Let's Go Out Tonight

by Liz Forman

Happy New Year to everyone, or happy first semester, or maybe just a simple "welcome back, and welcome to Gambier" is appropriate here. I suspect that some of you, like me, are longing for the summer that has just passed. We have shifted senses of time in the past few weeks, from a very busy summer sense of time, to the fall season now under way. And we bring this state of mind upon ourselves with all the calendar planning we do at the start of the first semester.

Faculty have spent the past two weeks (or longer) creating syllabi, moving methodically through September, zipping past October Break, and finally settling on first-semester exams, while also taking note of when grades are due in December. In similar fashion, campus departments have spent time coordinating calendars, listing important dates, and scheduling events and tasks that are months away. Most of us have equally busy home calendars, with evening ball practices, music lessons, and teacher-parent conferences penned in red ink-a whole other year's worth of dates.

I want to shout, "Stop this madness!" But actually, such planning is both necessary and helpful. And, it's fun to have choices. Still, it's good to have some unscheduled, unspecified days where you can just take your time at things. In an effort to help you slow down the pace, I offer a few suggestions for non-work activities.

Spend a morning or afternoon venturing up to Kidron to browse through Lehman's Hardware and Appliance store, where non-electric appliances are the specialty. Though Lehman's does a sizable business from tourists and neighbors, the store also is the major outfitter for set designers and film producers making movies set before the 1890s. Most of the furnishings for the sets for Cold Mountain were bought through Lehman's catalog, or from the store directly. You also can stop for lunch in Charm or anywhere nearby. The drive is a pretty one, and you can feel as if you have gotten away and slowed down a bit, without having to give up a full day, and certainly not your weekend.

If you need to stay closer to home but still want to try something different, the new park and trails off Yauger Road would make a fun afternoon hike. The park backs into the old Knox Woods trails that wander up, down, and alongside a small creek. You can do several miles of an easy hike and see the last of the flowering perennials before the first frost catches them.

On a culinary note, maybe the way to slow down time is to have an easy dinner with friends-a dinner with paper napkins that requires very little cooking. It may be just the time to send out for barbeque ribs and all the fixins'. Two of our colleagues at Kenyon, who originally hailed from the Carolinas, recommend the barbeque ribs at Willie-Bobs. The large cooker/trailer can be found on Fridays in the parking lot behind the National City branch at the light on Coshocton Avenue. The style here is more like Carolina barbeque, so the ribs don't come heavily sauced but rather with a tasty rub and lots of smoke flavor. You might also try the pulled pork, and they may have smoked brisket on occasions.

You also can get great barbeque at Bill's Bar-B-Que in Zanesville. Bill's used to be in Mt. Vernon years ago, and reopened in its new location this summer. Besides good ribs and pulled chicken and pork, they make their own potato salad and baked beans. Finally, a group of friends and I this summer ordered several versions of the barbeque ribs from Ruby Tuesday, brought our own slaw and corn-on-the-cob, and had a fine dinner without lots of work. The event was not unlike a BYOL (bring your own lobster) party, another dinner party idea to think about when the lobsters go on sale at Kroger.

I hope you have some time to yourself in these next few weeks, time to take a drive, take a walk, read for leisure, and talk with friends. And there always is Middle Ground and Hunan Garden for the best meals around, with good company, and lots to talk about. Since I won't have a column before the election, I urge you to take the time to register and vote. Please send me suggestions for new places to dine, and to explore. I will be sure to pass them along to all in the next column.