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Wednesday, June 8, 2011

The Skidmore Story: School's Out and Summer's Here!

Hello readers, it is I, Taylor Skidmore, blogging after only 4 months of absenteeism. But I'm here to say though, that now that school is over, hopefully I will have more time to keep the TABlog updated with fun things all summer!

With that being said, I thought it might be a good idea to share some of my favorite summer-time activities with you, as summer is the best time to be outside! Over the course of the summer, I make sure to find time to get outside and enjoy some of my favorite activities, which I'll do my best to sum up in a short blog post!

#5: Reading! While reading is definitely not a strict summer-time activity, sitting in the sun and reading a good book is one of the most relaxing things to do on a warm summer day. When my family visits the lake, I often take several books to read a little bit each day, or multiple times a day, depending on the weather.

#4: Chillin'/Grillin': While I know these are two totally different activities, they sort of coincide with each other. Summer foods are all great, especially when cooked over an open fire or charcoal grill. Hamburgers, steaks, kabobs, ham and everything else that is awesome is cooked on the grill, almost exclusively in the summer. If you like burgers as much as I do, you've probably seen this site, or probably not: http://aht.seriouseats.com/ It's called the Burger Lab, and they have all sorts of neat ideas and things for every other burger-lover out there. Last week (maybe two, I don't remember), they even featured an article about how to make a better, healthier, Big Mac.

#3: Fishing!: A lot of people view fishing as a boring, dirty, hobby where they have to touch slimy fish. And it is one of those things: you have to touch the fish, but it is well worth that part. I clean all of my own fish that I catch, which means I cut them into fillets and the likes, but I would say that most people don't even do that much. It's a great exercise in both patience and precision, and can be done on most days of the summer.

#2: Bowfishing!:

All right, it's kind of like the last one, but at the same time it's a whole new game. You can only shoot certain types of fish, such as carp, gar, and the likes of similar "trash fish." While most of the time, these fish are not very good to eat, you help out the pond because these "trash fish" can have some unpleasant effects on a pond/lake. It may seem like a huge "redneck" activity, and maybe it is, but it adds a fun and challenging twist to just normal fishing.

#1: Sailing!:

A lot of people don't think about sailing for one of two reasons: they either think it's too expensive of a hobby, or that it's too hard to learn. Well, the boat in the picture above is a small sailboat called a "Viking," which is meant to be sailed by one person. It's ugly, and needs a little bit of work, but I got it for $100. Yes, $100. Craiglist often has great deals on small sailboats, so that's a good place to start looking. As for the difficulty of sailing, it's actually quite easy, and my 9 year old brother could probably take the boat out himself. On boats like the Sunfish and the Viking, there are only two lines (ropes). The halyard, which is connected to the mast holds the sail up, and the line in my hand, the mainsheet, holds the sail against the wind, generating the power to move forward. The tighter you hold the mainsheet, the faster you sail. It's all a lot of fun, and not as hard as one might expect.

Honorable Mention: Quidditch!:

As many of you may or may not know, the Third Place will be hosting a Quidditch tournament on July 22nd. I will be playing as the captain of the Hufflepuff team, and we're playing to win. So if you're interested, get to the Third Place and sign up! It's going to be awesome, no doubt!

I hope you enjoyed my breakdown of my summertime hobbies, and maybe it'll convince you to pick up a bow, line, pole, book, spatula, or broom this summer! This is Taylor Skidmore, signing off.

P.S.
There's some talking in the beginning, but this song easily ranks in my top 10 favorites of all time!

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