“What do you guys do on your off weeks?”

2018-11-14 05:16:30.000 – Christopher Hohman, Night Observer

A question we’ve gotten from a couple Facebook lives this week was, “So what do you guys do on your off weeks?” I love this question because most of the time we are asked about operational questions. And don’t get me wrong, we love answering those. However, we’re also human beings, and we all do a bunch of unique things in our off weeks. Sure the mountain is immaculate, but we’ve been up here since last Tuesday (With a chance of us having to stay up until Thursday.) So, it’s had us making plans, and getting ready to enjoy our off time. This shift has amazing human beings up here, and I thought it’d be fun to dip briefly into what they like to do on their off time, and what I personally do when I’m down.

Ian is always someone who you can find in a park, probably around southwest NH, tossin’ pokeballs in Pokémon go. That game is incredibly fun, especially when you are looking to take a leisurely stroll around town. Adam is the kind of guy who’s ready to go on a bike trip across the entire US. He’s always one to say, “Welp, I’m gonna go on a bike ride.” Then disappear for 4-5 hours. Zach has an excellent job at EMS her works, and often times will hike around with his ol’ AMC palls.

We normally all meet up as a shift at least once on our down week, and sometimes we’ll go on individual endeavors with one another. We genuinely enjoy each other’s company, so it’s always fun to do things without the pressure of taking Observations every hour! For example, Ian and I visited Fun Spot in Laconia a few weeks back. We had a blast for pretty much the entire day. If you have not been, I highly recommend you head on over!

Adam and I live together, so we’re always heading out together to explore the great state of NH. When we’re not hanging out together, I have a few hobbies I tend to gravitate toward. I love creating stained glass pieces; it’s been a lovely hobby I’ve had ever since high school. I’ve slowly branched out to more intricate works, I’m even working on right now of a Barn Owl (One of the most beautiful creatures in my opinion). Here is a work in progress picture from about a month ago:

 

Again, I cannot express how much I love working here, but we all need some off time. It’s been a joy to work this unique schedule; and have the time to really plan out trips in my “Mini-Weekly Vacation.” This winter I’m hoping to hit the slopes like the rest of you. You’ll probably find me around Black Mountain or Cannon digging into that powder.

Thanks for reading! If you have any more questions about the Observatory, don’t hesitate to message us! Have a great day everyone.

Christopher Hohman, Night Observer