Hike up Petticoat Hill

Spring has arrived and we've been aching to get out and walk in the woods but most of the places we enjoy walking have been quite wet (she writes, while listening to the pouring rain on the skylight). How do we solve this problem? Hike up, woman! Hike up Petticoat Hill to be specific.

Petticoat Hill is a Trustees of Reservations property in Williamsburg, MA. It's about a ten-minute drive from our house. The summit trail is moderately steep for the first 10 minutes or so. Once you've arrived at the summit, which is a little disappointing since there's no view, the trail meets up with Locke's Loop trail. Locke's Loop, is, well, a loop trail. It's a nice amble through the woods. The whole loop trail, including the summit trail takes about an hour. We know this because the first time we hiked it last week we heard the clock in the village ring 3 o'clock shortly after we started and then 4 o'clock when we were just about finishing up. We enjoyed the hike so much on Tuesday that we went back on Thursday. I think it's getting added to our list of favorite places to hike.

What am I Infatuated With this Week?

The World Almanac and Book of Facts, of course! 2008, 140th ed.

THE ready-reference book to have with you on a deserted island. Includes lots and lots of statistics and information on a broad range of topics: economy, business, energy, crime, military affairs, personalities, arts, media, sci & tech, consumer info, US gov't, US facts, history and elections, world history and culture, and sports. Who surpassed Hank Aaron's home run record in 2007? Which state produced the most corn in 2007?

An endless source of entertainment and trivia. Love it. Want the 2008 ed. (hint, hint) Will settle for 2009 in 2010.

Is it a Bubbler or a Water Fountain?

Since the beginning of the semester, I've been following LISNews, a blog of Librarian and Science News. There are several contributing authors who write brief articles linked to a news articles about anything and everything related to libraries, librarians, books, authors, etc. The blog is updated several times a day. This week there was a relevant news story about the newest volume of the Dictionary of American Regional English, currently 4 volumes. A two-year federal grant from the National Science Foundation will help publish Volume 5, S-Z in 2010. The DARE, as it's known among librarians will have answer to questions like when and where is it a bubbler, who in the US says such things as "down cellar" (my parents do). The DARE is the kind of fascinating reference source that is so easy to get completely lost in. Trust me, I have. The project was started in 1965 by English Professor Frederic Cassidy, who died in 2000 and whose tombstone reads "On to Z". May he finally rest in peace.

Did You Drop Something?

One never knows what will turn up when the mountain of snow at 2 Linseed Road starts to melt. Hunks of blacktop are pretty normal. As are hunks of front lawn. But this year we had a first: an unopened bottle of Peppermint Schnapps. It had obviously been sitting there for quite some time, judging by the dirt and decaying label. I'm not even sure if I like Peppermint Schnapps. I never tried it in high school or college (either time) but I saved it anyway. It IS alcohol after all and I am a frugal Yankee. It may come in handy some day. If anyone has suggestions for cocktails made with Peppermint Schnapps they would be welcome.

A Universal Problem

When I put in my weekly volunteer hours at the Springfield City Library, one of my tasks is to search the shelves for missing books. Trevor is highly amused by this but it's necessary because often the books that are marked as missing in the OPAC (that's librarian-speak for on-line catalog), are sitting right there on the shelf exactly where they're supposed to be. Every once in a great while, a book is miss-shelved. Some are missing and have been for quite a while. I read this story today that demonstrates that this is a universal problem among libraries. Just wondering though, if some of those books have been missing for over 50 years, maybe it's time to get a replacement? I won't be hopping the pond any time soon to search for missing books at the British Library since I can only tolerate it for 1 hour a week.

What a Difference a Haircut Makes...

So, after nine months of boycotting haircuts, I got my haircut. You may not know this about me, but, in 2005 I adopted the Curly Girl method of haircare. I didn't just go baby steps with this. I went cold turkey. I put down the (shampoo) bottle, tossed by combs and brushes, gave away my hair dryers and never looked back. My hair has never been happier. I've been blessed with naturally curly hair. I also have the hair color that millions of women pay to have. I'm fortunate in that department. What hasn't been so lucky is finding someone who actually knows how to cut curly hair. Over the years, I've seen the look of complete and total bewilderment on the faces of many stylists. To the point where I just plain old gave up.

Then, Curly Girl entered my life. (oddly, recommended to me by a straight haired person...) Curly Girl recommends that when you see someone with curly hair who has a good haircut to ask them where they get it cut. I did this and found a fabulous stylist in Amherst who cut my hair twice but she was too good for Amherst and moved to Boston. Her replacement wasn't nearly as good and I didn't go back.

Just last week, in my Reference class, a fellow student (and Curly Girl) said she goes to a stylist in Northampton who does a fabulous job with curly hair. I asked her the name of the salon and stylist. I called on Tuesday and made an appointment for Thursday. This was, by far, the best salon experience I've had in my entire life. Worth every penny.

This is the salon: The Fire Fly Salon, it's in Northampton, on Main Street. The woman who cut my hair is the owner, Kay. She's amazing. She's intelligent, she has an MLS! She worked as a librarian for years in public, academic and museums. She knows how to cut curly hair! She has curly hair! She loves cats, she has seven! Now she owns and runs an Aveda salon in Northampton. It really doesn't get much better for me. A curly-haired, intelligent, cat-loving former librarian who's a hair-stylist? I really couldn't ask for much more. I'll certainly be going back.

The whole experience was amazing too. She actually sat me in a chair first and we talked about my hair and what I wanted and didn't want (shampoo). Then she wet it and cut, and then wet again and styled. Did I mention the head and shoulder massage? And the hand massage towards the end. It was simply a wonderful hour-long much-needed pampering session. And, as I said before, worth every penny.

Half a Day Off is better than None

I spent about 4 hours at the Simmons College GSLIS West office today finishing up the Technology Orientation Requirement that is due tomorrow by midnight. I had to make a web page and a wiki page and submit the URLs to the Tech Lab. Once I was done there I decided it was time for some time off! I came home and Trevor and I went up (that's Yankee speak for "north") to Shelburne Falls for the annual meeting of the other co-op that we're members of, Green Fields Market. One of my classmates from the Reference class was there. He is an employee of GFM so we had a good time commiserating about the class during the meal. It's such a relief to know I'm not the only who feels this way about our instructor.

I spent a little time in the business meeting and once I realized the kids were having more fun I left the business meeting to check out what the kids were doing. Trevor brought toys, books and games to for the kids to play with. There was also a woman with lots of hoola hoops for everyone to play with. What a fun time!

I took pictures, crocheted, talked to people, played with a hoola hoop! I look forward to another day off- Soon!