Thursday, July 26, 2012

River, Netsuke, Planets, Crashes, NJ.

7-26-12 SHORT HILLS: We drove down today, anticipating the severe weather that didn’t happen until tonight. We are having lots of rain with T and L. The trip was uneventful, the car was packed, we had the front, the boys the back seat, the dogs the backback and bags and boxes stuffed here and there.

Yesterday we started with a trip to the Fairbanks Museum in St. Johnsbury, VT, known as St. J to the cognoscenti. The Fairbanks family ran the Fairbanks Scale Company in St. J for about a century, built and funded the museum and probably most of the city. The museum is in a gorgeous Victorian brownstone mansion filled with birds and mammals from around the globe and cultural artifacts from every continent, including Japanese netsuke. The planetarium is one of the museum’s strongest assets with a great show presented by the local version of Neil deGrasse Tyson.

After going home to feed the dogs, we were back on the road to the North Haverhill Country Fair. Some of us climbed the rock wall and rode the rides, all of us ate midway food and then adjourned to the grandstand for the Demolition Derby. There was smoke, burning rubber, steam, much bent sheet metal, many loud noises from which a victor was acclaimed. The boys loved it. Joey may have made a career choice.

The previous day, whatever it was, was spent on the Connecticut River. We got the boat, Chelsea, out of the barn the day before that, hosed it down, cleaned off the bird and mouse droppings, cleaned all the gear, did some minor repairs and set it up for the voyage. We put in at Wilder Dam and motored to Pirate Island, known to some as Gilman Island. After a picnic on land with swimming and jumping into the water from overhanging trees, we motored on to the Ledyard Bridge and then back to Wilder. The helmsmen-in-training did some of the steering.

New blooms: black-eyed Susan, golden rod.

Rock climb.


Another ride takes off.


The Fairbanks Museum, upper story.


Netsuke. Does the monkey have the snake or the snake the monkey? Neither seems distressed. Perhaps it's one of those odd relationships.

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