Entire Passenger Load of Bus Found Asphyxiated

I was able to cross off a few things from my bucket list this past week. Mom and I went to the Elmira Maple Syrup Festival for the first time. We'd both always wanted to go for the toffee made by pouring the syrup into snow. The toffee wasn't bad (painfully sweet, though), but it took over an hour of waiting to get it. Their toffee delivery system was unorganized. There was no line up; everyone just crowded around the small pen, and toffee was handed out randomly, making it so that someone who showed up 30 minutes after you could even get theirs before you did. It wasn't worth the wait, in my opinion.

I also tried deep-fried Mars Bar for the first time: SO good-better than regular Mars Bar. There was an antiques show, in which I was close to checking off a third item from my list. Someday, I want to own a fire grenade (filled with carbon tetrachloride), and there were two of them at one of the tables. I had never beheld one in person before. They're quite heavy, despite the glass being not much thicker than a light bulb's. One was gorgeous, with a lovely metal bracket for mounting it on the wall. I had forgotten how dangerous they could be until he mentioned it (they work by sucking all the oxygen out of the area once smashed); I put it down after that. I didn't get it because I didn't have a secure way of transporting it home, and Mom would have been uncomfortable having it in the house. As it turned out, the bus ride back to Waterloo was packed; I had to stand the entire way back. I'm quite proud of my mother, however. She imagined me bringing the grenade aboard and dropping it, killing everyone inside; it made her laugh. I can just imagine the authorities finding the bus full of dead passengers, thinking it's some sort of bio-terrorist attack. She's becoming more like me as time passes; this is not a good thing for her.

Before leaving the town, I bought a bottle of maple syrup (so much better than normal syrup), as well as a block of lovely extra old white cheddar for only $2.00!

LOST

I love going exploring. Being lost, having no idea where I am is always refreshing. You discover so much more when you have no destination. After finishing some shopping today, I decided to take the bus heading in the same direction which brought me to the stores, instead of going back the way I came. It took me out to Conestoga College, and I didn't get back to the terminal for an hour and 45 minutes, but it was fun. I saw at least five churches I didn't know about, and got to see most of Conestoga's campus (I've only been to the gym for various events). I got to listen to the amusing conversations of moronic teenagers, and saw swamps with those awesome dead trees one sees a lot up north.

A friend of mine and I have recently learned of our mutual love of exploring. Last week we went for a drive and ended up in New Hamburg. We ate at the gorgeous Puddicombe House (a lovely platter of 3 meats, mustards, black olive tapenade, and 8 cheeses). Riverside Cemetery had beautiful tombstones made of the Brazilian granite, Verde Ubatuba. There was also a monument to the pioneers of the town, unlike anything I've ever seen.





*This post has had nothing to do with the fine television program, LOST*