The Weather's Getting Cooler - No! Stop! I'm Not Ready!!
As the weather turns cooler, the inn begins to slow down to a pace where we can really begin to breathe again. The leaves are turning, so the "leaf peepers" are still coming up here to see the colors on the weekends, but the weekdays are very slow. We have been able to spend a lot time at our house this week in Fly Creek and we've begun to feel like a regular family again. This week started our regular meetings of the Cooperstown Winter Carnival committee. When we moved up here full time two years ago, George joined the local gym. As he was running on the treadmill, he got to talking to a woman next to him. She was the chairperson on the committee and was looking for new members. She also happened to be the chairperson on the PTO. George had decided I needed to meet people and came home from the gym informing me that he had signed me up with the PTO as well as the Winter Carnival Committee. YOU DID WHAT?? Are you kidding? I don't sign up for things! I'm a watcher. I'm a sitter. I'm definitely not a joiner! The Winter Carnival Committee is a THREE YEAR commitment. I knew one other person on the committee and I thought, all right, I'll go to one meeting and check it out. Well, now in my third year, I am a co-chairperson on the committee. I have met so many nice people and had so much fun planning for this wonderful event.
Each February we have a three-day event. Hoping for snow, we plan a lot of activities outside. We bundle up and enjoy fireworks, a parade, a dog show, sleigh riding races, snow sculpting contests, 5 & 10K runs, assorted shows, several food contests and lots of good eating, drinking and dancing. It is a lot of work planning for this and between the 11 people on the committee it takes a lot to pull it off. After this third year, it was going to be nice next year to be able to sit back and enjoy it without being involved in all the planning though. Except for the fact that after seeing me having so much fun for the past two years, George decided to join this year. So that means he will be on the committee for 3 years also. So much for being in the background next year. Although we haven't updated our carnival website just yet, check back later in the month for more information as to this years events: Cooperstown Winter Carnival.
When I had first heard about the winter carnival, I thought "who in their right mind would have a carnival outside, in upstate NY - in the winter!!" Two days after we moved into our new house it had snowed 3 feet. Welcome to the neighborhood! Of course this snow lasted until April. With the cold weather - nothing melts up here. It really is pretty, though. Basically, it snows every day in the winter. Most of the time just enough to cover the ground, but it makes for a beautiful sight - a winter wonderland. There is never that - just drived on, dirty, mushy looking snow. About 4 days after that first snowfall after we moved up here, our friends from NJ came up for the weekend. I remember the look on my friend, Janice's face at 8 am in the morning when she saw the outdoor weather thermometer. "Is that thing broken?," she asked. It read -17 degrees (yes, negative 17!). No, unfortunately, it wasn't broken. But it did warm up to a balmy 28 degrees by noon. AND that was the day we went to see the annual Polar Bear Club jump into Goodyear Lake. Yet another yearly event up here that makes you scratch your head. Hundreds of people take turns jumping into an area of the lake that is carved out into the size of an backyard pool. As we watched these crazy people in their bathing suits jump into the water, every inch of our bodies, faces, hands were covered with many layers of clothing. That is one club I don't think I'll be joining any time soon!!
As I drive my son to school each morning we pass the town's municipal building. And each morning we comment on how much more salt and sand has been added to the storage shed in preparation for the winter. I realize how we should be enjoying this fall weather and taking advantage of going outside in just jeans and a sweater instead of the mandatory daily long johns. This weekend we have some friends staying at the inn and hopefully with the 65 degree weather forecast we will be able to take one last ride on our boat before it is put into storage. We have a few more weeks before it turns cold, so go outside and take a walk with a loved one, go apple picking, and just breathe in the air. Of all the seasons, fall is my favorite. Enjoy!
Each February we have a three-day event. Hoping for snow, we plan a lot of activities outside. We bundle up and enjoy fireworks, a parade, a dog show, sleigh riding races, snow sculpting contests, 5 & 10K runs, assorted shows, several food contests and lots of good eating, drinking and dancing. It is a lot of work planning for this and between the 11 people on the committee it takes a lot to pull it off. After this third year, it was going to be nice next year to be able to sit back and enjoy it without being involved in all the planning though. Except for the fact that after seeing me having so much fun for the past two years, George decided to join this year. So that means he will be on the committee for 3 years also. So much for being in the background next year. Although we haven't updated our carnival website just yet, check back later in the month for more information as to this years events: Cooperstown Winter Carnival.
When I had first heard about the winter carnival, I thought "who in their right mind would have a carnival outside, in upstate NY - in the winter!!" Two days after we moved into our new house it had snowed 3 feet. Welcome to the neighborhood! Of course this snow lasted until April. With the cold weather - nothing melts up here. It really is pretty, though. Basically, it snows every day in the winter. Most of the time just enough to cover the ground, but it makes for a beautiful sight - a winter wonderland. There is never that - just drived on, dirty, mushy looking snow. About 4 days after that first snowfall after we moved up here, our friends from NJ came up for the weekend. I remember the look on my friend, Janice's face at 8 am in the morning when she saw the outdoor weather thermometer. "Is that thing broken?," she asked. It read -17 degrees (yes, negative 17!). No, unfortunately, it wasn't broken. But it did warm up to a balmy 28 degrees by noon. AND that was the day we went to see the annual Polar Bear Club jump into Goodyear Lake. Yet another yearly event up here that makes you scratch your head. Hundreds of people take turns jumping into an area of the lake that is carved out into the size of an backyard pool. As we watched these crazy people in their bathing suits jump into the water, every inch of our bodies, faces, hands were covered with many layers of clothing. That is one club I don't think I'll be joining any time soon!!
As I drive my son to school each morning we pass the town's municipal building. And each morning we comment on how much more salt and sand has been added to the storage shed in preparation for the winter. I realize how we should be enjoying this fall weather and taking advantage of going outside in just jeans and a sweater instead of the mandatory daily long johns. This weekend we have some friends staying at the inn and hopefully with the 65 degree weather forecast we will be able to take one last ride on our boat before it is put into storage. We have a few more weeks before it turns cold, so go outside and take a walk with a loved one, go apple picking, and just breathe in the air. Of all the seasons, fall is my favorite. Enjoy!
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