Cheerio, Irene

This time last week, I was trying to recover from the massive hype and stress of Hurricane Irene. My neighbors, Gloom and Doom, had convinced me that my apartment was going to become a swimming pool (it didn't), and I was a nervous wreck. So I took Hank over to my parents' house in Jersey (which my neighbor also told me was a bad idea since "Jersey's supposed to get it worse!" (Side note: not talking to them anymore). My parents' house flooded quite a bit in the basement, but we were really lucky after all.

(getting all my stuff as far away from the floor as possible)

(Hurricane Preparation)

(Butterfly on my parents' porch. It doesn't like the wind)

Monday, after I got home, I took a drive past Swarthmore falls. My dad had driven by them mid-storm and told me that there was so much water, you couldn't even tell that there was a waterfall! The water had gone down a bit by the time I got there, but there was still so much of it. And the noise was deafening. A lot of trees had gone down too, and the whole area was surrounded by police tape. I totally would've gone past the tape to get better photos if there hadn't been some weird creeper lady sitting in her car on the side of the road. I never figured out why she was there, but she was acting like she was looking for someone. Like I said, weird.

(Swarthmore Falls)

Ravenwood Addendum

I completely forgot to show you what I bought at the Ravenwood Shoppe! (Thanks to Argylesockgirl for reminding me.) It's weird because I took photos to post, wrote the post five minutes after that, and then forgot to show you my new wee fellow:

(Keith)

My sister and I ran through so many names on the drive from New Hampshire to Maine, and we finally decided on Keith. I think it fits him.

He is really meant to be in a garden, but I don't have a garden.... So for now, his post is at my bedroom door.

Twin Time

One of the best things about traveling up to Maine is the opportunity to stop and visit a bit with one of the dearest people in my life, my old roommate and twin Jenny.

(Twins)

This year we met at the Tilton Diner in New Hampshire for brunch. Jenny and her fiance Corey were vacationing up at Lake Winnipesaukee. We talked, ate French Toast, and caught up. After brunch, we sat outside on some picnic benches and chatted some more. It was a lovely way to catch up, and the weather was so perfect that it almost seemed a shame to have to get back in the car and drive off. Hopefully next year will bring more than just brunch. Dare I say maybe a whole day or two?

And my dad even got a new hat out of it!

Ravenwood

On my recent trip up to Maine with the family, we stopped at what has to be the most creative shop I have ever seen. The shop wasn't in Maine; instead it was in Jackson, New Hampshire. Called Ravenwood Curio Shoppe, it looked like a house straight out of a fairy tale.

At first glance, it seems like one of those artistic shops that sells things you may love but could never afford. But as we started poking around, I noticed that a lot of the pieces were actually affordable. And there was so much to choose from; I would dare anyone to go and say that they couldn't find something that they liked.

(sister monkey and metal monkey)

Around both sides of the house was a wee garden of sculptures and random things to buy. And fountains! SO MANY fountains (one of my absolute favourite things) It began with this:

(Spark Plug Dragonfly)

(sister)

(Madre and Sister)

And it keeps going further and further back into the woods.

(parents)

Here are some of the fountains. Around the Mermaid Fountain, they had arranged some of these crabs which were made out of old pipe wrenches and spray painted bright red.

(I couldn't get enough of this one)

(Mermaid Fountain)

My mom pointed out this little sculpture and said it looks just like my brother Buddy when he was little.

Hank: Weather Predictor

Here in Philadelphia, we don't do well with extremes in the environment. The slightest bit of snow throws us into chaos (not to mention the fact that the city has $0 set aside for snow removal), thunderstorms and heavy rain predictions send us franticly to the grocery store for food we usually don't need, and when an earthquake comes, like today, we freak out.


I was sitting at my desk reading and finishing my lunch when I felt my chair start to roll a bit. Yes, it has wheels, but I wasn't trying to move it. I looked around, and the papers that I've tacked to the walls of my cubicle were starting to shudder. Then the lights, suspended from the ceiling, began to sway. A little at first and then a bit more. My friend, Argylesockgirl, rushed over, and I think that as freaked out as we were, it was a bit nice to know that neither of us were going crazy. Another of the girls came out of her office and said, "Is the building shaking?" So we grabbed our things and ran (8 flights) down the stairs and across the street. Turns out what we were feeling was a 5.9 or so magnitude earthquake that was taking place in Virginia; seems it was felt all the way to New England.


The thing that struck me was how my first thought was "has someone driven a truck into the building? Is this a bomb?" 15 years ago I probably would've thought "earthquake" first and "terrorist bombing" never.


Anyway, after talking to a friend of mine who has a few dogs and a parrot, I began to wonder if Hank had a feeling that this disruption was coming. My friend's bird hid under some paper towels in fear, the dogs barked, my sisters ducks sat in a circle, and Hank hung on to the side of his cage (the side he only clings to when he's upset or sad) and hissed at me when I wished him a good morning. I thought he was just cranky like he always is when I separate him from his old friend, my parents' cockatiel Byrd. But maybe this time it was something different? My grandmother always used to say that when the cows laid down, it was because they knew it was going to rain. Do the animals really know something that we don't? Somehow, I think they do, and it's actually a very comforting idea to me.

Harrison Ford Still Kicks Ass

Whilst I'm on the road, the internet is scarce and the time to upload photos is basically non-existent. But I wanted to share something while I have the chance: one of the reasons why Harrison Ford is making a comeback.


I really thought this guy was the man of my dreams. Let's forget the insane age difference, and the fact that he's Harrison Ford. A teenager could dream, right? But it just all went downhill for me when he took up with that Calista Flockhart chick and started making movies like that one with Josh Hartnett...oy with the poodles already. 


However, my sister and I LOVED his role in Morning Glory, and I feel like he's really starting to tap into the whole crochety bad ass guy once again. I'm so glad. I missed you, Harrison.


Here he is on Jimmy Kimmel. I never get tired of watching this.

Miami

Last week, I spent a few days in Miami for work purposes. The work part itself was long and sometime unrelenting, but I managed to get out a bit for lovely dinners with co-workers and a bit of drooling over the posh hotels and restaurants in and around South Beach.

(The walkway to the pool at the Loews Hotel)

I had some lovely views from the boardwalk outside the hotel. It was enough to take away the stress and backaches from work and make me believe (just for a second) that I was on vacation.

On the last night in town, we ladies had a lovely seafood dinner down on South Beach. The street we walked down struck me as a mezclada of a more modern vibe and the old, art deco Miami years that you grow up hearing about. Live (and lively!) Cuban music drifted down the street from a restaurant's front porch. It almost seemed as though Lucy and Ricky could be coming around the corner at any moment.