the woods are lovely, dark and deep

Random Thing #25
Friends, we have reached the end: the last random thing about me, at least for now.

For the next five days, I will freeze my ass off, and I will complain that I can't feel my feet or fingers — and I will crave boiled peanuts, grits and sweet tea for the sole reason that they are unavailable — but I will love every second of it. I'm flying to Boston tonight, and Ryan and I are going skiing in New Hampshire over the weekend. We're staying at the Colonel Spencer Inn, in Campton (hometown of my heart, population 2,900, which I've written about before).

I grew up skiing, but last February was the first time in 10 years that I attempted it. I started out shaky, but 30 minutes later I was dragging poor Ryan (who had only been once before) to the top of the mountain.

It's a massive adrenaline rush, but at the same time it can be amazingly peaceful. There is something about being at the top of a mountain covered in snow — the complete stillness and silence of it — that just makes you think... this is Winter as God intended.

Be back in March! Until then, I'll leave you with a few pictures of last year's trip: our B&B, a frozen tree branch, ski lifts at Tenney Mt., me in front of our old house.

rest in peace

Random Thing #24
Graveyards fascinate me. I like to walk around and hunt for the oldest tombstone — only during the day, though. I'm a giant scaredy-cat, so I steer clear after sunset. [photo: Oconee Hill Cemetery, Athens, GA]

sssay, sssonny

Random Thing #23
Family outings mean one thing — five people in a five-person car. Though our destinations always change, there is one constant: I get stuck sitting in the middle back seat — man's most uncomfortable creation.

So to entertain myself (and annoy everyone else) on long trips, I often end up imitating the beaver from Lady and the Tramp... you know the one who whistlesss when he talksss? It's a ssspecial sssort of sssskill, you could sssay.

What makes it even funnier (to me) is that my brother Nick, for the life of him, can't figure out how to do it. Here are a few attempts I captured on video, one in 2006 and one in 2008. (If you listen closely to the first one, you can hear my mom yell "Devon, knock it off!" — we had been in the car for a while that day, and she had had quite enough of me).