Last weekend I drove 1700 miles to spend 48 hours getting rained on in Wisconsin with my pal Doug and some other buds from Back in the Day. My pregnant wife encouraged me to make this Man Journey even though I was a little apprehensive.
We had a great time. More copy pending!
Before: setting up camp in the rain.
After: regrouping at Todd's house for a sandwich in the dry.
Well, you can't see much on the pictures from our stone-age (ca. 2003) camera phone, but this is Grey in the swimming hole at Buttermilk Falls right here in Mendham. It's a hike of about 2 miles right from our house, way out in the woods. There used to be an iron foundry nearby in the 18th century but there's no trace anymore except for a couple stones.
We walked up there with Joe and Jill, G's parents. You can see Joe in the blue shirt on the right. A couple kids were there too and after seeing the pregnant lady paddling around they worked up the courage to get in too. It was beautiful but very cold!
Didn't see any wildlife other than a couple of toads. Good looking ones though.
Here's an even better picture of Jack and the Bear.
And also from New Jersey, there's the bear in a hammock incident.
Yesterday we went walking at Willowood Arboretum and I saw a northern ringneck snake.
(These are someone else's fingers and someone else's snake. I was good and I didn't pick him up.)
Well, it looks like I've got a job! I've accepted a position at Pequannock Township High School and though I haven't signed any papers yet it looks like the rest is going to be easy.
In my job search I sent out more than 40 applications (many unsolicited) and interviewed at about 10 schools. I had a total of six job offers by the end. The vast majority of the people I met were great.
The process was really pretty miserable. It felt kind of like going to the shelter to adopt a pet. How can you pick??
But, in the end, I think it has turned out really well. I'm really impressed with the administration and faculty at Pequannock. They are really interested in doing the best for the students, they were serious about good teaching, and they were willing to put their money where their mouths were. Big time.
For the time being we imagine staying in Mendham while I commute to Pequannock. It's only about 35 minutes away, and most of the time the commute will be pretty easy by Northern New Jersey standards. So I guess I will hang onto my commuting barge despite the drawbacks so that I can enjoy the peaceful woodgrain atmosphere with an audiobook when I am not worrying about lessons or tests.
Grey is doing very well. Her folks are here for a few days and we are having a nice visit. Today we went to Fosterfields, a local farm run by the county as it was in 1880. They have piglets and cows and sheep and horses and chickens and more pigs. It's big fun for grownups and of course we are scoping out places to take children. You should come visit us with your children and we'll all go look at piglets.
A black bear picked the wrong New Jersey yard for a jaunt earlier this week, running into a territorial tabby who ran the furry beast up a tree - twice.
Jack, a 15-pound orange-and-white cat, keeps a close vigil on his property, chasing small animals when he can, but his owners and neighbors say his latest escapade was surprising.
"We used to joke, 'Jack's on duty,' never knowing he'd go after a bear," cat owner Donna Dickey told The Star-Ledger of Newark for Friday's newspapers.
Neighbor Suzanne Giovanetti first spotted Jack's accomplishment after her husband saw a bear climb a tree on the edge of their northern New Jersey home's back yard on Sunday. Giovanetti thought Jack was simply looking up at the bear, but soon realized the much larger animal was afraid of the hissing cat.
After about 15 minutes peering down at the cat from the tree, the bear descended and tried to run away, only to have Jack chase it up another tree.
At this point Dickey, who feared for her cat, called Jack back home and the bear scurried back to the woods.
"He doesn't want anybody in his yard," Dickey said.
