The Stonewall Series

Spent the past few days at Dad's. I told him about how I'd gone to Maine and my friend Matt had let me shoot his shotgun, but that I hadn't liked it since it kicked. Well, apparently now I've probably developed a permanent flinch, so Dad took me out for some remedial shooting practice. I don't know whether to hit Matt or thank him for permanently ruining me but at the same time making my dad take me shooting (finally!).


We spent the better part of two days out at Jackson Pond. The first day Dad wanted to clear out some rocks out of the well, so he stripped down and hopped in. In case some of you aren't aware, the water was like ice. I can't decide if he's tough, or just crazy.

Ajax and Dad discovered a ground hornet nest, and both suffered several stings. The bees actually chased Dad for a long ways, even going up his shirt, which was rather mean of them. Dad then had enough bee stings to test out several different remedies. Egg membrane apparently works the best, while baking soda does nothing. I don't know what else he tried. The weirdest thing was that immediately after escaping the bees, he said to me "Let's go find them." "What? You just found them! Why would you go BACK?!" I have no doubt that Dad will get his revenge and take out the whole nest, but there was no way I was going back LOOKING for a stirred up nest of angry hornets. You're on your own with that one.


Day two had less (read: none) shooting, but more wandering on my part. Dad borrowed a back-hoe and proceeded to play around on that, while I wandered around taking pictures, because that's what I love to do.

MOST PEOPLE, when they go for a walk to take pictures, manage to stay fairly clean. Not me. I managed to get scraped up and bruised, and come home covered in dirt and dog slobber. I got some good pictures though, so I guess there's that.




New Hampshire Highland Games! One of my two favorite annual events in New Hampshire. Mom and I went on Sunday, the last day. Most of the fun stuff happens on Saturday, but that's also the most crowded/most expensive day. We did everything-- watched the music, dancing, competitions, ate the food (got harassed by bees), and basically just wandered around for a few hours. It's an ADD kid's dream: There's always a thousand things going on, so you can run from one thing to another.

I bought two cds from non-traditional type bands. One is Albannach, which has five drummers and a bagpiper they call "Bullfrog," who can puff out his neck like you would not believe! The other cd is from a group called "Red Hot Chili Pipers," and they're... interesting. If you've never heard Queen played on the bagpipes, you're missing out. They were definitely showmen.
Also made sure to find the MacLean and MacFarlane tents.

Oh yeah, and totally got mooned by a dancer when he spun right as the wind kicked up. Oh yeah, that's on video. Poor guy. (Look to the right.)


The (rather cute) guy manning the MacFarlane tent informed us that the wind had been really bad on Saturday, saying he had one hand holding onto the tent, and the other holding onto his kilt. I think Mom was a little embarrassed, but I thought he was a riot.


Great weekend.