Wednesday, August 02, 2006

Bye Bye Greg, 23 Jet Ski Do and Didjeridude

Herewith is the promised post about the weekend.

Friday night we said goodbye to our friend Greg. Greg was an Illinois State student who started coming to the Vineyard last summer. He started out with the college group but quickly migrated to our 20something group. Greg is an outgoing and friendly guy who was doing a medical technician internship at a nearby hospital and finishing his degree. He pushed us to plan events in advance and often had us over at his parents' house for fun activities. It was Greg's family that introduced us to the brilliant idea of watching a fireworks show with 3-D glasses. Greg's a good guy with a gift for hospitality and empathy who has now moved to Maryland to work in the blood lab at the Johns Hopkins University Medical Center. We'll really miss him but look forward to seeing him when he comes back to visit his parents. We had a good time at his party eating some great food, playing Mario Cart, Dr. Mario, and Goldeneye, as well non-video games like speed scrabble, darts, and foosball. We also had a good time praying for Greg to send him off.

Saturday we got together with various college students and headed up to Steve's family's cottage on a little lake in southern Wisconsin. I grilled burgers and hot dogs for us (I'd post the recipe to the ROUS blog but it's just "Put burger on the grill, flip until it's cooked, eat it.) that turned out okay. After lunch we headed to the beach. Steve and T.J. took the cars back and brought over the jet ski while Paul and I brought over the canoe. Paul and I should not be allowed in small watercraft together. We're big guys. We flipped the canoe in about 2 minutes. Admittedly it worked much better when we sat in the bottom of the canoe instead of on the seats but it's still a risky venture. Once we all made it to the beach we just hung out and had fun while people took turns riding the jet ski and canoeing. We played some frisbee in the water with a kid and his dog. The dog was an impressive swimmer. Sam built a pretty cool sand castle out of sand, mud, rocks, and an old mousetrap I found on the bottom of the lake that made a good drawbridge. Paul and tried to ride the jet ski together but nearly swamped it. We decided to go it alone so Paul got off and in the process I lost balance and fell off to one side, cutting my leg in the process. After that I got back on and did a few laps around the lake. It was a lot of fun. Paul later went jet skiing with Andrew. They both wiped out at one point and another time Andrew threw Paul off during a turn. It was pretty funny. Afterwards we went to Pizza Hut for supper and then Steve and I went home and watched David Lynch's Dune. Remember to "walk without rhythm so you don't attract the worm."

Sunday we heard a sermon from Matt on Simon the Sorcerer from Acts 8. After church Steve and I went to the Bristol Renaissance Fair. It's a bit expensive but we had a good time. We considered buying swords but were driven off by the prices. We saw a fight between Robin Hood and a scurvy gang of pirates in cahoots with the High Sheriff of Bristol. We also saw a 20 minute one man version of Shakespeare's Scottish Play, Dirk and Guido the Swordsmen, and the Bard O'Malley. One of Steve's highlights was watching the falconer show his birds. Steve likes falcons. We also stopped by a shop selling didjeridoos and drums. I now own a didjeridoo. I've wanted one for a while and broke down finally and bought one. An important part of the fair is the food so I got a portabella banger which is a sausage stuffed with cheese and mushrooms and a pork chop on a stick. The latter was disappointing. It was a good pork chop but didn't really work on a stick. After the fair was over we went to Jason and Bonnies to play some pit and to allow me to lose another game of Settlers. I'm getting lamentably good at that.

Fun weekend. Very tiring.

10 comments:

Jenn-Jenn, the Mother Hen said...

I used to go to Ren Faires all the time. I think the best one-man show I ever saw at one was "Beowulf in the Mud". It was great. And I remember the "Kissing Wenches" who would attack male or female and steal kisses unless you gave them a penny. I haven't been to one in a long time. I'll have to see if there's one around here.

Did you remember to clean out your cut really well? Bacteria live in lake water, too (Okay, okay, I'll stop "Mom"-ing you)

Becca said...

Was Ded Bob there? I love him!

We saw some awesome jugglers a few years ago when we went with Candi, but I don't remember they're names. This spring, CJ should be old enough for the fair.

Everett said...

I don't know Ded Bob. The main juggler at the Bristol Fair the past few years has been Moonie the Magnif'cent. We saw a little of his show as we passed by but didn't stay for the whole thing. I saw him two years ago and he was pretty funny.

I washed the cut with soap after we got back to the cottage and bactine-d it when we got home that night.

Tooz said...

Ta daaah! At long last an appropriate use for the mousetrap from high school physics! I'm glad you had a good weekend. I too hope you treated your cut appropriately. Love you.

By the way, my verification is dgdu--is that short for didgereedo?

ann said...

I'm sooooo jealous that you ahve a didjeridoo. And I wish you had it before my wedding. You could have played it as I walked down the aisle. And I'm even more jealous that you saw Robin Hood in person! Did you meet him? Wow!

Jenn-Jenn, the Mother Hen said...

But what does a didjeridoo have to do with a Ren Faire (which typically center around medieval England?)

Becca said...

Reason? You don't need no stinking reason to show or have a didjiridoo. They're just that cool, and go very well with buckets.

Or so I'm told.

Everett said...

That's right, Becky. The very name didjeridoo is reason enough in itself.

I think it's related to the general agglomeration of aging hippies and hippy wannabees that surround ren fairs. Didjeridoos have that earthy, new age-y feel that fits right in with the general ambience even if there is no relation to late middle ages England.

Everett said...

Alas, I didn't meet Robin but we did see him in action.

Lydia said...

I LOVE frisbee in the water. I can usually catch them then since I can dive for them and not hurt myself. I also enjoy a good jet ski ride, although, both the times I've ridden with someone else, I've mananged to fall off.

My teammate, Jeff, and I were riding one in Florida, summer of 98, and he made a very fast, sharp turn which threw me off. The other time, Geron and I were riding one at Camp Jonathan Creek and thought we'd show off. We started heading in REALLY FAST and made a sharp turn. I was holding on to the strap on the seat and we flipped--when I came up, I was still holding on to the strap on the seat, but the seat was no longer on the jetski. We flooded the engine. So, a boat came out and picked us up and we towed the jetski back to shore. OOOPS!! I think it took about 12 grown men to pick the thing up and flip it to drain the water out of the engine compartment.

I obviously do much better when I ride them by myself.

One more thing I really like on the water--kayaking, not the kind you get down inside of for white water, but the kind you sit on top of like on a lake. I love'em!!