Talent show

Yesterday morning was the 5th grade "talent" show at Aidan's school. Students were encouraged to sing, dance, put on skits, play musical instruments and display other special talents such as flag twirling or demonstrating martial arts, or serve on the stage crew. Out of three grade 5 classes of 20+ students each, all but about five children played some kind of role in the show.

Aidan was chosen as one of the announcers because of his clear and loud speaking voice, and because he doesn't, as one child in his class told him, "have any talent." Rude child.

Aidan and the other two announcers did a fine job of announcing each act. And if Aidan has no talent, then he has plenty of company in the no talent pool. While there were a few stand-out performances, there were mainly squeaks and squawks, missed notes, mumbled lines, incomprehensible skits (I apparently don't understand or appreciate grade 5 humor) and pitchiness. Lots of pitchiness.

But all snark aside, I have to admire the students for their willingness to perform in front of their friends, the entire school and their parents. The self-conscious need to be perfect hasn't yet set in, and to be quite honest, perfection is overrated and dull. They only wanted to participate and entertain, and their performances were exuberant, joyful and engaging. The real talent displayed yesterday morning was the ability to bring pleasure to so many people on a wet, chilly morning.

ADK spring trip

Our first Adirondack excursion of 2013 took place this past weekend. Our favorite ADK campground, Old Forge Camping Resort, offered a BOGO deal for Mother's Day weekend: buy one night in a camping cabin, get one free. Spring weather can be very iffy particularly at higher elevations, so the cabin seemed a much better option than our pop-up camping trailer. Our friends Kelly, Mike and Ryan also rented a cabin for the weekend.

The camping cabins are simple one room structures with a double bed, bunk beds, electrical outlets and a heater. You still have a short walk to the bathhouse, but it was good to have a roof, solid walls and the heater because it rained Friday night and into Saturday morning. It rained HARD. The weekend was looking like a total washout when the rain finally let up late morning. We took advantage of the improved weather by going on a hike.

I scoped out a hike ahead of time by reading through the West-Central Region volume of Adirondack Trails. I chose the Humphrey Hill, Lock and Dam Loop because it was nearby (trail head in Thendara), fairly level and only about two miles round trip. Although the trees were dripping, it was a pleasant walk:

As you can see, the trees are just starting to leaf. I enjoyed seeing all the different shades of green in the forest. We also saw all kinds of budding and blooming plants, including this beautiful trillium:

We soon reached the lock and dam:

 

While there is the small dam, there is not a lock; kayakers and canoeists portage around the dam. Aidan, James and Ryan poked around the rocks below the dam:

There were some fascinating rocks that displayed very clear and regular striations:

It was an excellent hike - long enough to stretch our legs and enjoy the sights and sounds, but not so long that we tired ourselves too much. We had a late lunch at Tony Harper's in Old Forge, then returned to the campground for fishing, napping, exploring and/or wine drinking - bonus points if you know who did what!