vakkotaur

This might get a bit long, so this is behind a cut.

Friday

Friday I drove by the hardware store parking lot and saw that Gerry had left his trolley there again. As I recalled from the last couple years, he was supposed to be set up and going at 8:00 P.M. so after supper and a change into more suitable clothes (heavier socks, boots, longsleeved shirt) I went back around 7:15 or so and Gerry (and Adam, the kid from last year) had the trolley pretty much set up though the horses were not yet harnessed.

The harnessing for the team is a complex looking rigging of things and I've seen Gerry remove it a few times and still would not be able to do it right myself. Chances are that if I was guided and actually did it a couple times it'd be easy enough. As it was, I didn't do much of anything of rigging up, though what I did was appreciated. I held the bits, which had been in the cold storage area of the trailer, in my hands and warmed them up. Gerry had the team and trolley set up by about 7:30 and we waited a few minutes as he kept having to stop the eager team and make them wait before starting. "No, when I say." was repeated several times. While setting up, Gerry pondered why it was that one never saw tall people driving a team of large horses as he reached up to deal with the harnessing.

We all started off a bit early, Gerry looking to finish a bit early so he could leave just after midnight rather than any later. In past years it has gotten close to 1 A.M. before he was all packed up again. There weren't any riders for the first circuit or so, but a few showed up soon after. Gerry had only a dual cassette boombox for music, augmented with his own quite good singing. Adam left the trolley for a bit to see if the stores had anything of interest, such as free cider and cookies. He found some, and brought a couple cookies back for me and Gerry.

And as usual for Midnight Madness, Santa was out walking about from store to store, passing out small peppermint candy canes. He also rode the trolley a couple times and gave out more of the candy canes.

Overall the conditions weren't too bad. The temperature was in the mid-20s F and there wasn't much wind, if only due to being in a built up area. Sometime I pulled out a packet of Halls cough drops (I had a bit of a sore throat, and expected the cold dry air not to help). Gerry saw that and his eyes nearly lit up, "Is that a Halls?" I gave him the rest of the roll, as I had two rolls. After a couple hours even I started to feel a bit of chill and stopped off for some cider. When they said hot cider, they meant hot. Anything more than sipping would nearly burn the throat, as I found out the hard way.

A little after I got back to the trolley I asked Gerry if he wanted some cider and he replied he was about due for some. He slowed by the store I had been at and I stepped off and got a cup of cider, crossed the block, and waited for Gerry to pick me up on the way back. I did the thumb-out hitchhiking bit and he stopped the team. I handed him the cider and he pondered how to deal with it and driving the team after a couple sips. The trolley does have indentations that serve as cup or can holders, but the one by the driver isn't very deep and the lurching of starts and stops could easily cause a spill. I took the reins and he held on to the cup. I did fairly well after Gerry made a couple corrections to my technique. Gerry and Adam both remarked on how I was dressed (woolen cloak, hat, black leather gauntlet gloves) and that it seemed to look right. Gerry's outfit was a bit more practical, as it covered his ears.

What happened next was a surprise. Gerry finished his cider and decided he wanted to go and get warmed up, which was reasonable. The surprise was that he asked me & Adam to keep things going. We made two or three circuits, with me driving the team, all without incident, before Gerry returned. By then he was warm and I was ready to step inside someplace again. I did notice that the team would pull to the right when they passed a drive that looked at all like it might have their trailer. The horses also wanted to turn a block or two early (and Gerry did turn a block early once, which didn't help).

I popped into a drugstore and looked around, mainly warming up. Earlier, Adam had been jokingly asking if I (or Gerry) would by him a pizza as we went by Jake's on each circuit. I saw a gummi pizza candy for fifty cents and bought it. Adam did get his pizza, but not quite what he expected, which amused all of us.

Around 11:30 or so there were no more riders and so Gerry decided it was time to tear down. Back to the parking lot we went and Gerry unhitched the team and dealt with them and their harnesses while Adam and I took care of the trolley. We had the trolley decorations down and the horses loaded fairly quickly. Then we made our way to the drawing to see if any of us won $500 worth of shopping in the area. While waiting, we met a fellow with a very friendly and excitable dog. I don't recall the exact breed, but it was a Japanese breed that was meant to pull sleds and had a somewhat wolfish look. None of us won the drawing. Gerry and Adam started off back to St. James with the team, planning on coming back for the trolley in the morning.

Saturday

Saturday afternoon I drove up to the small, small (it's a wide spot on the side of the road) town of Ormsby where Gerry said he and Adam would have the team from 11 A.M. to 3 or 4 P.M. I took it easy Saturday and didn't try to meet them for setup. It was very windy when not between buildings and I think more time was spent stopped than moving as there weren't all that many riders. I did show up a bit late, though, so it might have been different earlier.

That was as well, with the wind on one side street. Gerry had me drive for part of a circuit and I nearly lost my hat on that bit with all the wind. As it was daylight, jmaynard and I both took a few pictures of the trolley and team. Gerry said he'd gotten started a bit late and figured he'd stay for and be in the parade this year. (It runs all of four or five blocks.) The parade is optional and he usually skips it, but with the last start he felt obligated. He had planned to trailer the team at 3 P.M., the official time he had to stay until, and let them rest and warm himself up before the parade at 5 P.M. But, as usual, just as the time crept past 3:00 someone showed up asking about having a group ride around and singing carols. I left about then, as I'd told Jay I'd be home around 4 - we took separate vehicles so that we could leave at different times.