Drinking – Regular Guy

Danger on the Streets

brian — Thu, 06 Jul 2017 18:38:15 +0000

I often poke fun at people who try to portray Hanover as a dangerous community. I mean, it’s not Mayberry, but the reality is that as long as you don’t look for trouble, you usually won’t find it.

I often project this through bragging about walking home after a night downtown, either because I just felt like walking or because I know I shouldn’t be behind the wheel of a car. However, the jokes came to an end when I walked home from a friend’s house after a Fourth of July cookout recently.

My wife had already headed home with the car, and we don’t live too far away so I decided to walk home when I was done having fun. This was on July 3. We had a nice night so I looked forward to enjoying the stroll.

As I walked up Moul Avenue, I noticed a shadow ahead. Had someone left something on the ground? Could I be a Good Samaritan and return a lost item? Would this be my way of making the job easier for the folks who had to clean up the park?

Nope!

I honestly think I would have acted more calmly if someone did hold me up with a gun. I did a little dance down the sidewalk past the critter – he barely acknowledged my presence – and then walked the next few hundred feet looking back over my shoulder every few steps to make sure he wasn’t tracking me.

That could have happened, you know. My theory of an angry band of woodland creatures starting their own society in the Rail Trail woods has gained steam ever since my wife and some other friends have shared news of a bird attacking people in that vicinity.

The animal uprising is real. I am just glad I managed to escape unharmed.

This time.

Street Kayaking

brian — Sun, 21 Jul 2013 19:02:41 +0000

When I woke up last Friday, I knew we had a problem on our hands. The morning of our last full day at the beach brought a whole lot of rain.

We had already weathered the storm – literally. The rain came the day before as well, but we filled the time with crafts, Bingo and a group viewing of “Sharknado.”

I didn’t know what another rainy day would bring, however. We got very lucky with some incredible weather to start the week, and, in reality, we have had great weather for a number of years straight.

But what’s a group of close to 50 family members to do when the weather turns sour – really sour – on vacation?

Kayak in the street, that’s what.

The whole thing started, at least in my mind, as a joke. The road in front of the side-by-side houses two of my sisters rented started to flood. This brought back memories of family members putting a rubber raft in a flooded culvert on a trip many years ago.

One of the houses near the flooding this year happened to have a half-dozen kayaks available to renters. At some point in the mid-morning, Facebook messages started flying about whether the road had enough water to make kayaking possible.

I decided to hop into the shower and see what the rest of the day would hold. After I got dressed, I discovered an urgent voice mail from one of my sisters. My house was just a block from the flooding.

“You have to come out of your house and see what’s going on down the street.”

I grabbed my umbrella, realizing within just a few seconds that trying to stay dry would never succeed, and smiled when I saw the scene.

We didn’t just have one intrepid family member testing the kayaking theory. Several folks paddled up and down the flooded street while many others passed on umbrellas and hats, splashing around in their bathing suits.

Suffice to say, we had started to create one of the all-time best memories in my family’s 25-plus years of going to Bethany Beach.

There were kayak races and “rescues” of folks who lost control and ended up in the bushes. An enterprising group even used tin foil to dress up on of my nephews as the “Sharknado.”

Cars passing on the nearby main streets stopped to take photos or video of this crazy crew (ranging from 3 to 60) making the best of a rainy day at the beach. Some even drove by, threw the car in reverse to make sure they saw what they thought they saw, then captured the scene on their phone.

Some of my nephews spent the bulk of the afternoon in the kayaks, just chilling out and creating their own memory. The rest of us brought food from our individual houses for a potluck sort of lunch, then enjoyed a few cocktails, took a nap or did both.

Two nights before this, my daughter and I walked back from the downtown area (where 30 of us huddled on the covered bandstand to escape the rain and broke into an impromptu version of “Row, Row, Row Your Boat”) and said, “our family is kinda awesome, huh?”

All we needed was a downpour and some kayaks to show that to everyone.

Don’t Try This at Home

brian — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 20:43:06 +0000

I don’t endorse that kids try this, but beating Joey Chestnut is a marvelous accomplishment regardless of the arena.

HT: Deadspin