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2002-07-10 - 2:40 p.m. Leah asked me to bug other people about writing guest entries while she is in camp. I am going to set a good example and write one myself. I’m not going to do my usual hagiographic entry. Instead I’ll just write about what Leah told me when we talked on the phone. She is at Appel farm majoring in dance. She is having a great time. She did a standup comedy routine that I’m dying to see. You can order a tape of it from Appel Farm. She’ll be doing a dance recital on July 19th. If you can make it go see it. We talked about college. Her first choice now is Eugene Lang, part of the New School. When I first talked about college with her over a year ago that was the first school that came to mind. It is a school tailor made for Leah. The New School was founded by people who left Columbia because it purged the communists from its staff. It has a remained a bastion of nonconformity. A school that considers being yourself a virtue. Soon after I recommended it to Leah several teachers and counselors did likewise. I’d love it because the school is in Greenwich Village, not only the coolest neighborhood in the world but convenient for me. I’d actually get to see Leah and do things with her. After we talked about college Leah told me about an adventure she had. She was walking around the farm and a rabbit run into a thicket and apparently disappear. She went over to investigate and found the entrance to a cave. She went back to her bunk and told her friend what happened. They grabbed some flashlights and went to investigate. The cave was much larger than the small entrance indicated. They were able to stand up with no problem. They found a room the size of a living room with two passages in the back. They went into the larger one on the left. They followed it several hundred yards, they thought of going back but couldn’t resist exploring further. All of a sudden the passage widened out into a large round room, about 100 feet in diameter with a roof 20 feet high. They explored the room and noticed some markings on some of the stalagmites, markings made by man. At the back of the room there was a small crawlway blocked by a stone. They shined the flashlight in the small opening that remained and saw at the edge of their vision what seemed to be the glitter of gold. They tried hard to move the stone but to no avail. Then Leah came up with the idea of using a stalactite that had broken off from the ceiling as a lever. With the help of the lever they were able to start the boulder moving. As soon as the boulder started moving they heard an ominous rumbling. They had set off some sort of booby trap. The room started shaking and stalactites started falling from the ceiling. The girls started to run. A piece of stalactite hit Leah’s friend in the head and knocked her unconscious. Leah had to pick her up and carry her out of the big room. After she had gone only a few yards she heard a crash. The ceiling had collapse in the room. It was now sealed; they had just made it out of there with their lives. Leah’s friend (Leah told me her name but I forgot, sorry Leah.) came too and they made there way to the entrance to the cave. Leah is hoping to come back at a future date with mining equipment and discover the secret to the treasure of Appel Farm.
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