...And I'm back

Lots to talk about...

Got back from Owego a couple of days ago. Had a marvy time up in "the country". We stayed in a Bed & Breakfast called the Pumpelly House. Pumpelly was some dude who was important for some reason or another. Anyway, he lived a long time ago and now he's dead. A few notes on Owego: it's a very small town where everything closes at 6:00 except on Thursdays when things stay open later for some reason. When I asked Katie's pop why this was, he explained -- in a very Dad-from-Calvin-and-Hobbes kind of way -- that the original settlers of Owego arrived on a Thursday and partied all night long. So it's a local tradition. However, I did manage to get a book called Love That Dog, which restored my faith in humanity.

Then it was off to the country part of the country. Otherwise known as "Lightning Bug Acres". It's a little patch of land out in the woody part of Owego with a cabin (built by Grandpa Carl, I believe), and a man-made pond. We walked about, we swatted gnats, we chased and caught little froggies, we swam, we ate s'mores over an open fire -- it was more than this asthmatic Jew from suburban St. Louis ever expected to do in the out-of-doors, let alone enjoy.

Oh, and here's something else that I (and probably my mother) never expected I'd do: I fired a gun. And I'm not talking about no cap gun neither. I'm talking about a 9mm Smith & Wesson semi-automatic hand cannon. In the process of going through some 3-odd clips (I would've been fine with one, but daddy kept egging me on), I discovered a few things: 1) The gun was surprisingly easy to aim -- I managed to kill two 12-oz soda cans from about 15 feet away, not to mention an aluminum pan, and 2) I really hate guns. Man that shit was scary. NRA, no thanks. On the bright side, I now have something new to talk to Bill about.

And now I'm back in Providence. A little bit older, a little bit wiser, the feel of gunpowder still on my hands and mosquito bites on my legs. Thanks for the memories, Owego (and Katie and her family). If I'm ever in upstate New York again, I'll be sure to drop by. As long as it's before 6:00.