5. Of Hermit Crabs and Hurricanes

Looking outside on this wonderfully bright Monday afternoon, it is almost impossible to believe that a tropical storm hit us yesterday. We were fortunate enough to be on the outskirts of the storm, and thus suffered minimal damage compared to those who were hit head on by Hurricane Irene. Hurricanes are few and far between in the Northeast, due to cold ocean waters that weaken storms. Though Irene was downgraded to a tropical storm before it reached us, the storm caused many power outages, floods, and other damage in my home state. Thankfully, the only damage at my house consisted of a fallen tree and some broken branches.

Despite the gusting winds and torrential rain, I was still able to engage in my favorite end-of-summer tradition: cherry picking. During the storm, my father, brother, sister, and I, clad in full rain regalia, went outside and picked sour cherries off of the three trees in our yard. In the coming days we will make juice from the harvest.

On Friday, prior to hurricane hysteria, my family and I enjoyed our last day at the beach. While I was catching up on classic literature*, my brother caught a hermit crab. Lugging his purple bucket up to where I sat, my brother showed me a shell that was about six inches in length, and three inches at its widest point. The shell was covered in barnacles and even had a few sea snails hitching a ride. Its inhabitant was no less impressive. After I had been peering eagerly into the bucket for several minutes, the biggest hermit crab I have ever seen poked out of his shell. With its body fully extended out of its shell and antennae flicking about, I was endeared to the creature. It was then that I decided to call it Francisco.

I’ve always had a soft spot for hermit crabs. In preschool, I used to love having Shelley the Hermit Crab crawl on my outstretched palm. Granted, Shelley’s shell was an inch cubed in size, and her smooth white and orange shell was unencumbered by barnacles, unlike the marred shell of her oceanic cousin. Nevertheless, in watching Francisco I was reminded of our old class pet, and my fondness for Shelley transferred to this new hermit crab. Having spent hours watching Shelley trapped in her tank, I pitied Francisco for being confined to our bucket. After a few more minutes of reminiscing, I released Francisco to the ocean where he belongs.

*I hadn’t yet read To Kill a Mockingbird, finally rectified this week.

Firsts this week:

• Hurricane Irene
• Found and released a hermit crab named Francisco
• Finished To Kill a Mockingbird

4. TRX, Biking, Ice Cream, and Hamlet

This week boasts a bunch of unrelated firsts. On Sunday, I woke up at 6:30 to work out. I am rarely motivated enough to wake up early as is, and the thought of a workout that early usually makes me pull the covers back over my head. Nevertheless, at 6:55 I strode over to the playground to do some TRX suspension training. The TRX is made out of seatbelt-like material and has two plastic handles. To set it up, one anchors it on a door or mount. In my case, it was looped over a swingset. Using the loops as hand- or foot- holds, I did leg, arm, and core exercises. My favorite exercise was a sort of inverted pushup holding the TRX. I alternated suspension training with sets of squats, planks, pushups, etc. After an hour and a half of super sets, I was rather tired, but satisfied after the intense exercise.

Today, to add to my soreness, I went for a  bike ride around Chappaquiddick. My parents and I started in Edgartown, rode about 3.6 miles to the Chappy ferry, and then biked around Chappaquiddick, part of Martha’s Vineyard. Chappaquiddick, fondly referred to as “Chappy” by the locals, is relatively uninhabited compared to neighboring Edgartown. By my father’s calculation, we rode about 19 miles in four hours, which averages to less than 5 mph. This is because a great portion of our ride was on dirt/sand roads, which are bumpy at best. The worst ones pose a danger of slipping on the unpacked sand. On our route, we passed by a small general store claiming to be “The Only Store in Chappaquiddick”. I didn’t stop in to find out whether it was true, but I would not be surprised if it was.

Our first stop was at Cape Poge Wildlife Refuge, which bears a beautiful salt pond near a barrier beach. It was so serene with all the birds gliding in circles overhead. Next came Wasque (pronounced way-skwee). Here we biked down to the beach, a strip of sand just wide enough for a beach chair and an umbrella. The beach boasted 10 cm waves and plenty of shells, perfect for relaxing with a book. After Wasque, we rode back to Edgartown.

Other news: I have discovered my new favorite flavor of ice cream. Care to guess? Ginger! Ginger ice cream has a vanilla base with ginger pieces mixed inside. I love how the sweetness of the ice cream plays off of the spiciness of the ginger. So much more satisfying than your average vanilla or strawberry.

You may have also noticed that I posted a quote on Wednesday. I’m starting to figure out how to use more of the HTML coding on WordPress. I took an HTML class last year in school, but I’m a little rusty. Please bear with me as I explore new post formats and such. I was reminded of this quote when I saw someone on the subway with it tattooed on his shin. The quote, “To thine own self be true”, is Polonius’ advice to Laertes, in Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Though I haven’t actually read Hamlet, I’m looking forward to reading it in my upcoming Shakespeare class, and thought it was good advice to remember.

Tell me, what was the strangest ice cream flavor you’ve ever tried? Have you ever tried a completely new exercise routine? Post in the comments below!

Firsts this week:

• TRX Suspension Training
• Chappy Bike Ride
• Ginger Ice Cream
• Quote post

3. Skimboarding

I’m off to the beach! This week I tried skimboarding. A skimboard is a flat board made of wood or fiberglass that is wider than a surfboard and shorter in length. On Saturday, the family with whom I had gone to the beach handed me a skimboard still in the plastic with the instructions to “Try it.” And with that blessing, I set out to try it.

No one in their family had ever tried skimboarding, so I was left to figure it out on my own. Since it was after 5:00 pm when we went to the beach, it was relatively empty, and thus, no skimboarders were in sight. For sand skimming, one waits for a wave to come onto the sand, and when the depth is about 1 cm, one throws down the board in preparation to skim. With no knowledge of the best way to get on, I decided to “hop on” as the father told me. Despite my ballet training, all grace eluded me as I jumped onto the board, had the thing swoop out from under my feet, and promptly landed on my derrière.

I got right back on the board, this time one foot at a time. After a few attempts, I was starting to get the hang of it, but I noticed that I would always fall off as soon as I entered deeper water (about ankle-deep). On Sunday, the rain having canceled beach plans, I started to do some research.

Part of the problem was that the board was not prepared. Like surfboards, skimboards need to be waxed with a basecoat and a topcoat (“SurfScience”). So we bought surfboard wax and waxed it. However, only later did I find this website explaining how to do it. By their account, we used the “psycho” method, however I don’t think we used enough wax.

The next step was learning what skimboarding actually looks like. I used this video below. I have quite a ways to go before I can actually skim on the waves. Tell me, have you ever tried skimboarding/ surfing/ other wave sports?

Works Cited

“How to Wax a Surfboard.” SurfScience. N.p., 2011. Web. 14 Aug 2011. http://www.surfscience.com/topics/learn-to-surf/surfing-101/how-to-wax-a-surfboard

2. Japanese-style drawings

I’ve been dabbling recently in Japanese arts and crafts. Here are some of my favorite things I’ve done so far:

1. Sumi-e. Sumi-e literally means “ink picture.” Using charcoal-based ink, water, and a brush, I painted this picture with traditional  images of bamboo, orchids, and a chrysanthemum. The three letters spell out my name in Japanese.

2. Manga: Chibi style. Chibis are miniature versions of manga characters that are used to express over-the-top emotion. Chibis have abnormally large heads in proportion to their bodies; the standard chibi is three heads tall, while a normal character ranges from seven to eight heads tall.

3. Totoro. This third drawing is of Totoro, a favorite character from a Miyazaki anime. Totoro is a troll-like woodland spirit.

4. More Sumi-e: A Courtesan.

Firsts this week:

• Learned to use sumi-e ink to paint, attempted to draw a chibi, and generally immersed myself in Japanese crafts.

1. New Kitchen, New Blender

After nearly a year and a half of renovations, my family finally moved into our new kitchen. I am ecstatic. This week marks the first time I’ve cooked in our new kitchen. I’m still acclimating because we have a) a lot more work space and b) I have no idea where anything is placed. I’m currently in the habit of opening every drawer before I find the ingredients I need. I’m happy we replaced our oven (which was older than I am) and our refrigerator (which was older than my sister). Yay for energy efficient appliances!

But by far the most exciting appliance in our kitchen is our new blender. Since our old blender broke, we’ve been using a small hand blender/ barely functional food processor as a substitute. My mother had been researching blenders for months, telling us “when our new kitchen is finished, I’m buying blender XYZ.” And lo and behold, yesterday a representative from the blender company was doing demos in our supermarket with the very blender my mother had been pining over. So now we have a new blender. My family is just a tad obsessed with it. In the past 24 hours, we’ve made almond butter ice cream, nutella ice cream, a raspberry-mango smoothie, a vegetable smoothie, vegetable soup, guacamole, and fresh salsa. We even watched the entire instructional DVD. My father can now spend 15 minutes telling blender jokes. We are now a family of blender nerds.

Firsts this week:

• Tried eight new recipes with a new blender in a new kitchen.