and Tiny Table Tennis
Among the many diversions in Franconia are Boccerball (http://www.boccerball.com/) and a table tennis set that is clearly designed for children. Denise and Rick were unbelievable at Boccerball, which is fast and fun, and I demonstrated my skill for knocking the ping pong ball anywhere but on the table, so Will spend a lot of time hunting for lost ping pong balls under couches, behind the treadmill etc.
Stupid is As Stupid Does
Said Forrest Gump, and please, sign me up to that list! On our hike up Georgiana Falls in New Hampshire, Petra got it in her silly little head that going up boulders in the middle of a raging river might be a good idea. They looked big and sturdy, and for some reason, neither Rick, Denise or Will stopped me from doing it. Come to think of it I don't think I would have listened to their objections anyway. Maybe I had something to prove, after the huffing-and-puffing episode the day before up Table Mountain, but I should know that it is never a good idea to give in to the notion that you feel like superwoman. (Reminds me of one of those joke E-mails - you may be a redneck if you can respond with a number to the question "How many relatives of yours have died right after saying "Hey, watch this!" ?). So, here I was, in the middle of the river, thinking I could walk on water, gingerly balancing over slippery rocks and realizing quite quickly that this was one of the stupider ideas I had in recent months, and believe me, there were others.
I did fall into the water once (thank goodness for quick drying pants) and would not be surprised if a certain part of my anatomy (the one you sit on) would have a nice bruise on it. The highlight was when I was really stuck in the middle of the river, in front of a 7-foot boulder with no good plan on how to climb on top of it (which I needed to in order to escape the dilemma I was in). So I hoisted the back-pack, my hiking poles and the camera up on top and then in a performance that resembled one of those snake-woman acts in a circus, weaseled my way up the rock. There was no room for the slightest mistake and it took me quite some time to calm down afterward and stop my legs from shaking. Rick came back to rescue me at some point, when I had made it out of the water and we re-joined Denise and Will, who had already made their way up to the top of Georgiana Falls. The trail going up at some point is unrelentingly steep and not marked well at all, so you have to bushwhack it quite a bit (I think I fell two more times - maybe this is why my right knee hurts), but once you make it up there it is phenomenal (http://public.fotki.com/12101995/hiking-pix/2007/georgiana-falld-nh-71207/georgianafalls71207004.html - this is a web site I found with some great photos - mine will follow in due time). Worth the effort.
The Week in Review
Week-work-work-work-nice-walk-with-Hillary-along-the-Charles-River-on-Wednesday-etc-etc-etc-Friday-leaving-for-Franconia. Buying new running shoes, darn Plantar Fascitis acting up again. C'est ca.
The Nearsighted Cyrillic Computer
Well, the laptop computer is now officially dead. While it operated in limited fashion (leaning against a cast-iron pot (or in the case of Franconia against a Jim Beam bottle), keys missing (Page Up, A, CTRL, some others, broken in half), you can now no longer read anything on the screen, unless it is in 100-point bold type font. Trying to read any document or application name is as if you are extremely near-sighted without contacts or glasses and you are trying to read Cyrillic letters. The new computer is being shipped and better times are ahead.
Talk to you soon.
pet:)
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