All-Star Game

The All-Star Game was a blast. It was so cool to be in our city and to have hockey fans and celebs everywhere. I literally bumped into Bill Clement and Toby Enstrom sat in front of us at the All Star Game itself. We also saw Peter Laviolette, coach of the (evil) Carolina Hurricanes, waiting in line with his family to get his daughter's face painted.



Saturday was probably the best -- the all star game itself was okay -- but Saturday there was the red carpet arrival for all the players. A respectable number of people turned out, so Atlanta didn't disgrace itself. Nothing like Toronto, of course, but a lot of kids and Lindsay Lohan turned out, so I guess we'll call it a success. :-) The skills competition was fun and much better in RL than TV -- I can say from personal experience since after coming home from the skills competition, I watched the taped skills competition. (I do believe my obsessive compulsive attention to hockey is getting better, honest, I do.)



The weekend did take its toll -- we skipped Wednesday's game against the Pens (which we won) and tonight's against the Sabres (which we're currently losing). But, to excuse us, tonight we did go to an amazing conversation between Salmon Rushdie and Rosemary Magee, VP and Secretary of Emory (and my former boss). Rushdie is on Emory's faculty and comes for a week each year and this was the kickoff event. What an erudite, intelligent man. He spoke about his creative process (he writes when an idea has stuck around long enough), the smallness of the world now (world is flat), the idea that the novel is somehow innately local (in tension with global expanse), and his antipathy towards critical/literary theory. Rather, he would prefer close readings and attention to how the second sentence follows the first sentence.

NHL All Star Game in Atlanta

The All Star Game, originally scheduled in what turned out to be the year we lost an entire season to the lockout, is finally here in Atlanta. Downtown is getting geared up, including a 30-story picture of Ilya Kovalchuck on the Westin.

Somewhat disappointing is the fact that Sidney Crosby won't be playing due to a high ankle injury. But, that's kind of cool, too, because maybe it means other players will get some attention. It would have been interesting to see him in the skills competition, though.

Snow Day in Atlanta

We had snow today!

Christmas 2007

Well, it's Christmas. Tomorrow we head up to New York to see Alan's family. A Santa suit may be in his future for the little ones.... :-) We had our usual Fed Ex delivered tree from Weir Tree Farms and it's a sweetie, pictured here in our new "library." I enjoyed reading by the tree this afternoon and told Alan I think it will be one of my new favorite activities (to still be enjoyed once the tree leaves!). We found the tree farm this summer on our apple picking adventure--pretty cool. And pretty neat to be supporting the great north woods with our Christmas purchase that is not more expensive than the local tree lot.

Alan's group had a 60s themed Christmas party - a few of the brave dressed the part. Here we are alone and pictured with John and Duran.

Sunning in Seattle

We have been out in Seattle since Monday for the 2007 Educause conference, which ended yesterday. It was a good conference, highlight by keynote speeches by Doris Kearns Goodwin, who spoke about Lincoln's leadership qualities, and Bruce Scheier, a security expert who talked about the top ten issues he saw facing us on the IT security front. The bad news is he thinks it's going to get worse before it gets better and he proposed some fascinating reasons why, all getting back to economics and human psychology.

Afterwards, we spent the afternoon wandering around downtown Seattle, which is quite attractive. We had a bowl of award-winning clam chowder from Pike Place Chowder and then we wandered around the Pike Place Market, enjoying sampling the area honey which was quite tasty. Then, we hooked up with fellow conferees Jenn, Jim, and Brian and walked over to the Olympic sculpture garden which was located up the sound about a mile and a half. It looks like the shoreline of the sound has been rather recently redone into condos/apartments and restaurants. After the sculpture garden, we headed up the hill to the Space Needle and since it was a clear and sunny day, paid the $16 to go up. Two thoughts: the views were stupendous and Mt. Rainer is a very big mountain.

On our way back to our hotels, we stopped into a wine bar and had a glass of wine, enjoying the sunshine streaming into the room. We all agreed that we could be sitting in parts of New York or San Francisco or Oakland. Probably not Atlanta, though.

Today we're going to do some shopping and visit the Seattle Public Library.

Coot v. Bobcat on Magalloway

Two years ago, on a lovely summer afternoon, we made our way over to Pittsburg, NH to climb Mt. Magalloway. We knew little about the climb, other than there were two trails to the top. One was named Coot, the other Bobcat. On that fine summer day, we started up the nearest trail to the car. So, we discovered The Coot. After a brief leisurely stroll past the historic Magalloway cabin and some lovely mountain flank maple grove, the Coot veers sharply vertical. And it doesn't stop. The charms of clawing your way up a trailbed that clearly doubles as a streambed for mountain waterfalls loses its charms quickly. Very quickly.

Today, we chose the Bobcat. Ascending through the same maple grove, the trail quietly kept the same unforgiving ascent as the Coot, albeit in a more scenic manner. Where before, the unrelenting gravel footpath emphasized the painful challenge that lay ahead of every bend, the Bobcat was no less vertical but much more seductive with numerous false summits, and wonderful ridgeline views to accompany its New Hampshire certified "shitkicker" pitch.

The summit, however, was worth it. We had a nice picnic lunch, featuring grinders from Young's, apples from our picking expedition, and cheese from Canada, at the top. Then down, admiring the mountain's immense flank.

Back at Camp, we took advantage of the last 45 minutes of light to cast down at the ponds. Alan started on the lower pond and hooked a rainbow but it evaded landing. Carole got two nice brookies out of the upper pond -- a 10" female and a huge 14" male. They both looked to be native and ready to spawn....maybe native brookies in our own pond next year?

Foraging for Foliage and Apples

Another beautiful clear day with warm temperatures. A gorgeous morning. For the afternoon, Alan was the man with the plan. His proposal: lunch at Balsam's, foliage tour, followed by apple picking just east of Colebrook. I enthusiastically endorsed and we headed out. Balsam's was hopping -- we had to wait for a table -- but enjoyed the view from the terrace as we waited.

After a tasty lunch, we headed back towards Colebrook over Rte 26, which is undergoing major rebuilding -- totally digging out the old road and putting in a new one. The apple orchard beckoned at the entrance to Fish Hatchery Rd and we took the lure, heading up into the hills until the top. A beautiful small orchard called Two Sparrows. We picked half a bushel of Cortland and McIntosh for ourselves and Priscilla and Hans. The apple trees were so beautiful and just loaded with apples. We picked our limit quickly!

On our way back, we journeyed about searching out back roads and finding Weir Tree Farms, where we get our Christmas tree (FedEx'd to our front door :-), along with Coleman State Park and the Diamond ponds. Mt Monadonack was majestic (and very large) in the distance, overseeing all of our meanderings.

Back at camp, the lake was calm and the light lovely. We headed down to the beach for our first canoe ride (the lake has been rough) and there came upon about 300 geese floating in the cove. As we came onto the beach, they started honking, moving offshore, settling for a bit, but then as we got the canoe in the water, they headed out. They left in waves, twenty or so at a time, beating their wings against the water -- flap, flap, flap, flap -- and then taking to the air, clearing the trees at the far end of the lake. We last saw them outlined in the sky above Sable Mountain.

We thought we might see Priscilla out and about on the lake but did not. Our small jaunt turned into a half lake tour, which, since its 1200 acres, wasn't small. Dusk was falling as we got back to the beach. Another great day at Averill.