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Star Island, day 4
Sep. 4th, 2011 10:45 pmThings that happened today:
1. Dad and I walked to the south shore picnic ground for an all-island fire drill. Since the Shippees' cabin burned down in... 1995 or 1996, I don't remember exactly, we got an emergency pump and hose for each shore, but we have been sadly lax about drilling on how to react to fires and also lax on pump maintenance. So the Star Island Protective League is trying to do better about that; the goal is to have two or three island-wide drills each summer, plus smaller checks on each shore's pump between drills.
So I got to watch how the hoses are attached to the pumps and the pumps started, plus I got to practice bracing and aiming a hose. Pretty fun, though the weather changed from warm sun to cold rain and back again about every ten minutes.
2. Mom, Dad, and I went to the Labor Day potluck picnic dinner down at the Blakes' cabin. The picnic was a west shore tradition, hosted by the Rice family, but since the senior Rices died, it's been taken over by their daughter and her husband, who bought the old Ginsberg cabin on the east shore. This year the Blakes had a local band in to provide music. They are called Alabaster Falls and they are pretty awesome. :-)
3. Aunt Cara arrived this evening. Yay for guests!
4. Dad turned 65 today. We had pseudo lead cake and champagne cocktails (of the Maharajah's Burra-Peg variety -- soak a sugar cube in bitters, set it at the top of a hollow-stemmed glass, fill the stem and a bit of the bowl with cognac, then fill the glass up to the brim with champagne) and sang "Happy Birthday" to him slightly out of tune. I find that birthdays are less of an occasion as I get older, but any excuse to have burra-pegs with family is a good one. Plus Dad got presents and cards, of course, which is always nice.
And that is about it. Tomorrow we plan to have pancakes for breakfast and test the samplers of different maple syrups Aunt Cara brought. Later on, we will take the second of two mildewed old mattresses over to the marina where it will be picked up by the delivery people who will bring the new mattresses and boxsprings on Tuesday. We will also buy groceries. Aside from that, I don't think we have any real plans.
1. Dad and I walked to the south shore picnic ground for an all-island fire drill. Since the Shippees' cabin burned down in... 1995 or 1996, I don't remember exactly, we got an emergency pump and hose for each shore, but we have been sadly lax about drilling on how to react to fires and also lax on pump maintenance. So the Star Island Protective League is trying to do better about that; the goal is to have two or three island-wide drills each summer, plus smaller checks on each shore's pump between drills.
So I got to watch how the hoses are attached to the pumps and the pumps started, plus I got to practice bracing and aiming a hose. Pretty fun, though the weather changed from warm sun to cold rain and back again about every ten minutes.
2. Mom, Dad, and I went to the Labor Day potluck picnic dinner down at the Blakes' cabin. The picnic was a west shore tradition, hosted by the Rice family, but since the senior Rices died, it's been taken over by their daughter and her husband, who bought the old Ginsberg cabin on the east shore. This year the Blakes had a local band in to provide music. They are called Alabaster Falls and they are pretty awesome. :-)
3. Aunt Cara arrived this evening. Yay for guests!
4. Dad turned 65 today. We had pseudo lead cake and champagne cocktails (of the Maharajah's Burra-Peg variety -- soak a sugar cube in bitters, set it at the top of a hollow-stemmed glass, fill the stem and a bit of the bowl with cognac, then fill the glass up to the brim with champagne) and sang "Happy Birthday" to him slightly out of tune. I find that birthdays are less of an occasion as I get older, but any excuse to have burra-pegs with family is a good one. Plus Dad got presents and cards, of course, which is always nice.
And that is about it. Tomorrow we plan to have pancakes for breakfast and test the samplers of different maple syrups Aunt Cara brought. Later on, we will take the second of two mildewed old mattresses over to the marina where it will be picked up by the delivery people who will bring the new mattresses and boxsprings on Tuesday. We will also buy groceries. Aside from that, I don't think we have any real plans.
