What Is The Strangest Food You've Eaten?

ANSWERS:

• Guinea pig
• Snails
• Whale sushi
• Chicken feet...actually, I couldn't make myself eat them
• I've eaten a big green worm hanging from a tree at North Beach. Bitter.
• Chocolate covered cockroach.
• Diet Coke (yuk!)
• Sea Urchin at a Japenese restaurant in Colorado. It was both solid and liquid; solid when untouched, liquified when finger/tongue made contact, solid again post touch. Acquired taste indeed.
• Fish eyes.
• Mississippi black snake
• Troll House cookies (ED note: yes, that's what they wrote)
• Crab brains in Tokyo, Japan
• Seaweed
• Crickets
• Broccoli - Nolan, age 6
• Twinkies and taco sauce - Zippy the pinhead
• Borscht
• Ant eggrolls - SSC
• Alligator and snake
• Squirrel
• Leche nuts? - Sequoia
• Pigeon, bumble bees and jelly fish in China
• Chicken gizzards and fufu
• Crocodile
• Road runner
  

What Law Have You Wanted To Break...and Why?

Answers:

• Fires on the lake...why not?
• Get naked in public
• Nothing
• Practicing law without a license. If you can argue with logic, why waste 3 years at school?
• Trespassing. Why do we need so many fences? We didn't make the land.
• Gravity. Because flying without a plane would be so much more fun!
• The law that kids under the age of 17 can't drive...because I am 8.

These were the only answers suitable for reprinting. This question elicited many profane responses...so we've changes the question.

Upcoming Questions

Here are questions that will be coming up soon. Have one to add? Send an email to chapin dot spencer at gmail dot com.

• What is the strangest food that you've eaten?
• What law have you always wanted to break...and why haven't you?
• What secret have you wanted to share?
• Tell us about a near death experience you've had.

What Was Your Most Embarassing Moment?

ANSWERS:

• I had a huge crush on Mike Czhicowski in the 11th grade. When I heard that his grandmother had died I badked almond cookies and brought them to his house. His mother answered the door and asked who I was. All I could say was "Mike?" She rolled her eyes and called him over. He came to the door and our conversation when something like this:

me: "hi"
Mike: "What are you doing here?"
me: "um... I baked you cookies."
Mike: "uhuh, why?"
me: "cause uh...."
Mike: "oh.... what kind are they?"
me: "almond"
Mike: "I'm allergic to nuts."

• I spoke Japanese to someone who was Korean, they got really offended.
• um.... I dropped my skirt in the middle of Hannaford's and everybody saw.
  
• I had my period in front of the whole school in seventh grade. I bled on an Adirondack chair.
  
• My boyfriend and I got caught "hooking up" at a beach. They called our parents.
  
• When I peed my pants while on stage during a high school production of Alice in Wonderland. Oy!
  
• My friend pants'ed me in front of a lot of people (at a hotel)
  
• Talking about someone at a party and having them standing behind me. Whoops!
• Meeting my boyfriend's parents on 4/20 at Ridin' High skate shop where I worked. Sleeping in a hammock and got out with my butt asleep. Knocked over the whole row of mopeds in front of his parents. Eek!
• Getting stopped and searched at the Canadian border. They found weed residue and a bowl.
• Cutting a girl's lip with my braces while engaging in my first French kiss.
  
• When I went to school without my glasses for the first time.
  
• When I got angry at the wrong person.
• When I knocked over the speakers at an orchestra concert.
• When I didn't know how to kiss.
• Your sign spelled "embarrassing" incorrectly, that's embarrassing! (Ed note: Yup, we forgot one of the "r"s, whoops!)
  

When Was the Last Time You Wrote a Real Letter?

Current Answers:

• Every month I send birthday cards to my friends!
• Last month I wrote many letters to people who helped me. ~ Celia
• Last month ~ Lylie
• Two days ago
• Last summer when at camp
• A month or so ago
• To you! Because I graduated and you're awesome! Love, Ectocooler (Thanks Emily!)
• Two months to the day. I never heard back from her either.
• Yesterday
• 2002
• 3 weeks ago
• Dear Chapin and Rebecca. Right now! Sincerely, Meg
• I right letters all the time. My grandma doesn't like computers so I right her letters all the time.
  
• May 2, 2010
• If postcards count, 9 months. If not, then six years, when my brother was in basic training.
• This morning.
• The last time I used the postal service to correspond was about a month ago...if we aren't counting postcards because I sent 3 of these in the last 2 weeks. I like the act of writing out thoughts, it can be a cathartic, centering activity if you find the right rhythm. I also love getting the fanciest stamps they carry at the post office and I always hand decorate my envelopes with lots of flare. Email could never replace the thoughtful and romantic medium of letter writing. ~ Trish, ONE
• 2 years ago when my best friend was living in Spain. Also, your box is infested with ants. ~ S.E.W.
• A. Just now.
• 2 days ago. It's important, especially for our elders who don't use computers.
  
• When a long-time friend went to Boot Camp in Missouri last summer. BTW, she is the stereotypical blonde who survived and thrived in the army. Amazing person.
  
• I am still an avid fan of letters! I hope it never becomes obsolete! ~ Suzanne
• I wrote real letters when I was in prison. By hand on lined paper. Very civilized. ~ R.L.
• The last time I wrote a letter was last summer to my friend in Utah. ~ T.M.C.
• I think the last time I wrote a real letter was at camp last year. I know this is going to change since two really good friends of mine are going to the Air Force Academy.
  

We also got a number of very random responses to this question, including:

• Dear bikeway: Thank you for the tools to express my appreciation for surroundings and splendor. We are lucky folk. Love and kisses, the Maple Queen
• Dear Burlington: I hold this truth to be self-evident: that all drivers should be well aware of the cones at workzones. Follow the cone tapers with their respective 'keep right' signs. Follow your nose wherever it goes. Sincerely, a worker in Burlington
• I wish there could be less fuzz in the air.
• Do not ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive and then do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.
• Are you a believer? ~ Greg
• I eat watermelon. Yes.

What Do You Pledge To Do For Yourself This Summer?

CURRENT ANSWERS:

• Save enough money to move to Florida in the fall
• Get fit! Wahoo! Love myself more!
• Play!
• Own a giraffe
• Ride 50 miles for VT Cares on the Champ Ride! Go team Bike Recycle!
• I pledge to honor my soul and my body so that I might make a difference in my community. I pledge to do this by slowing down sometimes, honoring my breath and maintaining the best balance I can. Because I can. C.K.
• Hi Rebecca and Chapin. See you in the relay?! ~ Ginger
• Lose weight
• Drink a fish
• Go boating
• Quit my job. Hoorah!
• Be carried by my cousin so I don't have to walk
• Lean mad German. ~ JP
• Play more drums!
  
• Enjoy the locality of food and all of its goodness.
• Nice project! What happened to my most embarrassing moment question? My new answer: AC
• Go to the beaches and ride my bike and maybe go to Montreal
• Thank you to the amazing groundsman for cleaning up the foliage that grew overnight.
• I pledge to poop everyday (Ed note: thanks for the cute kid drawing)
• I will exercise more!
• Swimming - Julie
• Move my body!
• Get a job. ~ Dave
• Swim (a lot)
  

What Is Your Favorite Place to Visit in Vermont?

YOUR ANSWERS:

• Barnet and West Barnet Vermont because I was born and raised there. The rural beauty and scenery are amazing. - Elizabeth
• South Hero because of the scenery and apple orchards. - Michael
• Ben & Jerry's, Waterbury and Grand Isle
• Stowe alpine slide and Splash at the Burlington Boathouse
• Maidstone State Park
• Skyline Lodge on the Long Trail
• My childhood home in Springfield
• Couchy with mantuni
• Sudbury
• Sledding down Camel's Hump or Knoll Farm in Fayston
• Burlington because it is great and so is this box!
• Manchester Center though I also enjoy visiting Shelburne
• Texas Falls near Middlebury is beautiful (kind of a secret treasure) Carol, Georgia VT
• One favorite is the bike path here! NE Kingdom, Danville, Plainfield
  
• Rutland Movie Theater
• I love going to the Shelburne Museum
• Burlington Bike Path - beautiful views, lots of space to bike
• Lake Willoughby
• Prison
• Anywhere but Rutland
• The lake (beach)
• Maidstone State Park
• Stave Island
• Jay Peak
• Shelburne Bay
• Shelburne Farms
• Friends in Vermont
• Burlington, Waitsfield water hole, Mad River Glen
• Karme Choling, Barnet VT
• Seymour Lake
• Nothing
• Chelsea, VT
• Single Pebble
  
• The Huntington Gorge
• Lake Willoughby and Lake Champlain
• Oakledge Park, Mount Philo and Shelburne Farms
• Bread and Puppet
• Caleb's place
• Smuggler's Notch in the fall -- beautiful leaves, dramatic rocks and cliffs, waterfalls in the rain
• Oakledge Park
  
• The Flynn
• UVM Skiing Carnival
• Smuggler's Notch, watching the sunset at Battery Park
• Hog Island in Swanton
• My grand daughter's house in Richmond
• Woodstock - the town and people are great!
• Shelburne Orchard -- great views, great vibes
• Camels Hump
• My couch and Muddy Waters
  
• Indian Brook Park in Essex
• Journey's End in Johnson, VT
• 58 Conger Avenue in Burlington -- Nice patio!
• I think I might fall in love with a man from Stowe.
• The airport, the Charlotte Flea Market -- three walkers for the March of Dimes
• Lone Rock Point is kinda neat.
• Bike Path in the summer and Stowe -- taking a dip in the stream
• Echo patio, Shelburne Farms, Burlington waterfront
• Waterslide near Lake Willoughby -- Corey
• North Street, Montpelier -- Jesse
• Burlington Waterfront and the falls behind Johnson State College!
• 56 and 58 Conger Avenue
• The Busy Bee Diner in Glover
• Jefferson Falls
• Camels Hump summit, anytime
• Bennington Museum
• Chili's for their El Presidente margarita
• Camels Hump peak, Red Onion, the mountain stream beside the road between Bennington and Brattleboro
• The waterfront bike path on a beautiful sunny day
• The Kingdom, Bristol falls
• I like Pie!...and the Stowe Pinnacle
  
• McDonalds
  
• Brewster River Falls in Jeffersonville
• Anywhere where you aren't knocked out by noxious cow patty fumes. Ugh. Gross. Go veggie!
• Lake Willoughby on a nice summer day
• New World Tortilla
• The O.P.
• I love visiting Burlington the most because of all the wonderful people. - Rob
  
• Mount Mansfield
• Full Tank
• Anywhere on the Long Trail, especially Butler Lodge on Mansfield
• Country roads in the summer like Route 14 and Route 17
• Little River Dam in Waterbury
  

What Is Your Favorite Sign of Spring?

ANSWERS:

• "Some say the world will end in fire. Some say in ice. From what I've tasted of desire, I hold with those who favor fire. But if I had to perish twice, I think I know enough of hate, to say that for destruction ice is also great, and would suffice." Robert Frost
• Skiing, kayaking and running all in one weekend
  
• It's a tie -- either the birds chirping in the morning or the daffodils!
• A clean bikepath
• Being able to go outside without adding layers!
• People smiling!
• People coming out of the woodwork
• The trees are green (Seth), the sun is warmer (Nina)
• The blooming of spirits
• The smell of freshly mowed grass and newly laid pine for the landscaping
• Redwing blackbirds
• Sage's shirt (Sage is our neighbor)
• Lilacs and cherry blossoms
• Dandelions (Ella), spotted salamanders (Gwen), hot dog stands (Gary)
  
• When people come outside to take in the rays (nice picture!)
• Flowers and smiles
• The sun (2)
  
• Flowers
• Buds (the tree kind)
• Open up my sandbox
• The sound of peepers
• Nice weather
• It means school is almost over
• Nights on the porch
• Peas
• The emergence of creatures
• The smell after the first thaw
• The song birds, peepers and crocuses
• Warm nights
• Chocolate! - Jonah
• The birds chirping
• The Trail Speak sign!
  
• Seeing the green return
• Longer, warmer days, brighter mornings, dry sidewalks and bike paths! - Barb and Jim
• Waking up to new bird sounds...waxwings!
• A tan face
• Sunshine and fresh air, the true smell of spring at last - Alexandre Silberman
• Early morning songbirds singing (Thanks for the great picture of a bird)
• The sun - Jason
• The flowers - Jessica
• First sounds of birds, first sign of flowers (thanks for the pictures!)
• The rain and then the flowers
• Sun! - Christine, Winooski
• Little edges of green underneath the dead grass - HMH, Winooski
• Sampling dog poop buffets
• Spring peepers and maple syrup
• Flowers blooming
• Running out here (on the bike path) again!
• Cool March mornings like the ones I fell in loving during many years ago.
• When you can snowboard in a t-shirt - Taraleigh, B'town
• Blooming skunk cabbage at the north end of the bike path
• The smell of cold wet soil and when the trees are pink with their buds
• Thank you for asking...redwing blackbirds and spring beauties
• All of the birds and the tops of the trees turning red
• No snow, sunshine, smiling faces, birds chirping
• Don't need jackets = feel free and light
• Warm weather
• More sunshine
• Red-winged blackbirds
• The smell of things blooming
• Fine ladies shedding layers
• Bare skin!
• The smell
• The coming of early sprouts of tulips
  
• No more snow! (nice picture)
• This one (meaning the TrailSpeak kiosk)
• Grass and flowers - A.M., age 3
• My 3 year old playing in the dirt with her dump truck in bare feet
• Patios on Church Street
• Mud! For all that it is. For all that it portends. ;-) Yana
• Little birds chirping, growing plant life
• Peeper frogs
• The smell. I'm not sure if I can tell you what it smells just like, but it definitively smells different than winter and as soon as I get a whiff of it, I know it's spring.
• Crocuses
• The geese coming back and the birds singing
• The return of leaves, greenery
• Seeing everyone train for the Vermont City Marathon. We'll see ya on the road.
• The constellation Orion's early disappearance from the night sky ;-)
• Snow!
• Swimming buoys on the waterfront!
• Birds singing. Crocuses. Dirt smells.