Work and Play

I have been working for the Dover branch of Labor Ready for the past month, getting odd jobs here and there; through the work, I have met quite some interesting characters. From bosses that go by the name of Nugget, to those who race cars on the drag strip and pick up trash on the speedway for fun. The most interesting, and close to home character I have met so far would be a man I met at Exeter Rent All. He has been in and out of college, lives the music life, and currently works at the Rent All center to make his way as a general supporting job, but during his free time, he works at mastering tracks and albums for musicians; sometimes even recording their work. He had gone on tour, worked his way through college to pay for his education, and found himself working back in New Hampshire. I liked listening to his story, and it really gave me some perspective on where education can take you. It took him to Berklee College of Music, then to Keene State College, then all the way out to Minnesota to a college where he went for classes on music mastering. This is a glance into a future that I could have; working to pay for college as I am attending classes, working afterward to pay off the education, and never working less than two jobs at a time. I can see it.
While working at the Rent All center, I also have gotten to speak with a couple of people who have moved over to America from Romania and Serbia. The accents they bring with them are simply wonderful, and they are a blast to work with. There is (apparently) a trick to speaking with people that don't understand the language you speak, and vice versa; try using the words they use. If they use plenty of the short words, and no contractions, go for it. Use common words, and make eye contact, and hand speech to get your point across. I suppose it is a good trick to know, if you go to another country.

When I haven't been working through Labor Ready, I have been going from place to place working for the family, hiking through Pawtuckaway state park, and going to Mel Flanagan's Irish Pub in Rochester NH for the Irish music sessions. Though July has been a blur, I do remember the good times I've had; I suppose that's good, seeing as I don't recall anything bad happening. The following pictures are from said Pawtuckaway trips.  

The hikes in Pawtuckaway have been a blast. I went earlier in the month with a good friend of mine, also a fellow musician looking to work his way though college, and we had a blast. We started off biking through the parking lot, and then down a long mile and a half hill, which was possibly the smoothest speed we had gotten through out the entire ride. Then we entered the trail system. I'd only been in the state park twice before, and neither time brought me through from the parking lot, so I had no clue where we were in relation to where I've gone. Then again, the places I've gone in Pawtuckaway are a mix of mountain and boulder filed, so I'm glad we didn't try that on bikes.  

For the most part, we really didn't ride our bikes, we just pushed them up hills and trudged alongside them. It was a haul to get anywhere, and even the smallest downhill was met with a cheer. We got through one part of the round pond trail, and then took a dirt road up to the other leg of the loop. Where the first leg of the ride was all up hill, this was down. Somewhere between hill one and twenty six, my rear wheel had decided to go on strike. In an act of defiance, it bent, and caused a strange wobbling motion that prevented me from shifting gears and disengaging the rear brake if I even touched it (there is no front brake). There was a point where we were riding smoothly downhill, when the hill took a turn, and a sudden drop. My smarter, more cautious friend started using his brakes on the washboard descent, but as I came barreling up behind him at ninety miles an hour, I yelled out “Brakes are for those who can't steer”. This picture was taken a couple of miles before the steep hill, and I'm glad: Imagine trying to take a photo when careening down a hill.

Apparently, that was enough to taint his ways, and turn him into a haphazard biker for a short time. The steep hill ended abruptly at the foot of the boulder field, where the trail goes underwater for about thirty feet or so. We had our lunches at the foot of that hill, and then made our way around the water, and to the end of the trail. Sadly, we ended out onto a paved roadway of unknown direction; round pond road. We turned right out of the state park, and rode about three or four miles before we came to the Nottingham town beach. It was about then that we admitted we were lost. Thankfully, technology came to our rescue, and we phoned a friend, who came, and, after a couple of wrong turns, got us back to the parking lot. We were lost for a little over two hours, but it was a nice two hours all the same. Total biking distance was about ten or twelve miles. I felt that it was a pretty good day. Repeatable, even. 

This is a picture of my friend, just after a good coast down a hill, to the edge of the Round pond, right by the foot of the boulder field. 

This would be after the stop at round pond. Actually, this would be past the point we knew where we were going, and to the point of getting lost. Too bad I forgot to bring a swim suit; the water was nice and cool, after all of the biking. This is from the Dam right next to the Nottingham town beach, where we got some helpful directions from a couple of locals. It turns out that they believed it would be faster for us to go back through the trails to the entrance of the park. It turns out, it was faster for us to utilize our network, and phone a friend to get us to the parking lot. It was also nice to catch up with an old friend while in his town. 

And that's just what I did with the girlfriend. Several weeks later, she and I walked through the place, along with her dog. It was a great walk, with the weather being so pleasant and dry. The air is cool, around seventy two or three degrees, and there was a wind with a little nip to it. It was a beautiful day for a walk, and I only wish that I was clever enough to bring a camera with me when I went. We encountered about two or more dozen red efts on the trail, tons of mosquitos, and one curious tree frog. The tree frog was interesting, as it had changed it's color to the roadway, and I had just barely spotted him, before he leaped up onto my pant leg. I moved him from there to my hand, I tried to move him to a tree, but he decided that he needed to get some serious miles in that day, so he leaped onto my back, and stayed there for a solid twenty minutes of walking. I wonder of they use deer much the same way; as big walking taxis? Who knows.
While out there, we encountered a lady who was wearing some sort of fly netting—not just a head net though, an entire sweatshirt made of the stuff. It was so bizarre to me to see someone wearing something as outlandish as that, I stopped and asked her about her sweatshirt of bug netting. She had replied that it was the best way to keep bugs off, and walked a little faster as she passed. She looked a little concerned as she went by, as though we were weird...maybe it was me, and my outlandishness. Normal people spray themselves with bug spray, others wear long pants and long sleeves. I wear a full out cassock and wide brimmed hat, with a belt and pouches, seeing as I can't reach my normal pockets beneath the big black robe. I guess normal people don't do that, but, I don't know, maybe they should; I didn't get a single bug bite, and I didn't overheat while wearing the thing. It could just be me though.
When hiking with my friends is not an option, checking out the local trails always is. I went with some of the family, and a couple of the new neighbors, and traveled around the trails set by a man who lives locally. He preserved a large section of land for the public to use as a walking trail system, as commemoration for his wife and son. The trails are new, and therefore a little underwalked and in need of a little love, but it is a very nice trail system, meandering here and there from large fields and trees, to a beaver pond. The part of the trail that I liked the most, was the cliff face, of which is part of a whole new trail in the system. The face is perfect of traversing, but upon close inspection, it appears that any rock climbers would find themselves climbing with some sharp friends. As it happens, the entire ledge side is covered in porcupine droppings. Happy trails to those who go for it!