How Humid is too Humid?
You know when you are sending a letter, you write the outgoing and return address, add a stamp, then flip it over to lick the seal, and drop it at the post office?
Well, I opened my box of envelopes, pulled one out and, huh? The glue is stuck, the empty envelope is already sealed. That’s weird. Oh so is this one. Hold up! ALL of my envelopes are pre-licked?? Either someone pulled off the most hilarious prank ever and licked all my envelopes OR Vermont is so humid that they all sealed shut. What the (bad word that starts with F)! It is so ridiculous, it is comical.
This is not the first time I have been a victim to the east coast humidity. Mold will grow any and everywhere. My backpack stored under my bed, my laundry bag, my sandals (this one was extra sad, I couldn’t save them.) And not just mold, rust too. My rifle barrel, the closet door hinges, the zippers on my boots, if I don’t drive my car for a month, the brake pads.
I try to help myself. I bought the expensive dehumidifier and it runs non-stop, 24 hours a day, yet the remaining humidity still seals all my envelopes.
It is September now and I can feel the humidity slowly dissipating. But we can’t say goodbye to summer without a proper summary and send off. A lot has happened since I last wrote in June, so lets go through the highlights.
The 4th of July: the fireworks in Burlington were so colorful and loud. They were shot off of a boat, so they were extra cool with the reflections on the water. The kicker here is they were actually on July 3rd, so we got to watch a second show in Richmond on the actual 4th. I love America.
Mailbox: the Jericho Center Country Store is the oldest country store in the state. It also happens to be 5 minutes away from where we live on base and since I live on base, we can’t receive mail directly. Our mail has gone to box 1096 for long before I was ever on the team, and that era has sadly come to an end. The JCCS sold to new owners and the USPS decided to not renew the use of the post boxes there (not like I can send any letters with my envelopes anyway.)
Raspberry Picking: Vermont has 1 million farms (don’t fact check that) so it is a great afternoon activity to go to a you-pick farm. As implied by the name, it is curated rows of raspberry bushes you can peruse for the biggest, reddest, juiciest berries. And unlike in Alaska, I was not worried about walking up on a sugar coma bear, though it still crossed my mind out of instinct.
Wisconsin: similar to the rollerski biathlon racing we did in Utah, we had the opportunity to race in Brillion, Wisconsin at the Ariens Nordic Center for Midwestern Regionals. The rollerski loop here is really nice and flowy. The races were a short individual (4 shootings) and a mass start (also 4 shootings) and I am very happy to have snuck onto a podium. Other highlights of this trip include running along the Green Bay (ya know like the NFL team), eating ice cream while walking through a botanical garden, and seeing the largest gum ball machine ever.
Sailing: having been born in a land locked state, it should come as no surprise I have never been sailing before. So, when I had the chance to be a passenger on a skiff sailing boat, I jumped at the opportunity to try something new. I will never claim to have sailed the thing myself, but I had a lot of fun on the water and holding the flashlight, so to speak, with helping hold the rudder down.
Abandoned Airforce Base: while vacationing on a lake in Maidstone State Park, I asked questions about the big structures on the top of the mountain in the distance. Turns out, it is these 3 large watch towers and computer room from the Cold War era. There were technically no posted “keep out” signs so we went up there and explored. It is sadly covered in graffiti and trash and structurally unsafe, but totally worth it for a quick thrill and history lesson. In that same trip, though not abandoned, we also explored some caves! There were a lot of spiders.
Summer Nationals: Western Regionals + Midwestern Regionals reached their trifecta, Eastern Regionals, better known as Summer Nationals, in Jericho, Vermont. It was, of course, absurdly humid and awful to race in those conditions, but I hit a good amount of my targets so we will take that as a win.
Things I learned: I learned how to make pickles and I pickled cucumbers (duh), ginger, red onions, radishes, and carrots. I learned how to shoot a 9mm hand gun and mowed down 27/30 moving targets. And I learned I am a grill master and nailed making kebabs.
Speed Summary: And to tie up the rest of the summer in a quick summary, I love cliches and winning a plushie unicorn at the fair was the greatest thing ever, I will bike through HELL to get a pie (instragram reel of this adventure here), the Goth Babe concert was amazingggg, sour apple gushers are delicious on the top of a mountain, and, yeah, that should be all.
Now, Labor Day has marked the social end to the summer (since, literally speaking, the fall equinox isn’t for another few weeks.) Looking forward, I am feeling excited because I am going back to school for a 6 month long Director of Operations certification, and I am headed back to Utah for a month to train and get ready for some more biathlon racing :)
And now please enjoy a ton of photos. Thanks for reading!
