Delmarva, Part 1

A couple weeks ago, Charlotte and I took a few days to "vacation," though spending the summer in New Hampshire's Seacoast has certainly been no hardship. Since last summer's quota of vacation time was spent in Denmark visiting Charlotte's Mormor and Morfar, we chose to head south this summer to visit my (Mike's) Mom Mom and Pop Pop. After a bit of a trek from Dover, NH, we arrived in Ocean Pines, MD, on the Delmarva (aka "DELaware/MARyland/VA") Peninsula. While we were quite happy just to have arrived (see our smiles above), we were soon whisked away to a wonderful dinner with a goodly chunk of the Angstadt clan. We headed to the Sunset Grille in Ocean City, where we got a big table, a great view, and, best of all, the Early Bird Special! Seated at the table were (L to R) Pop Pop, Mom Mom (to make her blogosphere debut in subsequent photos) Mike's Aunt Diane, Charlotte, Mike, and Linda (a truly wonderful person who Mike likes to consider his aunt because it makes him feel very lucky).

We ate a good deal of food, including several soft-shelled crabs (mmm!), and everyone was in good spirits.

Following dinner, most of us headed to the nearby Assateague National Seashore for a quick evening sightseeing visit. While you, as a blog reader, can catch a glimpse of the ever-energetic Mom Mom (on the right of the photo below), we as tourists came to Assateague to search for one of its majestic oddities-wild ponies! There is a sizeable herd on the island, and in addition to the beautiful dunes and beaches (and flies/mosquitoes, if the wind blows the wrong direction), it is often possible to catch a glimpse of the horses doing what wild horses do!

Even on our first visit, we weren't disappointed.

However, once the sun went down, we left the horses behind and headed back to Ocean Pines for another project. Ricki's cheesemaking kit had made the journey south with us, so, as you might guess, fresh mozzarella was on its way!

As before, we measured out the necessary quantities of raw milk, citric acid, rennet, and salt, and heated the mixture as directed.

We next cut the curds with a spatula (which was just as fascinating as the first time), and then it was time to pulllllllllll-and streettchhhh-the curds out. Pop Pop handled this task this time, and we discovered that PA cows make some great cheese!

We were soon enjoying delicious, homemade mozzarella! Mmm!

And, as before, you will soon have yet another blog update to read, since we spent several more wonderful days in MD. However, this blogger needs a break, so stay tuned!

Mike's Summer Job!

Well, as the summer draws to a close, I wanted to take a minute to share the place I was lucky enough to call my summer job here in New Hampshire. I had no idea how my summer at the City of Portsmouth, NH's Legal Department would turn out (since I am not a native New Englander, and since I had no prior experience in municipal law). However, the experience was undoubtedly the best I have had since entering law school. This first picture shows my home base, Portsmouth's City Hall, though the many tasks I was assigned kept me on my toes and moving all throughout Portsmouth.

As you can see, I also was very lucky in terms of my office; I did not exactly receive a cubicle to work in! My wonderful bosses made the Law Library my personal office, where I had plenty of room to spread out. All this space proved to be a wonderful asset, because although I entered the internship knowing nothing about the workings of Portsmouth, NH, I was soon put to work dissecting zoning maps, analyzing sewer plans from the 1800s, and examining countless other documents that taught me much about a city I have truly come to love.

As you may have noticed, my desk was flanked by two very large windows. And, as you can see in these photos, the top floor office really treated me to some fantastic vistas of the City. This photo gives a glimpse of the "South Mill Pond" in the foreground (a tidal water body that drains completely at low tide), as well as some hints of the turbulent Piscataqua River beyond. The structure visible at the far left of the photo above is one of the two bridges that connects Portsmouth, NH to Kittery, ME. The blue building peeking out from behind the tree on the far right is the sprawling Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, which currently services nuclear submarines!

Scrolling down, you can see a bit more of the panorama I was treated to on a daily basis. As you can surely tell, even the Mill Pond itself is a gorgeous water body. It was a very calming and soothing place to work, and I felt very fortunate (and often unusually productive) on a daily basis.

This photo shows the rest of the view from my window. Here, you can see the other portion of the Mill Pond (where, as you can see, the tide is beginning to go out in the distance). In the background, you can also see some of the buildings which comprise the Portsmouth "skyline." City Hall is set atop a hill that overlooks the downtown from across the pond, so I had a great view of many of the businesses, streets, and homes that we were addressing in our daily work. While working on large, national-scale legal issues certainly has an appeal, I also discovered a real attraction to contributing in matters where the effects are local and immediately tangible.

And, finally, I should point out this gorgeous building, which is the Portmsouth Middle School. In addition to the countless other kind and welcoming gestures my bosses made throughout the summer, they secured me a key to this school's band room so that I could walk (or drive) across the pond at lunch to practice trombone whenever I wanted. In all, I am extremely sad to say goodbye for the school year, but I certainly feel special to have spent this summer in Portsmouth, NH!

Now, the summer might be drawing to a close, but there are plenty of photos from earlier (and more recent) adventures that we are just getting around to posting. Stay tuned for more updates in the near future!

At long last!

Well, it took a while, but it was worth the wait! My band, the Dave Strumfeld Group (some of us are shown above performing in Brooklyn), has been recording a new album since my junior year of college. Now, as I prepare to enter my third year of law school, it's actually ready to go! All in all, the album turned into quite a production, and we're not quite certain what genre it falls into. Regardless, today is a special day, because it is now available for the world to hear...and purchase!

If you want to hear some samples (or claim your own copy), search "Dave Strumfeld Group" on iTunes! Hint: if you want a particularly tantalizing 30-second snippet, check out our sample for "Telescope"-whoa!

Weekend update, part deux

As the earlier post may have suggested, the weather this past Saturday was absolutely exceptional (low humidity, a high around 80 degrees with a nice sea breeze). As a result, Charlotte and I couldn't bring ourselves to head inside, so we headed off for a bit more exploring. From Portsmouth, we followed the coastal road south along the New Hampshire coast. We passed the historic Wentworth Hotel, located not too far from where we took sailing lessons earlier this summer, and passed several miles of gorgeous ocean vistas. Ultimately, we discovered a new fun place: Rye Harbor, NH.

Despite the fact that the harbor appears to attract many recreational boaters and tourists (there is a whale watching boat that departs from Rye Harbor nearly daily), it has definitely retained its working waterfront character, with many fishing and lobster boats still claiming Rye as their port of call. In all, it was a wonderful discovery on a beautiful day!

Sunday proved to be an equally beautiful day, and we were lucky enough to stumble upon a similarly gorgeous location. Not far at all from Dover (and very close to the ponds Charlotte has been collecting samples from over the course of this year) is Mendums Pond, which serves in part as a recreation area operated by the University of New Hampshire. This meant that the admission was very reasonable (and free if you're Charlotte) and the facilities were very well-maintained. Before taking the warmest, most wonderfully divine swim of the summer thus far, we rented a canoe and took to the water for some exploring!

On our way around the lake, we spotted a very comely loon. It was drifting around the lake gracefully, until we began to stalk it! We actually ended up getting very close, and Charlotte managed to snap some great photographs.

After a quick dinner back in Dover, we headed back towards the ocean, this time to the Casino Ballroom in Hampton Beach, NH for an Umphrey's McGee (a very precise and talented jam/rock band) show. Charlotte and I were lucky enough to get spots very close to the stage and have a great time.

As our ears return to normal after the concert and we trudge through more mundane work-week escapades, we're already planning for this weekend's explorations, so stay tuned!

Fahmah's Mahket

Greetings once more from New Hampshire, as you may be able to tell from the title of this post. One week after I took a quick trip home to play a couple gigs with my old jazz combo, including at my hometown (Colonie, NY) farmer's market, Charlotte and I were back in Portsmouth to take in their incredible fahmah's mahket. While there were too many vendors to fit into one photograph, we hope these pictures will give you some idea of the spectacle that assembles in the City Hall parking lot every Saturday morning.

As you can see, even up here in New Hampshire the harvests are bountiful at the moment; it really looks and feels like the height of the season. The rain and recent heat are paying big dividends in the "tastes of summer" department. This weekend, the highlights were corn and tomatoes (though plenty of squash varieties were still up for the taking)!