I didn’t do a whole lot yesterday. Slept in, which was nice, and then worked in lists for the girls trip. I’m feeling good about what I have. It’s just a matter of putting everything together and packing, which will happen on Tuesday night or Wednesday morning. I’ll want to leave Cambridge by 9 at the latest.
Today, I slept in again. I spent some time lazing in bed. And then I ate breakfast before going outside to put up the triplex tent. I wanted to see how the three closed cell foam pads would do inside. They fit, with a tiny bit of overlap. So, we’ll be cozy, but it’s just for one night. We’ll survive. That was the first time that I’d put up the triplex tent since Ambrose died. I remembered that we were going to upgrade because the zippers were failing, so I’ll need to instruct the nieces on taking care with the zippers.
Then I got showered and dressed for some time in Council. I wore a red tank top with shelf bra, one of Ambrose’s backpacking long sleeved shirts, and his light blue pants, which are very lightweight. When I left the house, it was about 10:45, which would be just right to get me there after the parade, which started at 11. I found parking at the Shell station, where a bunch of other vehicles were parked already.
I caught the tail end of the parade and then made my way to the high school football field to stake out a good spot for the porcupine races. Most years, Ambrose and I are out hiking or backpacking over the 4th of July. We decided, after trying it, that crowds were not our thing. But this year, I couldn’t really backpack this weekend and then turn around all my gear and get the girls stuff ready, so I decided to check out the Council World Famous Porcupine Races. I got a good spot at the corner of the starting side.
Yes, they are real porcupines. They are wild caught for just this occasion and released afterwards. In each heat, four (or in one heat, three) porcupines are brought out in trash cans by two handlers. One will use the trashcan and the other uses a broom to encourage the porcupine to run to the finish line. They had 15 total entries, so they ran four heats, then auctioned the top 8 to raise funds for next year’s fireworks before the semifinal heats and the final.
It was cute. It was exciting. I was thrilled that a pair of young women ending up winning the overall prize, because most of the handlers were men (15 pairs, so out of 30 handlers, 4 were women). I don’t know if I’ll ever go again, but I’m really glad that I checked it out.
After standing in the hot sun for over an hour, I went to the vendors, because I’d seen people with snocones and I wanted my own. I had to wait in line, but it was worth it. A very refreshing half banana, half blue raspberry, which is my go-to snocone. I prefer shaved ice, but a snocone will do when it’s either in the 90’s or close. I looked around at what else was for sale while I ate my snocone. I found something to buy for a friend, but didn’t see anything that called my name this time. I waited for a while in a line to get a hot dog, but the line wasn’t moving, people were slipping in ahead of me, and I was done with my snocone so I went home.
I got a tank of mowing done. I’m very close to finishing the first round. I will get it done before the nieces trip. Then I showered off and got ready to go to my neighbor’s house for dinner and cards. I brought some muffins as my contribution to the meal. It was a convivial evening.
I watered my tree with my new hose when I got home. I’m not sure that I like the new hose. The repair I attempted on the old hose does not appear to have held. I might try something else, or maybe I could order something special. I do think that whole hose is falling apart and I should really just replace it. I need to find a hose that doesn’t mind being treated poorly. A masochistic hose, if you will.
This made me think of The Good Place. I’m not sure if that’s intentional or not.
