This was definitely a co-op kind of day because I had two gigs and they were both at food co-ops that I'm a member of.

   First, it was "Dr. Seuss Day" at River Valley Market in Northampton MA. Tomorrow is Dr. Seuss's birthday, but we were celebrating today. I don't think he would mind.

   We had a Dr. Seuss activity table as you entered the store with a couple of "authorized activity pages" for the children to do, paper bag Cat in the Hat hats to make, and an emu egg  (They're GREEN!) scavenger hunt. There was also real green eggs and ham in the hot bar that several people said was pretty good!

   My role was to read Dr. Seuss books aloud from 12:00-2:00. At our Apple Harvest day last fall, I did a reading of The True Story of Johnny Appleseed. I really liked doing it, but my audience could be counted on one hand... it just wasn't the right venue for gathering a crowd of people to read to.

   So this time I decided to try a different tack. I packed a bunch of Dr Seuss books into a shoulder bag, including Green Eggs and Ham, One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish, Fox in Socks, Hop on Pop,  The Foot Book, and The King's Stilts. When I got to the store, I put on my signature red & yellow Cat in the Hat hat, pulled out Green Eggs and Ham, and with the book open I just walked up to shoppers and started reading out loud to them, being sure to hold the book so they could see the pictures. About 90% of the people I read to were adults, and every single one of them (except for one way too cool teen who ignored me) broke out into a big old sappy grin, and most of them stayed for several pages... and a few of these grown-ups wanted to hear the whole book! 

   I was just having so much FUN it wasn't until 45 minutes later that I realized I was still reading the same book over and over again, so for the rest of my time I mixed it up a bit, pulling out a different book regularly. Although I admit I still ended up reading from One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish and Fox in Socks way more than the others, and I only read the first two sentences of The King's Stilts to one woman who had never heard of it. (Never heard of it? What?!?)

   This has got to be the most FUN I've ever had inside a food store! It was just so delightful to bring a smile to so many adults' faces in such a simple way. WOW! 

   Today was also the kick-off of our March member drive at River Valley Market. Our goal was to have 3,000 members when we opened the store and 4,000 on our 1st birthday. Well, we made the first goal, and now we're working on the second. We're planning on signing up 500 new members this month. And I'm glad to report that while I was reading Green Eggs and Ham to the people at the Dr. Seuss Activity Table, a woman walked up to the Member Drive Table next to it and said, "How do I join?" and signed up right then and there. Yay! It's working already.

 

   So, after my roving reading period was over, I went home, had a nice meal, got a call from my lovely wife saying she'd be home in time to join me at my second co-op event today. I was really glad to hear that because I just love it when she comes with me no matter where I'm going.

 

   My second co-op gig today was was something I've been in charge of for years and years: doing childcare for Green Fields Market's annual meeting which was in Shelburne Falls MA this year. I pack a whole bunch of FUN stuff left over from my day care days into my truck, take it to wherever the meeting is, arrange it around the childcare space, and set the kids loose. There's always a lot of adult workers and parents helping out, so my job is really easy... mostly, I just play with the kids and make sure they use the stuff safely.

   Green Fields Market is located in Greenfield MA, and a long-term GFM goal to open another store in a nearby town was realized this year with the purchase of McCusker's Market in Shelburne Falls. So this year, to help celebrate that and to demonstrate the co-op's committment to inclusiveness, the GFM Board decided to hold this year's annual meeting in Shelburne. 

   The Buckland-Shelburne Community Center fit our needs wonderfully with two large rooms and a nice kitchen. Plus, it was a space I've never been in before. I liked it.

   But first we had a delightful meal together, and then the adults all moved into the larger room for the meeting while the FUN people stayed in the first room. We had a couple dozen kids and at least a dozen adults for the next two hours having a whole lot of FUN. Besides me and my stuff, there was also a woman painting faces (and arms and hands and... ); local celeb Shenanhoah (pictured at right on the right) with several dozen of her gorgeous, sturdy, homemade hula hoops; and my perennial childcare helper Michelle (pictured at right on the left); and several other adults who's names I either don't know or don't remember. I'm very grateful to all the people for helping.

   And I want to report that the hula hoops were a HUGE hit with adults and children alike, but there were more adults than children hula hooping pretty much the entire time!

 

 

 

 

 

 

   This afternoon, before going out to clear all the snow off our vehicles, I watched the rest of one of the strangest movies I've ever seen. First of all, it's a western. Second of all, it's a musical. If that's not wacky enough for you, we'll move on to third, fourth, fifth, and sixth. Third, it features bigamy. Fourth, it's not Mormon style bigamy, but two husbands with one wife. Is this sounding familiar to any of you yet? Fifth, it stars Clint Eastwood and Lee Marvin. And sixth, yes, they both sing more than one song as well as a duet together!?!?!?!?! I mean, I know Clint Eastwood has always been musically-minded, scores most of his own movies, often writing the songs himself, and his film "Honky Tonk Man" in which he plays a travelling singer is one of my all-time favorite films, BUT...   Clint Eastwood and Lee Marvin singing together???? That's downright weird. I fast forwarded through everyone else's songs, but some strange compulsion drove me to sit there and watch those two guys famous for playing tough guys burst into song while walking through the woods, riding on a horse, or drinking in a bar.

   What movie is it? you may ask. Let me tell you. None other that well known stage play and all around weird western: "Paint Your Wagon".

   And here's my favorite line in the whole movie: Ben Rumson (Marvin) says it to "Pardner" (Eastwood) after they both get kicked out of the house by their wife: "Pardner, it's been my experience that there ain't nothin' more ruthless and treacherous than a genuine good woman."

   That's going on my Quotes I Love page immediately.

 

 

 

 

 

 Wednesday, March 4, 2009

 

   The library world was rocked to it's core in January when two Greenwich CT librarians were killed in a hit and run accident in Denver on their way home from an American Library Association meeting there. It turns out that one of the two was the one who booked me back in July for my show today at The Perrot Library in Old Greenwich CT. 

   I didn't really know Perrot Library youth services director, Kathy Krasniewicz (pictured right), but I did speak with her on the phone several times in the process of setting up today's performance. Each time, I was impressed by Kathy's cheerfulness and how easily she laughed at everything... even herself. This is the woman who, when I asked how to pronounce the name of their library, gleefully answered, "Perrot. Rhymes with snot!"

   When I got to their beautiful and unique library today, it was obvous to me that more than a month later, the community and especially the librarians and other library staff are still reeling from this huge unexpected loss. On the outside they were all very professional about things, but on the inside was shock, confusion, and very deep pain lurking below the surface. I'm not sure it was so obvious to other people, but I've always been able to pick up on this kind of thing so I simply had to dedicate my show today in FUN and laughing memory of the beloved and missed by all "Mrs. K.".

   125 or so people turned up for the show -- about 75% kids ond the other 25%  parents -- pretty much filling the bright and cheery performance space. It was great to work a full room on such a beautiful day! And I was delighted to see several faces in the audience I recognized from the several shows I've done over the past few years at the Byram Shubert Library, another of the excellent public libraries in Greenwich CT.

   The children were enthusiastic and laughed easily. (The parents, quite understandably, were a little tougher... but I got some good responses.)

   And I had a nice time goofing around with the children who gathered early while I was setting up before the show began.

   Click here for more photos.

   I was also excited that I got to meet the happy, smiling woman who referred me to the Perrot Library in the first place after seeing one of my shows at the Byram Shubert Library last year (I think). It's not often that I get to meet the people who refer me to someone who hires me. It was great to put a face to the referral. I think that's her left arm in the blue sweater at the extreme left in the photo. Her name is Barbara Bojonell, and I will easily remember her playful spirit and terrific smile.

   And that goes for Kathy K, too! Bless you, Kathy Krasniewicz. Heaven is now a better place.

 

 

 

 

 

   Last week I took my little Toy(ota) truck to Joe Ryan at Ryan Imported in Northampton MA for a tune up and an inspection sticker. He does the work getting it ready and then takes it over to Ernie's Sunoco for the sticker. Well, it turns out not only did I need a tune up, but I needed a new battery, too. Unfortunately, as Joe said, "I did a little boo-boo." They put the new battery in before taking it in for inspection. That makes the computer chip reset all the codes, but it only does it after you've driven for a few days. So my truck failed.

   Today, I brought it back to Ernie's and it passed. But not before I was thoroughly entertained by the wits of several of the staff there! What a funny bunch of people.

   I also was entertained at the Northampton Post Office when I went in to buy another roll of postcard stamps. (I do a lot of direct mail advertising.)

   And then, well past midnight, I got an email from my old friend Jim Dubois. He went hiking with us last week when my son and his fabulous girlfriend were here last week. He sent me a couple photos he took of me during the hike (see , but the one I really wanted was the picture he took of my son Jason & Kelly his girlfriend (below, with blow up below that). So tonight, he sent it to me. YAY! Thanks Jim!

 

 

 

 

 

 

   Craig Holmes was waiting for me in the parking lot at the VFW in Amherst MA this afternoon when I arrived for Carolyn Holmes's 9th birthday party. He said to me, "Oh good. I'm glad you're here. They're running around like crazy in there!" And when I walked in the door, sure enough: the music was just cranking and most of the kids were indeed running around like crazy! In fact, the DJ was egging them on! Luckily, all the kids were being careful and nobody was getting hurt... they just had a whole lot of energy to burn off!

   A small crowd gathered around me as I was setting up. The birthday girl came right over to me and politely asked me what was going to happen. When I told her I was going to do a show, then we were going to play some parachute games, and then everyone was going to get to make their own ribbon dancer, her eyes lit up like stars and a huge smile appeared on her face. It was wonderful to see. Already the birthday girl was happy. Yay!

   So over the next hour and a half, we did exactly that: Show. Games. Ribbon Dancers. And as far as I could tell, not only did Carolyn have a wonderful time at her party, but all her friends did, too! Sweet alreet!

   In fact, as I was going around the room giving out stickers afterwards, pretty much every single adult there said something really nice to me like: the kids all had a good time, it was great that they weren't just running around like banshees anymore, Carolyn had a great time, everything was wonderful, you did a good job, etc. And Carolyn herself said she wanted me to come back to her party again next year!

   One last thing: some of her friends may have been running around like crazy beforehand, but Carolyn Holmes herself was polite, cheerful, and very well-behaved from beginning to end. I noticed her voluntarily taking care of the younger children as well as spontaneously helping her friends with things several times during the two hours or so that I was there. Several times, both before and after my stint, she borrowed the DJ's microphone and said thank you's to everyone in the room for making her party FUN! Frankly, this child really impressed me. Her good manners and cheerful, happy, helping spirit were a joy to see, and it was a really BIG pleasure to entertain at her party. Bless you Carolyn Holmes! May you have a long and happy life.

 

 

 

 

   Our pals Don & Barbara lived in a different time zone this morning, but they managed to make it down here in time to see Smith College's Lyman Planthouse (greenhouses) annual Bulb Show just before closing time this afternoon.

   Actually, we got there a little earlier than that, but there was a big line waiting to get in, so we decided to rearrange our schedule and walk the trail that starts directly across the street from the greenhouses first instead of afterwards. It's a really nice trail that winds along the north bank of the Mill River starting at Paradise Pond and ending at Federal St behind the Northampton High School athletic fields. We didn't walk that far because the trail was getting more and slushy. But we had a nice walk for about half an hour hoping that the line at the greenhouses would be shorter when we got back.

   But it was a gorgeous, warm, sunny day so our hopes were in vain... the line was actually longer when we got back. Fortunately, the line was moving along and we only ended up waiting about 10 minutes to get in. Nancy and I go to the SC Bulb Show pretty much every year (because it's FABULOUS!), but we've never had to wait in a line like this to get in before.

   When we got inside, it was pretty obvious why: Every other time we've been, visitors were going both ways up and down both aisles in all the greenhouses; but this year for some weird reason, the sheep were all lining up single file and all walking in one direction counter-clockwise around the place. Anytime anyone stopped to take pictures, smell the flowers, or just to take in a particular spot of beauty, everybody had to stop. It was painfully slow and extremely frustrating because I'd been here so many times when it wasn't like this at all. With two way traffic in both aisles, not only were there more than twice as many people inside, but if someone stopped in front of you you could at least try to pass them. With this single-file-one-way thing these people were doing, nobody would pass anybody and the whole thing just got clogged up like arteriosclerosis. No wonder there was a huge line waiting to get in.

   But anyways, the flowers were simply gorgeous -- I stopped and smelled them a lot, too -- and all my favorites were there again this year. It was worth the wait and the annoyance. And it runs another week, so we may go again!

   Also, I must admit that as much as I just love being in a couple rooms full of flowers before the end of winter, I still like the Jungle Room there the best. It's lush, it's green, it's overflowing with plant life, and it's warm as toast all winter long. Sometimes when I get a bad case of the Winter Blues, I'll go there and just sit and read a book in the Jungle Room for an hour or so. It cheers me right up every time!

    On the way back, we stopped at River Valley Market, bought a lot of snacks, and created quite a spread at home: cheese, 3 kinds of crackers, rice cakes, hummus chips, black olive tapenade, green olive tapenade, red pepper hummus, blueberries, apple slices, dried figs, snack mix, pistachios, raw cashews,  carob spirulina Energy Chunks, a jug of wine, and thou (and probably a few other things I'm forgetting). In fact, it was such a great spread that one of us -- t'weren't me -- filled up so much that he couldn't eat any supper!

 

 

 

 

 

 

   My brother Ian sent me this photo of our family in front of our cabin at the Fryeburg New Church Assembly family camp in Fryeburg ME in August of 1973. That's me against the tree on the left. And then from left to right standing: Mom, Jim (Jane's 1st husband), my oldest sister Jane, my second oldest sister Laura with my youngest brother Todd in front of her, my next younger brother Ian with my younger sister Ellen on his back. Seated left to right: Carol (Ross's 1st wife), my older brother Ross, my second younger brother Lee, and Pop.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Tuesday, March 10, 2009

 

   After Sunday's frustration with the sheep (baa baa) at the Smith College greenhouses annual Bulb Show on Sunday, Nancy & I went back today. It was delightfully uncrowded and we explored at our leisure. Actually, I never got out of the 1st greenhouse of flowers: I spent our entire time there this time smelling every single flower my nose could reach. Ah, bliss!

   As I was smelling the very last one, my lovely wife suddenly reappeared next to me, all done and ready to go home. Excellent timing as usual, hon. 

 

 

 

 

 

   For something completely different, my lovely wife Nancy & I both had the day off today. She's been in grad school on Saturdays, and I usually work weekends; but this is Spring Break in collegeland and I didn't have a gig today. Wow! Doesn't happen often. 

   Among other things, we went on our "Favorite Local Walk" today from the old Northampton MA Moose Lodge 20 minutes through the woods to Fitzgerald Lake and back. She took our picture in front of a  hemlock tree on the opposite end from where we usually do pictures. Something different we're tryin'.

 

 

 

 

 

 

   After church today (borrrrring! Rev. Sarah was out sick and the sub preacher was a member of the (say this as slooooooooow as you can) S-l-o-w  T-a-l-k-e-r-s  o-f  A-m-e-r-i-c-a  S-o-c-i-e-t-y), we went to a fake tag sale and bought an upright vacuum cleaner for $10. (I say "fake" tag sale because this couple was obviously operating a second hand store on weekends but calling it a tag sale to avoid all the red tape that goes along with owning a store.)

   When we got home, I set about testing out our newer, lighter vacuum cleaner. Good thing I'd procrastinated on my vacuuming chore that I usually do on Fridays, eh? Anyways, it sucked. (heh heh heh.)

   Anyways, it didn't work very well because the belt was broken. What do you expect for ten bucks, huh??? D'you really expect the thing to work?

   So Nancy and I went to the mall, got a new belt, some extra bags for our canister vac, a piece of purple fabric, a couple gallons of bleach, some cleanser, and a bunch of cool stickers for me that were on clearance.

   So now our new (to us) vacuum cleaner works great! So what if it really cost $12.99. It's still worth it.

   Plus, Nancy reupholstered our computer chair. Now it's great, too! And so is she.

 

P.S. What's the difference between a vacuum cleaner, a dog, and a fan?

Answer: One sucks, one bites, and one blows!

 

 

 

 

 

   A couple weekends ago, my lovely wife and I were at the Forbes Library in Northampton MA, and upstairs in the Hosmer Art Gallery we noticed a very curious exhibit called "Psalms in Ordinary Voices". It was 10 years in the making, a project of the Rev. Dr. Andrea Ayvasian. This amazing person, (along with top-notch photographer Ellen Augarten) has created a wonderful book. This this evening, Nancy & I were delighted to attend the formal reception.

   The exhibit features selections from the book enlarged to gallery size: large photos of local people, each above a psalm that they have read and then written for more modern times in their own words... updating, condensing, rewriting, etc.  She asked about 300 people -- and half of them said Yes! -- to pick  from the available Psalms and up-date them.  I think her 50% response rate shows the incredible influence this woman carries in the community. Any normal person would have had to ask at least twice or three times that many people to do the daunting task of rewriting one of the Psalms for formal publication. The book (which is still looking for a formal publisher) has all 150 psalms in it next to photos of whoever did the words. The exhibit featured a terrific selection of about 30+ of them. Simply wonderful! Inspiring!

   I think it helped that I knew some  of these Psalms (or parts thereof) by heart. And if you wanted to compare them with the original, they had a large, handsome Bible (with woodcuts by Barry Mosier (who used to own the house I live in and probably did some of that very artwork in my home!)) there to refer to.

   And I was pleased to see that I recognized most of the wide variety of people in this very, very local this project: including children, teens, adults, elders, blacks, whites, asians, rich, poor, gay, straight, homeless, musicians, carpenters, teachers, relatives, friends, parishioners, strangers!

   The Rev. Dr. Andrea Ayvazian is one of my favorite people in the world. Everything she touches with her cheerful, giving, caring, loving, exuberant soul just turns golden and starts to shine brightly. God bless Andrea!

 

 

 

 

 

   Mostly, I took the day off today. Didn't do much of any work, picked up the mail, did a couple crossword puzzles, read a little, played some Bookworm on-line, read the news, ate, talked, sat around, and generally took the day off because I deserved it. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    As previously arranged, my lovely wife called me early this afternoon to drive to South Hadley and meet her at the Talcott Greenhouses on the Mount Holyoke College campus to see their annual Bulb Show.

   Although it's not nearly as big as the Smith College greenhouse's bulb show that we went to last week (see 3/8 & 3/10 above), this one is still absolutely wonderful! I stopped and smelled all the flowers! I learned that my current favorite flower smell is that of Freesia volante. It's an unusual white freesia with rose-like flowers and the sweetest flower smell I've ever experienced.

   Each year, they have a theme at the MHC Bulb Show that has absolutely nothing to do with the flowers. It's just a FUN little thing they do for a little variety to make the show a little more interesting. This year, they had some grass and a pavestone "crosswalk" across the middle of one of the flower tables, with a "Ped X-ing" sign. 

   Well, along comes Grandma & Granddaughter, age 3. Grandma picks up Granddaughter and plunks her standing up on the "crosswalk" saying, "Grandma's going to take your picture now. Look at Grandma. Look over here, dear! I'm over here! Look at me! Look at the camera! Look over here!" and so on for most of a minute. The whole while, Granddaughter is definitely not looking at Grandma. She's clutching the front of her jacket looking everywhere else -- anywhere but at Grandma.

   Finally Grandma pauses for a moment and Granddaughter pipes up, "Grandma, we have to take off my jacket if you're going to take my picture," as if Grandma ought to know this. And that sets Grandma's mouth off again, "Oh, you want your jacket off the the picture, huh? We better get this little jacket off before I can take your picture. Off comes the jacket, then we can take your picture. First the jacket, then the picture." and so on and so on and so on.

   My lovely wife is going to grad school at the Simmons College satellite program at Mount Holyoke College studying to become some sort of librarian, so she had been already been there in South Hadley for most of the day studiously working on her schoolwork. So after we were done at the greenhouses, she took me across campus and up to the absolutely gorgeous MHC library. What an amazing building! Large, old, stone, building. Lots of wood inside everywhere. Flowing staircases of all kinds, including a long wooden one attached up the side of the wall in the reference room who's sole purpose is to go up to a "lookout platform" so you can look down over the entire room as well as the entryway on the other side from up above! (photo left) But wait, there's more! Moving stacks in the archives. Lots and lots of beautiful windows everywhere. Wooden shelving. And beautifully appointed everywhere, too. Gorgeous. Just. Plain. Gorgeous.

   I enjoyed the little library tour, honey. Next time I want to go up into the library tower and see the view from there!

 

 

 

 

 

   An hour and a half drive this a.m. brought me to the William H. Lincoln School in Brookline MA. Lu Huebner is the Chairperson of Half Day Activities there, and she had called me back in January to book today's show. In fact, Lu was waiting for me at the door when I arrived and was nothing but helpful from beginning to end. She even saved me a parking space!

    The school has this nifty little auditorium with the seats just packed in tight -- the front row is so close to the stage that there's barely enough room to walk through! I just love having the audience right up front, so I knewthe second I walked into their auditorium that I was going to like performing here .

   Plus, there was a piano right beside the stage. I do like to play the piano, but that's not at all why I was glad for the piano. You see, pianos are exactly the right height to sit on when I'm putting on my stilts before the show. So a piano at stage level (no stairs!) is just plain excellent. So this performance space is that much better already!

   Another noticeable thing about this school is the racial diversity. Not just a bunch of white kids with a few black kids, and not just a bunch of black kids with a few white kids, but blacks and whites and lots of different kinds of Asians, some Hispanics, and I think I even saw a few Middle East kids and maybe a couple Pacific islanders there, too. It was really great!

   Oh yes... and, by the way, the kids all seemed to have a really good time in the show, too!

 

 

 

 

 

   For the third time in four years I got a call from Terry Shaw to entertain his daughter, her friends and family. Catherine (with a "C") Shaw's 6th birthday party was held in the nicely renovated events hall at the American Legion in Northampton MA. Terry is a big fan of mine and just gushes endlessly about me to my face. Sometimes it's a little much, but it still feels good, my friends! Plus, it was nice to see him and Catherine again.

   One of the cool things that I really like about this gig (and it happened last time, too) is that all the adults there actually shut up and watch the show! It's awesome. Most of the time when I'm entertaining children (You do know that I entertain teens and adults, too, right?), once the adults have determined that I'm going to be fine with the kids, they just ignore me and spend the whole time I'm there talking... often right there where I'm performing! But not this group, no, this group was with me the whole time; laughing in all the right places; smiling, clapping, and just plain enjoying the show. I love it!

 

   Next, I drove to South Hadley for Grace Pisciotta's 5th birthday party. It was an absolutely gorgeous day today, so I'm delighted to say that this was my first outdoor party of the season! YAY! It was my Outdoor Special with Project: Ribbon Dancer: I got to do my stiltwalking show and play parachute games and make ribbon dancers with the kids out in the backyard today! Cool-i-o! Isn't Spring grand?

   Grace was all decked out in a nifty little outfit that included an amazing shirt with lights that blinked on and off whenever she moved! It was pretty cool. When I first got there and was lugging my stuff in, Grace wasn't so sure about me. But 10 minutes later when I came strolling into the backyard on stilts, her whole face lit up and it was all smiles and grins from then on. What a cutie!

   I'd like to thank Deb Pisciotta (the mom) for her gracious hosting: everyone was happy the whole time, from the very youngest child on the lawn to the oldest adult schmoozing on the deck. Thanks, too, to the parents who helped the children with the ribbons; and to the parents that allowed their children to drag them off the deck to help us play "Popcorn!" with the parachute. "Shake it UP!!!"

 

   And as soon as I got home, my lovely wife and I began doing food prep for a Live Foods Potluck at our friend Star's house in Deerfield MA.

   I've know Star for a long time but it's been over a year since I seen her. She was doing regular live foods potlucks for a while at her old place in Colrain MA for a while, but that seemed to stop all of a sudden.

   There's was a pretty good crowd of hard-core Live Foodist there. I admit, I'm not hard-core about it in the least. I know it works. I know it's one of the very few ways to true health. And I know that it's a pretty awesome way to eat. 

   I also know it's a huge committment that requires many significant changes that I just am not going to do right now. But in the meantime, it was GREAT to see Star again and her new place and share some pretty amazing food, too! I'm really looking forward to the next one!!!

 

 

 

 

 Sunday, March 29, 2009

   "My Favorite Singer in the World!"   

 Just by chance, I was looking at the events listings on craigslist and discovered that my favorite singer in the whole world just opened a new voice studio in Holyoke MA and is hosting an open house there tonight! I mentioned it to my lovely wife, and she said without any hesitation, "Well, we should go then." So we did.

 After supper tonight, we drove to Holyoke to Celia's Voice Studio at 380 Dwight St, 3rd floor <http://www.celiasvoicestudio.com>. Celia's new studio isn't very big, but she had managed to set up a stage area and about 50 chairs inside.  Because it started so soon after supper, we were a little late; so when we got there, not only were all the seats full, but there was a throng of at least 40 people out in the hallway crowded around the door! (And it wasn't because that's where the food was either!)

 We managed to slip through the crowd and find one empty seat in the back; I didn't mind standing at all because this was a wonderful event! Celia's been teaching piano, guitar, and voice lessons for a long time. In fact, she's the only Certified Speech Level Singing Teacher in the area. This show was basically a talent show done by 15 of her students which ranged from age 4 all the way up to 60-something, and come from a wide variety of geo-political, racial, and socio-economic backgrounds. Some of the students were obviously beginners and others were already just plain excellent, but we enjoyed listening to them all. 

 Little 4-year-old Hannah, for instance, has been playing piano for all of three weeks! Her stage presence as well as her hesitating version of Frere Jacques were simply charming. She got HUGE amounts of applause. In fact, only a couple other perfomers got more than she did. 

 And it was wonderful to see Celia again and check out her new studio. I was hoping she was going to do a song herself at the end, but alas, she didn't. However, I did get to hear her accompany a couple students on piano and do back-up vocals on one song... so I'm alright now: I got a little bit!  You can check out Celia's work at <http://www.celiasongs.com>.

 

 

 

 

   Another Blast From the Past"   

   This afternoon -- another gorgeous Spring day in the Pioneer Valley -- my lovely wife and I decided to do a little hike. We wanted somewhere nearby that wouldn't be soaking wet after two days of rain.

   Then I remember the Trustees of the Reservations property at Petticoat Hill in Williamsburg MA. Since it goes rather steeply up the side of the hill, we figured the trail itself would be mostly drained. We were mostly right. There were a few wet parts, but they were all easily circumvented.

   This is one of those Trustees properties that not many people visit, and those who do are mostly local people who use the trail to just take a little hike like we did today.

   With the new extension -- Locke's Loop Trail, this delightful hike now takes about an hour. Shortly after we started, we heard the church bell down in the village chime 3:00, and shortly before we got back to my vehicle we heard it chime 4:00. The original trail is a bit shorter loop, but I don't think I've ever just taken the lower loop.

   Some of the things we really appreciate about this trail are: it goes through several different eco-climates; it's a loop trail, so there's no backtracking; it's fairly well marked; it's nearby; it's steep in parts but not too steep so you get that cardio-pulmonary exercise and stretch your hamstrings, too; it's not too popular; and it's beautiful no matter what time of year you walk it. 

   We've already decided to back here really soon.

 

   And here's a blast from the past sent to my by my cousin Sarah:

 August 1965

Fryeburg New Church Assembly

Fryeburg ME

 

   My entire clan gathered in front of "the first bus": a school bus that Pop transformed into a camper that sleeps 10! It was awesome! I loved this part of my childhood. That's 9-year-old me on the upper right just below the red light.

   And in case you were wondering: this picture is not crooked... the bus is parked on a bit of a hill.

 

 

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PO Box 463, Haydenville, MA 01039