So we continue on my short little adventures, slowly making our way to 40. These started in August and I was staying right on course. About a quarter of the year down at the point I wrote this and, including big adventures, about a quarter the way through the goal. I started having concerns about keeping this up though. Adventures during the summer months are easy, what happens when it gets cold?

Small adventure #6

8/3/19 – 8/4/19 – Ice Cream Trail

Throughout this blog, it has been repeatedly mentioned that Dr. Jen is to ice cream what the Cookie Monster is to cookies…what Dracula is to blood…what Alf was to cats…what I am to silly, roadside attractions. That is to say these things nourish our minds, bodies and souls. I was able to tag along with Jen on this year’s ice cream trail to make it a quick and delicious adventure. We got our cards all stamped up so we could send them away for our free t-shirts and bowls. One was crossed out for a health code violation.

I mostly stayed with traditional flavors but did try rice pudding. I love rice pudding and this ice cream tasted dead on like it but without the rice. They use rice flour to replicate the taste and still top it with cinnamon. Awesome. So how does it rate on the adventure scale?

A solid score for the amount of calories I consumed. Maybe danger should have been higher since we certainly risked diabetes.

Small adventure #7

8/31/19 – American Treasure Museum

My plans for Labor Day weekend went all wonky. Friends Christine and Sean were suppose to be visiting for the weekend and we had a few adventures planned. Their Saturday mid-day arrival turned into Sunday/Monday at midnight because of a family emergency. These things happen and an adventure was still had. More importantly I got rest from two tough weeks at work and still managed to see the pair for a short period.

The American Treasure Museum has been on my to-do list for some time now. It’s close enough to my house to make an easy day trip but just far enough that I kept putting it off because it seemed inconvenient. Being as I wanted an adventure but had nothing planned, this worked out perfectly and the place was by far, no disappointment! 

The place is part of a private collection belonging to a mysterious man. He won’t say his name and sometimes sneaks in at night without telling the staff to leave some new exhibit. As they take the tram around (that’s right, the tour is done on a small tram!) they’ll notice something new that the Phantom of the Odd (my name for him) dropped off. The collection is a menagerie of scary and funny.

And our score is:

Small adventure #8

9/7/19 – Pow Wow

My boss is 100% Nanticoke Native American. Each year at the beginning of September his tribe has its Pow Wow in southern Delaware. This was the first year weather and a free weekend lined up and I could go! The traditional clothing and dancing was amazing. The food was delicious. Seeing my boss and his husband on my days off is always a fun treat (I actually love my boss!). And to top it all off I got my new favorite blanket that Jen steals whenever she’s over. Sorry I didn’t get any good pictures of the Pow Wow. With the crowds and taking care of my mom, it just wasn’t possible.

Small adventure #9

9/14/19 and beyond – Stoic Work Group

Not all adventures lead to broken bones. I argue that learning and educating yourself can be an adventure. I had gathered an interest in Stoic philosophy through some reading and looked online for a local Stoa (Stoic discussion group) but there were none within an hour’s drive. Fortunately a website I was looking at linked me up with two like-minded individuals trying to start one. Since its inception, the group has grown to 7 regulars getting together the first Saturday of each month to discuss a book we’re reading and how we can apply that information to our lives. It’s definitely more interesting and exciting than it sounds. These individuals are very worldly and knowledgeable. They’re also very inviting and friendly so no one feels uncomfortable bouncing ideas of each other. I also believe I’m gaining some life skills from my studying of Stoicism. It’s definitely worth looking into, especially in these crazy times.

Lately we’ve been doing our group by Zoom to social distance but it’s still been interesting and thought provoking.

Small adventure #10

9/21/19 – Murder Mystery at the Library

Jen had learned about a mystery night at a local library and she picked us up tickets. It was her present for my mom’s birthday! They had half a dozen actors stationed around that we got to question in large groups. The actors were all semi-professionals that work out of Baltimore doing similar shows.

At the end of the night everyone had to write down their findings. Three people figured out the murder and motive! Of course Dr. Jen and I were two of those three (my mom deviated from our theory). They randomly chose Jen for the grand prize of the basket below which included tickets to another performance. The other gentleman and I walked away with bottles of wine from a local vineyard. Score!

And the score is a solid 13. Why is there a fear score? Social anxiety will factor into a lot of my adventures.