Da Beer and Da Bon Fire was Da Bomb….

All da guys had a nice evening on da mountain last night (sans da Grizz who was under da weather). Da Weave (aka Man Hut Brewmaster) brought up a partial keg of his magnificent Oktoberfest that we quickly polished off. I previewed his latest brew; an imperial IPA, it is fantastic (click the Brewmation link to the right and learn how he creates these magic brews). Big Lou and Bobo cut some “good wood” to make a bon fire in da big pit.... Da good wood makes da good fire. The G-Man brought up a few liquid provisions from his liquor room (imagine that a liquor room). A good time was had by all.

Oh yeah…. We had a surprise visitor; “The Mrs. Weave” came up to da hut for a drink…. She also supplied da boyz with da pasta and da sauce so she is welcome back anytime.

Dat’s da story.

Happy Holidays

On this Holiday eve 2008 I would like to take a moment to give thanks to our neighbors and friends for the fun, the warmth, the excitement, the wonder, the silliness, the booze, the camaraderie, the adventure, the partnership, the laughs, the sharing, the knowledge and the everyday love and good cheer we share.

From my family to yours, Happy Holidays and a really great New Year!

A Snow Day, Yay!…

The meteorologists finally got one right. Yesterday the northeast got hit with the first major snow of the season. Fortunately for me I had already pre-planned to take yesterday off so I didn’t mind the threat of snow at all… In fact I was excited about it. The anticipation of up to 12 inches of fresh snow when you have no place to go is a pretty good feeling. The wife and I spent the morning in our slippers and sweats, made a fire in the fireplace and put up a big pot of chicken soup. The first flakes fell around 11:30 as best I can tell.

Around 1:00 Big Lou and me got up to the Manhut. By then the first few inches of snow had fallen. Grizz joined us and we just hung out for while. It was pretty nice up there; very quiet and quite beautiful.

But the big news of the day was the call for the impromptu soirée we have come to call Winterfest. This is when a bunch of the neighbors; guys, wives and kids congregate to the cul-de-sac during the first big snow of the season for a few drinks and stuff. For the second year in a row we even had an official tree lighting thanks to the Grizz strapping his electrified tree to his pickup truck.

Highlights: Doughnuts, Doughnuts, Doughnuts! Emily’s, Linda’s and Maria’s first quad rides and the plow guy.

A Cool Experience…

Sunday morning the “Quad Squad” took a ride up to the top of the mountain.
It was beautiful up there. The air was colder and crisper than down below. Getting to the top made us feel as though we were in a completely different climate. The ice from the prior day that had coated the tree branches was still fully intact up there. Down the mountain it had completely melted the prior day. The sun was bright and reflected off the icy trees like Christmas tinsel. The weight was heavy on the branches as limbs were continually falling down around us. We paused for a smoke and a talk. Nice.

PS: Just as were about to leave, we noticed we had been standing directly under a heavily ice laden tree. A limb was dangling above us, broken off and barley holding on. Lucky us.

PSS: Since Lou’s Bro picked up his Can Am Outlander 400MAX Lou he has been “Quadless”. But Saturday he picked up his new toy; a 1988 Honda Foreman 350. Nice ride! That’s Lou catching some air. So now we all pretty much have the same machines as you can see in the pix….

Last Night…

Last night was CRAZY!.... Torrential rains, ice everywhere and wind. The sound of rain, rushing water and falling trees made for a long night of uneasy sleep. In the middle of the night we were blasted from our bed when the sound of a pretty good size tree limb fell on our roof… Not sure if there’s any damage. Going to wait until all the ice is thawed before I climb out there. Also, there was no glimpse of the Manhut from down the mountain this morning… Was it still there?.... Did it survive the night? OH NO! Bob and I took a quick ride up to check out the “situation”. Rode the old logger road up the mountain, which was surprisingly solid considering the rain. Half way up and we still didn’t see the hut. OH NO!...
Alas the hut remains; the heavy ice on the trees had blocked the view until we got almost all the way to the top. Everything is fine. Good thing we build it on a boulder…. Hut is high and dry.

Fire On The Mountain…

Bobo came up with the idea of inaugurating the fire pit last night… Pretty good idea since it was a brisk 28 degrees, and not much else was going on in the hood. Most everyone had commitments, especially since it’s getting so close to the holidays and there are so many chores and “stuff” to do (note to self: leaves still need to be raked). The Weaves were getting a little trim done (tree trimming that is), Big Lou & Co. were busy little elves, and the Grizz and G-Man were MIA. So all in all it was going to be a pretty mellow evening; a fire, a stogie, a couple of brews and that’s it. The fire pit worked out great. The location is good, It’s close enough to the Manhut to keep an eye on, far enough away not to burn it down plus the water barrel off the back roof is just close enough in case things get out of hand. We probably just want to beef up the walls a bit. As the early evening progressed the hut started to buzz; two of Bobo’s young sons came up for a bit, Grizz came up with beer in tow. Later Big Lou and one of his buddies wandered by including a very special guest….. Mr.’s Big Lou!