The Routine

Saturday, June 13, 2009
On the road between Syracuse and West Point
(We went to a Southern Baptist Relief Team Training)

Well let me see if I can get you caught up on a few things.

That really loud siren was a test for the local nuclear plant warning system. Seems that if I hear that sound constantly, I'm suppose to get like 60 miles north or some such non-sense.

In one way or another, every day here is never calm nor serene. Let me tell you the routine of the last few weeks.

As we have already established, the day begins with a surprising and loud noise. You may pick one of the following as your starting sound:

** Nuclear Power Plant Alarm Siren (ear-piercing and heart-stopping),
** Distant Cannon fire (possibly 106mm Howitzer, mortars & probably simulators),
** Black Hawk helicopters overhead (transporting trainees),
** Fighter jets overhead from a nearby Air Force Base (possibly F22 Raptors),
** And/OR a ear splitting thunderstorm complete with blinding lightening (aka speed dressing event and running with old dog & computer and camera to a nearby pavilion).

This is followed by rain.

Then during any break in the rainfall you will listen to artillery fire and machine guns. I was given a whole plethora of possible weapons M14 & M16 M240 M249 and a few that I missed.

This is followed by rain.

As you adjust to this routine, you may pick one of following afternoon delights:

** Do laundry dressed in your best rain gear. My personal favorite is a rain jacket and rain pants.

** Pout about the rain by reading for 8 straight hours.

** Walk the dog in her very fine rain jacket -- Our dog gets only the best impromptu designs from Glad trash bags. The drawstring trash bag works very well. Cut open one side and about 1/2 of the bottom. After cutting, open the bag and drape the it over the dog. Work Quickly from this point forward. Pull the drawstring to fit the top of the bag around the dog's neck and tie it under the chin. Tug the bottom of the sack over the dog's back end. Tuck the tail into the corner. Leave room for the tail-end business to function. And finally gather, tape & tie the open side under the poor, sad-looking dog's belly. No. I don't have photos.

** Sit in your tent (while reading or writing or resting) and listen to various ages of children present in groups of 3 to 130. Teenage girls scream the best. Boys between 8 and 12 say the funniest things about being out in the woods and fishing.

If you didn't notice, most of the afternoon activities include interacting with &/or ignoring the rain.

Evening activities can include:

** Sitting in the truck with your husband while eating either gourmet bbq from the local cafe (which really is pretty decent) or the equally decent gourmet cream of celery soup from Mrs Green's.

** On a rare evening without rain, you may show your darling husband a hidden quiet pond with a well defined walkway ... which he will somehow manage to turn into a plunge into the woods for at least one mile ... at dusk. Yes, a dark, dusky walk in the woods on a "rustic" "trail". And just a moment before dark you emerge at lookout point with a near full moon rising. This redeems him and the walk through the woods (even though the same destination can also be reached my mostly following paved camp roads).

** You may spend the evenings chasing Internet connectivity. This will land you at the local BBQ shop or McDonald's.

This is followed by rain.

Early retirement to bed is advisable.

And hope it is only followed by rain.

The reason "early to bed" is exceedingly wise is because somewhere in the wee-early hours of the morning unplanned and unpredictable activities can occur.

** Sitting in the truck waiting for the lightening to end happens two to three times a week.

** Waking in the middle of the night -- desperate to go pee -- and rather certain you shouldn't have been reading a book that discusses bear attacks -- because now you're pretty sure there's something sniffing & snuffling outside the tent -- finally you wake your poor husband and plead for his company on the way to the bathhouse. Then insist on taking the truck because there's something going through the bushes. Amazingly, He doesn't argue. The following a.m. you will discover a dumpster has been pushed over and ransacked. Sigh.

** Around 4:30 a.m. (one hour before the alarm clock goes off) you can find yourself greeted by a large cacophony of birds and sunlight (if the rain & clouds have mostly subsided).

Usually even the wee early morning activities are followed by rain.

Seriously, this is pretty much how the last weeks have passed: Wash, Rinse, Repeat.

The running joke with my friends is that I have not yet drowned, all artillery has missed me, the bear has not eaten me, I've not been struck by lightning, and the nuclear plant is still functioning.

And yet ... I enjoy this place immensely. We've managed to get the length of our stay extended by one week ... Through this Saturday. Then we are going to go try a state park for a week. Then we will be back here for two weeks. Well that's the plan at the moment.