Swimming to Pittsfield

It was merely cloudy when we started out around 10AM for the Berkshire Mall and the Berkshire Farm Market. Lauren says the farm market is held every Wednesday and Saturday mornings in the summer. She didn't get anything. (She'd wanted snap peas, which she'd loved for a snack a few months ago, but their season would appear to be over.) I bought apples for $.99 a pound and carrots (which I haven't seen at the Collingswood Farm Market in New Jersey in weeks).

We browsed in the mall after that. It was busy, with groups of children from a local day camp milling around, but they behaved themselves. (Lauren says they're better-behaved than the usual teens she sees around the Mall.) We both made good use of the 10%-off coupons for JC Penney we received in our respective mails. She got a pair of dress pants for work. (Lauren works at a local bank, the Pittsfield Co-Op.) I bought two pairs of shorts that were already on a 70% off clearance. With the 10% off coupon, they came to $17. Sweet.

Hit several stores after that, including Target and Sears, but the only one either of us bought anything from was a little toy/gift shop called the Earth Store. They sold WebKinz; had a very nice selection, too. I've searched all over the Philadelphia area for a Tawny Pup, but this store was the first place I've been able to find one. Between the cool picnic table pet item and the fact that they're just darn cute, I imagine they're pretty scarce.

It was sprinkling when we got out of the mall. We timed it just right. By the time we were ordering sandwiches in Lauren's favorite restaurant in downtown Pittsfield, the Highland, it was cats-and-dogs pouring. Lauren's Hot Veal Parmesan Sandwich came on two thick slices of sourdough bread. My Grilled Chicken Breast Sandwich was so big, I just ate it and the veggies that came on it off the fat bun.

The rain had stopped by the time we were finished with lunch. Lauren wanted to check out a kitchen supply store, Different Drummers, in Lennox. Alas, our luck ran out here. The rain started coming down in sheets as we drove to Different Drummers. We sat in the car for at least ten minutes before deciding it wasn't going to let up, then dashed for the store.

The store sold beautiful kitchen items - enameled bowls, seasoned cast-iron cookware, fancy appliances like bamboo steamers and coffee percolators, and new cookbooks. I was hoping the weather would let up while we were inside, but it just got worse. Even as Lauren bought a small spout that could be attached to the top of a soda can to let you drink it like a bottle, the rain was coming down in torrents, turning the highway we'd taken to Lennox into a small river.

Lauren had enough sense to pull into the parking lot of a small hotel and wait there for the flood waters to recede. The puddles on the highway were so bad, cops had to block them off and turn a long line of early rush-hour travelers away. It was over at least 20 minutes to a half-hour or longer before we could get around both the cops and the traffic. (We still had to drive around the flood in the parking lot of a local restaurant.)

We were going to do more browsing in Lennox and Pittsfield, but after all that mess, we both finally decided we didn't want to chance the weather and just went back to Lauren's house. Lauren's parents had spent the morning staining the treatments for their new windows and had barely noticed the rain.

Lauren said her parents had a bowl of blueberries that had been around for a while, and we could make blueberry muffins to eat with our home-made pizza dinner. We had a good time. Lauren mixed the dry ingredients and added the blueberries. (She made sure to make two plain muffins for her father.) I mixed the wet ingredients and topped them with cinnamon sugar, like my mom's blueberry muffins that she used to make us in the summer.

Lauren checked the weather for Lake George tomorrow, and it looks like smooth sailing for our trip to Six Flags Great Escape. As for tonight, the sun did come out briefly, but we've both decided we didn't want to encounter the possibility of more floods and are just staying home.

Oh, and meet Marley, my Tawny Pup! Goofy and mischevious, Marley is named for another famous mischief-making dog, whom Lauren said he resembled. Marley moved into the Sky Room, the former home of Chicka the Chickadee before she moved in with Grayson the Robin when the Treetop Room furniture came in. Marley's in charge of the Mount GrayKinz Picnic Grounds, which made use of some of those cool new outdoor trees and items.