Finally caught a break!

Sorry to have been so long since the last post -- it's been chaos here the past couple of days. Yesterday we went to Strawbery Banke (2.5 hours away) and then to Peter Spang's house in Manchester-by-the-sea (in Mass. -- I had to ask). The day before that, we were at Hancock Shaker Village and then at a dinner with a Deerfield bigwig. Two late nights, and another one coming tonight. But we got this morning off, hurray, partly because we didn't get back to Deerfield last night until midnight, and partly because our intended plans fell through.

I really loved our outings, what nifty museums and what larks to learn so much that I just didn't know. I'll post more about them and everything, but I thought I'd just share a couple of the best pictures, to keep you interested & to rub in your face the fact that I get to do these awesome things. Heehee.

Me and the parents on Mt. Sugarloaf from their visit. Mom just sent it and I love it so I thought I'd share. I do love my parents.

Hancock Shaker: the dramatic entryway looking into the village (featuring their wonderful round barn) from the visitor's center. I really liked it here, in no small part because I made friends with a calf who licked my hand with her scratchy tongue and had huge eyes. Aww. Also, the behind the scenes tour was AWESOME.

Strawbery Banke. Cool museum -- their current textiles exhibit that goes throughout the museum is wonderful. If you're wondering whether you should go check the place out, but think you've seen everything there: GO. Because you haven't seen this. The historic textiles are amazing.

View of P. Spang's private beach. We got to go swimming there. The water is so clear that you can see all the way down, even when it's 7 feet deep. Gorgeous. Can you see Boston on the skyline?

P. Spang's private island that we swam out to. Fun rocks to walk around. Made me wish I had been a kid growing up here: I would have built a fort and made up fantastical stories about pirates and caves and monsters and it would have been AWESOME. Very Swallows & Amazons, but on the ocean. Gorgeous gorgeous.

Chillin' with the Mosquitoes...

Began training with in the Ashley House -- it's a chaotic house. Lots going on and very few coherent threads. And the guide that was there, Stephen, who I've met a couple of times, is a former professor at Allegheny! He was in the Poli Sci & Sociology departments a while ago. Though we had a few mutual acquaintances. Strange.

So the museum has finished redoing all the glass in the visible storage, which means the curators and whatnot who would usually have already met with us are now doing that. Lots of fun. We've had a textiles seminar with Ned Lazaro, a lecture on clocks with Phil Zea, one seminar on silver and base metals from Amanda Lange and another on ceramics. There's crazy large amounts of information to remember. My first notebook is almost full - I've only got a couple pages left.

Papers continue apace, although there's lots of work to do and I'm not sure if they're going to be good enough. None of us are though, so at least I'm not the only one.

I'm sitting out front of the museum store right now, it's about 20 of 11 at night, and we're being eaten by mosquitoes but this is where the internet is, so...

Parents are still out at sea, it's weird them being out of reach.

Tonight we went up to Shelbourne Falls, which is about 25 minutes away. I was there before, remember? Glacial potholes? Bridge of Flowers? Anyway. We walked around and then had dinner in a cute little place there. I drove the Mini & Josh drove the van because his daughter came too & there were too many of us to fit in the one place. Josh drives surprisingly fast and on the way up there, a car got between us and then slowed down to a crawl, so I tried to pass it once, at which point the two girls (though not the one boy) freaked out and started shrieking. Which freaked me out, so I didn't do it -- that time. I did later, though. And because I had snapped at them about trusting me (and not panicking because it was super distracting, they managed to keep the panic under control. Honestly. Girls. They're also squeamish about bugs, so I squish 'em for them. Me and Bekah are the only ones that don't start screaming over them.

Battery dying so I'm going to post this before I lose it all...

Hanging Out at Wells-Thorne

I'm spending the afternoon today guiding in the Wells-Thorne House here in Deerfield (if you've ever been, it's the shockingly blue one at the south end of the street). It's going well, today especially: there haven't been any visitors! The professional guide and I have just been sitting out here chatting, and I'm also working on some of the different projects that I have for the Fellowship.

Speaking of those, we're all feeling overwhelmed: we have so much to do in our projects and yet so little time to accomplish them. By the end of the day, we're exhausted and hardly want to focus on more mental undertakings. But it's all good -- we're all having a great time and getting along well and all that.

In fact, yesterday we celebrated the Fourth of July together by grilling hamburgers in the driveway of the Allen House. It's paved, and there's a grill here so I scrubbed it off and Ryan grilled some burgers. We had oven fries and cole slaw as well. And for desert we'd made a red, white, and blue cake. We brought out a computer and listened to some music -- we actually ended up line dancing in the driveway. Or trying to, at least. We're not very good, but it was great fun. I think some of the other fellows have pictures so I'll try and grab copies of those.

Can you think of any naturally occurring blue foods? We couldn't: blueberries were rejected as being purple.

Gotta go.

A Post in a Stolen Second

In the Library doing research on my paper on the printer & I'm reading his newspapers from the spring of 1812 on microfilm. I came across this funny little poem he printed in one week's edition, as a not subtle reminder to his subscribers.

“Altered from the Carlisle Herald. 

PRINTER’S SOLILOQUY.

‘’Tis strange! ‘tis most prodigious strange,

That our subscribers are too carless grown,

‘Bout paying their arrears. They cannot think

That we alone, who publish to the world

News from all nations, and to spread

Useful instruction through our spacious land,

Can, mean while, live on air. ‘Tis flesh and blood

That works the press, and turns the blackened sheet,

Well stor’d, and ready for their eager eyes,

This flesh and blood must be recruited oft

As well as theirs, for soon the worst must stop.

This calls for CASH. And then how many reams

Of paper are struck off and scatter’d wide,

For which no length of credit will be given,

If given at all – besides the types and ink-

And many things required by those that print,

For which our money must be answerable.

Oh that our readers would consider this!

And while they laughing look the HERALD o’er,

And gather information from its page,

Would pause, and this one simple question ask,

‘Do not I owe for one, two, three or more

Quarters past, the Printer, who supplies me with

This sheet?’ And oh ! That they would only add,

‘I’ll go even now and pay them,’ so should we

Well pleas’d receive, and with light hearts pursue

Our useful toil, while conscience would applaud

Their conduct, and give relish to the treat

We may prepare. Come then, good friends, and soon!”

Parents have probably left by now -- unless they're still in the Flynt Center. I think they had a great time here in Deerfield (right? I hope?) and I'm really glad they did. It really is a place worth visiting even though it's out of the way, tiny, and may seem uninteresting. Don't be fooled! It's awesome.

Have to scoot, limited Library time. I really just wanted to share the poem, I thought some of you might get laughs. Oh that Ansel Phelps, what a joker.