The Long Road -or- The Falls, The Fair and the Lake
Where to begin?
On August 7th, Arthur, Ehrich, Dave and I left putnam county, crossed the river and headed north on i87. Arthur and I met up with Dad a few exits up the i87 northway from i90, where it becomes the NY thruway. And I continued alone to the next rest area. I met up with Dave and Ehrich at the next rest area and agreed to let Ehrich ride with Dave, assured that I would not have to drive home alone. For long hours we drove, Dave and the Donut Trailer in the lead and Sybil and I in the back, carrying 800lbs of donut mix. We arrived at the Erie County Fairgrounds at 4:15pm later than Dave had wanted to get there, but we were there nonetheless. Upon arrival we were directed to another entrance on the other side of the fairgrounds, so we drove back out onto the road and circled the 2 and a half miles to the other side of the grounds, where we were directed back to an entrance about a hundred yards from the entrence we went in first. We arrived at Gate B near Lot 6 at about 4:30, upon which we waited for the woman in the golf cart to show dave and Ehrich where to set up(not really sure how I got out of the initial set up), While I began reading The Cyspherion. 50 pages and a half hour later, Dave and Ehrich returned from the fairgrounds and we went to the camper city to get out camping permits. a short conversation with the camping Carney later we were off to the edge of the main parking lot to set up camp. at about 6:00 we finished moving in and Dave turned to me and said, 'I've never seen Niagara Falls before.' We left immediately, stopping at the Chinese Buffet that we had seen on the drive in to eat, and then I drove the half hour to the Falls from Buffalo. After wandering around for a short time looking for a parking lot we walked along the Niagara river for about ten minutes before we reached the Falls. We must have gotten there just after they turned on the lights. We basked in the glory of the falls for what felt like a thousand years...or five seconds. Ehrich played his violin and I just absorbed the constant wind from the powerful waterfall. We made a few calls and Dave took some pictures, that I'll try and get a hold of asap. We then returned to the Campsite, though I could have stood there eternally...a small peace keeping my soul intact enough...longing to share it with someone...
Wednesday we finished setting everything up and opened at 4:30pm, about a half hour before the gates opened for the preview night of the fair. It was three days before I had the opportunity to walk around, more then back and forth across the fair to the campsite, which was about a mile away from the Trailer. We met some interesting people at the booth next to us giving away...raffle tickets, basically, for $5000 worth of home improvements and a huge dollhouse. on the other side of us were texans selling corndogs..they were not very personable.
A blow by blow would certainly be boring to read, needless to say, there was running back and forth to Wally World for various supplies, and other insanity. One day there was really bad rain that knocked out the donut machine for about two hours, while dave raced to the Home Depot to get a new plug for it. Ehrich won over $300 at the slots, and on his second scratchoff ticket ever, using the lucky dollar coin Dad gave me, won $50. I lost about a hundred dollars at the slots over the few days that I visited. I did make a few lasting acquisitions though. I got a Magnetic Therapy necklace that eradicated my knee pain in about 20 minutes and has allowed me to type pain free since putting it on. I also got insoles for my shoes that made my shoes feel new(and yesterday when I took my armored walk I put them in my boots and they felt great). I also got an official Mets Cap. Yes I am a fan of Baseball...and I realize that the fact that I am as avid a fan as I am comes as a shock to most people...I'm usually not very vocal about it. I also purchased a flute and a cd from a group of native american musicians, and a souvenir cup as a means of flirting with the girl selling the birch beer, a whole hell of a lot of good that did me.
Many people enjoyed my singing, especially my rendition of "Donuts made with love" to the tune of the beatles classic 'all you need is love', and, of course 'free samples' to Tom Petty's tune, 'Free Falling'. Also, for some reason, I think it's the word Cider, I wound up with a southern, almost oklahoma or arkansas accent. not that it mattered, except for the few people who asked where I was from, and when I told them, in a perfect Westchester american accent that I was from Putnam County it shocked a few people. One woman actually asked where in the Little Rock area I was from, I just laughed and said that I was from NY. She threw her change into the tip cup and laughed with me, telling me I had reminded her of her youth in the south and, thanking me for the donuts and cider, she left.
Occasionally Ehrich would whip out his Violin and strike up a fiddling. usually this would draw a crowd. Dave spoke easily with people...and I was my awkward self, only comfortable behind the mask of "donut guy".
The only people what flirted with me were two girls that couldn't have been older than 14...I don't even know why I try...sorry about that...
So wednesday the 15th did eventually come and Beck and Mat got to the fairgrounds. I finished out the evening, physically drained, mentally exhausted but emotionally stable. while Ehrich spent about half of the last hour flirting with the Lemonade girl at the booth just beyond the Home improvements "tent." Ehrich then told me that he wasn't going to be coming home with me. that he wanted to stay and play music, that he had found his calling. Thursday morning, after a liesurely morning of getting out of bed at 8:30, I showered and packed my things, then went into the fair, one last time. It was about this time that I put on my belt for the first time in about a week and found that the smallest hole was almost two inches away from fitting...This made me feel pretty good. I had breakfast with Mat, and then went to the donut trailer. I made cure that Ehrich had called Mom and Dad and had a plan for contacting Alena and, alone, I left. 150lbs of future donut still in the van. It was 11:30am.
Somewhere between Syracuse and Albany Sybil's odometer moved to 260000 miles.
Sybil and I arrived at Dad's at about 7:30pm. after traffic, construction and a detour ate far more time then I had anticipated. I said a quick hello to Joyce and Arthur and then Dad and I left to go to the Full Moon, a bar that has an open mic night on thursdays. We hung out for a while sipping our Gingerales and then he played a few songs with the band playing and we left. we got back to Country Cottages around 10-10:30. I then made the mistake of catching up on everyone's posts, and my emotional stability faltered(See My Last Post from Friday 8/17), and though the happiness I read made me happy, as other's happiness oft times does, it also reaffirmed my loneliness in my head. I went on a short walk and wound up playing pool with arthur while the children he had met played spit and lit things on fire...not simultaneously. Then we went to bed.
Friday morning Arthur and I boarded Sybil and came back to the burrow. I posted. I scoffed at the huge pile of dishes, angry that they were unclean and that in order for me to cook for myself I'd have to clean them, which I had done the day before I left. So, I did laundry and Arthur and Samie and I went to Freindly's, due to the lack of food and clean dishes to cook on available here.
Saturday morning we packed up and went to Rehearsal. I traded Mail with Kevin and now we both have hauberks that fit as opposed to him having one that goes below his knees and my having one that is barely below my waistline. And We went to Watertown to sleep.
Sunday morning we returned to rehearsal and mark drove. Sunday night we went to See Stardust with Johnny D, Sarah, Greg, Kyle and Scott. It was a lot of fun, I give it a solid 5/5 and that doesn't happen often. and then we were off to home.
Monday and yesterday both I walked up the hill, down the other side, around to 301 and back to richardsville in my mail. though only 6 miles as opposed to the about 8 that I was walking every day up in Erie I felt it to be sufficiently subsidized by the fact that my Chainmail weighs at least 50 lbs. my calves are really tight this morning...maybe I'll hold off on the walk until tomorrow.
Monday I drove David in to work and smoked a cigarette with him en route, leaving one in my case. A sealed new pack and that last one are still sitting on my altar. Waiting to be offered as a sacrifice next new moon.
Well I'm off to register Smeagol's resQ tracking chip. Hope that you are well and that my posting hasn't darkened your day.
On August 7th, Arthur, Ehrich, Dave and I left putnam county, crossed the river and headed north on i87. Arthur and I met up with Dad a few exits up the i87 northway from i90, where it becomes the NY thruway. And I continued alone to the next rest area. I met up with Dave and Ehrich at the next rest area and agreed to let Ehrich ride with Dave, assured that I would not have to drive home alone. For long hours we drove, Dave and the Donut Trailer in the lead and Sybil and I in the back, carrying 800lbs of donut mix. We arrived at the Erie County Fairgrounds at 4:15pm later than Dave had wanted to get there, but we were there nonetheless. Upon arrival we were directed to another entrance on the other side of the fairgrounds, so we drove back out onto the road and circled the 2 and a half miles to the other side of the grounds, where we were directed back to an entrance about a hundred yards from the entrence we went in first. We arrived at Gate B near Lot 6 at about 4:30, upon which we waited for the woman in the golf cart to show dave and Ehrich where to set up(not really sure how I got out of the initial set up), While I began reading The Cyspherion. 50 pages and a half hour later, Dave and Ehrich returned from the fairgrounds and we went to the camper city to get out camping permits. a short conversation with the camping Carney later we were off to the edge of the main parking lot to set up camp. at about 6:00 we finished moving in and Dave turned to me and said, 'I've never seen Niagara Falls before.' We left immediately, stopping at the Chinese Buffet that we had seen on the drive in to eat, and then I drove the half hour to the Falls from Buffalo. After wandering around for a short time looking for a parking lot we walked along the Niagara river for about ten minutes before we reached the Falls. We must have gotten there just after they turned on the lights. We basked in the glory of the falls for what felt like a thousand years...or five seconds. Ehrich played his violin and I just absorbed the constant wind from the powerful waterfall. We made a few calls and Dave took some pictures, that I'll try and get a hold of asap. We then returned to the Campsite, though I could have stood there eternally...a small peace keeping my soul intact enough...longing to share it with someone...
Wednesday we finished setting everything up and opened at 4:30pm, about a half hour before the gates opened for the preview night of the fair. It was three days before I had the opportunity to walk around, more then back and forth across the fair to the campsite, which was about a mile away from the Trailer. We met some interesting people at the booth next to us giving away...raffle tickets, basically, for $5000 worth of home improvements and a huge dollhouse. on the other side of us were texans selling corndogs..they were not very personable.
A blow by blow would certainly be boring to read, needless to say, there was running back and forth to Wally World for various supplies, and other insanity. One day there was really bad rain that knocked out the donut machine for about two hours, while dave raced to the Home Depot to get a new plug for it. Ehrich won over $300 at the slots, and on his second scratchoff ticket ever, using the lucky dollar coin Dad gave me, won $50. I lost about a hundred dollars at the slots over the few days that I visited. I did make a few lasting acquisitions though. I got a Magnetic Therapy necklace that eradicated my knee pain in about 20 minutes and has allowed me to type pain free since putting it on. I also got insoles for my shoes that made my shoes feel new(and yesterday when I took my armored walk I put them in my boots and they felt great). I also got an official Mets Cap. Yes I am a fan of Baseball...and I realize that the fact that I am as avid a fan as I am comes as a shock to most people...I'm usually not very vocal about it. I also purchased a flute and a cd from a group of native american musicians, and a souvenir cup as a means of flirting with the girl selling the birch beer, a whole hell of a lot of good that did me.
Many people enjoyed my singing, especially my rendition of "Donuts made with love" to the tune of the beatles classic 'all you need is love', and, of course 'free samples' to Tom Petty's tune, 'Free Falling'. Also, for some reason, I think it's the word Cider, I wound up with a southern, almost oklahoma or arkansas accent. not that it mattered, except for the few people who asked where I was from, and when I told them, in a perfect Westchester american accent that I was from Putnam County it shocked a few people. One woman actually asked where in the Little Rock area I was from, I just laughed and said that I was from NY. She threw her change into the tip cup and laughed with me, telling me I had reminded her of her youth in the south and, thanking me for the donuts and cider, she left.
Occasionally Ehrich would whip out his Violin and strike up a fiddling. usually this would draw a crowd. Dave spoke easily with people...and I was my awkward self, only comfortable behind the mask of "donut guy".
The only people what flirted with me were two girls that couldn't have been older than 14...I don't even know why I try...sorry about that...
So wednesday the 15th did eventually come and Beck and Mat got to the fairgrounds. I finished out the evening, physically drained, mentally exhausted but emotionally stable. while Ehrich spent about half of the last hour flirting with the Lemonade girl at the booth just beyond the Home improvements "tent." Ehrich then told me that he wasn't going to be coming home with me. that he wanted to stay and play music, that he had found his calling. Thursday morning, after a liesurely morning of getting out of bed at 8:30, I showered and packed my things, then went into the fair, one last time. It was about this time that I put on my belt for the first time in about a week and found that the smallest hole was almost two inches away from fitting...This made me feel pretty good. I had breakfast with Mat, and then went to the donut trailer. I made cure that Ehrich had called Mom and Dad and had a plan for contacting Alena and, alone, I left. 150lbs of future donut still in the van. It was 11:30am.
Somewhere between Syracuse and Albany Sybil's odometer moved to 260000 miles.
Sybil and I arrived at Dad's at about 7:30pm. after traffic, construction and a detour ate far more time then I had anticipated. I said a quick hello to Joyce and Arthur and then Dad and I left to go to the Full Moon, a bar that has an open mic night on thursdays. We hung out for a while sipping our Gingerales and then he played a few songs with the band playing and we left. we got back to Country Cottages around 10-10:30. I then made the mistake of catching up on everyone's posts, and my emotional stability faltered(See My Last Post from Friday 8/17), and though the happiness I read made me happy, as other's happiness oft times does, it also reaffirmed my loneliness in my head. I went on a short walk and wound up playing pool with arthur while the children he had met played spit and lit things on fire...not simultaneously. Then we went to bed.
Friday morning Arthur and I boarded Sybil and came back to the burrow. I posted. I scoffed at the huge pile of dishes, angry that they were unclean and that in order for me to cook for myself I'd have to clean them, which I had done the day before I left. So, I did laundry and Arthur and Samie and I went to Freindly's, due to the lack of food and clean dishes to cook on available here.
Saturday morning we packed up and went to Rehearsal. I traded Mail with Kevin and now we both have hauberks that fit as opposed to him having one that goes below his knees and my having one that is barely below my waistline. And We went to Watertown to sleep.
Sunday morning we returned to rehearsal and mark drove. Sunday night we went to See Stardust with Johnny D, Sarah, Greg, Kyle and Scott. It was a lot of fun, I give it a solid 5/5 and that doesn't happen often. and then we were off to home.
Monday and yesterday both I walked up the hill, down the other side, around to 301 and back to richardsville in my mail. though only 6 miles as opposed to the about 8 that I was walking every day up in Erie I felt it to be sufficiently subsidized by the fact that my Chainmail weighs at least 50 lbs. my calves are really tight this morning...maybe I'll hold off on the walk until tomorrow.
Monday I drove David in to work and smoked a cigarette with him en route, leaving one in my case. A sealed new pack and that last one are still sitting on my altar. Waiting to be offered as a sacrifice next new moon.
Well I'm off to register Smeagol's resQ tracking chip. Hope that you are well and that my posting hasn't darkened your day.