Gee, Think.

This past weekend Kitty and I went camping with some good friends at
Lackawana state park in Pennsylvania. What a relaxing place! I had
forgotten how much I love being outside for the better part of two
days. I would have stayed longer if I could.
There is a lake in the park which is is good for fishing or boating. I
didn’t see anyone swimming in it, maybe because it was pretty turbid
with plant life. We did see a small family of ducks though, and several
paddleboaters as well. They have a huge, round, sloped pool and a
excellent snack bar. At the snack bar, which I think is called
Poppop Pig’s, they specialize in italian. They’ve got a wide selection
available on the menu. Next time I’m going to try the canoli. They
serve a great sausage and peppers sandwich with a killer marinara sauce
that they make from scratch. The cucumber and tomato salad was good as
well.
Arguably the best eating, however, came from the reflector oven that
Kitty made in our campsite. We used this to melt chocolate on top of
graham crakers for smores. They were so good and soooo messy. You
gotta love it though.
Next to the pool is a huge field on a slope. We threw the frisbee around
for a good hour in the sun. That was really nice since I hadn’t thrown
in a LONG time.
I’d love to go back for a week.

Mom and I were stranded in an ethereal mist near the top of Cadillac
mountain on Mount Dessert Island last week. We started the hike with
Kitty’s parents and Lloyd as well. We had to stop on the way down
because of an aching knee.
The sky was overcast when we were at the bottom of the north trail.
Soon after we started up the mountain the temperature began to rise. I
was sweating like crazy. We drank our water quickly anticipating the
water fountains at the top.
Before we knew it a thick fog had rolled in all around us. The
temperature began to drop down to about 60 from 80 and the light breeze
becamre a strong wind. The winds must have been blowing at around 40
mph. Humidity was near 100% as we watched thick billowing gusts of fog
streak between us and the trees.
When we finally reached the summit I could not see more than 100 feet
ahead. It felt like twilight. I went from shirtless to sweatshirt in
about 2 minutes. The strength of the gusts doubled as we stepped out
from below the granite boulders.
It was the walk down the mountain that started the knee ache. Mom had
to stop and I volunteered to stay with her. This was mostly because I
didn’t wan’t to hike back day in the atrocious weather.
Lloyd and Kitty raved ahead to the rescue vehicle. I think Mom and I
were sitting on the side of the road waiting for about an hour, but the
time passed quickly. We had a lot to talk about and the unusual weather
conditions created an excellent environment for the meeting of the
minds.
Speaking of meeting, a strange man pulled over on his way down the
mountain in his dodge stratus. He was clearly derranged and I thought I
might have had to kung fu him. Thankfully he drove off after some
disorganized and slurred comments.
What a day for a hike!

Small wet leaves overlaping cling together. Spring has sprung on this
day of rain and sun.

Kitty and I took a drive with the top down last night. That was
awesome! There’s just no comparing a convertible to another car in
great weather. The rushing wind, fresh air, and great views are really
refreshing.
We drove a little south on 287 and the Parkway to get to Matawan. On
the way we could smell the mud from the salt marsh. That’s a comforting
smell for both of us. It reminds me of vacations and summer trips to
the coast of Maine. For Kitty I think its more about the positive
environmental effect of the salt marsh. She tells me that the salt
marsh is one of the most biodiverse habitats on the planet.
We saw this sunset as we were drivng across a bridge, just before 8
o’clock.

Spring is finally here!! Flowers are bursting into bloom all over the
place. Here are some daffodills (?) from the backyard. I think the
warm weather is finally here to stay. I even opened the window this
morning.

The view from highpoint.

We’re at high point!!

It’s the morning of Saturday, January 21st. We slept in. I certainly needed some rest from the work week. All that commuting makes a man tired, but I couldn’t sleep too long because this was the day I had been waiting for.

We got ready quickly. For the sake of tradition I made and packed two peanut butter and banana sandwiches. We had peanut butter and banana sandwiches on our first hike in Ricketts Glen. I’ve loved them since my early childhood and introduced Kitty to them two years ago.
Ricketts Glen is about a three and a half hour drive from our place in Jersey. It would add up for a lot of driving that day, but I knew it would be worth it. As we were driving we saw something I had never seen before. It was a sky filled with canadian geese in all directions. The geese were flying in Vs which met up with other Vs, joined, and flew in a new direction. I would estimate that we saw over five hundred birds in a span of five miles or so. It was really astonishing. I had never seen that many geese at one time. Their behavior was especially strange. Why would there be such a group movement in the middle of January? Maybe they were a bit confused because of the unseasonably warm weather we were having.

I almost got myself into trouble on the way to Ricketts. The three hour drive gave us a lot of time to talk to each other, and of course I had to take issue with something Kitty said about children and songs by Green Day. Why did I decide to disagree on the day that I planned to propose? I don’t know. But I almost got us into a bit of a disagreement, and the last thing I wanted was a sour attitude as the emotional backdrop for the proposal. I am, however, learning to be a bit more diplomatic.

Part of my plan was to recapture a photo opportunity from our first hike two years ago. It was a shot taken on a timer of Kitty and I in front of what looked like the opening of an ice palace. We were lucky on our first trip to the glen. When we first discovered the glen the surrounding area was completely free of snow and ice. In fact, it was a warm day in march. There was no snow to be seen, and we were quite surprised to find any during our hike. Ricketts in in a fairly unique geographic location. It sits in the middle of a small 1000 or 1500 foot hill that rises adruptly from the surrounding low land forests. There is a small lake on top of the hill which freezes over and supports ice fishing houses in winter. I think it’s the elevation, and the shade offered by tall old growth trees that keeps the glen cool. For whatever reason, even though there was no sign of winter outside the glen, it’s trails were snowy and the waterfalls had become giant ice formations.

Two years ago we took our picture with a camera on a timer in front of one of these frozen waterfalls. The icicles in that particular formation were more than 20 feet long. They were the biggest I had ever seen, and I immediately wanted to see them up close. So I stood in what looked like a doorway, and waited for Kitty while she set up the timed shot. She ran across the frozen river, and i was pulling her up with her hand in mine just as the photo went off. This is one of my favorite photos to this day.

For a while I was stumped. I didn’t know where we could go. Not to mention that we hadn’t had a good snow for the past three weeks! I looked like my plans were about to fall apart. I knew though, that I would make the proposal either way, but I still wanted it to be a memorable weekend. I had already picked the date, January 21st. It was a saturday. I had been talking about our “snow shoeing trip in jeff’s spot” everyday for the past month. Kitty related that to me after the proposal. I was so eager for the trip that I didn’t realize how often I mentioned it.

The perfect solution came to me during dinner at Kitty’s parents house. Ricketts Glen! This was the site of our first date. It was our first outing together, and a fantastic one at that. We went in March of 2004 and were amazed at the frozen waterfalls, majestic pines, and quietude. There was mother nature in all her beauty just waiting for us. Ricketts is an amazing place. It is located on the top of a hill, about 1000 feet higher in elevation than the surrounding area. The road to the glen is quite steep. Once you get to the top you can feel that the air is about ten degrees cooler. You notice that there’s a bit more snow on the ground as well. As you move down into the glen, sun streams through the boughs of old growth pine trees who dont have a single branch lower than 30 feet above the ground. This was the site of our first outdoor excursion. The beauty, the significance to our relationship, all the right reasons were there. It had to be Ricketts. The location was set.

So after deciding that the time was right to pop the question I had to think of how and when to do it. I didn’t think that she would go for the fancy dinner thing, and I knew it had to be just the two of us. I heard mother nature calling my name. The woods, I thought, would be the perfect setting. Solitude, peace, quiet, and privacy. The scene would be intimate and beautiful.

Shortly after I had firmly decided that the proposal was on the way we invested in a new outdoor sport, Snow-Shoeing! Since we were deep into December, I thought I would have no problem finding a snow laden weekend for snow-shoeing to a romantic overlook. The only question was where to find this overlook. I had never gone snow shoeing, but luckily I knew somebody that knew somebody that knew where to snow shoe. So I set the plan in motion and asked my coworker Jeff, who had a friend, to ask his friend to recommend a proposal worthy hike.

I thought the plan was perfect. All I had to do was wait to hear back from my coworker, Jeff, and I would have my best laid plans. So on the next monday I asked him about the snow-shoeing location. He said that his friend still hadn’t gotten back to him. “All right, Okay.” I thought, “Everything’s still good, I’ve got three weeks ahead. No Worries.” Next week I asked Jeff again. “Oh, I’m really swamped up there.” He tells me. Apparently its that time of the month for his department, lots and lots of work. I’m an easy going guy though, “Whatever” I think, confident that I’ll hear back soon. Next monday, still no answer. There’s only one week to go now, and that’s a little too close for comfort. I need to get a plan together pronto and decide that I’ll just have to pick the spot myself.