The Student Prints
September, 2006
It seems that the weather has been working ahead of itself this summer. We had nasty muggy weather in June and the back of August seemed more like Veteran’s Day than Labor Day. Even the raucous geese seemed a bit chilled as they flew over my house and the tangled ruins of optimistically planted gardens. The downtown walking police officers have broken out fall jackets. Our valet parking attendants stayed warm running to get customer’s vehicles.
We had a wonderful time on our third trip to Costa Rica. Young Rudi and I went on a tour of a cave. I especially enjoyed crawling like a lizard underneath slabs of rock while marveling at huge crickets and scorpions. I also enjoyed the bats flying around me as we walked through the unglamorous by-products of thousands of years of bat occupation. It was too bad for Bonnie and Sami that they had made a prior commitment to go shopping. Poor Bonnie not only missed the cave tour, but was unselfish enough to forgo the zip line tour to take pictures as the kids and I soared hundreds of feet over the rain forest supported by metal cables. She did take an ATV tour with us where we crossed a lake that contained a few decent sized crocodiles. People ask about traveling to Costa Rica. It is a lovely country. However one place we stayed had only two envelopes of bubble bath. Rudi and I let the girls take the bubble baths. We decided that if we wanted to have bubbles in our baths we could make them ourselves.
Business at the Student Prince has been good this summer. As the days start to shorten, we look forward to the annual return of our many friends from the Big E. Our business from the fair tends to come in after nine. It is nice to be able to have room for our regular customers and then to be joined by visitors from the institution formerly known as The Eastern States Exhibition.
Local swordfish will soon grace our menu. We will also have pork chops Berliner style cooked with onions, marjoram and local apples. The fruits of local farmers will also be used in our delicious fresh peach shortcake or melba garnished with a dollop of whipped cream from contented cows in Hadley. We plan to continue serving corn both on the cob and as corn O’Brien garnished with bacon, onions, and green pepper. The best corn of the year comes after the end of August, so be sure and try some. We will make tomato salad as long as the native tomatoes are available. If you are in the mood for a fancy drink, a mint julep is a good way to start an evening. I would also recommend (on an unofficial basis) a glass of delicious Spaten Oktoberfest beer.
We will officially start serving this delicious amber brew from Munich on Tuesday, September nineteenth. That evening we will officially tap the first keg. I will be assisted by the beautiful Madchen who mysteriously drags herself to the restaurant on those celebratory evenings when we have special events. There will also be an observation of “Talk like a Pirate” day. Try to stop by that night. We will have some nice snacks and a few prizes. The festivities start at five o’clock. Pirate garb or lederhosen are optional attire. Hopefully, the fashion police will not attend. It should be a fun evening. AARGH! PROSIT!!!
Rudi