I Shot the Cannon

When living in a new town, persistence makes friends. When living in a new town on the water, persistence makes new friends with boats.

Maura and I have joined the St. Michaels Wednesday Night Race committee, which runs the sailboat races. So every Wednesday at 4:50 after work we meet on the museum’s docks to set up the course, run, and time three sailboat races. (This week they let me fire the cannon to indicate when the first boat in each class had crossed the finish line.)

It has been a great way to learn about sailing, and spend an evening a week on the water. But more than anything, it has been a great way to make friends. With the luxury of an extended wait time between starting the races and boats finishing the course, we have abundant time for socializing and snacking. And when, like this week, your motor breaks down after the end of the last race and you have to wait for another boat to come tow you into shore, you have even more time to enjoy each other’s company!

Seriously, Wednesday nights are perhaps the best night of my week!

Best or Worst Idea Ever?

This spring as I was getting excited about my summer on the Eastern Shore, I spent a great deal of procrastination time researching St. Michaels and the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum. In that, nothing intrigued me more than log canoe sailing.

Picture this: smallish, narrow boat. Two ridiculously tall masts. A stupidly large amount of sail. And people dangling off of springboards on the side of the boat in order to keep the whole thing from tipping over. In short, an incredible boating experience!

As excited as I was about seeing log canoe racing (which is only done in this part of the Chesapeake Bay), I had read that it was nearly impossible to get onto a crew as there is so much tradition…some people have been racing on the same boats for decades! I expected to just be a spectator, which was fine.

After making friends in the sailing community, though, I found my way onto the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum’s boat, Edmee S. Last weekend I devoted a whole weekend to helping sand and varnish Edmee, to get her ready for this weekend’s races. And boy, was it worth it!

Though the huge amount of bruising on my legs from a weekend of racing might make it seem a little crazy, I’ve found my new random sport of choice. I’ll never look at sailing the same again!

Finally got one in my claws!

I did it! Today was Showboating Day at Kids Club, and we were planning a puppet show about blue crabs based on Dancing on the Sand by Kathleen M. Hollenbeck. Before our show, though, we obviously had to research and learn about the blue crab, which meant a trip to Waterman’s Wharf at the museum. And I was finally successful at picking up a crab! (I asked Martha to take pictures to document my success!)

What 'm Reading: Crossing Ocean Parkway

At the end of my undergraduate career, Professor Regenspan and I had a conversation about a book she had recently read, Crossing Ocean Parkway by Marianna De Marco Torgovnick. The compilation of essays is divided in two parts, the first focusing autobiographically on Torgovnick’s experiences and family background and the second offering literary analysis from the perspective of an “Italian American Daughter.”

For some mid-summer intellectual stimulation, I truly enjoyed Crossing Ocean Parkway. Torgovnick’s work is very readable and accessible, yet her essays are also so reflective that they prompt careful self-reflection in the reader as well. This had actually been the hinge of that conversation several years ago – using the author’s framework of Ocean Parkway in Brooklyn as a cultural and socio-economic divide, from where had we crossed over, and what were we crossing over to?

Six More Coats of Varnish?

This weekend was the Antique and Classic Boat Show at the museum. It was cool to see the whole place turned out into full festival mode. Literally any place where you could put a boat -- in the water or on the land -- there was a boat. I would equate the experience to going to a car show, but for boats. And boy, do some people LOVEEEEE their antique boats! (Legit conversation I overheard from two judges: "His varnish could use some work." "Another six coats." "I was going to say exactly that.")

I spent Friday and Saturday mornings working at the kids table which featured a sailboat-making activity, thanks to some friendly corporate sponsors. Kids could decorate a wooden base, and then we helped them add a mast (dowel), main (triangle of fabric), line (string through the sail), and cleat (staple from the staple gun). They could then take their boats and sail them on a small pool set up nearby. Very cool.

There weren't many kids either morning in the first few hours that I was there, so I helped with other tasks like decorating the tent. This involved inflating a life-size pirate using the boat shop's compressor twice, because the one on Friday got a hole and deflated by the end of the day. Carrying the pirate to the shop wasn't very exciting, but once he was inflated to a full six feet of tattooed, inflated goodness, I got a lot of side-long glances. A lady even stopped to take a picture of me carrying Pirate Pete -- or my prom date, as I started referring to him -- as she apparently teases her friend about blow-up dolls.

Don't be crabby at work!

At the end of my first week I was poking around in the Education closet looking for some supplies for Kids Club which will start next week. (Yessss preschoolers!)

I didn't find what I was looking for (kiddie pool) but I DID find these (crab hats). I gave one to Marian, the museum's folklorist who I share an office with, and we hid them in our desks for an appropriate occasion.

Today was that kind of day: gray and rainy at times, but more or less tiresome and drizzly. We wore the hats for most of the afternoon, which was especially great when mid-conversation someone would stop and say, "I can't take you seriously with that thing on!"

Moral of the story: Don't be crabby at work...or do!

Garden to Table

This season, the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum has started an heirloom garden, replete with beds representing carefully researched plants in five beds: herb, native, 17th century, 18th century, and 19th century. As my supervisor Kate put it, the garden is like "having salad on tap at the museum," or at least it is right now with the lettuces, kales, and mustard greens ripe for the picking! (Definitely a perk of being a staff member!)

So tonight for dinner I found a recipe to utilize the fresh mustard greens -- a curry dish with kidney beans. So after swinging by the museum to pick up so greens, I walked to the supermarket a block from my house and got the rest of the supplies.

The result: maybe it's not quite something to look at, but boy, was it delicious! And leftovers for lunch tomorrow! Mmmmm!

Erin + Derek 4E!

It's official...I now have married friends from college! On Saturday, Erin got married in Annapolis to Derek, who she has known through Annapolis Sailing School. It turns out that I moved to Maryland just in time, but the wedding was the first chance that I've had to see a number of my Colgate friends, including Erin, Jane, and Justine, since being back from Taiwan! It's hard to think that everyone is so scattered and that time can fly by so quickly, but at the same time it was as though not a day had gone by! Colgate friends are the lifelong kind.

Church, ceremony, and dress were all beautiful, but what was most exciting was to see Erin SOOOOOO happy! Saturday was everything I could wish for an incredible friend!

The reception was also a huge hit, as we led a charge on the dance floor, Jug-style. But our dance moves were nothing compared to Erin's grandmother, Nana, who rocked out to Lady Gaga, and Mr. O'Keefe, who brought such energy and vigor to the floor. The photographer even asked Mrs. O'Keefe in wonderment: "What was he like in his 20s?"

What an awesome Colgate reunion!

What I'm Reading: Neither Here Nor There

Shortly after I returned from London, I read both A Walk in the Woods and Notes from a Small Island by Bill Bryson. I devoured both, and eagerly put the rest of his work on my to-read list. This was the first chance I've had to tackle any part of that, and I was excited to get back into Bryson's pithy narratives, this time detailing two trips around the European continent.

While it was definitely a quick read, this was not my favorite Bryson tome. This may have been due, in part, to the fact that as the book is outdated, having been nearly 20 years ago. Bryson is less mature as an author than in A Walk in the Woods, which also makes a huge difference.

All in all, an easy read that now I can say I've read.

I'm the crafting intern!

On Thursday and Friday afternoons you can find me at a picnic table by the museum entrance offering a family craft activity as part of a larger visitor experience initiative, providing more interactive experiences on some of the days with higher visitation. On Thursday afternoon there were no children at the museum who might have been interested in such an activity (school has not yet let out and the tourist season is only really just starting), so instead I sat and watched the men from the boat shop start to cut the mast for a boat they are restoring. They were only finishing squaring the second side of the tree trunk by the time I called it quits and headed back inside.

This afternoon I finally had some takers, though! I helped seven kids make personalized labels for their own oyster cans which might sound like a random art project, but today actual oyster cans from the Chesapeake are highly collectible. In fact, there is a large wall of such cans in the Oystering on the Bay exhibition; the differences in color, picture, and design is rather mesmerizing! I made a sample label that I called "Jumpin' Jill's FRESH Oysters," stressing the status and perceived elegance of someone who might want to buy my canned oysters. Who doesn't want to color outside on a beautiful day, though?

Battle: Blue Crab

I gave my first tour today which was a HUGE accomplishment since I was just trained on the tour on Tuesday and only observed it once this morning before giving my own tour! Even the sullen girls at the start of the tour quickly turned around and were asking questions and telling me stories by the end. All in all, it was a great success!

After my last post, though, the number one question that I have been asked by several of you is whether I learned to pick up the crab. So here is the story:

Today there was one jimmy (male) blue crab in the shedding tank. Before the tour, some of the docents were giving me pointers on the tour as they knew it was my first time out, so I asked for tips on picking up the crab. They told me where to find tongs, that I should only pick him up from behind, and to be careful as middle schoolers like to touch the crab, but the crab likes to GRAB on to any fingers that are in its general area. One docent also warned to be careful, as one time she was grabbed as she was teaching and had a blue crab painfully hanging onto her finger as she tried to talk to the kids. Not ideal.

So I settled the kids inside the fisherman's shanty and went to the tank where I found the tongs. The jimmy was facing me though so as I tried to prod him and turn him around he just started snapping at the tongs. Basically, I spent about a minute facing off with the crab before I decided to just forget the whole thing and let the kids crowd around the tank to see him. When I went back in to tell them this, the teacher offered to try as she had worked in a bait shop for a number of years. I think her luck was about the same as mine, as she came out a minute later, giving me a quiet shake of the head. So we let the kids crowd around the tank to take a look, warning them to watch their hands!

So yes, I was unsuccessful at picking up the crab, but I did give it one heck of a try. And I did give an awesome tour in which no one guessed that it was my first time!

Crabs: Even the NYTimes Has It...

Tomorrow I will be leading my first tour at the museum, and while I am still a little nervous about picking up the crab in the shedding tank to teach about parts of the crab, I am still pretty excited to share my newly acquired Bay knowledge with a bunch of sixth graders!

Apparently this is the time of year that makes people think of crab feasts, as evidenced by the recent article and recipes in the NYTimes about how to properly enjoy your Chesapeake Blues! Interested? Read more here.

In other news, I almost called this post "Just Missed the Boat" as that is literally what happened to my roommate and me this evening. At lunch we both expressed our profound interest in getting out on the water and learning to sail to the curator who races with the museum. Maura got a call that we could meet the boat and head out this evening, but as we were literally 200 yards from the dock, she got another call that the boat had already left leaving us as land-lubbers for the evening. Instead we went to the pizza shop for calzones. Small sacrifices.

Down by the Bay: Tilghman Island

This summer I’m living and working in St. Michaels, Maryland. The museum is right on the Chesapeake Bay, and my house is a short three-block walk inland from there. But as most of the waterfront property is privately held or devoted to marinas, my roommate Maura and I decided to explore on Sunday and try and as close as we could to the Bay.

We drove out to Tilghman Island, which is about seven miles east of St. Michaels. Following the road all the way to the end, we ended up at Black Walnut Cove. We stumbled across a Naval Research station dedicated to electronic warfare, but headed down the down the trail with just a breaker wall between us and the water. The weather was warm, but a breeze off the water kept us cool as we walked down the trail.

After our hike, we headed into town and visited a small bookstore dedicated to all things water-related (naval history, ocean voyages, etc.) and the even smaller Watermen’s Museum next door. As we wandered through the small exhibit space, a tornado warning came through so I bought a postcard for Mike Flinton and we headed for home.

No tornado, but we did have a fantastic thunderstorm – perfect way to spend the afternoon in bed with a book, while it poured outside!

What I'm Reading: Beautiful Swimmers

It’s summertime and without television or internet in my new digs, I’ve had time to dig into some pleasure reading that always takes a backseat during the school year. First up was Beautiful Swimmers: Watermen, Crabs, and the Chesapeake Bay by William W. Warner at the recommendation of my internship supervisor. Winning the Pulitzer Prize in 1970s, the book definitely refers to an older time in Bay culture, but was a great introduction to the history and tradition of an area so heavily influenced by maritime culture.

I can now tell you more than you’d probably care to know about the blue crab and how to tong for oysters. In fact, I like to think this knowledge came to use as we tried tonging today at the museum as part of internship orientation. I successfully found the oyster the docent had seeded just off the dock on my very first try – apparently that is quite the feat and I am rather proud of it!  

Beautiful Swimmers is more than just a history of the Bay or a scientific text on the Eastern Shore. Warner recounts his own experiences researching the book with a descriptive flair that makes for an easy read.

In Defense of a Title

I started this blog in May 2008 as I was leaving for long trip to Australia and in anticipation of my move to Taiwan at the beginning of August. Then, From the Wider World seemed to be an apt name, as I was truly traveling half-way around the globe.

Both Australia and Taiwan offered incredible experiences, learning about countries and cultures literally foreign to everything I knew. (See this blog’s archives to learn about my experiences working with the Noongar tribe in Western Australia and teaching English in two Taiwanese junior high schools.) Additionally, I learned a lot about myself as I was pushed in new and challenging ways: overcoming homesickness, making friends, and even successfully ordering food in a new language. My four years at Colgate had prepared me to question and think critically, but my time abroad demanded a whole new level of persistence and application of skills.

For the past year, this blog has laid dormant as I returned to the U.S. and went back to “normal.” I spent my 16th amazing summer on the shores of Lake Ontario at YMCA Camp Kenan, before heading to Cooperstown, NY to begin graduate school. The Cooperstown Graduate Program (heretofore CGP) has been truly incredible – useful and challenging coursework, mixed with some amazing friendships made the school year fly by! But back in school in Central New York and just an hour away from Colgate, alma mater, my experiences didn’t seem worthy of this blog and its lofty title. Writing From the Wider World I was not, as small-town Americana and Upstate New York are all too familiar to both my childhood and education.

On Friday, though, I moved to St. Michaels, Maryland on the eastern shore of the Chesapeake Bay to start an internship at the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum. While readying for the move, though, I realized that I have never truly lived in any state other than New York. Home, camp, college all within the Empire State.

For me, then, Maryland is the wider world. And the Eastern Shore offers an incredible opportunity to explore such a regional culture. So I’m back, blogging From the Wider World.