Out of my gourd

Could there be any more quintessential cultural experience of a New England autumn than leaf peeping? That's the colloquialism for taking a long, slow drive on back roads to look at the changing scenery. It's long and slow because you're behind a couple of dozen lost New Yorkers who managed to find their way out of the city and can't get back until they see a sign for a parkway.

The answer, of course, is to get together with a bunch of friends, bring some hot casseroles and cold beer, and give the little kids some sharp, serrated tools and some permanent markers, and have a pumpkin carving party. Some family friends have one every year, and each year it seems that there are more and more little children. I'm pretty sure that most of them manage not to get lost in the woods or fall into the deep part of the stream.

Pumpkin Party 2007

Here's a few shots from this year's party. Some of the adults revert to childhood and vie to carve the most grotesque visages that can be imagined. Despite the abundant amount of alcohol, injuries are rare.

They also fire up the Farm-All tractor and a couple of dozen people at a time will pile into the hay wagon for a three hour tour twenty minute trip around the farm. You'd think that the hay bales are merely for ambiance, but really they're an excellent shock absorber for when that wagon is bouncing around the tractor ruts and over rocks. This is a real New England farm, and not one of those tourist attractions; and be sure to watch your boots after walking through the horse fields.

Naturally, a good time was had by all, and we'll remember this for the next couple of months, until we have the next New England tradition: the wreath-making party.

50th Anniversary

This is the historic Longwood Country Inn at the edge of scenic Woodbury, Connecticut. Quite literally on the edge, in fact, as fifty feet to the left of this picture on Rte 67 is the border of Southbury.

We're having a family reunion of sorts as my parents celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary. Clicking the picture will take you to the Picasa online photo album.

We can't recommend the Longwood Inn highly enough. The staff was fantastic to work with, and they were very accommodating, considering all of the last minutes changes we made. The food was excellent, both at dinner and at brunch the next day. Woodbury is full of old, historic buildings; the Longwood Inn is on Rte 67, and is only a few miles from the center of Woodbury - the antiques capital of Connecticut. The leaves were just starting to fall, so the out of state guests managed to get a little taste of New England scenery.

It was nice to see so many of the relatives that we normally only see at weddings and funerals. My parents had a great time, of course - probably because pretty much all they had to do was show up. We're going to have a difficult time topping this at their next 50th anniversary.