A Weekend Away
HH and I spent the weekend visiting BD at her college. She's had that nasty cold that's going around, so we weren't the last of the red hot partiers (as if we ever are). Instead, we made sure she had some nice meals, and we talked the way you do when you're together, rather than on the phone or on Twitter or Skype.
Saturday was a lovely fall day, ideal for visiting the college's environmental campus. We checked out the cardboard boat construction:
Competitors are restricted to cardboard (stockpiled by the college maintenance staff from furniture and appliances installed over the summer), plastic, and duct tape. The results are always imaginative.
There was plenty of time before the race, so we went for a walk around the lake.
Even the lily pads were turning.
We turned from the lake to watch the Susquehanna,
before wandering back into woods that haven't even started to turn.
Eventually we came to a viewing platform and could see where we had started.
We retraced our steps and had time to listen to a student jazz trio play a commendable version of "Autumn Leaves," and a few other tunes before the cardboard boat race.
The competitors were so imaginative:
This entry was paddled by one person, lying prone. Total time for this, the winning entry, 43 seconds.
Other entries had fatal design flaws:
Too much buoyancy.
Lack of visibility.
A keel that didn't do its job.
But a fine time was had by all, including several dogs on the shore.
We left the lake feeling like we'd had a chance to relax and enjoy fall.
Today, after dinner at one of the best barbecue spots (turning 50 next year) east of the Mississippi--Brooks Barbecue, Oneonta, NY,--we dropped BD off at her dorm and headed home. She was looking healthier than on Friday and is upbeat about her 18-credit semester (more power to her).
When we arrived, we found that Kiki had cleaned! There's nothing like coming home to a clean house to top off the weekend in style.
Now tests beckon--come correct us so you can write tomorrow. It's an offer I cannot refuse.