Lounging in NH

Knit in NH
Originally uploaded by The Feminist Mafia.

After weeks of waiting, I dove into the auto-machine and drove up to Contoocook, NH. And yes, I made plenty of jokes about the name of the place. And yes, most of them involved the word "cock." In spite of threats of rain from the local meterologists (read: beautiful young people who look great on camera, but have no true appreciation for crazy New England weather), it turned out to be a beautiful day. Just chilly enough for fleece, not cold enough for a scarf. The sun peeked out around mid-day (read: the precise time that it was supposed to start raining). I was accompanied by The Little Man and my two uber-cool teenaged sisters-in-law. Please note: I am veryvery happy to refer to these two fabu grrrls as my sisters-in-LAW. Happy 1st anniversary of Massachusetts Equal Marriage everyone! We consumed huge quantities of hot dogs.sausages.fried dough.kettle corn.soda.water.ice cream.kettle corn.kettle corn.did I mention how much I love that sweet wonderous invention called kettle corn? With large expanses of grass Little Man was able to runrunrun all over the place. This freedom is all too absent in our hurryhurry lifestyle. My teenaged companions also love to chase him around, so I had a few moments of peace, between dispensing $20 bills for food-related excursions, to sit and zen-knit on the next installment of the Fiesta Tea Set (the creamer, in orange). Peace. Tranquility. The sighting of famous, and not as famous bloggers. The beauty of my online anonymity (which I hope will not be ruined by the photos). I watch, listen and observe all things around me. It is always interesting to hear what people say when they think no one is listening. Best spots for unintentional voyeurism - festivals, the post office, public transportation, public parks, the mall. I bought a couple skeins of bright green, which is probably destined for a Nothin' But a T-shirt, and a beautiful handpainted skein with Mom-perfect colors. I'm already planning for Christmas. As for the animals, there was much to see -- llamas, alpacas, sheep, angora bunnies, goats ("Kids for Sale" teehee!). Although we talked to several pre-teen husbandry experts who were happy to tell us all about their blue ribbon winning mammals, I am still unable to tell alpacas and llamas apart. Urban dope. And apparently Little Man spends too much time in the city, 'cuz he didn't like the bleating sheep at all (and I have the little-finger-bruises to prove it). Not surprisingly, he adored the quiet, still and cuddly soft angora bunnies. He's a young man with natural fine taste in fiber. But even after angora bunnies, the hours of running to and fro finally caught up with the Little Man, and an ill-fated attempt to keep him out of a 12 foot wide puddle (no exaggeration) resulted in the temper tantrum of the century (also no exaggeration). With a good deal of struggle, I eventually strapped him into the stroller and enjoyed the smirks and sympathetic looks from other adults/parents as we rushed toward the exit. And fate smiled down on us again as Little Man passed out mere minutes later, leaving a few more moments for Mommy and teen-Aunties A&N to shop. In addition to all the other wonderful things I could say about teen-Aunties, they were raised by a champion knitter and play at the needles and hook from time to time. So in addition to being supreme companions for me and excellent Little Man chasers, they enjoyed the shopping too. Perfection. After a successful transfer of sleepingkid->carseat (phew!), we hit the road, dashing back across the border into the Land O' the Gays before night fell and I turned back into a snarly-toothed-she-devil. All joking aside, I do love NH, but these days, I feel like I stash my civil rights at the border every time I leave the state.