Still on the Quest

I felt awful yesterday, but I'd promised to go to the First Night activities today and scout out programs for the library so I dragged my sorry tailfeathers out of bed this morning and went to pick up the button from one of the managers (no names mentioned to protect the innocent!) We had a great conversation, and she started my brain buzzing with ideas about things. There were meant to be a couple of more librarians doing the same thing, but they hadn't turned up by ten of 1, so I headed over to the Hynes on my lonesome. (And stopped for a bite to eat.)

The afternoon was a blur of bouncing from one room to another. I have to admit that scoping out a bunch of different things suited my attention span today. But much to my astonishment, as the crowds got thicker and the noise level went up, the vestiges of yesterdays migraine disappeared. Maybe because the weather outside had improved, but hey, I wasn't arguing. I found a couple of performers I think will do very nicely and chatted with a few more (I'll have to write up a report while it's fresh in my mind) and then followed the path of the parade down to the main library so I could watch from the second floor windows.

That was fun too -- I found one of my fellow FirstNighters there, and we compared notes, and I ran into a few other colleagues and friends too. Then I started the trudge down to the Common for the early fireworks, pointed out possible bathroom venues to a family that sounded vaguely Scandinavian, found them again in Borders (there's a new Borders on Boylston Street!) and got very amused by the gaggle of political signs that walked down the street in the wake of the parade, and the beautiful part singing chorus in Copley Square that had a great big old "Impeach Cheney" sign in front of them...

I wandered on down to the Public Garden and got a seat on the edge of the pond (which is at low water) and got into a conversation with a small person about fireworks... which were five minutes late, but very nicely done. Then it was off through the Gardens and the Common to Park Street, having random conversations with people in the crowd about everything from Opera to Go Dog Go.

Back on the train to the Hynes, and up to look at a rock group called Uncle Monsterface (the acoustics were too bad to understand a word, unfortunately) and then off to check on other programs.

I ran into one of my "kids" -- or ex-kid, I should say. In college, going for his degree in a year, and he remembers me from coming to the library when he was nine years old. Said I used to help him with his homework. He told me his name, but my ears were still ringing from the rock group so I didn't quite recognize it, but oh, was it nice to hear that he remembered me fondly.

Heard a marvelous flute player, but I was exhausted, so off I went to head for home, and who did I run into? The professor from Library School who talked me into being a children's librarian in the first place.

There was an open Au Bon Pain, so I have dinner, and I passed The Cheesecake Factory so I have dessert. I got a seat on the train, I've buzzed home, and I've got the midnight fireworks around the corner in an hour and twenty minutes.

*sigh*

And the whole day and night I heard exactly one child having a temper tantrum, two teenagers swearing, and one adult acting like a jerk. Everyone else -- and the town is swarming with people -- was smiling and enjoying themselves and willing to let everyone else enjoy themselves too.

Cool.

Today was the last day of work for my boss. After forty years he's retiring from the library -- well, actually he's going on a very extended final vacation. His last official day of being paid will be some time next April, that much sickleave and unused vacation time having accrued over the years. But it was his last day working with us, and the end of one of the nicer eras in my life.

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Well, actually a little west of Denver to visit a cousin and then in the afternoon a visit to Lakeside, which is an old amusement park that is actually it's own town at the edge of Denver.

Lakeside is really cool -- the place doesn't make enough money to refurbish wildly, so it still has a lot of its original rides, and an air of the amusement parks of my childhood. Well, it was one of the amusement parks of my childhood, so I guess that's fair enough.

The best ride -- which I went on twice today -- is the Wild Chipmunk. Imagine (if you haven't already clicked the link) a roller coaster so small and harmless looking that you might be able to persuade a chicken friend aboard. After all, instead of a train, the riders go in small egglike cars named Alvin, Simon, Theodore and Chip, two to a car. And the rails of the track aren't any farther apart than the rails on the kiddie roller coaster at the other end of the park. Imagine getting aboard and starting upward to the first turn. Now imagine the fascinating sensation of realizing that your feet have extended beyond the edge of the track in front of you before you suddenly turn...

There are, apparently, other roller coasters in the world which are similar to the Wild Chipmunk, but I've never found one to match it -- even though I've visited some of the theme parks which theoretically have one.

But the others just couldn't be the same, not really.

Best primal scream therapy in the State of Colorado...

*munch munch munch*

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In other news, I'm flying out to Colorado tonight and hopefully *knocks wood* am going to spend part of the trip in the hills camping. Haven't camped in twenty years, so this should be catastrophic interesting...

A week and a half later and I still get weepy. But then again, I get weepy pretty easily. I've always been the one to burst into tears over sick kitties or skinned knees or wonderful sunsets or, well, whatever. But I never had a name for it until my grandmother died.

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It’s always such a special feeling to be roused from your slumbers by the gentle pitty-pat of bugfeet on your face.

Completely unrelated to my life or fanfic, but I just have to share a piece of an e-mail my sister sent this morning:

( Philadelphia Chickens )