Connect-uh-cut

Wow. I have so much to write about it's not even funny. Unfortunately, I made the mistake of composing a list earlier this week of all the things I had to do - I haven't made a real, honest-to-goodness to-do list in a while - and that has occupied my evenings since I returned from vacation. Therefore I will start my postings with pictures and stories from Connecticut, go do my Saturday errands, and see if I have time to post some more before the Alexandria fireworks tonight.
Alright.
Last Friday, my intrepid roomies and myself left work early and booked out of DC just in time to hit the early Fourth of July exodus traffic. Even with the trouble getting out of the greater Washington area, we had a very smooth, enjoyable ride. The scenery was beautiful, and we had wonderful conversation (as always), listened to Agatha Christie's "Murder is Easy" (which kept at least Allis and I awake till the end of the drive), and lots of time to work on my latest crocheting endeavor (a present for friends' upcoming wedding). It sort of felt like a debate trip, except without the fifteen passenger van and having to write a case en route, so really the ten hours in the car was the only thing that made it anything like a debate trip.
I digress so soon. On Saturday morning, we started exploring Connecticut through its history - old graveyards and churches in particular. This is Old Trinity Church, constructed a few years prior to the Revolutionary War.
This Celtic cross was unique in the Old Trinity graveyard - most were the fairly common slabs and oblisques you think of when old graveyards come to mind. It was interesting to read the stones that had epithets on them. They made much of one man who had been educated in Oxford. There were veterans and casualties of the Revolutionary War, War of 1812, and Civil War scattered throughout. The sense of history is very deep and very real.

A much smaller community plot was just down the road from Allis' house. If there was a church connected to the graveyard, it has long since vanished. What struck me here, where many generations of four or five families were laid to rest, was the high infant mortality rate and relatively early death of most adults - staccatoed with a few who lives into their eighties or nineties! (I'm fairly certain longevity in Connecticut is tied to you ability to withstand the constant onslaught of mosquitoes. I wouldn't last a year.)
I need to dwell on the mosquitoes for a moment. I killed no fewer than two dozen of the buggers *on* me while I was there, so you can just imagine how many I missed - and how many bites I had. Thank goodness for Benedryl, even if it makes me feel COMPLETELY out of it.
Now about the picture. The reason it's here is quite simple: no trip with the three of us would be complete without documenting our Starbucks runs. I suspect Sarah will put some of the other pictures she took of our drug of choice on her blog.

For the record, watching fireworks while on the aforementioned Benedryl is a highly fascinating experience I don't particularly recommend, but going into Putnam was still very fun.
There is something really special about going to see where someone spent their childhood. In both Connecticut and Colorado, I felt a new connection to people I've known for years simply because I've been were they grew up. There is a measure of increased lightness and relaxation to a person when they are in their natural environment, their "element" as my dad would call it, and so seeing Allis with her family in Connecticut was something I will always treasure.
I also discovered something new about Allis and her family: they apparently specialize in running unofficial summer camps. As the following pictures will show, we didn't just sit around when we were up there - I felt suddenly propelled back to Hume Lake as a high schooler.
Ah, yes. Kayak wars. Behind Allis' house is a fairly large lake, about two miles in length if I could hazard a guess. Sarah, Allis, Allis' sister Mallory, one of Mallory's friend, and Allis' friend Kelsey took out kayaks and canoes one afternoon and had a blast. I'd forgotten what a good workout kayaking provides!

Probably the funniest moment of kayaking was Mallory and her friend tipping over the canoe, which quickly became in danger of capsizing. Since there was a rope attached to my kayak, I decided we should attach my vessel to the canoe and I would row it to shore. However, we failed to think through the fact that the rope was attached to the *front* of my kayak, so me bringing it in would be, to say the least, difficult. So Mallory ended up grabbing the back of my kayak, holding onto the back of Allis' with her other hand, and Allis served as the principal tug-boat. I did help, though, once I figured out how to paddle backwards.

Kayaking and history stuff was Saturday. Sunday was church and swimming. Monday was my biggest fear: mountain biking. When you're not completely comfortable with *normal* biking, mountain biking is daunting. However, I endeavored to be a good sport as we loaded up the car with bikes and equipment and drove to Long Island Sound, where we would explore an area known as Bluff Point.

Our first stop was an area with an open-water beach on one side and a lagoon on the other. The water was wonderfully warm, and excellent for watching birdlife and minnows.
The trail became considerably harder when we pressed on to the next stop. I was quite relieved when we pulled off for our midafternoon picnic of stuffed grape leaves, feta cheese, and olive bread. Is that gourmet or what?

After lunch, we wandered down the rocky coastline of Long Island Sound. Allis used this opportunity to explore some new fashion possibilities. I still say *gross*, especially since I saw the sequel to Pirates of the Caribbean last night. You don't know where that seaweed's been!!

We also enjoyed finding beautiful and unusual rocks and shells. I decided to leave this on the beach for someone else to discover, but I had to take a picture because I thought it was so cool.
After hiking and biking all day, I was quite ready to go back and take a dip in the pool. Unfortunately, both Sarah and my suits - which had been left to dry on the backyard clothes line - vanished mysteriously. We practically turned the house upside down trying to find them to no avail. And I *liked* that suit, too. *pout*
So, we settled for an evening of yummy food, Antiques Roadshow, and Eight Below. And I agree with Naomi's assessment of that as one of the most disturbing kissing scenes ever. 'Nuf said.
After the vigorous exercise on Monday, I was thankful for the considerably easier exploration we conducted of the Continental Army's 1778 winter encampment on our way back to Virginia. This is where Israel Putnam and his men spent a harsh winter known as the "Valley Forge of Connecticut." Here, Sarah poses by - what else? - the officers' headquarters.

The monument on the site was very interesting. It was actually constructed in the late 1800s, which was curious to me - for some reason I hadn't thought reconstruction-era America would spent such time and money on a monument, even to something as important as the Revolution. But I suppose it hasn't only been the more recent generations that have considered encampments and battle sites as semi-sacred grounds. As this side of the memorial states: "The World is full of their praises, Posterity stands astonished at their Deeds." Oh, when did we lose that astonishment?
And now in yet another exercise of "wow, I guess I haven't done as much research as I thought I had," I was introduced to firebacks at this site. Firebacks are a term for a certain type of barracks, and these stones were the foundations of the firebacks used during the 1778 encampment. They're planning more restorative work at this site, and I'd be interested to go back and see what they do with it. It was amazing to think of how many men lived in this area for nearly six months!

The rest of the drive back went quite well, considering that bad weather seemed to affect everywhere around us, but never us in particular. We arrived back at our place to find our power, AC, and hot water out, so we decided to utilize our resources and take over Chris and Felicity's apartment for the evening, since we were "fish-sitting." As an added benefit to having power so we could cook dinner and watch a movie, we were able to borrow their beautiful 15th story view of DC for the Mall fireworks. A perfect ending to a wonderful weekend, if I may say so myself!


One more picture I have to share, because I am now a proud big sister. *grin* My parents adopted last weekend, and isn't he the cutest pup ever?! Jesse is a seven-month-old lab-shepherd mix, full of energy and fun, and seems to have made my home in San Diego a very joyful place in the last week. I can see why. I am so happy to know my family is no longer devoid of animal life. We needed a dog, and I'm so glad we've finally been blessed with Jesse! I can't wait to go home and meet him!