First Robin of Spring, meet the first Turkeys of Fall

New England is, justifiably, famous for its fall colors - the leaves and the little towns, warm days and crisp evenings. If you climb up West Rattlesnake (which is a very little mountain in the Lakes region) in New Hampshire and sit on the ledge and look over the landscape, you see a farm with a grain silo and a red barn, and a little town with a white church steeple. It is fall the way people imagine it and, for all that it means that winter is coming, it is my favorite season.

The most classical sign of fall so far was a huge flock of wild turkeys that I passed down by the golf course as I was driving home this afternoon. There had to be at least 20 of them, wandering across the road, eating the seed off the neighbor's lawn. I used to see turkeys on the road when I worked in Bedford, Massachusetts, but I have never seen them around here before. It was so random. Wild turkeys are surprisingly big - one of the neighbor has a big, friendly golden retriever, who was visibly keeping his distance from them. Most of their feathers are an iridescent black. The wattles aside, they are actually quite attractive birds. I'm bringing my camera tomorrow, in hopes they'll be there again so I can get a picture.

This year has been a little strange. First, there has been a plague of "seed bug" in our development. I've seen them in smaller numbers before, but this is almost at the level of a plague of locusts. Big, slow, ugly, clumsy things. They are actually a variety of stink bugs, so even more incentive to keep them out of the house. Being absolutely terrified of bugs, I am sure that my neighbors have been quite amused at my daily yelping and swatting and running out the door rituals. Honestly, I may have to start entering and exiting via my living room windows. I shamelessly called Terminex on Friday, which was particularly bad in terms of bug density. Now, I have a pile of dead, ugly bugs on the stoop. *sigh*  The engineer part of me knows that they are harmless (if smelly), but there is just nothing I can do... they disgust me. I would rather they go away, then have to kill them, but I can't live with them.

I am (working on being) Runner 5

Those of you who already use the Zombies, Run! app know exactly what I am referencing. Those of you who don't, well, probably think I'm crazy (and you're probably right). This is an app, multi-platform though I use it on my iPhone, that provides you with a storyline that you interact with while you run. The basic idea is that you are a post-zombie-apocalypse survivor. In order to support the little outpost of safety you find yourself in, you need to run around and collect stuff (no actual picking up required) while evading marauding herds of zombies. Herds of zombies... that doesn't sound right, sounds too organized. Swarms maybe?

The storyline plays while you run, and your music is played in between segments (1 song or so between segments for 30 minute runs, 2 songs between segments for hour runs). When zombies are approaching, you have to move faster for ~ 1 minute to outrun them. It seems pretty simple, and it is, but it's totally addictive. You can use the stuff you pick up to improve your base and, if you go longer than 1 hour, you can interact with what they call Radio Mode - you still listen to music, you still get story segments and you still pick up stuff. Thus far, I haven't been in Radio Mode long enough at any one time to find out if you also have to sprint from zombies, as in the main story.

Even though intellectually, I know I'm running in a park full of pedestrians and dogs and babies in strollers and the local high school cross country team, it's surprisingly engrossing and realistic... and creepy. I bring this up because if any of you saw someone jump nearly out of her sneakers today because of a squirrel, there was actually a reason that has nothing to do with an irrational fear of rodents. Still a long way from being ready for either a sprint triathlon or a half marathon (not sure which I'm going to set as my 2013 goal yet; maybe I should put it to a vote), but definitely makes training way more fun.

Technical review: The app is stable, with no crashes in ~3 hours of use so far. Ties into the GPS on your phone to measure distance and determine if you've outrun or been caught by the zombies. If you're running indoors, you can use the device's accelerometer instead of GPS, but I don't know how well (or if) the zombie chases work that way. There are a lot of different levels in the app, and they have added new content recently. I don't know if you have the option of starting over once you finish all the levels, as I'm not nearly there yet (perhaps running through once in 30 minute mode and once in hour mode?). The cost of the app is a bit high by app store standards, at $7.99, but given the many, many hours of use, the different features and the motivation boost I definitely think it's worth it.

Think I might go for a hot stone massage this weekend as a reward if I run at least 21 miles this week (note, 4.6 down if so). Date with "Looks Like Lochte" #3 next weekend. Whale watching. At least it's creative and different, right?

The Farmshare Dilema

This year, I decided to sign up for a farm share and go *mostly* vegetarian for the summer. I say mostly because I love sea food and this is the best season for it. At first it was pretty great, but lately it's a little overwhelming. First there was an avalanche of zucchini, then the flood of cucumbers and now I'm buried in greens. I'm not a Cordon Bleu chef, but I'm a decent cook and I enjoy figuring out how to prepare new things. I just don't know what to do with 13 (yes THIRTEEN) ears of corn. 

A few months ago, my friend and I had dinner at a Boston restaurant, Toro, that serves Barcelona style tapas. The house specialty is a fabulous grilled corn-on-the-cob dish that I may try to recreate with my husked bounty. Actually, I already figured out how to duplicate the garlic shrimp (from a place who's name I do not know actually in Barcelona) ... if I can ever make a Spanish style tortilla without burning it and duplicate that corn, I can make my next party a tapas party!

I don't know that I'd do a farmshare again, to be honest. I think it's just too much for one person, so I've had to do a lot of preserving and freezing. I spent a rainy day last weekend canning jars of my very own homemade tomato sauce, which turned out to be surprisingly easy. I've also got a very, very full freezer and Swiss Chard running through my veins. I love supporting local farms, and I love the fact that I get fresh food, instead of food shipped from the other side of the planet, but I think I can do that by just shopping at the local farmers markets. There are some great ones nearby in Litchfield, NH. 

In marginally related health news - I am in the market for a new gym. My current one, part of a fairly large chain, used to be great, but they really expanded their membership really quickly and haven't expanded the facility at all. It's gotten very crowded and the maintenance hasn't kept up. It's kind of... gross actually. I think I'm going to sign up for a sprint triathlon for 2013 - I need to have goals to work toward and I think that would be a fun one.

Salem, MA - Minus the Witches

Decided to kick off Labor Day weekend with a day trip to Salem, MA. Famously the Witch City, I should confess that I didn't visit any of the assorted witch-themed attractions this trip. There is too much to do in one trip, and I figure witches, pirates and graveyards are best appreciated in the fall, ideally on an overcast day during leaf season.

This trip, wandered down to the House of Seven Gables, past a number of really cute older homes and shops. I was persuaded to stop in at Ye Olde Pepper Companie - the oldest commercial candy store in the US. They had a great selection, and I was sorely tempted to just say "Yes", but restricted myself to a few things, some fudge, a couple of peppermint patties and some chocolate-peanut butter varieties. So much better than mass-produced candy. While I would highly recommend the place for the atmosphere, they do have an online presence and will ship.

We decided to wander back to the car (I decided on a parking garage spot, so the car was shaded) to drop our stuff off so it wouldn't melt in the mid-day sun. On the way we stopped at several different shops, mostly variations on the witchcraft and New Age theme, though highly variable in quality. My favorite things tended to be the bumper stickers ("Cats, Not Kids", how appropriate) though they did have quite a number of items that spoke to my inner Goth. Aside from the historic witch trial tie-in, you can tell there is a very active Wiccan community there. Kind of ironic, the town that became famous because it allowed its paranoia and isolation to explode into a fiesta of false accusations and executions is now home to a plethora of the very people they were trying to hunt down and eliminate. Not that things have entirely changed, there is a church in town that hosts "Holy Happenings" every October to compete with Salem's Haunted Happenings events. It hasn't exactly caught on.

Lunch was Salem BeerWorks. I am not a big beer drinker, so I went for the tasting menu instead of a regulation size beer. Still not a beer person, but even I enjoyed the selections. I give them credit, the menu is definite pub food, but well executed. I particularly liked the unexpectedness of the potato, cheese and bacon spring rolls. Sort of like a twice-baked potato in a spring roll shell. I also compliment them on making Pepsi tolerable. When I made a face at the "Is Pepsi ok" query, the server suggested she add an extra spritz of seltzer to cut the sweetness. Not exactly coke, but tolerable. I'll have to remember that trick for later. 

Last stop in town was the Peabody-Essex museum, which is great. Not "great for a little town" great, but really fabulous. The architecture is very light and airy and the collections are extremely well curated. They are currently hosting a selection of Ansel Adams work that is fabulous. Unlike his more famous mountain west photographs, this one focused on his pictures of water. Very unusual, and absolutely stunning. The museum also has a Chinese house, moved here in the 1980s I think, that you can tour. It was really interesting to see the architecture, and to hear the history on the audio tour. The upstairs is getting pretty rickety, though, so definitely watch your step there. 

About that parking garage - cost to park for basically the entire day in a garage in the middle of town: $1.25. Cheaper than a meter, and much more convenient. One note on getting to and from Salem, even though it sounds easy (just take 128 to 114), what that doesn't tell you is that 114 takes all sorts of turns and jogs. I know most of the streets and routes in Massachusetts follow old cow paths and such, but whatever cow blazed this trail was very, very drunk. My GPS (a TomTom) kept up with all the turns, so recommend you either go with a native or bring a digital navigator.