My hot husband

 Friends of Five Rivers marched in the Memorial Day Parade again this year.  Once again the Man assumed the role of mascot otter, and my friend and fellow Board member, M, donned the owl costume and had a hoot from start to finish.

People love Five Rivers, and today they weren't shy about shouting it out (or just hooting) to let us know.  And they ADORE the otter (even if they think it's a beaver/squirrel/chipmunk/woodchuck/platypus - seriously though, platypus?).  Even as he over-heated, the Man did an excellent job of greeting the crowds and distributing high fives which were received with joy by young and old alike (overheard: "I high-fived the otter!!!" and "Oh boy, I'm never washing this hand...").

It was hotter than last year, so the otter had to nip off to the side a couple of times and (shh) take his head off.  At the end of the parade he collapsed on a grassy bank for a few minutes to catch his breath, which clearly concerned someone as a policeman (actually, the school detective) came cycling up to tell us he'd had a report of a collapsed chipmunk and were we in need of emergency services?

But the Man was OK, so much so that he put the costume back on to walk back to our friends' house where we'd parked the car.  Funny thing: put on an otter suit and march in a parade and people can't get enough of you.  Just walk down the street in an otter suit and no-one will even look at you.

You otter've been there

Whew - end of another Five Rivers Fall Festival day.  Our concerns about the weather turned out to be unfounded, and we had sunshine all afternoon.  It was a little blustery, but isn't it always?

We were busy in the crafts area, as usual, and our mostly small visitors seemed happy with their handiwork.  The only time our two tables emptied en masse was when a certain giant otter wandered by... (Although for much of the time the otter - especially in its smaller incarnation - was busy enjoying the live music: dancing gangnam style and playing along on air guitar.)

Meanwhile, down at the other end of the event, the raffle table did pretty well.  The Girl and I had hiked the Farmers' Market several times collecting donations of fresh produce, crafts, bread and cakes, honey, granola, soap etc etc... ending up with so many goodies that we had to raffle them off in three fully-packed baskets, rather than (as originally planned) just one.  Incredible generosity by many of the market stallholders, for which we were very grateful.

Attendance was a little down on last year, but there were still enough people to create a cheerful buzz. It's always a happy thing to see children busily engaged with interesting activities and just generally having lots of fun - and there was plenty of that happening today. 

Art and otter

There are days when frankly I have to scratch around to find anything at all to write about, and then days like today when there's been too much going on (so maybe I should save some of it for the next scratch-around day).

Mainly it's this evening that's been crazy.  The kids were both invited to the opening reception of the Middle School Art Exhibition because their work had been selected for display.  The Girl certainly had a picture up (a collage of the Gherkin), but we never found the Boy's piece - darn it!

We couldn't stick around, because we had to get to Five Rivers for a Volunteer Recognition picnic, and the Boy was featuring as the otter.  He did a great job, as ever - dancing along to the live music and making a toddler fall in love with him. The otter got a special mention at the start of the awards ceremony, but had to take his bow quickly so that we could rush back to the Middle School to arrive just after the start of the annual International Children's Art Auction...

The Girl had a piece of work for sale in the auction, but unfortunately it had been sold before we got there.  Darn it again!  The auction was very well attended and brought in lots of money to be shared between projects for kids in Belize and Uganda - well done to the teacher and children who organized the event.

Otter nonsense

Today was not as hectic as yesterday.  Here's the otter from last night.  Looking good, but he needs to wax his whiskers or something.

A winter tradition continues

It's the first Friday in December, which in these parts can only mean one thing - the annual world's-shortest Holiday Parade!

Like last year, I was coordinating two groups:  Friends of Five Rivers and Fair Trade.  Up until the last minute the latter looked like it was going to be a group of one (or at best, one plus a rather grudging Girl). But then a sixth grader showed up, more than willing to dress as a banana, and since she also had her mother and sister with her we made a respectable team.

Meanwhile, Friends of Five Rivers were well represented with banner bearers and two mascots.  One of my colleagues from the FFR Board managed to carry off the owl costume with a surprising and enviable degree of style.  The otter was in one of its shorter incarnations, animated by a member of my family.  I didn't get to see it (I had to race ahead to keep up with my banana) but apparently the otter had fun hamming it up to the large audience at the end of the parade who were waiting for Santa to arrive and light the Christmas tree.  But he was exhausted and about ready to faint after all that.

Like last year, the worst of the weather held off for the duration of the event, and icy sleet didn't start coming down until we were safely in the warm church hall tucking into cocoa and cookies.

If it had been any 'otter...

...there's no way the Man would have made it round the whole length of the Bethlehem Memorial Day Parade today.  That is quite a cosy costume he was wearing, and if the temperature had edged much above 70F he wouldn't have lasted the hour it took to wind up and down the streets past the cheering crowds.

But he did a grand job, hamming it up in style (now I know where my son's dramatics come from).  He was happy to oblige all the kids who wanted to high-five him.  Not just little kids, some quite big people too. There were also two rather attractive lady fire-fighters who wanted their picture taken with him.  Hm, I never imagined I'd one day say to my husband, "Well, that's nice, but don't let me catch you cuddling pretty girls when you're not dressed up as an otter."

There were nine of us in the Parade representing Friends of Five Rivers, but the Man really stole the show for us.  What a wonderful husband I have - otterly awesome!

My owl-costume days are so over

Dressing as an owl was a hoot...

 ...but I reckon I look hotter as an otter.

Right on track

It has been a beautiful day here - bright and sunny, crisp but not unbearably cold, and still with snow everywhere, looking pretty.  It was the perfect morning for the annual winter training session at Five Rivers.  We had a lot of fun out on the trails, spotting tracks made by deer, squirrels, rabbits and (we think) an otter, and vole holes, which are framed in ice crystals caused by the little creatures' frozen breath.

Ours was the first instructors' class to start out of the new Guided School Program building.  Although it was formally opened back in September, the building required some finishing work and that took a few months.  But now it is fully stocked with teaching equipment and properly available for use.

In addition to a good old wander round the trails, I hiked from home to Five Rivers and back again today, so I feel like I've had a fair share of fresh air and exercise.

Dome Away from Home

So, here we are in a new month - and a different country.  We have hopped over the border to Canada, to visit Montreal.

Our main destination today was the Biodome. It's a little bit like the Eden Project, but more like a zoo than that.  There are four environments featured, starting with a rainforest, moving through Canadian mountains and sea-life and ending in the antarctic with puffins and penguins.  We got to see animals like a capybara, caimans, a very busy beaver and a lynx.  There was also an otter - the Man swears it gave him a nod of recognition.  The puffins and penguins were fun to watch.  We were able to walk through the whole exhibition twice, which gave us the chance to see animals that were hiding the first time around.

Wonder of wonders, there was a gift shop but we didn't have to pass through it in order to exit - that has to be a first.

We also wandered briefly around the Olympic park and admired the Montreal tower.

Remarkably, no rain on our parade

The day of the annual Holiday Parade came round again - and the weather was not promising.  It was very cold.  Late morning it started raining and it continued, dully and relentlessly, all day.

So I set off to the Town Hall in low spirits...yet somehow, by luck (or Santa magic?), the rain eased up, and it stayed dry for the duration of the parade.

I was coordinating not just Fair Trade marchers this year, but also (for the first time) a contingent representing Friends of Five Rivers and featuring (but of course) an owl and an otter.  We had willing volunteers for the costumes, the same guys that dressed up for the Memorial Day Parade a few months ago.  They did a great job - they are surely destined to have stellar careers as sports mascots.

More than a dozen Middle Schoolers turned out to hold Fair Trade posters and hand out FT chocolates, so big thanks to them.  The Boy and a friend also actively participated, holding our banner and shouting "Fair Trade!  Support your local campaign!" into an echo-effect plastic microphone (unfortunately rather drowned out by the fife and drum band playing Hark the Herald behind us, and the tractor trailer ahead belting out Jingle Bell Rock). 

Some of us then repaired to the church hall, where a good time and plenty of popcorn/cookies/hot chocolate was had by all...while outside the rain came down once more.

Candy/corn

So, it sounds like Britain is getting snow, and we're having (at least for now) the sort of winter weather I used to associate with Britain - damp, chill and drear.  I've heard a few people suggest that after last year's decidedly not-white winter we'll be in for "a doozy" this year - but no signs of it yet.

We've had a regular sort of Saturday - Farmers' Market in the morning, skating for the Girl in the afternoon, while the Boy hung out with his buddy.  We returned the otter costume to its home at Five Rivers - rather sad to see it go. 

This evening the Girl attended a friend's surprise birthday party (they're starting to turn thirteen. I ask you...) where there was a competition to load gingerbread houses with as many edible decorations as possible, and my daughter chose to add corn chips to her house, to everyone else's consternation. 

Community service day

There are days when I have not so much to do, and then there are the other kind:

Morning - a meeting at Five Rivers.  Followed by helping out refugee friends for an hour or so. Then home for back-to-back Fair Trade conference calls.

Next, a trip to Troy, where the Girl had a skating lesson (our local rink has closed for the season). Home again, and just time for some dinner before going round to the elementary school for a summer camps fair. The Girl was helping out at the Indian Ladder Farms table, and at the Friends of Five Rivers stall the Boy was assisting me in the way he does best - dressed as an otter (much to the surprise of his former school principal).

So we've all done our bit today.  There's even a photo, but I'll have to add it tomorrow because it's on the Boy's gadget and he's already gone to bed.  Speaking of which, I'd better head that way myself now.