Omnium-gatherum
Matt Hanson’s Brain Archive
November 4, 2008
You must all be out of your gourds!
2008 saw another Pumpkin-Fest chez Crouses in Newburgh ME. Good times once again although I seriously slacked at taking pics this year. After a few hours I stopped snapping other then when someone was done with their pumpkin. Sigh. I will make a conscious effort next year to improve my performance.
October 31, 2007
This is one small step for pumpkins and one giant leap for pumpkin-kind
Much like last year’s P-fest, the clouds rolled in and the rain fell. The pumpkins were thankful for the mostly dry interior of the garage, unaware they would soon be stabbed, gutted, and then put on display. The humans brandished fire and grinned at them, chewing the lightly salted and roasted seeds of the orange gourds and washing it down with the Pumpkin-Ale. Soon the pumpkins were aware it was not just the humans that grinned at them - they were grinning at each other with their newly gifted mouths. The glowing eerie faces filled the room for another year, and another party amidst the pumpkins.
October 31, 2006
It started as a hobby, descended into a sport, and then … into madness
The 6th annual Pumpkin-Fest, as it is now referred to, was held in the metropolis of Newburgh, ME, where it had been in two previous years. For 5 years we have had decent weather, if not warm at least not rainy…until this year. The winds raged over the old farmhouse and when it blew the right direction one of the large roof tiles on the barn would clatter sounding as if the entire roof was falling in. Tucked in the large garage, safe from the biting winds, this years Pumpkin Carvers worked diligently. It would be several hours before the last of the tired butchers stumbled out and the last pumpkin had felt it’s last cut. But this year there would be an additional complication for those later arrivers. The storm eventually took our electricity. Working by candlelights and flashlights, we finished and lit all the pumpkins.
Come see pictures of Pumpkin-Fest 2006. Voting will be up soon.
October 27, 2006
The Neighborhood
I find myself again sitting on photos a long time before even looking at them, as I used to do with film. In fact, I still have at least a dozen canisters of film yet to be developed from at least 6 or 7 years ago. It’s like a time capsule, I’ve always loved going through photos that I’d forgotten.
This event however, was from less than 5 months ago, and was a Neighborhood Picnic. Unfortunately it rained that day yet we still had a good turnout. Tune Buggy played out of my garage and patches here and there of sun without rain allowed the kids to play some to the music. It was a fun thing to visit with the neighbors we knew and meet those we didn’t.
May 26, 2006
Red Fire Trucks
What little boy doesn’t like Fire Trucks? They are bright red, big, they make noise, and they have lots of moving parts. And firemen get to wear cool hats. Our neighbor Daniel is just a few months younger then Kaley and now it was his time to turn 3. Fire truck cake, fire truck pinata, and firemen hats for the kids.
Traditional birthday games need to be modified slightly for kids this age. Sharp tacks in the hands of blindfolded little ones is not a great idea - so instead there was a pin-the-fire-badge-on-the-dalmations-firemen-hat. And do we really want to give sticks to three year olds inside the house, then blindfold them, spin them around then tell them to swing it? Even without the blindfold this can cause serious unintentional damage. Instead the bottom of the pinata was home to a colorful series of strings, most of which did absolutely nothing. Daniel went first, picked the magic string out of the dozen available and yanked - showering all with candy on the first try.
The No-Sticks and No-Tacks was a good avenue to take.
February 17, 2006
A new, New Years Eve Eve baby
It’s amazing that kids go from speaking a few words to having a huge vocabulary in a year. It was less then a year and a half when Kaley first started speaking and now she constantly amazes me with her word usage. Of all the milestones my daughters have reached none have been more satisfying then my Kaley’s ability to hold a regular conversation.
She loves crafts. Of course she loves TV like most kids, but it’s nice when she turns off the TV and comes to us and says “i want to do a craft”: coloring, painting, gluing, cutting…inside are pictures of ‘bubble crafts” - blowing bubbles with water color paints and pressing them to paper.
November and December ranged from Playground weather before the snow fell, to fort building weather after the snow fell. The end of the year brings birthdays for Kim and Maizy which means at least some pictures of birthday cake. This year we had an additional surprise. On Maizy’s first birthday a new baby was born.
Congratulations to the Crouses and a big welcome to Meryl, the Famous Crouse !
October 27, 2005
Among other things, a Cassie Tibbetts
The real end of warm weather. This year instead of watching the fall foliage we watched the rain. No real leaf colors - not until the end of the month when most of them just turned to brown and dumped on the ground over a couple days. Not a good fall - no apple picking for us this year or much outside activity. However…
I want to congratulate the Tibbetts on the birth of their baby daughter Cassie. She was actually born at the end of last month but we got down to see them early October…pictures inside. we brought dinner for the family and said our Hellos to the new gal, new parents, and grandmother. Hope things are going great in Cassie town.
We made a quick trip to Bangor, ME about mid-month. Rain canceled our planned river boat outing. But we visited with Kim’s long lost cousin Sara and her hubby in Winterport. She’s in the middle of cyclo-cross racing season as she trains to go pro. Best of luck! See pictures of a cyclo-cross race.
Kim and I worked on a couple pumpkins one night. Kaley and I did one that molded up pretty fast. Just recently Kaley and I put together our traditional scarecrow, Beady, to sit watch at the front of the house. He came out looking a bit more goofy then normal.
Must get ready for this weekend, the pumpkins are coming to town…
UPDATE (Oct 30, 2005)
Pictures add of Kaley doing Pumpkin crafts and trick or treating.
August 22, 2005
Gatherings
We always have a at least one gathering of the friends in the summer. I helped the Tibbetts move along with D, Pac-0-derm, and C.C. one fine (hot) summer day. A few pics of their new home, but not of the two and 3/4 sheds. Then a pool party chez moi with a cool sequence of C.C. jumping in a tube in the pool. Finally a housewarming at Tibbetts-house later in the summer saw the usual suspects as well as some new Tibbetts-neighbors.
August 8, 2005
Jewel’s Two
Jewel turned two as her mother, Lisa, was about 6 months pregnant with her sister. We headed to the party at Ryan and Lisa’s newly purchased home in Weare, NH where there was tasty vittles and the making of hats. What will two bring to the Belanger’s ?
July 24, 2005
Bear Brook, then the Beach
This was our fourth year camping at Bear Brook and this year we decided to go for a week instead of just a few days. With a two and a half year old and a 6 month old it was fairly difficult, but mostly due to Kaley being sick with an intestinal virus. We came home yesterday, a day early. Most of the days consisted of the same stuff, swimming, playing on the beach, cooking food, doing dishes, feeding the baby, resolving fights between Kaley and her cousin Lyndon, and having Smorittos at the fire. Bear Brook has some of the best mountain bike trails in the area and I got to go twice. We always camp at the same time as some of Kim’s family, Aunt Terri and Gloria, and the Flanagans.
It was a hard week, we had enough yesterday and came home a day early. We’ll still go back next year.
I’ve also tagged on the following weekend’s visit to Camp Ellis, Maine where we visited the Flanagan’s.
July 9, 2005
The Rise and Fall of Green Animals
I was introduced to Green Animals in Fast, Cheap, and Out of Control, a superb documentary film about a wild animal trainer, a naked mole rat expert, a roboticist, and the topiary gardener at Green Animals in Portsmouth, RI. George Mendonca, the gardener, took over Green Animals in 1940 from his father in law and fought the elements and made beautiful gardens until his retirement in 1985. The animals presented in the film were breathtaking and awe inspiring, showcasing the meticulous detail that was the result of the skill of George Mendonca. The upkeep of the animals was obviously a very difficult and time consuming job.
We were in town for the White-Carney wedding and the topiary gardens from the film were nearby. I had to see these gardens that enthralled me in one my favorite documentary films. Unfortunately I suspect that with George’s retirement the gardens no longer saw the dedication and talent that it took to keep them up. The gardens are still neat to see but I was surprised at sections of the garden that were starting to become overgrown with weeds and the poor condition of the boxwood hedges that make up much of the formal garden.
Hey little sister who’s your superman
July 8, 2005 The bride was beautiful and the groom wore a dress. So did I. (Editor’s Note: No insults intended to anyone of Scottish heritage). Mount Hope was a great spot and the wedding was very nicely done. Despite the rain a good time was had by all.
I’m glad the decision to wear Kilts was made - I will likely not get the opportunity to wear a kilt again and it was fun to get dressed up in all the garb (Kilts were rented from Scottish Lion). However, a lack of directions or a picture made the actual dressing part somewhat complicated. Andy, Chuck, J.R. and myself were somewhat confounded at first. What were we supposed to do with the daggers, the pin, the chain and bag, the little flag football flags? Luckily J.R. is smarter then us and figured things out. Upon arriving at the wedding the bagpiper informed us were had done everything correctly. I felt like a real Scotsman!
It was wet, but felt like the right weather for the kilt. Luckily my Sporran held a flask of Jack Daniels which kept the heart warm and wet out. A second tent had been set up to house the ceremony which was nice and simple as the two recited their vows.
The reception was in the tent next door, dance floor, DJ, cool yellow cake with flowers, and the very important open bar. Fare was steak, veggie ravioli, or lobster, with cool Rhode Island, Maine, and lobster shaped cookies.
I took considerably fewer pictures then I normally would partly due to being in the wedding myself but also because Gibby was on the scene as the official photographer.
I wish Andy and Ellen the best in life.
July 7, 2005
Right Proper Charlie
4 pitchers at Gritty McDuff’s, a few sips of Jagermeister at the Holiday Inn, 7 shots in 6 bars, finished with slices of pizza after last call.
We arrived in Portland sore, tired and slightly sunburned after rafting the Kennebec and participated in classic Bachelor party fun, minus the strippers. It started when we headed to the Old Port for some drinks at 3 Dollar Dewey’s. Being a Wednesday, the Old Port was quite empty so we relaxed with brewskis and conversation. Once Brian D. arrived on the scene however things went into overdrive. Brian, owner of The Industry (and the brother of yours truly), immediately saw the dilemna of the evening…it was well past 11 and Maine had a 1 PM last call. The solution? A mad rush to several bars for some light, but quick, drinks before stop time.
Mission accomplished by 1 AM. It was fun, no one was sick and pizza seemed the next logical choice. A fellow patron (Joe) of the pizza joint however was unimpressed with my unsolicitated picture taking and I think I got threatened with finger amputation. Good times.
It was an unconventional bachelor party being that the man of honor was actually already several months married to the same woman he was about to get married to again. But forget that story.
Good luck buddy.
Big Momma and her Three Sisters
The first hit soaked the bow-sharks, the two paddlers at the front of the boat, and sprayed the rest of us as adrenaline surged and we dug our feet into the footholds. Over 7 miles of the Kennebec river we hit class II and III rapids and a class IV. Another 5 miles of flatter water also brought us much fun as we left the boat alternating between swimming and just floating the current downriver.
It was my first time whitewater rafting and it was a blast. North Country Rivers in Bingham, ME guided the 8 of us for Andy White’s bachelor party in a great experience that I hope to repeat in the future. Our guide Dana knew every nook and piece of the river and his handling of the craft was impressive. We didn’t lose anyone overboard but hit the rapids with force and surfed on some rapids. While the water was a bit cold the wetsuit bottoms kept us warm enough to stay in the water as we let the current take us downstream after the rapids were over.
I’m definitely doing this again. Next year I think a bigger group is in order for a major release day on the Kennebec.
