Maryland Renassiance Festival

What is there to say about the Ren Fest? Not a lot. I went with some people who had never been, so there was a lot of uninhibited exploring and people watching. Some girls were pretty into the shopping so we visited more shops than I ever had before. I had to stop myself from buying a new dress. Maybe when I get a raise there will be a new corset. I did buy some local honey, a Christmas gift for Mom, and of course, mead. And there was a victory for the crown in the joust. Oh, and we watched the glass blowing demonstration. Every time I see that I want to try it out, maybe this winter. As always, a very fun day.

World Suicide Prevention Day

It's World Suicide Prevention Day (and week) and the good folks at To Write Love on Her Arms have a great many things going on. But what I found lovely was the idea of writing up why you can not be replaced. And I took it one step further and wrote up a few reasons why my loved ones can't be replaced. I never thought this week would mean much to me, but this year it does. So spread the word. Suicide is not the answer.

Why I Can Not Be Replaced

There's no one else out there with my collective outlook on life.

I'll help you get out alive if we're lost in the woods. 

Who else is going to write a poem with a moose watching a murder?

I'm her only daughter and their only sister.

Why You Can Not Be Replaced

 C. My future babies need a grandmother.

M. I can talk Cardinals and beer with you like no one else.

E. Someone has to keep break dancing alive.

C. I need a chauffeur.

H. You have to protect me from snakes.

J. No one knows me as intimately as you.

J. Break. Up. Care. Package.

** I had to go for humor on a lot of these or I would have started bawling in the office.

Patuxent River Kayaking

Either my last or second-to-last kayak trip of the year. Now that the weather is cooling it's time to focus on hiking and climbing again. But I have learned, it's time to buy a kayak. Or get married and put it on my registry.

Anyway, the Patuxent River is a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay and flows a little north of my county to the bay way down south. If my life were less hectic and I understood tides better this was going to be a two day trip. Instead it was a nice, lazy 4-5 mile paddle with beer.

Highlights:
~Getting stuck in mudflats and having to go backwards and find a deeper route. Yeah, we probably should have paid attention to all the birds who were standing in the shallow water.
~Making a kayak raft so we could all share beer and not float away. Floating away when we got lazy about tying ourselves around a post.
~Scotty's homebrew. Oh I'm such a beer snob now.
~Laughing at jet skier who also got stuck in the mud.
~Getting stung by an evil caterpillar (google saddleback caterpillar). It burnt a lot, but the rash seems to have gone away now. Beware, the caterpillars are apparently raising an army.  
~Having not one, not two, but three fish leap out of the water and collide with my boat. One managed to just leap straight over the front of my boat and hit the other side, one leapt over and hit my paddle on the other side, and one hit my paddle then flew over my boat to the other side. That time the paddle flung back, almost hitting me in the face. I'm just glad I didn't end up with a fish flopping around the kayak cabin. They all made it back in the water somehow.