October 26, 2018
Dear Everyone:
We had a wonderful time on our slightly-extended-weekend in
New York.
Both “Richard” and “Marshall” arranged to arrive at the
Newark (New
Jersey) airport on the same afternoon as “Jeannie” and I did.
So we all drove together in “Richard’s” rental car to “Alice’s”
place in “Upton Lake”.
“Richard” and “Marshall” navigated with the help of two
GPS
systems, which occasionally disagreed with each other.
(“In a quarter-mile, take the next right!”
“Bear left!”)
Apparently, there are more than one, or two, or three, ways to get from
New Jersey to upstate New York and they’re all very complicated.
Nevertheless, we all arrived to be greeted by “Alice” and
Emilia, the
golden
retriever. Because
“Alice” and “Kelly” have such a large house, everyone got a bedroom of
their own, usually complete with its own bathroom.
Although “Jeannie” discovered, the first morning, that her shower
was filled with a musical drum set.
So she used one of the many other bathrooms instead.
We had timed our visit to coincide with the World Famous (locally)
New York Sheep and Wool Festival.
This took place at the nearby
county fairgrounds.
“Alice” had made a reservation for an electrical four-wheel
scooter
that I could use to ride around instead of walking everywhere.
With my back, it’s not really the walking so much as the
maintaining a vertical position that counts.
It was very helpful to sit and ride up to one of the barn-like
structures that temporarily housed all the vendors displaying their
many, many wares.
Once we had agreed on a particular barn to explore, I would leave the
scooter parked outside and wander through all the exhibits on foot.
Eventually, we would exit at the other end of the barn.
Then “Alice” would run back to the beginning and bring the
scooter around to me. It’s
kind of a toss-up as to who actually spent more time riding the scooter,
“Alice” or me.
There were literally hundreds of vendors selling everything from raw
wool to a whole universe of hand-dyed stuff to actual sheep to kits of
all kinds. Hand-carved
spindles
for people who choose not to spin their wool with one of those
new-fangled wheel
thingies.
A little something for everyone.
Naturally we didn’t have a snowball’s chance of seeing
everything. Nor did we
necessarily want to. Seen
one sheepdog
herding competition, seen them all, right?
Even so, we saw a lot, and bought enough to keep us in stitches
for the entire winter, once it comes.
The weather, by the way, was most accommodating.
Partly cloudy, cool but not freezing cold, with a little wind and
no rain, the whole time we were there.
The only drawback was the so-called
Autumn Colors,
which failed to make an appearance.
I’ve noticed the same thing here in
California.
Usually, the leaves have turned colors by now; but the trees are
still sporting more green than anything else.
Maybe the foliage knows that
Daylight Saving Time ends later these days and is biding its time.
In the meantime, “Richard” and “Marshall” visited
Vermont and
Connecticut, I
think.
“Richard” has recently realized that he has set foot in
almost-but-not-quite all 50 states in the Union.
With this trip, he crossed two more off the list.
Then the two of them joined us again at the Festival on Sunday.
They both brought hats to keep their heads warm.
“Richard’s” was one from his
alma mater,
Oregon
State University.
As he came out of one of the barns, someone came up to him to announce,
“You’re the second one I’ve seen today!”
“Richard” and his new
BFF
enjoyed chatting until the rest of us showed up.
Small World Department.
Everyone got home safely.
And my wool is currently sitting in the freezer, to discourage any
wool-chomping critters that might have hitched a ride at the
Festival. Now I just have to
decide what to make with it.
Love, as always,
Pete
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