Climb ev'ry mountain

Because I'm such a fan of the Sound of Music, I thought I'd post this update that was e-mailed out about the Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe:

Greetings from our Green Mountains,
We have been touched to receive so many inquiries into the impact of Tropical Storm Irene. Both Stowe and the Trapp Family Lodge were very fortunate not to have sustained significant damage, in spite of over six inches of rain and heavy winds. Erosion and wind damage were the chief concern, but we sustained almost no impact to our buildings, roads, and trails. Our capable crew was well prepared for the event, and our guests were able to enjoy the day with a fire in the Lounge and service in the DeliBakery.
I spent much of the day outdoors, unplugging culverts and checking the status of buildings and trails- my Austrian loden hat is still drying out!
Unfortunately many towns near us were impacted significantly, as has been reported by the media. Our thoughts go out to those who suffered more damage than we did, and we look forward to doing our part to help neighboring communities...
Sincerely, Sam von Trapp Executive Vice President Trapp Family Lodge

Natural disasters

So, catching up...

I was excited to finally be in an earthquake at the ripe age of 40. I was actually in a small one in January of 1979 when I was in second grade in Matawan, NJ, but I didn't hear or feel it because I was in the noisy lunchroom. Our teachers told us about it when we got back into class, and used it as a teaching experience. Apparently there is a small fault line that runs through Cheesequake Park, although the park gets its name from Indian words and not from the fault line.

Anyway, since then, I've been disappointed that I haven't felt any quakes. So when I was sitting at my desk at work and felt a slight rumbling -- but didn't hear the usual sound of a truck passing -- I got up and said, "Did we just have an earthquake?" Two other people came out of their offices and said the same thing. Then someone said, "It's still going on." I thought of putting something up on our newspaper website, but I didn't want to do it if a truck hit our office; we'd look rather stupid. Then a co-worker said her husband in Central Jersey also felt it, so we knew it was real.

And that's the exciting story.

As for the hurricane, we'll see what happens. As always, I have a link at the right to the gov't hurricane maps.

List

I am so honored that Carrie Pilby made the top 10 list today of a teenage reader, Lauren, who says she lives in a boring town in the mountains of Pennsylvania and has a lot of books. Thanks, Lauren!

Hey!

I do not think this is very nice.

Catching up

A few things:

1. To the lovely lass who commented that my coveted coconut patties can be found down South -- I know, but those all have chocolate on the outside, right? What I'd like to find are the ones with no chocolate. It seems as though only Criterion Candies in Asbury Park used to make them, and now they don't. Too bad - they were good! They came in vanilla and strawberry. Thanks as always, though!

2. Last week, someone on Amazon called the main character in my novel a "douche." On the heels of that, someone posted this comment on Goodreads. Ouch! Valid points, though. I know well that the novel isn't for everyone. Anyway, I responded.

3. I often make it seem like I posted these at a different time than I did. For instance, this one will say 12:06 a.m. even though I was sleeping at 12:06 a.m. I'm not so easy to pin down. Ha!

Have a good weekend!

Quote of the month

"Art can’t save the world, but it can make the world a lot easier to take." -- Kevin Smith

What I should expect someday?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8aprCNnecU

Better start making some cookies now...