Ice Fishing

"People don't notice whether it's winter or summer when they're happy." -Anton Chekhov



When people hear the stories from our ice fishing escapades there are one of two reactions, "I wanna go!" or "you guys are crazy", and often the same person can be heard saying both. I remember the first time I experienced ice fishing, my cousin Maria and I were getting ready for her mother's surprise 60th birthday party and a couple of my Uncles, along with their wives, were up for the party and decided to throw some lines in the water. I took the snowmobile over and sat in my jeans (highly inappropriate ice fishing attire) and jigged for a bit, thinking that this would be the extent of my ice fishing experience. Little did I know that this was a totally false assumption. The following year my dad and brother decided to give it a go and came up for a long weekend, and thus begun our now annual tradition which is referred to as "dorf weekend" by the natives. We haven't caught a fish we could keep since the first year, but we sure have a great time. It's a weekend full of good food, good laughs and always something totally ridiculous. There was Uncle Mike falling in the lake, the "sandgin" which is one of the greatest things to ever come up on a fishing line, and the evolution of ice golf. This year it got really fancy with a fairway, green, and flag in the hole. We have also found a special drink for the weekend, apple pie moonshine, or as it is called on the ice, a little slice of heaven. The biggest deal for me is my personal evolution as a fisherwoman. Year 1, I paid for fishing license, put one trap in the last day and Aunt Natalie had to bait it for me. Year 2, I had multiple traps and set them myself, but still had to have them baited by someone else. So when I caught a fish (not a keeper) I had an asterisk next to my name because I didn't bait my own trap. So this year was the year, I was determined to do it all myself. Problem 1, staying up drinking until all hours of arrival night did not give me nerves of steal on the first day, so when the fish squirmed out of my hand I quickly handed the reins over to my brother. I did manage to take the live (did I mention that) bait off the line, but it seemed insufficient. So on Sunday I was determined, it was weird and I almost didn't make it, but in the end I put that hook right through that fish and was ready to go. I did not catch a fish, but no one did so I don't feel that bad, and it saved me from having to de-hook the big fish. The final frontier, maybe next year is the year that I do the whole shabang. There are no guarantees in fishing but I can tell you definitively that if this group takes the ice there will be no regrets, fish or not, because we always have a great time.

Snowshoeing...

A couple weeks ago something happened that is a rare occurrence, the weather forecasters pretty much hit the nail on the head. In the days leading up to the weekend, there was much talk of a big snow storm, but even then it was with vague terms and an unwillingness to commit to predicting a huge storm. In the end, they were dead on, and Nemo rolled through on a Friday night into Saturday and left two feet of snow in his wake. I have now been through two hurricane situations since moving to New England, and neither one matched the anticipation of this nor'easter. I attempted to head to work on Friday morning, only to turn around and not just due to the dusting that had started, but because the gas stations were out of gas and I didn't have enough to make it there. So I turned around and stopped in at the store to grab a couple things (mostly wine!)and found that the milk shelves were completely empty, with the exception of organic milk, so I grabbed some of that (a must for white russians!) and headed home. It was actually a really fun weekend, I got to do some serious snuggling with baby George and spent some good quality time with Maria and Charlie. With our schedules and lives these days those times are not as common as they used to be. We didn't lose power, or our cable and internet which would have been much more devastating, and it was absolutely beautiful. We even managed to step out mid-blizzard for an on the spot weather report (if I had the technology there would be a link to that video here). On Sunday the sun came out and it warmed up enough for us to take a family trip out snow shoeing. Now, I have to admit, this event is the first time I know for a fact that I would not have gone on this outing without this list guilting me into it. To make up for missed work on Friday, I went in for a few hours Sunday and that combined with relative inactivity all weekend had me feeling lazier then usual. So when Maria asked me to join them for a little family afternoon walk, my instant reaction was to say no, but in the next 5 seconds my brain did a quick internal rundown of the pros and cons that went something like this. Cons: tired, cold, exercise (blah)...pros: List, list, list, possible final opportunity and do you really want to have this not checked off, because lets face it you can't be sure that it will even snow before Jan 1 again, or can I? Just get your shit together and go for a walk!! Sooooo maybe more like 10 seconds. So I strapped on my snowshoes for the first time since maybe age 5, and hiked out into the woods, bringing up the rear of our little gang. Charlie with snowshoes on his feet and George on his chest, and Maria on cross country skis we were ready to go. Now, I may never have known what I was missing out on if I had just stayed home. However, since I did go, knowing that I wouldn't have without the pressure of checking this off the list, it hit me even harder how awesome the experience was. All these small moments, like when we were crunching through the trees, the only real noise as everything else was silenced by a blanket of snow, sitting by the frozen over lake, taking in the sun with George smiling at me, Sammi running like God invented snow specifically to make her happy. It was a fantastic afternoon, and I would be lying if it didn't make me more determined then ever to really jump feet first into the year, and this list. I am excited to see what other things I may have missed out on without a little push.

Print Pictures

"What I like about photographs is that they capture a moment that's gone forever, impossible to reproduce." -Karl Lagerfeld

I have always loved pictures. I love when you catch a moment, the kind of moment that when you see it again it instantly brings back the music, the joke, the atmosphere. I am not one to forgo a real live event to take a picture, so there are plenty of memories that will live only in my mind, but sometimes the camera comes out, and sometimes it snaps at just the right second. These are the pictures I love. However, in this age of technology, most pictures stay digital, which can have a lot of benefits. It's easy to show the world a favorite picture, or to find one when you need one without searching endless shoe boxes, but I sometimes feel as though the ease of the modern world takes some of the warmth and joy out of displaying them in your home or room. When they are on the computer, someone can type a comment to you, or share a smiley face, or even just let you know how much they "like" it. What I like better then that is when a guest in my home looks at my pictures, and asks a question, it can start a conversation about things you wouldn't normally think to talk about. Or even better, when someone who was part of the event, can look at it and you share a laugh over the events during, or surrounding that picture. It's a way to engage with the people in your life, and to me that's the most important thing there is.

So I recently made a point to pick some of my favorite pictures from the last couple years and have them printed off. They make it very easy for you these days, another benefit to the digital age. I sent my pictures, via email, to Walgreen's and an hour later they were ready. The whole process cost under $10, and now I have some fun memories displayed in my house.

Visit a vineyard/winery

“Wine makes every meal an occasion, every table more elegant, every day more civilized.” ― Andre Simon

Part of the fun in undertaking an adventure such as this idea of being bold in 2013 is other people getting excited about it and, ultimately, joining in the fun. Recently, while enjoying a casual Saturday morning breakfast with a couple cousins and their spouses, we started discussing "the list". Everyone had their items that they were ready to join in on, things they thought should be added in, and more rarely, the items they chose to pre-emptively call in sick for. As we talked, and got more excited, the spirit really grabbed us and my cousin, Maria, said "well, let's cross something off." Which is how we found our group of five adults, a baby and a dog strolling the snow covered grounds of Flag Hill Winery in Lee, NH. Not exactly the prime time, as the vines are all in a state of hibernation and the winery tour was not running. Despite all this, we had a lovely afternoon, first enjoying some fresh air while Sammi ran through the snow, chasing whatever we threw. After we were good and chilled, we headed up to the the winery itself, which was warm and welcoming, after our tromp. The women working behing the bar were friendly and accomodating, ready with samples of anything we wanted to try. So we sampled wines, both red and white, liquors and liqueors. Some were tasty (red wine, port), others not so much (apple brandy). In the end we all walked out with a paper bag containing our favorite items to enjoy later. I personally took home a bottle of the first gin ever distilled in New Hampshire, and a bottle of the red wine. As our afternoon came to an end we all went off to our seperate evening plans, however, the danger of day drinking is that your evening activities can be heavily effected. I believe that every member of our little adventure party was either asleep or had taken a nap by 8pm that night. The beauty of being an older adult is that this doesn't bother us in the slightest :) I hesitated to post about this visit, as it was short and we intend to go again when we can do the full tour, but in the end the point is that we took the initiative and went. We had a great time, and their is definitely a little buzz that goes along with every checkmark on this list, and it definitely makes me feel like we are accomplishing something, which is the point of it all.

The sleeping vines

Our crew: Janelle, Charlie, George, Maria and Derik!

Buy a plant and have it survive a year...

"To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow." -Audrey Hepburn

I can't tell you what's behind my desire to have a plant survive, or not just survive, but thrive. I know I killed more african violets as a child then any one person should have a right to. I know I love a garden, both for its beauty and the tranquility that often comes with it. I have never had the land, or the patience, to care for a garden the way it's supposed to be taken care of. So, for the first time, I am making myself 100% responsible for a living thing. I can't tell you for sure what I will get out of it, but I plan to take this responsibility seriously. Since the goal was to keep it alive for the year I thought the sooner I got started, the better. So without further ado, please meet Gus Gus and Jacques, joined in this picture by Rosalie the orchid.

My friend Janelle, who is also on this goal achieving adventure of 2013, and I went out about a week ago in search of our plants. Let me tell you, you can learn something about people based on the plants they choose to maintain. For instance, as we strolled the aisles looking at all the various choices, we had wildly different attack plans. I had the simple limitation of no light, my apartment has no direct sunlight, and very little natural light on a day to day basis. That aside, the plants I was drawn to said things like, "tolerates neglect" and "easy care", that boiled down to "hard to kill". I was on board, because while I plan to achieve this goal, I also plan to make it as easy as possible on myself, which is kind of how I roll. I am not downing myself, I just tend to prioritize where I put effort in, which sometimes leads me to underachieve in a certain areas of my life, but it also simplifies it and so far it works for me. So, in the end I got my boys, Gus Gus, the Sansevieria, and Jacques, the lucky bamboo. Survivors (I hope), who are sturdy, strong and resourceful, much like their namesakes. Janelle, on the other hand, is a consumate overachiever. She saw the beautiful orchid, read the instructions to ensure she had a suitable environment and went for it. Of course, she found out later the life expectancy of an orchid averages out at about 3 months, making the goal of one year's survival unlikely and will probably require much more effort on her part. But, that's typical Janelle, she jumps in feet first, knowing she probably shouldn't and that her chances of success aren't great, and almost always finds away to pull it out. That being said, for my money, I bet Ms. Rosalie is still alive and kicking a year from now. I will now share the few things I have learned in one week of plant ownership... 1. It's a club, similar to kids or pets, people want to offer you advice and help you out because you have joined in the brotherhood, mostly unsolicited but for a novice like me, almost always helpful 2. Apparently I talk to living things, even if they can't hear me or respond 3. I love these guys, like feel deep attachment to plants I have owned for ONE week 4. I need help

Wow!

I was going to let it go, I really was. I mean, two years is a really long time to ignore something completely. However, in a new effort to get back to things I love, and find new things to add to that list, I am giving it one more shot. It's a couple weeks into 2013, the holidays are over and most resolutions made in a celebratory mood as the year came to a close, with champagne in hand, have been broken. It's that time of year where the majority of a cold, dark winter stretches out before you without much to break it up. This year, for the first time in recent history, I made no list of resolutions. What I did instead, is make a singular resolution to be "someone I would be interested in knowing". So with the help of my good friend Janelle, we made a list of things we intend to do this year, equaling out to approximately one thing a week from the list. They aren't all new things, they aren't all exciting, some cost money and others are free. Essentially it's all the things we talk about and never do. The hope is, with a list of items to cross off, we are more motivated then usual to get them done. One of these items is to keep a journal, which is why I will attempt to use this forum as my record of this attempt at being interesting. So here it is, in no particular order...
Listen to live music
Take a salsa class
Go Latin dancing
White water rafting
Skiing/snowboarding
Snowshoeing
Cooking class
Try a new workout (spinning, class, etc.)
Road trip to acadia national park
Go to Canada
Camping
Learn how to change a tire
Build something from scratch or refurbish a piece of furniture
Do a Murder mystery
Go to a baseball game
Play a round of golf
Visit Salem, MA
Go to Boston Art Museum
Walk the Freedom Trail
Go sailing
Make Jam(and other canning adventures)
Buy a new plant and have it survive
Have a SPA day
Go to a farmers market
Spend a day at the beach
Go paddle boarding
Go ice fishing
Keep a journal
Go hiking
Run a 5k
Do some charity work
Meditate
Go to a vineyard
Do something scary (not horror scary, nerve wracking scary)
Watch classic movies
Read a classic book
Read a non fiction book
Vacation to tropical place
Do an ART project
Spend a day thrift store shopping
Go ice skating
Learn to shoot a gun
Go horseback riding
Attempt couponing
Print pictures
Have a “cupboard potluck” dinner
Do a walking tour of my birth town
Make a living will
Learn to play a song on the guitar
Spend night out in Boston
Go to NYC
Sleep on the beach
Make homemade soap and candles
Visit some of New Hampshire's natural wonders
Seems overwhelming when all written out, but I have faith that it can get done...wish me luck!

A long winter...

As the first day of spring came and went yesterday, and as the falling snow (which has been present and plentiful for months now) keeps me indoors today, I am looking back over the winter. This winter marked my first anniversary living in New Hampshire and my second year away from Cincinnati. I am still learning my way around my new adopted hometown, and I find something new I love about it almost every day. I have also had plenty of times where I realized I still have much to learn. I am also figuring out, more and more, how to spend my time split between family and friends on visits home. Learning I can't fit it all in, and to make sure to see those I did not see the visit before and not to spread myself too thin. That being said, this winter also showed me to never take time for granted when shortly after my visit home at the holidays my grandfather's health took a swift downhill turn and he passed away on Jan. 22. I didn't see him when I went home and I have regrets about that, but the last time I did see him, he remembered enough about me to ask relevant questions about my life. For an Alzheimer's patient this is a big deal, so I try to hold on to that. I like to think that if I had one more chance I would have found the words to express what he meant to me. I don't know if that is true, but the best I can do now is put down here what I would like to have said.

Dear Gramp,
I love and miss you everyday, even as I know you are in a better place. I know the last few years were a struggle for you, so even as my heart hurts at never seeing your smile or hearing your chuckle on this earth again, I know you are in a place where they are never at a loss for how to draw that laugh out. I will probably never hear a bagpipe, taste a glass of scotch, or see any man with the quiet dignity you possessed and not think of you. But I will remember more the moments that, for me, define out relationship. Your patience with a six-year old girl as we went walking through the woods looking for horses and wildflowers, or when you took me, and just me which was a crazy treat for a girl with two younger siblings, to get ice cream as a reward for cleaning all day. To this day that memory makes me feel warm and smiley. I am glad for each of our lunches out, where mostly Gram and I chit-chatted, but you could always be counted on to ask the right question or make the right statement to put into perspective something I was struggling with or to encourage some endeavor I was on, without any extra pressure. You rarely said something just to talk, which made each word uttered was that much more meaningful, funny or important. Hearing "I am proud of you," in your quiet way, with no embellishment or need for more explanation was almost life-altering. You also had a great sense of humor, and I will never forget the sheer hilarity I felt when I figured out that you weren’t nearly as oblivious as you, sometimes, pretended to be. I have to say, though, that for all the fantastic memories I have of you, the most important thing you ever gave me was my dad. I know he isn’t of your blood, but that doesn’t make you any less of an important person in his life. The man who gave him life could have been the only male figure he ever knew, then who knows what happens to him and what form of my family would even exist. Instead you made the decision to take on Gram and her boys. Regardless of how amazing any one or all of them were, that choice is never easy, and I’m sure that they didn’t make it all rainbows and sunshine. In the end, though, he walked out of your house a strong man, one who is deeply caring and who always puts his family before himself. Regardless of how the equation worked itself out, you were a main factor in that, and like I said, that is the biggest gift you ever gave me. I will cherish every moment we spent and all that you taught me, through your own actions and words, and those you passed on through your children.
I love you,
Katie