Come on chaps let's chip

Annie darling takes great delight in saying that. "Come on chaps let's chip", meaning let's rock 'n roll, let's move it, let's get the show on the road, let's get our skates on, let's hustle. Speaking of funny things people say, on 93.2 Moose FM I've witnessed how the Americans love to double up on adjectives when describing something. If you imagine a really corny American accent and then think of that voice saying that the party was "crazy mad" or "totally whack".  It's rather amusing.
Leaving Franconia was sad. Jim and Jan cooked us a lovely last breakfast, and we had a swim before packing up our backpacks, stowing all the wine bottles under the bed and looking miserably around the little English cottage that had become our sanctuary. Back to college dorms. Ulgh.

Surrogate parents Jim and Jan

There's not really a lot to say, except that we didn't want to leave and go back to school, nor did we want to say goodbye to our car Toby, nor did we particular fancy heading back to the big city, after being in the country. I'm so glad we made it up to NH. I have always said that I am happiest when travelling, I think it's the sense of freedom and adventure that has always done it for me.  Just like when I left California...if I was more badass I'd go rouge; take my scholarship money and transfer it onto an untraceable credit card, buy black cargo pants and other fitting black-badass gear, stock up on Twinkies and hit the road, destined for a nomadic life under a fake name. But alas, someone who I admire a lot (and who has much more sense than me) did once inform me that a nomadic traveller was pretty much just a glorified bum. When I thought of that, it didn't sound so exotic. In the meantime, we do what we can;

We basically boarded the bus at 1pm and had our 3.5 hour journey back to Massachusetts ***side note: it's become my personal goal to learn how to spell Massachusetts properly without punching out some random keys on the keyboard, focussing primarily on the 'a' and 's' keys, until spell-check corrects it***. But anywho, to make you (well, honestly I don't really care about you, so) to make myself feel better about leaving NH, I'd like to talk about moose for a bit. Which is kind of ironic because;
a) we never saw one and
b) I don't really need cheering up, I'm in America! And you sad sods at home are probably the ones that need cheering up, but I've already stated that this next bit is for my pleasure and entertainment only.  It's all a bit pointless really, but do read on. I think you'll find it interesting and if not, resort to the instructions about how to achieve happiness above ^^

W.H.Y    I    L.I.K.E    M.O.O.S.E

1. They are called the same when singular or plural
2. They can be up to 7 feet high (like me) AND 8.5 feet long (like me after 5 months in 'Merica)
3. They're cute

4. They run fast
5. They are undeniably bad-ass (like me)

6. They are clumsy, apparently they run like their legs have never been introduced to each other (like me)
7. They try to appear to be menacing, and God love 'em for trying...other animals grow antlers with sharp points, but the moose has antlers that look like oven mits.

 

8. They are terribly daft. If they bolt out onto the highway, I'm told they'll sort of stop and stare at you, before bolting off along the road, legs flailing in 8 different directions at once.
9. The 4 legs belonging to a moose are all the same height; which allows them to, quote; "jump over fallen trees". The prospect of a large, heavy, clumsy creature jumping over anything sounds hilarious to me.

10. There are an estimated 5,000 moose in New Hamphire, Vermont 1,000 more and in Maine - anything up to 30,000. And we didn't see one. Over 1,000 moose are killed on the road in New England each year. When you consider that the majority of the territory is forest, you will appreciate just how amazing those numbers are.

 

11. Moose are photogenic

 

12. Amazingly, given its lack of survival  instincts and common sense, the moose is one of the longest-surviving creatures in North America. It has plodded on untroubled by ice ages, volcanic eruptions and shifting continents.

13. Couldn't think of one, let's just go with - moose rule. And they should be taken better care of.

Now this is what saddens me. Every year, in moose hunting season, the state issues around 1,500 permits for around  84,000 applications. That's right, around 84,000 Americans are willing to part with the non-refundable $20 deposit to have a shot at going into the lottery for a moose hunting permit. Have a look below if you dare. *Sadface*

Moose Hunting

Bill Bryson describes it well when he says that;

"Hunters will tell you that a moose is a wily and ferocious forest creature. In fact, a moose is a cow drawn by a three-year-old"

I understand it's to keep the moose population down before they take over New England, but from what I can gather it doesn't sound very hard to kill a moose. And what's more, it doesn't seem right to kill something so dopey and clueless. In fact,  given their lack of common sense, I think you could very well walk over and kill a moose with a rolled up newspaper.