Keep On Digging: August 2007

28 August 2007

Letchworth Park

Last Saturday we went to Letchworth State Park with our friends the Reids. We were planning on doing a lot of hiking, but the park turned out to be a lot more established than we thought it would be. There were short walks to these amazing waterfalls and lots of people there. But it was lots of fun and good to get out of the house. It was very humid! We are enjoying discovering the area; there is a great park close by for picnicking or softball, we still haven't found a good (cheap) camping place yet.

P.S. Any ideas on curly hair in the humidity? I'm pretty much ready to cut it short.

Brad and Becca

20 August 2007

Beware the Jalapenos!

So I was going to write to everybody and tell them this story but maybe posting it will be easier. Friday night we were going to a BBQ. I, being the aspiring homemaker, wanted to bring homemade salsa. So I looked up a few recipes, picked one out, and headed to the store. Brad and I cut everything up quickly, because we were late, and then took off to the BBQ. On the way there I noticed that my hands were tingly and hot and I resolved to wash them again when we got there. The evening was cool and I didn't notice my hands, but if I touched my face it would burn where I touched it. We went home and my hands started burning pretty bad so I washed them again and took hold of an Otter Pop. We concluded that it was acid in the jalapeños that reacted with my skin/nerves. I had cut them up and then mixed the salsa with my bare hands (I had no idea!) As the evening wore on, the burning continued to worsen. I could cool them for a bit in some cold water or with something frozen, but the burning would come back regardless. It felt like I was pouring scalding water on the palms of my hands! We tried everything; aloe, hydrocortisone, benadryl, a wet wash cloth. Brad even ran to the store at midnight to get some Lanacane. He was so worried; it was really sweet. Nothing worked. Brad read online and apparently this is not uncommon. He read about someone who just put their hands in ice water and slept that way all night. I was holding back tears and totally exhausted (probably from the benadryl) as I told Brad to go to bed and pulled out all our blankets and put ice water in a pie dish. Brad, of course, didn't go to bed until I was settled on the floor with my hands in the pie dish holding ice cubes. I think I was asleep within two to three minutes. In the morning my thumbs were tingly but the burning had gone thank goodness! My only question was why didn't somebody tell me that jalapeños can burn your skin like that? Turns out that in the Chiles section of my cookbook it says that the oils can burn your skin or eyes so wear gloves while cutting chillies. I guess I learned my lesson the hard way. Warning to you all-wear gloves when cutting chilies!

P.S. The salsa was hot at first but after a day it was really good. I don't know what to do with the other jalapeños though. I certainly don't want to touch them.

15 August 2007

New York City

We recently visited New York City. The trip was a little fast for all that we wanted to see;
next time we'll plan on 4 or 5 days, and spend less time at the most common tourist sites.
Transportation worked out really well for us; we drove 6 hours to Harrison, NJ, and then paid
$1.50 to take the PATH train into Manhattan. We were able to carry all of our clothes, etc. in 2
backpacks, which was nice.

Notice how the streets of Manhattan are arranged in a relatively simple grid.

Unfortunately (for Hannah especially), when Brad's navigating, the streets seem to look more
like this. We never got lost, we just took some scenic routes--I was trying to show Hannah
more of the city.

One of the first things we did was a boat tour around the island.

The cranes you see are working on the new WTC building.

Ellis Island w/random tourist.

subway

This is an early morning view looking west from our hotel room
(27th floor). Thanks to Stryker and my 56,000 Marriott points,
we stayed free for 2 nights in an $800/night room. Pretty sweet deal.