Bar Harbor Weekend

Another most excellent adventure as Mom and I tour the Bar Harbor, ME area. Since I had to work back to back weeks up here, Mom flew up to meet me and spend a long weekend. It is truly a beautiful place, one that we have never visited before. The pictures don't do justice to how pretty it is here.



This is the hotel we based out of. It was about 3 miles from the center of town.

The highlight on Sunday was taking a 4 hour whale watching tour. After crusing out in the ocean (35 miles) and covering 85 total miles, we were able to catch sight of several whales. I believe they were 'fin whales' which we were told were the second largest mammal. All I know is, they were incredible. We close enough that I could actually hear them blowing thru their blow holes. Pretty impressive. It is kind of hard to see, but here are a couple pictures. Actually the entire tour would have been fine even without seeing the whales. We cruised by a light house island, some 25 miles out in the ocean and watched seals lounging on rocks, and diving as we shut down and just hung out watching.





We will have more pictures and stuff to blog later. It's Lobster time now! More blogging later....

Day 2 of the excellent adventure........

We're off to Acadia National Park and Cadilac Mountain. More pictures to follow. In the meantime, here are a couple from the Whale Watching outing.








Ok, day 2 was spent exploring Acadia National Park. The pictures below show some of the beautiful sights. Some of the things observed were Peregrine Falcon's nesting. Watching a mother Falcon ward off a hungry buzzard. Thunderhole which was a crevice carved between some massive rocks at the shoreline, with waves constantly bashing into it. The resulting sound was like thunder. Witnessing mom standing on the edge of a ledge overlooking the Atlantic ocean was something you don't see everyday either. I'll just let the pictures speak for themselves and mom will contribute more narrative later, once she is home in Browntown. Enjoy!





Ok, Mom is home, or at least nearby, I talked to her and she was navigating Dulles Airport. The last obsticle is for her to find her car (she didn't write down her parking area) so that could take some time. I'm still in Maine, and went back to work this morning. We both are looking forward very much to having all of the kids home (for however brief a time) for a visit this weekend. If anyone wants more pictures of the Bar Harbor experience let me know and I'll send more to you. As for me, it's back to work! I can't wait to get back to Browntown and to re-collect myself before the next Excellent Adventure!

News From Browntown

News From Browntown/Show Dog Circuit

Auntie Char has some very exciting new to post. Here it is as e-mailed for posting :

Abby, Haley and I had a stellar weekend of competition in the dog sport of Rally Obedience in Fredericksburg, Va. This is a newer style of competition obedience that is sort of like a cross between Agility and traditional Obedience- if you are familiar at all with either of those. In Rally, the obedience exercises (instead of Agility obstacles) are placed around a course designed by the judge. You and your dog “heel” around the course completing the required exercises at each station-usually 18-23 stations, with “perfect heeling” in between the stations. Lots of fun, but requires attention and precision from both dog and handler.

Anyway, the total possible score with bonus points is 210. Haley had fabulous scores of 207,208 and 209 in 3 runs. And…Abby DAZZLED everyone with 3 PERFECT (!!) runs of 210 each. With that they BOTH earned their “Rally Level One” titles with “Awards of Excellence” for exceptional scores. With 37 dogs in the division Abby won FIRST place (in a run off!) and Haley THIRD. There were lots of great dogs with really high scores, so we really felt great about our wins!

Afterwards one of the judges shook her head at me and said “You have 2 lovely working dogs!” Another lady came up to me later and said “Do you realize that everybody here wants your dogs!?” We will now continue on with training for Level 2 and then Championship levels. Oh, and by the way, we beat a Border Collie AND an Australian Shepherd!! (Those 2 breeds excel at these things!).

Keith had to stay home and bale hay with John Deere (HIS absolute favorite sport!!) but I kept him posted by cell phone the whole weekend (thank heaven for those cell phones!). He is very proud of us girls!

Now Auntie Char has to begin digital photography so she can take pix of the shows and post photos of the girls performing! To think that Abby came from the Humane Society after a miserable life as an incubator for pit bull pups!! She is a star now!

Rupley Summerfest '06 Report

Well, another Summerfest has come and gone here in the Virginia Highlands. For those of you who don't know about Summerfest, it's basically a bigger and better Festival of Leaves. And Rupley would be the Summerfest equivalent of Chester Street for the Festival of Leaves. For that reason, we had several house guests at 991 for the weekend.

The festivities started Friday afternoon, with Ryan and Jarrett setting up the Washer Theatre in the front yard.



Washers is a yard game that our Indiana friends introduced us to. Basically, it's the same as horseshoes, it involves throwing washers from one side of the yard into a cup on the other side of the yard. It proved to be quite entertaining all weekend. For us, our houseguests, and even the neighbors stopped by to throw a washer or two... It is a gentleman's game, as Andrew demonstrates. However, we girls did get a few ringers in!







Wait a minute, I'm getting ahead of myself here. Let me not forget the front porch jam Friday night! Andrew and friends entertained us on the front porch with some tunes. Then they got ambitious and moved to the intersection of Virginia and Highland, where they serenaded some poor guy trying to impress his date at the Highland Tap. From there, I'm told they moved to the Summerfest Main Stage, set up in the middle of the intersection. I did not witness this, as I was in bed trying to get some sleep before my big day Saturday... more to come on that.







After a late night Friday, Saturday morning came early for most. I ran in my first race, the Summerfest 5k, which started at 8am. I don't have pictures of this spectacle yet, however I hope to in the near future. I will post as they become available. Our neighbors, Scott and Kim, have a party for the race. All the neighbors and guests gathered on their lawn to cheer the runners on as we raced past. John Marc and I had been training for the race for a while, going to bootcamp regularly and running on the off days. We were both glad to run the race together, especially when we rounded the corner on Rupley and heard all of our friends and neighbors screaming for us with Chariots of Fire blaring in the background. The good news is that our street came at the end of the race, so it was pretty much downhill from there (not literally). I finished the race, which was my overall goal, in 30:26. I am hoping to improve that time for next year!

After the race, I was glad to join everyone else at the party... the weather was great Saturday. Not too hot, no rain, perfect! We did have a party Saturday night, which was a raging success. I think Andrew and Jarrett and I all met new people Saturday night! (Yeah, there were definitely a few crashers!) It was a good time, as was evident from the clean-up we had to do Sunday morning. Good times.

Overall, I would say Summerfest was a fantastic time, another reason why our neighborhood is so great!

Part 2

After returning to Abingdon from Holiday Lake, I had another Elderhostel to get through. This is a biking program that we do every year. The hostelers spend several days biking on the Virginia Creeper Trail, which used to be a rail line into North Carolina, and one day spent on naturalist studies in Tennessee and Virginia.

Shady Valley, TN. Eons ago a meteor formed this bowl, it was once a marshland, then a forest, now being returned to marshland.

A Salamander we found in Shady Valley. Scientists come from all over the world to study salamanders here, apparently there are more varieties than anywhere else, and a few that don't exist elsewhere.

This 1/4 acre cranberry bog is all that remains of the vast cranberry bogs that filled the Valley. This site is the smallest parcel of land owned by the Nature Conservancy, which is the largest single land-owning organization in the world.

A stand of old-growth forest in Shady Valley. The sun barely reaches the ground here.

Backbone Rock. The highway goes right through the rock, like Natural Bridge. This is a big recreation area, there was a group of kids climbing and rappelling off to the right.

The view from atop Backbone Rock. Look at the previous picture. Yes, we hiked/climbed to the top. Yes, we walked across. Yes, this is what it looks like peering over the edge.

A creek that runs parallell to Backbone Rock, under the road. It reminds me a lot of Passage Creek, near Elizabeths Furnace. In fact, the whole area bears a strong resemblance to the Lee Ranger District of the George Washington National Forest.

Climbing back down from Backbone Rock.

As you can see, this Elderhostel program is a particularly interesting one. We're doing it twice more this fall, so hopefully I'll get some biking pictures, maybe on the trestles that cross over the Holston River.

It's now quarter to one in the morning, and I have campers coming tomorrow. So I'm off to bed, and I'll talk to you all in August. Except for when I'm home in two weeks for Adam's wedding. And when I call on a weekend sometime. And maybe an email during the week. You get the idea.

Camp Approaches

As I told mom, I have been taking pictures and contemplating a blog entry in my mind for months now, I just haven't gotten around to doing it. So now, on the night before camp begins, I decided to throw something out to you all before I drop from sight for the next ten weeks.

It's been a busy spring here in Abingdon and at the 4-H Center. Since March, we have had three Elderhostels, one week of State Staff Training, one week of staff training, one board meeting, one Serve-Safe class for foodservice workers from the area, a teen and adult volunteer training weekend, three groups of foster kids on the ropes course and, starting tomorrow, camp!

In early March, we hosted 18 hammered and lap dulcimer players from as far away as California and as close as North Carolina. It's a program we do every year, and this year we had several repeat customers. Apparently, most Elderhostel sites don't get many repeats....we do. It seems the hostile elders like our approach of quality over quantity, the individual family atmosphere we achieve with our smaller groups.

A few weeks later, we had another Elderhostel, this time working with the local Hysterical Society to put together tours and lectures on the history of the area. We visited the Museum of the Middle Appalachians in Saltiville, several restored historical homes in Abingdon, and had an interesting tour of the oldest cemetary in town. It's actually two cemetaries...one for the whites, and one for slaves across the road. We took a walking tour of downtown Abingdon, stopping behind the Cave House to see the cave that Daniel Boone supposedly named the town after, when it was known as Cave Hills. One of the more interesting activities was afternoon tea served up by the Daughters of the American Revolution - Blacks Fort Chapter. The ladies came in full period garb and in character, serving tea while telling stories. Sam and I had a laugh at our handling of the delicate china...I took pictures, but they're not on this computer, so I'll have to share them some other time.

About three weeks ago my camp staff and I drove to Holiday Lake 4-H Center in Appomatox for the annual State Staff Training event. The other five 4-H Center Program Directors and I had begun putting the event together several months prior at a three day retreat. It's a great event, camp staff from all over the state teaching each other new songs, new games, learning to teach classes...in short, a nerd-fest for "camp people". Everyone's a type-A and loves attention, a rowdy group.

Nate, PD at Holiday Lake, and I pose for a picture. Nate was in the Peace Corps in Bolivia.








Leading a group in a team building exercise.









Southwest leads all the other 4-H Center Staffs in a song before lunch.








Yes, we stil square dance at camp. Well, at State Staff anyway. Thing 1 & Thing 2 are on my staff.









Southwest leads a flag raising ceremony on the last morning.










Everyone's favorite (former) teen counselor, Megan Stephens, makes an appearance.





One or two familiar faces for Andrew. Bob Meadows, Associate Director of Virginia 4-H in the blue shirt, and Barry Garst (reddish shirt, no book), my boss, next to Bob. Andrew remembers Bucket and Bubbly Bob fondly, I'm sure...




With that, I'll close this post. I'll do another one on the last Elderhostel.

News From Browntown

News From Browntown

Who knew that an interest in sticks and string could lead to such things as Christmas in May in Browntown?

Cleo and I had a surprise this morning. We got up and, as usual, the first thing I did was to follow Cleo to the front door to let her out. We were both taken aback when she had to navigate her way off the porch through two boxes that hadmysteriously appeared there. I have not opened them but I already know that they contain a SPINNING WHEEL sent to me by a friend in Chicago! Bev Nachtrieb and I had such a good time talking about fiber crafts when she was here with her husband a couple of weeks ago that she sent me her spare spinning wheel.

I am shocked and amazed at her generosity but, even more than that, I am really anxious to "take it for a spin" (groan...). The Shenandoah Valley Fiber Festival is this week-end and I had planned to attend. Now it will be even more exciting to see the spinning demonstrations and learn about that ancient skill. Will post pix of the wheel as soon as I have unpacked the boxes and put it together (uh...Win can you come home for the week-end? You are the official assembler in the family).

Atlanta Braves

Audrey and I had the pleasure of seeing the Braves beat the Marlins last night, in the 11th inning. It was a good game, and we had a good time. I got two tickets at the last minute from a coworker of mine who couldn't go. They were good seats and they were FREE (ca-ching!!!). We had a great time, just us girls, like the good old days... Aud and Em wreaking havoc in Atlanta. Here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure.

News From Browntown

A Cozy, Rainy Moms Day in Browntown

Mother's Day in Browntown started off with church and the Moms' high hopes of playing in the yard. However, just after church it got very chilly, clouded up and things started to look iffy. Grammy and I dashed home, changed clothes quick, and ran outside trying to stay ahead of the impending rain to get some planting done. I have lots of vegetables and flowers all waiting patiently for their new, permanent homes and the weather has not been cooperative so I can get them settled in properly. Grammy has her stuff planted because she plants and putters in the garden during the weekdays between rain drops and showers. Anyway, we dashed outside bundled up against the May chill and while Cleo fretted and paced around us worrying about the impending storm, we managed to get a few things planted on my end of the compound before the storm broke. It rained heavily the remainder of Mother's Day, 2006.

We spent the rest of the day eating lunch, watching a movie, winding yarn with my new Mother's Day ballwinder and having Mother's Day observance what with cards to each other and calls from the children/grandchildren. It was so nice to hear from each of you when we could both chat a bit.

Dad and I gave Grammy corning ware for Mother's Day. Her cookware (which I remember PawPaw giving her for Christmas one year in the early 1960s) is more than a bit worn and she has resorted to using some odds and ends that only resemble cookware in that they are metal vessels with handles of sorts. I hope she can adapt to using nice French White Corning Ware and, even more important, will discard the worn out, make-do stuff.

Thanks so much for the cards and the calls Win, Emma, and Andrew.

I will be doing a bit of traveling this summer if all works out. Sometime in June Dad has to stay in Maine for two weeks and we were thinking we might make it a bit of a long week-end. I will go up on a Thursday and stay over until the following Tuesday or so. Dad says it is really beautiful and I have never been that far up into New England. June in Maine will be beautiful, I'm sure.

Sometime after that and before mid-August, Grammy and I plan to drive down to Atlanta via China Grove, NC (where we will visit the Fulghums) and on to Atl. to visit with Melanie, Em and Andrew. That trip date is not set yet - waiting to confirm with those kind enough to host us and sorta hoping the Virginia Highlands yarn shop is open by the time we get down there.

Thank you again for the Mother's Day rememberances and for being you (all three of you).

Florida Gig

Well, here I am, in sunny Florida! It'a hot............DAMN HOT! The only thing I have going for me is the AC in my hotel room. Thank goodness it works! I must say, traveling from Regan National Airport (National Airport) for us old timers, was a breeze. The downside was driving from Front Royal to DC, howwever, my return flight gets into National Airport on Friday at 6PM. Do I have to say more??? Blog when you can. Win..........I'm glad you got the Sony off loaded into your apartment. I'm still trying to figure out how best to get HD on my new set.... More to follow.

dad

News From Browntown

News From Browntown

As the week winds down I thought I'd give an update on my first week back to work after the very nice vacation time off. I was fortunate to be able to ease back into the routine with only a trip to Roanoke, Va. Not too bad of a drive, and gave me an opportunity to see Win and have dinner with him. The occasion was preceded by the transfer of the Sony TV from home - my car to Win's. None of you ever had the opportunity to feel just how heavy a TV can be. Seriously, I think it is the heaviest piece of equipment I've ever had to move. Fortunately Win and I got it done without breaking anything important. I left it up to him to figure out how to get it into his apartment!

Next week I'm not as fortunate with my schedule as I've been assigned to a project in Naples, Florida. Now, some of you might think heading to Fla. would be a good thing. I guess it is if you're on vacation! To make it even worse, I won't be anywhere near Gina or Thomas so a visit (which would make the whole trip bearable) is out of the question.

I am going to spend the remainder of today and the weekend catching up on ... you guessed it ... MOWING! I'm hoping to get Mom and Grammy out on the mowers too! Happy Mother's Day to them! That's it for the moment, blog when you can!

dad

News From Browntown

News From Browntown
A little something for everyone on this blog - from gardening and mission work in Browntown to music festivals in Atlanta to sheep and yarn in Maryland to blues clubs in NYC to NASCAR in Richmond!! Doesn't get much more eclectic than this, folks.

We are missing some news from the lurker in Abingdon, though. Win, what's going on in your neck of the woods?

Two More

Dale Earnhardt spinning tires at the finish line, and doing his victory lap....Daddy would be proud junior, daddy would be proud.....

Without Further Ado

Here they are, the long anticipated pictures of the NASCAR Race....not as many as i had hoped of people watching, bur these will do! The ones of Campbell running the grill is my personal favorite.....

News From Browntown

Sheep, Alpacas and Bunnies - Oh My!

The MS&W was quite something and did not disappoint. There was more wool-related stuff and activity than you could shake a needle at and then some. I really never have seen anything quite like it. The wool and yarn stuff was spectacular. The rainbow of yarn - hand spun, hand dyed, hand painted, and, ultimately hand knitted or hand woven, was incredible.

We arrived early (8 a.m.) on the advice of my yarn shop friend (voice of experience). She suggested that we would probably want to make more than one trip back to the car before we were finished for the day and that early arrival could insure a reasonably close parking space. Well, she was right and when we returned to the car (second trip) around noon we could see that later arrival would have been baaaad...regardless of Dad's parking karma which would have been useless in that situation. Fairground parking directed by Boy Scouts who make sure all is fair and parking is organized by the "first come, first served" method rather than "parking by karma". One report I read on the Internets this morning said there were more than 60,000 in attendance and that seems to be a conservative estimate from what we observed.

The crowd was a great mix of wool crafters, old hippies and animal folks (and all sorts of hybrids thereof) so it was a very congeniel group and large crowd size was not an issue. Even incredible bargains on some fabulous yarn did not create havoc. The weather was perfect!

The yarn was beautiful and producers from all over the U.S. and other places were there to display their most gorgeous stuff. The animals were also lovely and we really enjoyed watching the sheep shows which went on all day (10 hours) both Saturday and Sunday. The show actually started on Wednesday, May 3 and there was some sheep judging on the days leading up to the week-end. Not only were the sheep judged but there was also fleece judging - that is, fleece without the sheep underneath. The fleeces are judged, awarded prizes and then auctioned off just like the 4-H Beef Cattle Auction at the Warren County Fair. Obviously the prize-winning fleeces are the most desirable.

Speaking of fleeces, what a sight to see dignified, gray-haired ladies dressed in lovely hand-knit finery trudging to their cars with huge plastic trash bags thrown over their shoulders! Dad calls them the "hard-core knitters" - the ones who buy the full, raw fleece fresh off the sheep, process it by hand (washing and carding), spin it into yarn, dye it and then knit it up into really exquisite items. Of course, some of the also weave as well.

Saturday we watched the dogs herd the sheep and caught the Junior Spinning Contest - both fun to watch. There were a surprising number of youngsters involved in the Spinning Contest including some boys. Some had nice wooden wheels and some just had drop spindles (as Dad says, "spinning on a stick"). It is a fascinating and ancient art - one of the most ancient of man's skills.

The other really interesting event was the "Sheep to Shawl" contest where several spinning guilds competed on Sunday morning. The task was to take raw fleece (the sheep was sheared right there that morning), pick it clean, card it, spin it and weave it into a shawl within a three hour time period. Each guild had an educational display on weaving and spinning and a somewhat costumed team competing in the event.

It was a well-planned show - of course it should be after more than 30 years and it is the biggest of it's kind in the U.S. Although Dad is not interested in yarn or crafts, there was still enough going on keep it interesting. Much better than an arts and crafts show or an antiques show, he said, because "there are animals to see here!". The animals really were fun to watch and we saw some beautiful sheep. There again, some ancient breeds that have been key to survival of our own species.

The only disappointment of the whole event was the Navajo exhibit which I expected to be far more than it was. I am thinking maybe we missed part of it or something but Dad says not. He Who Was Not Blinded By Yarn could be a bit more observant than I.

We had great food the whole week-end, especially Saturday night at Phillip's in Baltimore. Dad gave me a driving tour of downtowon Baltimore and I saw the UofMD hosp. where he spends a lot of time these days.

We left early on Sunday in time to stop for brunch in Frederick, MD at Cracker Barrel. We had just finished eating when Dad looked up, got a funny expression on his face and said quietly, "knitting alert behind you!". I turned around and, sure enough, two ladies seated behind me were knitting socks while they waited for their order! Of course, we got to talking and had a nice chat. They were on their way back to PA from the show and gave me their blog addresses. A great way to wind up the week-end.

It was a good week-end and the MS&W lived up to all my expectations. I hope we can do it again. The week-end after next is the First Annual Virginia Fiber Festival in Berryville. It is a very small event that is in it's infancy and has no animals - none featured, anyway. I am planning to go to that one and drag along poor Grammy (poor thing, Char and I keep sucking her into this craft stuff) and Barbaba Greco (already sucked in as a long-time knitter).

Dad has some more good pix including some of the Scottish Black-Face sheep with their beautiful, curly horns!

Wool & Sheep Festivus

So, the week (and my vacation) ended with a trip to Howard County, MD and the Wool & Sheep show. It was quite a sight I can assure you all. Mom enjoyed barn after barn of wool porn, while I amused myself with some serious people watching. We had decided that the place would be full of old hippies (did not disappoint) and various other characters. I'll let mom fill in the blanks here, I just wanted to get some pictures up on the blog so you can all see the fun we had. Seriously, it was a hoot! The first picture below shows some of the stars of the show....


The place was mobbed for most of the weekend, the picture below doesn't show it clearly, but it was elbow to elbow down the mid-way. One of the highlights of the show was the Sheep Dog exhibition. It is amazing how smart those dogs are. Of course Auntie Char has known this forever. If only Cleo would behave as well. The pic below is kind of far away, but you get the idea.




There was excellent music too! Notice the Golden in the band!




After awhile all we could do was just stop, drop and knit (well, mom did anyway) I learned more than I probably needed to know about the craft, but it was interesting. Especially the machines and tools that are used. Of course the most fun for me, was watching the street circus of people. In the end, a cool shady spot under a tree was the best place to just sit and observe as mom found out below.

That's all I have for now, Mom will jump in here I'm sure with her comments. Meanwhile, where are those NASCAR pictures???

NYC Update II-On To Richmond

So the great eastern trip is hitting leg #2, as Im sitting here at LaGuardia waiting for the 2:45 flight to Richmond. New York is done with as far as I am concerned, it was a good week and I learned alot about how the show operates in NYC as opposed to Atlanta. I didnt see Elizabeth too much, she was around Monday, but was off the rest of the week. II did get to see my old Shep roommate Tim last night, who entertained me with tales of his life as a struggling actor, and working full time as a mime in central park and the NYC Subway. No, really, he is a full time mime. He works for money from tourists, and other generous folks. The two of us went to Greenwich Village, where i talked him into going with me to see a band called Jason Ricci and New Blood, who, for my money, and from what I had heard from my harmonica teacher, is one of the best harmonica players on the planet. The guy came out and looked a little more like one of the Sex Pistols or someone from one of those 70's punk outfits, but the kid started blowin the harmonica and my mouth was hitting the floor. He was the best harmonica player Ive ever heard, and apparently, in the blues circles, the guy is absolutely legendary. He is only about 30, so he is still young, but dad, win, you guys would dig it. Was cool to see someone who is a master at the instrument blowin it away.

After a week, I came to a few conclusions about NYC. First off, while I used to discount the idea of ever living here, annd not being able to take the hustle and bustle, I think I wouldnt mind living here at all. That is, for a little while. After 12 months or so, I feel like I might have had my fill, and be ready for something a little more slow. There are things that are great here, but of course, there are things that are kinda crappy too.....I mean really people, chill out. Do you HAVE to run everyone over? We are all in a hurry, and if we all chill, we will get there on time. But what can you do.

Campbell is set to pick me up from the airport today about 4 o'clock, and god willing, we could have the perfect pickup, considering when im supposed to land and when he is supposed to get into Richmond. Jerkface will be there as well, and a few other folks who will be gearing up for our first ever NASCAR race....Im pretty excited about it, I must say. Anyway, thats about it, Im gonna get back to uh......waiting.........

From the Atlanta Front

Things have been quite busy here in the ATL, even with one roomate gone from 991 Rupley. Andrew is correct, I did spend most of last weekend playing with the Capital City Opera. We were performing Susannah, an American opera written in the 1950's by Carlisle Floyd. It really is an excellent piece, and I am glad that I got the opportunity to play it. The performances were held on the campus of Oglethorpe University, on the northern end of the city. It was a nice gig to get, Nicole and Audrey both played in the orchestra as well. It was nice for the three of us to play together. It's cool when you play with the same people a lot, you get to know each other's tendencies and anticipate things. It's nice. So we had an open dress rehearsal last Thursday, and then performances on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Here is a link to a review of the show from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: http://www.accessatlanta.com/blogs/content/shared-blogs/accessatlanta/reviews/entries/2006/04/29/susannah_by_cap.html

So the opera is over, but the practicing is not. I have decided (at the last minute) to take an audition this weekend. Sunday afternoon I will be auditioning for Prinicipal Bassoon with the Atlanta Ballet Orchestra. It's a union gig (I know Mom is proud), and the audition is "down to the hall". Lucky for me, that is literally just down the street from my house. I barely have to leave the 'hood. (Thank goodness, because you all know we hate doing that here!) This will be my first real professional audition. I am trying to cram in practice this week, although I know that one can't really cram for such a thing. But I try, nonetheless. Luckily, I have a very supportive roomate -- Jarrett has been very encouraging and patient as I have worked continuously this week to squeak out a high D for Stravinsky's Rite of Spring excerpt. The dogs in the neighborhood have not been as patient and understanding, I must say. I have been practicing like crazy, it's like being in college again. I run home from work at lunchtime to get in some quick practice, then run home after work and hole up in my room for more... Jarrett is asleep now, so I'm taking a break before I start again at 8 when he gets up to go to work. So, we will see... everyone send me good thought vibes at 2:00 on Sunday afternoon. At this point I'm just looking forward to Sunday at about 5, when the whole thing is over!

I did take a break last night to go to a birthday dinner for a friend of mine. We went to a really cool restaraunt in Decatur, near my favorite hangout: Eddie's Attic. Dad, next time you're in town we're going there!

OK, I think that's all for now. Gonna grab some dinner before "the baby" wakes up and I can make some real noise.

Big Apple Report

So I made it to NYC in one piece after a detour through Richmond.....Needless to say, this town is rockin and rolling. Work is going well, my schedule has basically been get up at 8am or so, go get some breakfast (usually a bagel) at one of the ten million bagel spots around, and then kind of just walk around and observe people, which, as far as Im concerned, doesnt get any better than here. This morning I walked a few blocks down to 63rd street, and happened to run into the Metropolitan Opera House (see photo Em) I noticed a little gathering, and then realized that is where the world famous David Blaine is doing his latest freak show. Basically he is living in a fishbowl for a week, and well, as one would imagine, all the media vans and trucks are there. I happened to be there when Miles O'Brien of CNN's American Morning was down there, doing a liveshot. He looked as if "I went to Georgetown, spent 6 years in Atlanta plugging away on a mid afternon show, I get a promotion and become the main anchor for the morning program, and they want me to interview some idiot living in a fishbowl?" That's TV dude-The freakier the better. I couldnt help but take some photos....

As for the evening, Ive been getting off around 9pm, and the other night i cabbed it down to Taylor Water's neighborhood, and met with her for a beverage, and we caught up, and she showed me her place and I met her roommates. Taylor is still, well, Taylor, but it was nice to see her. She is graduating from PT school this weekend, and will be a full on doctor, and her parents are going to be here tomorrow night, and she invited me out to dinner with the Waters family, which would be nice, but I declined, dont want to intrude on that whole deal. And Id rather meet with my friend Tim, the old Shepherd roommate anyway.

Work has been cool, Elizabeth is off this week, so I havent seen much of her. Nancy is in DC today testifying before congress about child predators, so she wont be here today, so i think it will be a little more laid back. I have to say, I never thought this, but it may be a little more laid back up here with the staff than it is in Atlanta, only because I dont work with a certain individual, and there are more people up here, and it makes it more of a communal effort, rather than me and said co-worker, who tends to try and act as my supervisor sometimes. I got to do sme cool stuff yesterday that was on air, that Nancy gave me props for-Always nice to get some cred from the big boss.

Tomorrow is my last day working, and Ill be hanging out with Tim, the roommate from Shep, who is the typical struggling actor in NYC. Dad, it was quite funny, I went to a spot last night not too far from my hotel, and wound up talking to a guy named Silvio, a horse and buggy driver in Central Park, and he ranted to me for 20 minutes as to why the Yankees need to stop saying "next year is the year" and that they need to get over losing to the god forsaken Red Sox. And of course after the conversation, he was foaming at the mouth, and my eardrums were a little injured. But quite funny none the less. The pictures are shots of the Time Warner Center from the front, the two towers are pretty impressive, and it basically holds everything Time Warner owns, which is, well, everything....Im trying to find David Chase walking around somewhere, but I doubt his offices are in the building....The other shot is from my room window....Im heading out of here Friday mid-day, and off to Richmond to meet Campbell, Adam, Jerkface and a number of others for the soiree at RIR (RichmOnd International Raceway for the Non-NASCAR Crowd, Win, thats not you anymore) Anyway, here are some pics, Ill touch base soon....

Atlanta Update

Was a pretty good weekend for the Atlannta end of the family....Emmalee had a few shows with the Atlanta City Opera, and from what I hear, a good performance was in order by Emmalee, Audrey, and the rest of the orchestra. Im a horrible brother, I didnt attend, but my obligations wouldnt allow it. Saturday Emmalee and I hung out with the neighbors, and had a few friends over for some hospitality on the porch-A good time was had by all. Sunday was spent at the Inman Park Festival, where Jarrett and some friends of ours went and watched The Codetalkers, an Atlanta based band play-Great show, as usual. Sunday night we went to dinner with the neighbors, John-Marc and RP, before everyone began the work week. Meanwhile, Im trying to get to NYC for work this week, but the lfight from Atlanta to New York I was on this morning was interrupted by a "mechanical error" which forced us to land in Richmond, VA, so here I sit waiting for a "new plane." I know mom, its comforting isnt it? So Im SUPPOSED to be in NY working in time for the workday to begin, but judging by the way things are going, its going to be a late start for me-Anyway, I hope everyone has a good week. Im back to Richmond this coming weekend for the big NASCAR Race, which should be alot of fun. And alot of interesting people watching......

News From Browntown

We certainly made up for the lost time last week-end with this week-end's yard activities! Not only did we mow everything in sight but we also planned, laid out and planted an herb bed just behind the house beside the red shed and planted/mulched an area behind the yard shed where we previously had a thriving crop of poison ivy. It was busy! Dad on the Kubota turning the mess into a tillable area on Saturday afternoon. Then, on Sunday afternoon the "neighbor lady up the hill" came down with her shovel to dig, dig and dig some more. I told Grammy she reminded me of a terrier with all the digging she did.

Dad has pictures to post as the project appeared after we finished on Sunday afternoon. There are still some finishing touches such as rock edging, more colorful flowers to fill in (it is still too cold at night for the annuals) and other small additions to be made but the hardest part is done now. It was fun and tiring.

Grammy discovered that the two pecan trees behind the white shed have borne nuts - at least there were lots of nuts mixed in with the many layers of leaves and sticks from past years that we cleared out of there. Meemaw brought those two trees from her old house in Portsmouth many years ago (before Dad and I were married) and planted them there behind the white shed. They have been bearing for some time now judging from the amount of nut shells we found when we were cleaning out the area. I need to remember in the fall to watch for a good crop of pecans for Christmas food. Meemaw would be so pleased!

Win, we know you are happily getting ready for camp season - your reason for living through the other eight months of the year. Give us an update now and again and some pix of the activities!

Emma, Miss Social Butterfly, how about an update on the opera you played for this past week. What a full life you lead in the Big City of Atlanta taking advantage of every cultural opportunity and festival!

Andrew you are probably descending into NYC as I write this so we expect to hear from you about your adventures there this week. We will watch NG for possible sightings of you in the studio these next few days.

Dad is home all week on vacation. He has big plans, though, for chores around the house. What my electricians call a real "Honey-Do List"!