Announcing the Aspen Grove Hiatus

I'll be at Aspen Grove Family Camp for an entire week beginning tomorrow afternoon, along with about two thirds of the people who comment on this blog. I believe I may make a post or two from my mountain encampment, unless my wife has anything to say about it. She's none too pleased to see me on a computer on a vacation. Come to think of it, she's not all that thrilled when I'm on the computer at any time.  (Don't tell her I'm writing this.)

Aspen Grove is a family tradition on my mother's side, stretching back over 35 years. All my cousins and their families gather in the mountains and spend a week letting someone else take care of our kids. I got Chicken Pox at Aspen Grove when I was three years old. (I've since recovered.) We Cornells went dutifully until the the eighties when we took about a decade-long hiatus, but then we picked it up again in 1992 and have gone every year since. 

The place is steeped with tradition - we perform "Javelin Man" live at the talent show every year, we always lose Aspen Follies, and we play as much Pirate Rook as possible. (Pirate Rook is kind of a modified version of Bridge without face cards. There's nothing piratey about it.) Sadly, three of the most active Pirate Rookists - Rob, Bret, and Norm - will not be there for the duration, or, in Bret or Norm's case, not there at all. So I may have to actually do something else. Perhaps I could blog! I'm sure Mrs. Cornell wouldn't mind. 

Just the same, don't bet on any new posts for the coming week. Enjoy "Javelin Man" in the meantime and savor what you'll be missing.