2008-08-12

Well, here I am on my third day of camping in NH and my third day of rain. Fred and I arrived on Sunday and it was a gorgeous sunny day. We stopped at the Burlwood Antique Center for an appraisal event. You could get three things appraised for 20 bucks with all proceeds going to charity. I chose two plates that my grandmother had given me and a piece of jewelry that I had rescued from a meltdown for it�s value as gold and jewels.

The plates represented two different series and one is wedgewood from the 30�s and it�s worth about 70 bucks a plate. The other series is made by a mfg that is out of business and was never famous in the first place. They are worth about 30 bucks a plate.

The jewelry is a Victorian cuff, wrap bracelet. It is made of 18 carat gold and w as apparently hand woven of Italian gold in Italy. The center clasp that holds down the wrap has a large opal and six diamonds and the clasp is custom made. The value? I bought it about 15 years ago for 1200 dollars because I thought it was so beautiful that I couldn�t stand the thought of it being melted down if it didn�t sell. Over the years, according to his appraisal, it has risen to almost 2000 dollars in value. I feel vindicated in buying it now. I felt so strongly about that bracelet that way back then I used the IBM company credit card and charged the whole thing and then worked my butt off to get overtime to pay it off before they noticed because back then the American Express charge card had to be paid in 30 days.

Anyhow two seconds after my appraisal was complete the sky opened up and so we went to a late lunch at Hart�s Turkey Farm and it seemed to blow over. So we signed in at the campground and set up the tent. I sent Fred off for some supplies and a monsoon exploded while he was gone! There was thunder and lightning and I was eyeing the trees around our camp site through the clear plastic lookouts at the top of the tent and looked at the power lines overhead as the tent shook and bobbed in the mighty wind and Crash Boom Crack came from all directions.

I called Fred on the phone and told him the canopy over the picnic table wasn�t staked down and it was going to go flying off. It was so noisy I couldn�t even tell him I was terrified with images of tree limbs crashing through my cloth tent and crushing me. He said that he was here and waiting for a break to make a run for it.

I thought he was up the hill at the store waiting for a break to run to the car. I thought, �Doesn�t he care if I get trampled by a tree limb or fried in my bed by lightning? Why isn�t he HERE with me?�

Well, it turns out he WAS there with me. He was in the car ten feet from the door of the tent waiting for a break and I didn�t know it. So I called him again and said, �Get here NOW� and he ran from the car and dived into the tent and that�s when I realized he was with me all along. I said, �I feel so much better because now if I get fried by lightning I can take you with me!� We laughed and hugged and hid under the blankets as my daughter called us begging us to run for her trailer but it was kind of fun once we were together and I wanted to watch how the tent did, knowing I had an option if all else failed and we washed out. Did you know they had the board walk and train tracks at Weir�s Beach wash away last Thursday and a twister that took out house and killed a woman in the next town over two days before that? Scary weather!

Well scary weather turned into all day boring rain for Monday. I sat in the car stealing internet off of someone�s unsecured modem reading all of you. Tuesday has been a mix of sun and �run for it!� but at least me and the grandchildren got a chance to kayak during the sunnier moments and now as it rains, I write. Tomorrow should be even better weather .. I hope.

BTW this is viral advertising for cellphone headsets to convince you to reduce your RF exposure by buying them but it fooled someone in my radio club that should know better. If you want your kids to stop talking so much on cellphones show them THIS and tell them their braincells are more fragile than popcorn!


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