OK. It's been a few days. I haven't been even close to a computer, which is not always a bad thing, although it does impede the blog process a little.

I've been to camp. At least that's what we call it in these here parts. It's when you go to a place other than home, a cabin usually. Our's is a 3 season camp on a lake in NH that was built by my aunt in 1924. It's been in the family always, since conception. This is what it looks like.

Oh no - wait - that's my brother's house. Or it was anyway. It's all gone now. It was as old as dirt and about as architecturally stable as dirt too. Mostly rot and happy munching bugs. Now it's just a big square hole. All of the salvageable lumber has been carefully saved, but the beautiful looking timbers were actually rotten to the core.

This is camp.

My grandson and I arrived on June 27 to enjoy a few days of fishing before the rest of the mob arrived. That's also when it started to rain. Actually, it has been raining for a month, but we try to forget anything past the last 10 days or so. We got one session in before the rain took over, accompanied by cold general misery weatherwise. We spent the next three days reading and playing cards and ipods in front of the fire. Pretty good time spent with a nice person. Had suppers out and breakfasts in. He actually caught a fish in the first and only go around, so all was not lost even from that standpoint.

The remaining mob; his friend, his sister and his sister's friend, along with my wife, all arrived on 7/1. That's when the fun really began. If anyone ever tells you that two 13 year olds, two 10 year olds, lots of rain and a small cabin is a recipe for a restful vacation, they lie!

Actually, the kids were great. No fighting, just constant noise, laughter, charades, running in and out between rainstorms to swim or just run around, and finally just giving up and swimming in the rain. It was pretty much impossible to get anything dry with no dryer, so C had to go to the laundromat with a towel load. She said that there were mob of campers trying to dry out there. Tents in the dryers, soggy clothing, tired grumpy people, not a good week for camping.

Finally, on the last day, 7/4/2009, it stopped raining for a few minutes. Long enough for swimming in the sun.

In the evening, we went to the fireworks in town and had ice cream at the local store. It's great ice cream, made locally and a good flavor mix. The kiddie size is as big as a softball, for $2.50. A pretty good deal.

Now, we're home for a few days to deal with work stuff, and Thursday it's back again.

Wed night Meg's Kitchen is playing at the Stafford VT folk festival. I got in trouble because I missed a rehearsal, unannounced, while in NH. But, I was more or less able to make it up yesterday and the concert should be fine. We have one more rehearsal tomorrow night.

Oh yes, it's raining out. BIG SURPRISE!!