On Friday the 14th there was a treat in honor of Terrie and Pete and Alyssa's visit. Loie wrote in her travel diary…
A fantastic porpoise show! Pete spotted a large pod strung out just beyond the outermost sand bar. We all started the porpoise mantra, "Jump, porpoise, jump!" and the show began. One leaped completely out of the wave, then did so again. We saw several more shows as they ran south to the Frisco Pier. A wonderful gift on our last full day.
It should be recorded that the beach vacation of 2001 was not the happiest ever. In the first week there were two shark attacks in the northern Outer Banks. One resulted in a fatality. And the tragedy of September 11th happened during the second week. We will not dwell here on these sad and well-reported events, only record their occurence.
The week after the Lovebunnies returned from the Outer Banks, Sister Amy and Nephew Siggy came from California for a visit to Yo's house. Amy's Frank was due to join them soon.
The Lovebunnies embarked on a round of parties and visits that staggers the imagination.
On the 22nd there was a family dinner at Yo's house. On the 23rd Loie and Bucky had dinner at Hilary and Mark's house, to see how the new house on McCosh Street was turning out. It has turned out very well; adapting and renovating an old house isn't the easiest of projects, and The Guys have done a wonderful job. On the 29th the Lovebunnies had Laurel and Darrell to their house for a lunch of oyster stew, crab cakes and Maryland Chicken. Darrell had been wanting to visit his trees, and the perfect weather that afternoon made for a very nice walk round to inspect the progress of sylvan growth in the country.
By Thursday the fourth of October, Frank had arrived from California. He and Amy and Siggy visited Loie and Bucky that afternoon, and Siggy was overjoyed to finally see Bucky's Surf Blaster gun once more. He made Frank play water games as Bucky visited with Amy. Loie came home from work early to join the party.
The exact date when Loie and Bucky first began seriously Cleaning their woods was never recorded, and so has been lost in the mists of history. But by the fall, when Amy and Frank were visiting, the Lovebunnies had built up a very large brush pile of ripped out invasive exotic plants. Bucky was proud of what they had done so far, and wanted to show the pile to their guests.
"Come on, Siggy," said Bucky, "I want to show you something." Everyone trooped down to the brush pile. Bucky and Loie were explaining how their Cleaning work was done with a tow chain on the truck to pull out the huge weedy plants, and the pulling they did by hand, and what hard work it all was.
"What did you want to show me?" asked Siggy.
"This huge pile of stuff we made," said Bucky.
"That's nothing," said Siggy as he turned to go back to the house.
"Well, I guess it doesn't seem such much if you didn't do it yourself," laughed Bucky.
"No, no," said Frank, "We're impressed. Really."
The next day Loie and Bucky went to Johannsons in Westminster to attend Coletta Nofsinger's retirement party. Coletta, a famous gardener, had made flower arrangements for the Lovebunnies' wedding. Loie told the crowd about what lovely flowers Coletta had given them, and about how Colette had mistakenly made the arrangements a week early!
The very next day, Saturday the sixth of October, Loie was up and out early to help with her library's Dewey Decimal Dancers, who were performing in a local Frederick parade. The Dancers are a Precision Bookcart Drill Team, who perform elaborate parade drills while pushing decorated book shelving carts. Music for their performance was provided by a loudspeaker on the bookmobile, playing a specially dubbed recording of "FCPL," with new words sung to the tune of the old disco hit "YMCA." Loie was in the parade too, pulling a wagon on which rode the library's cherished Flat Darrell.
Bucky had been working hard that week with Mark Peeling helping prepare a big event for the Peeling's Annual Oktoberfest Party. While Loie was at the parade, Bucky was at the Peeling's with Paul and Mark, finishing the project. He was back home just about the time Loie was, and anticipation was running high as they went to the Oktoberfest. The weather was good that day, breezy and cool and just right for sitting around the cooking fire in the Piney Glade.
As the sun set, Mark and Bucky and Paul began gathering the final bits for the big event. Laura and Loie rounded up the guests as kids threw glowsticks about in the gathering dark. Paul blew a huge brass hunting horn, Laura shook a tambourine. Paul announced the Burning of Old Man Gloom in his best stentorian voice. Mark and Jay grabbed the handles of the boom, Bill Cunningham and others helped raise the man, and the first mobile dancing Burning Man was aloft! Bucky ran in to light the ends of its legs, and soon Mark and Jay were waving the boom back and forth as the Old Man Gloom Burning Man blazed in the night.
"I never thought that thing would stay up," said Bucky after Old Man Gloom had been lowered and the bonfire built atop his remains. "That was terrific!"
"Oh, come on," said Mark. "I had faith."
Paul just smiled. He knew it was a minor miracle that their rig had held up so well, and was already thinking of ways to make next year's event even more spectacular. The LBs didn't stay very late that year, because the next day they were due to go to Yo's house for family dinner. Amy and Frank fixed a delicious dinner. Pete and Terrie and Alyssa were there, too.
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