Day 40 - SONH to Rumney, NH (September 3)

SONH: Swingout New Hampshire.

After dancing until 4:15 a.m., I decided to get up eat breakfast, and watch friends load up on the bus to return to Boston and New York.

I had left my food bag in my friend’s car. Matt had danced all night and he was going to rest until 11 a.m. So I took the time to tighten up some bolts on my bike and do some other minor repairs.

Finally getting on the road, I headed to Hebron and towards Rumney. I looked at a map. A map is flat representation of reality. The shorter route went up through Groton and to Rumney. The longer route went to the other side of Newfound Lake and up to Rumney. Reality doesn't always reflect the lack of contours on a flat maps. The ride was hilly! Coming after two nights of little sleep and days of dancing, I was exhausted.

Resting after a long ride...

Along the way, I stopped to visit the house of Mary Baker Eddy. This is the house she lived in after her homeopathic, faith-based healing conversion. The next day, I visited the house she lived in before her conversion and founding of Christian Science (the house is in Rumney). An author showed me around the house. He was a former Middle East and Europe editor for the Christian Science Monitor. He was writing a book and he had escaped to New Hampshire for some quiet.

Leaving the house, it was a dramatic descent into Rumney. There is a stream next to the Mary Baker Eddy house. This steam makes the same dramatic drop. Apparently, in the springtime, kayakers make the same drop in their boats. Of course, in September, there is almost not enought water to catch a fish.

Arriving in Rumney, I met my friend Melodie and her friend Paul who has a house right under Rattlesnake Mountain, a popular climbing spot. Paul runs a website for long-distance hikers. Being a long-distance cyclists, I was very interested to hear about his travels.

Paul has a real farm, ducks and all...

Melodie and I went on a hike to the top of the climbing ridge. Half way to the top, we stopped. When hiking or walking around the woods, there always sounds - the sound of a bird, rustling caused by a bird, chipmunk, or snake. While waiting there, we heard a different sound. This was the sound of a breaking branch that could only be made by something as large as a human. I saw something black moving towards us and in front of us. I didn't think we were in grazing lands. Even though we were in a state park, I didn't see a fence when we began our hike which would have indicated that grazing occured on this land. The shape I saw was black. It couldn't be a cow, but it was approximately the right size. Melodie and I stopped talking. I pointed out that it must be a bear. Then realizing that the bear didn't hear us when we were talking and that the bear might come right to where we were, I stopped up and yelled. The bear turned and ran off into the woods.

For me, this was exciting. All the hikes that I had done so far were by myself. Also these hikes were done in bear country. I never once saw a bear. So to finally see a bear in the wild was nice. To see a bear when I had a hiking partner was even nicer - it made it less likely that we would be attacked.

Day 40 - SwingoutNH to Rumney - 18 Miles

Swingout New Hampshire 2007 (Aug 29 - Sept 3)

And they danced...

Four and a half days of dancing. Two nights of all night dancing. A real landing spot for east coast swing dance enthusiasts. So why was I there? I had been to other swing camps in the past, e.g. Swingout Catalina, but this swing camp had the best of two worlds - it did a good job of recreating a camp like feeling (down to the pink bug juice and mediocre food) and it had excellent instructors, good dance bands, and friendly dancers.

I approached this camp with excitement and a small bit of dread. I hadn’t been doing much dancing over the last year. Too much surfing, I guess (actually, LSAT prep). Even though I had been there last year, I still didn’t know many people. Additionally, I knew I would go through a variety of emotions during the day. It was the Lindy Hop Camp emotional rollercoaster. In each class, they would teach us a new routine. In the beginning of each routine, I would feel confident, but as the routine progressed, I would nor feel as confident. If a follower commented on my good lead, I would be happy. Often times, a follower would leave with a scowl on their face. Almost always, this meant that the follower was not happy with their own technique. But at the end of a class, getting 10 scowls, one begins to feel pretty low. Also, a follower would offer advice or direction. In most cases, this advice was well intentioned and appreciated. But sometimes, even though the advice was correct, I might feel hurt or burned by the suggestion. Such is the peaks and valleys of the Lindy Hop Camp emotional rollercoaster.

I was in Cabin 10 B - Boystown - Our Cabin was the only one to have a cyclist on its sign. The rest of the cabins had...I don't even remember. I think the cabin next to mine had a bully on its sign. What is that all about?

So we ate, danced, ate, danced, swam or played tennis, ate, danced, and slept, though not necessarily in that order. On the last night, we presented a routine that we had learned. I was in the group of dancers called the Chipmunks (Group 3A), just below the mean. Our practice dance can be seen here. I'm in the back corner somewhere.

Here's the routine that we actually performed. I'm barely visible in the far right hand side of the picture. Look for the male-pattern baldheaded cyclist - here.