Chair Soccer

It started with Jason sitting on the trestle rolling a soccer ball around between his feet. Then someone called him to pass the ball and others joined in, and more and more and Chair Soccer was born. As a game, it's pretty simple: everyone sits in a circle (that's a rule, you have to be sitting) mostly on chairs and benches, and you kick a ball around. You try not to use your hands unless there's an immediate danger to your face or your beer, or unless the ball might fall off the deck, onto the rocks, or into the ocean. There are no points, no teams, and it seems to be a rule that you have to all yell "Ohhhhhh" when the ball DOES go off the trestle and into the ocean. Though to be fair, it only ended up in the ocean once, the other 15 or so times it just fell on the rocks.

We played chair soccer for probably about an hour and a half. When it started there were about eight people involved; at its height, there were about 30. That's more than a quarter of the staff here. People took bets about how it was going to end - most guesses were either losing the ball in the ocean, or someone falling and breaking themselves - but it actually ended naturally just because it was getting dark and the mosquitoes were coming out.

This could be one of those things where it's, jeez, you know you're trapped on an island when the most fun thing you can think of to do is to sit in a circle kicking a soccer ball around, but honestly, it was awesome. It's such a perfect island moment, making your own fun out of thin air. That's why we come back.

Join the Cult

If you're reading this, you should come visit me! The best way to do this is to volunteer. Most of the people our age out here are working and it gives you a chance to get the real experience and to hang out with people other than just me. The community is really happy to adopt volunteers for as long as they're out here. Plus, if you volunteer, we cover your boat trip, room and board, basically everything except getting you to Portsmouth. It's a great deal.

So. If you want to come see me/hang out by the ocean/take an awesome and cheap vacation, here's what you need to do. Get in touch with me, probably through email, to figure out dates and boat schedules, and let me know if you have any useful skills, like carpentry, the ability to magically fix washing machines, A/V wizardry, cooking, or groundskeeping (you don't have to have these skills, lord knows I don't, I'd just like to know if you do). Then I'll shout out to our Volunteer Coordinator (our desks are back to back) and we'll get you set up.

I would love to share this experience with you guys. It's a real special place out here. :)

Living Vertically

Yup, I know it's been a while. So here I am back again, and hopefully we can keep things more regular from now on.

I've been working crazy hours for the past week and a half, hence the limited time to write in this blog and answer email, but the further we get into the conference season, the better my hours should get.

I live in an area known as Ghost Alley, on the 4th floor of the hotel. I haven't seen any ghosts yet, but the summer is still long. Since I work at the front desk, this means that I never have to go outside if I don't want to. Nice in bad weather, but it also makes it harder to enjoy the sunshine. Most staff lives on the 4th floor but our communal areas are in the basement, so we get used to climbing an awful lot of stairs. It can feel eerily like a freshman dorm.

Last night I went with some of my hallmates out to one of the graveyards after dark. We brought guitars and beer and lounged against the headstones singing and telling stories under a bright moon. The graveyard is sunken into the ground with a stone wall and a lot of brush around it, like sitting in a grassy bowl. The graves are a number of children (5 of them, I think?) who all died young of some terrible disease that people get when it's the 1800s or you're playing Oregon Trail. I tried to imagine what they might think of us using their resting place as a social spot. We do keep the grass trimmed and the stones maintained, carved out of the brush out by the ocean. I don't know how small children from long ago feel about guitar music, but I'd like to think that they appreciate that we're celebrating life there, 15 or so of us, with our music and stories, under the stars with the ghosts.

Brigadoon, New Hampshire

Today we had our first rain that I've been here for. It's been remarkably clear for the past few days, with a view all the way down to Cape Ann. But the rain rolled in mist that hid the entire mainland from view, giving the impression that we're floating alone out here. Our own little flotilla of islands.

It's Tuesday, so I've been on island for 5 days now. The trip up was fun and far easier than I expected, the boat ride out was smooth, and in those five days I already feel like I've been here a month.

The adjustment back to island life has been pretty easy. We've had running water for a few weeks now, so that hasn't been such a problem, though some of the bathrooms aren't totally functional yet. And the little lifestyle changes - going to bed at 11, always wearing shoes, not carrying a phone - those I've slipped right back into. We even had my first fire alarm last night (the second one of the season).

For the past several weeks the Open-Up crew has been working on un-winterizing the island, taking the shutters off the windows, fixing everything damaged in winter storms, cleaning, and generally preparing for the arrival of the conferees. The first conferences start on June 12, so we've got about a week and a half. I spent the weekend digging the desk (really it's a big, old-fashioned, wooden bar) out from under all the sheetrock dust from recent construction, dusting and polishing the wood, and taking stock of the supplies we have left over from last year. Julie, last year's supervisor came out to teach me the ropes of running the desk on Monday.

Volunteers came out over the weekend to help us clean and fix the rooms, but now the thirty or so of us living here have the entire 46 acre island to ourselves. It's a low key night, we'll probably watch a movie or play some cards. Watch the sunset, and have an early night to prepare for the big inspection tomorrow.

Edited: 6/3/10

Let's keep in touch this summer

Hi friends,

I'm keeping a blog this summer to let you all know what I'm up to while I'm away. Check it out, add it to your Google Reader, it'll be awesome.

If you want to get in touch with me, email is best. If you really want to leave me a voicemail I'll probably turn on my phone about once a week or so. If you would like to send me a letter (which would be really awesome!) my mailing address is:

Shawn Roggenkamp
c/o Star Island Corporation
Morton-Benedict House
30 Middle Street
Portsmouth, NH 03801

Have lovely summers, everyone!

and the cowboy who loved you so true

Before I head to my little island in the northeast, I’m spending some time with my family in the American southwest. We rented a little house just outside of Taos, NM and we’re here for about a week. It’s a beautiful place, I’ve spent the whole time feeling like I was watching a movie, which I guess is fitting since so many movies have been filmed here.

Our driving around has taken us along the banks of the Rio Grande and into a couple different mountain ranges on the south of the Rockies. We walked across the highest bridge in the US and drive through the Red River Valley. We visited Taos Pueblo, where people still live in adobe buildings that are hundreds of years old. It was actually a little uncomfortable to be there at first. I felt like I was intruding. They have this beautiful piece of land with a river running through the middle of it and mountains all around. They talked a lot about living in communion with the land and the importance of respecting our environment. A good lesson for us I think.

Another highlight was yesterday’s visit to Bandelier National Monument to see the cliff dwellings. The land changes so much, even in an hour drive we went from mountains to mesas and the rock was totally different. We did the trail through the remains of the homes carved into the sides of the cliff in Frijoles Canyon and climbed a bunch of wooden ladders to go into a couple of the rooms. We also saw snakes, lizards, and these weird squirrels with tufts of fur over their ears, which sort of make them look like rabbits with long tails. Bandelier is not too far from Los Alamos, so I’m pretty sure they’re mutant squirrels from all the radiation. :)


Family climbing around in the cliff dwellings.


Going down into a "kiva" or Pueblo religious space. What you can't tell from this photograph is that you have to climb 4 very tall ladders to get up to the alcove in the rocks where this kiva is.



We’re going back to Santa Fe tomorrow. When we went a few days ago and I bought a pair of earrings made by local Native American artisans. They are in the shape of a spiraled triangle. The artist told me that the spiral stands for the journey of life and the triangle is for stability. They have good mojo, I can tell.



I also officially have plans for getting myself up to Star. I’m taking a bus on Wednesday and staying with Shannon that night so we can both catch the 7am boat on Thursday. I can’t wait to get the summer started! Now I just need to re-pack all my stuff and figure out if I need to ship it or if I can get Natael to take some of it for me.

I miss everybody back home. It’s going to be hard to be away from 211A for the entire summer.

Hello there

Welcome.

This summer I'm going on self-enforced exile from the house I love in Brooklyn and spending about 4 months working on a crazy island and trying to get my grad school stuff together. I'm studying Art History, so to try to tie work and grad school together, observe the picture to your right (or not, if you're reading this on google reader) which is by American Impressionist, Childe Hassam, who used to paint on my island and the others nearby.

I'll be out there in a few weeks. Until then I'm home in Ohio and leaving for a family trip to New Mexico tomorrow morning. Hopefully this blog will be full of pictures and internet-appropriate musings about working and applying for school. I'm already convinced it's going to be an awesome summer and I want to share it with all of you!

So welcome to my blog. Nice to have you here.

Sea Fever

I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,
And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking,
And a grey mist on the sea's face, and a grey dawn breaking.

I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide
Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;
And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,
And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.

I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,
To the gull's way and the whale's way, where the wind's like a whetted knife;
And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover,
And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick's over.

- John Masefield