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As I was walking from my car to the door after I got home from work tonight, I had a flashback to my teen years. I think it was the cold air on my face, the grittiness of the dirty snow, the dim glow of the street lights, and for just a moment I swore I could smell the perfume of an old friend.

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I've had my new hurdy gurdy for about half a year now. I like it so much better than my old one. I can actually play a few tunes on it. The old one only let me play about 7 notes without screeching horribly. I've been able to learn a number of old French tunes as well as a number that I made up myself ( Read more... )

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So here's something amazing from Wikipedia's "List of Ottoman sieges and landings":

Landings in the Northern Atlantic including the British Isles, Shetland Islands, Faroe Islands, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Labrador, Gulf of Saint Lawrence, Newfoundland and Virginia 1627 1660 ( Read more... )

A couple weekends ago I was in a WWII reenactment at Rockford, IL. Around bedtime, I walked out of my tent to go pee in some brush behind camp. I had taken my boots off just a minute before and they are a pain to get back on, so I just stumbled out in my socks. It was dark, but I knew where I was going. As I stood there relieving myself on a log, I ( Read more... )

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Today, I went out of my way to step on an unusually large leaf on the sidewalk. Hearing the crunch was especially satisfying. And I love wool knit sweaters.

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I had the honor of participating in the largest French and Indian War reenactment to date.

I didn't get any pics of the big battle (for I was in it), but I did get some shots of the small, "taste of things to come" battle...

( The Death of Lord Howe )

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Chicago is a great city. There's so much to do around here. Problem is it all costs money. Lots of it. In addition, all my friends live back in Indiana. Jen works days, I work nights. There is very little time we get to spend together during the week. This weekend we managed to get away from the city, though.

( And we went hunting beaver... )

Jen and I took a little mini-vacation this weekend. We went down to Lake Monroe near Bloomington with a few friends and a couple canoes. We spent most of Saturday fishing and cooking out. It was really a great time. Neither of us caught much, but we had fun spending time together and with friends. Afterwards we went out to eat at a place called ( Read more... )

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( Here be pictures )

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This weekend was part one of Maple Sugar Days at Deep River State Park in Merrillville. We were making maple sugar "the old way". You should come see us next weekend (May 15-16). Jen and I will only be there Sunday though. ( Here's some pics. )