My oh my what a busy day! I woke up to my lovely wife's voice beside me (a great way to start my day).  She's the leap-out-of-bed-full-of-energy-at-the-crack-of-dawn type and I'm the drag-myself-out-of-bed-as-late-as-possible-because-I have-to type, so when I heard her lovely voice, she had already had breakfast and put a second coat of paint on the downstairs bathroom!

   And by the time I finally actually got out of bed, she was already hard at work painting the upstairs bathroom! So I went up and pitched in: working on fixing the screen, removing the rest of the old wallpaper, starting to  repair the drop ceiling, fixing the doorknob, and repairing the door to the attic that's just outside the bathroom.

   Then we had an interview with a prospective housemate. I'm glad to report she's moving in on Friday. And another just finished moving in today. You see, we rent out the four upstairs bedrooms in our home. I really like living with people, having other people to share the chores, the rent, and the utilities, and having other people around to talk to and socialize at home with. I've lived in this house for 20 years, and for the first time ever we had all four rooms available at the same time. It was a scary thought (remember the "share the rent and utilities part"?), but so far we've easily filled half of them, so I'm feeling much more optimistic and hopeful. In fact, I've had this really serene feeling that we'll have full occupancy very soon. Hope it's true!
   The interview started a little  late and hence ended a little late, so as soon as it was over, I jump in my vehicle drove 1.8 miles south to stiltwalk at the offficial Grand Opening of ←River Valley Market, our new cooperatively owned grocery store in Northampton MA that I've been helping get started for the last 10 years! We actually opened the store the last day of April this year, but having the official Grand Opening several months later is the current rage. It gives you time to work out the kinks, get all departments up to snuff, and have all staff experienced enough to help new customers.

   So when I got there about 15 minutes before the event was supposed to start, the parking lot was nearly full already! There were several canopy tents set up in the corner where the red truck is in the picture above: one for the food, one for the bands, and one for the audience. Several musicians were scheduled to perform for our gala event, starting with the ever-delightful Jay Mankita and ending with The O-Tones. There were several others there in between, but as you'll find out in a minute or so, I was only able to be there for the beginning and the end.

    All sorts of stuff was going on while I was stiltwalking, but I'm not going to tell you about it. If your interested, click River Valley Market to visit their website.

   So after an hour and a half at the Grand Opening, I was driving out of the overflowing parking lot while The Vegan Bus was shuttling people back and forth from the huge shopping plaza's lot just down the street.

   They were driving back and forth, but I was on my way to Conway Grammar School in Conway MA. Faithful readers may recall that I worked there about a month ago on September 5th. The principal liked my work so much then that she immediately booked me to come back again to entertain the children during a similar parent event today.
   There was hardly anyone there when I arrived, but soon people began showing up. For the first 10 minutes or so, there were only 2 kids. I'm thinking to myself, "Okay, what games am I going to do with just two kids?" There's plenty of possibilities in my repertoire, but I don't get to use them very often, that's all. Soon a third child showed up with books in hand, but alas, she had to finish her homework before playing, so for the time being it was still just two  kids.

   But don't worry, folks, the crowd soon doubled, tripled, and quadrupled... in fact, by the time I was done there were at least twenty-five kids in the gym running around having a total blast! It was terrific to do a return date so soon after the other. I sure hope this trend continues!

   So then, I drove back to River Valley Market for the last forty-five minutes, in time for some great food, a little shopping, and the wonderful tunes of The O-Tones! There was a couple swing dancing in the front, several children dancing, and one dad and his daughter doing a wonderful dance on the hay bales, with dad helping daughter jump from one row of hay bales and back again over and over again! 

   And then it was over. I had signed up to help break down after the event. At the time, I was told that nobody else had signed up, but there were so many people helping clean up that it was all done in half an hour. Now that's cooperation!

   So I came home, unloaded my equipment, spent a little time catching up with my lovely wife before she went to bed around 10:00, and now it's almost 1:30 a.m. and I've been working at my desk ever since. 

   But not any more.

 

   It's a sad day for comedy. I've been one of the regulars at the monthly Open Comedy Mike at PACE in Easthampton MA since before it moved there from Fire & Water (rest its soul) in Northampton. I've attended nearly every single month, paid the cover charge, and laughed heartily at the funny parts. I've watched professional comedians as well as first-timers. I've seen comics grow and develop and just get better and better over time, and I've watched people who just plain aren't that funny continue to get up on stage month after month after month and continue to be just plain not that funny. I've seen people that actually are storytellers, not comedians, trying to be comedians month after month. And I've been blessed to have seen quite a few extremely funny people. And it as all coming to a halt. "Probably."

   Unfortunately, not enough people are attending the Open Mike to cover the costs of the event. Our host, and all around funny lady, Jennifer Myszkowski announced at the beginning this evening that tonight will "probably" be the last one. 

   A huge THANK YOU to our hostess with the mostest, that purveyor of fine comedy, that award-winning comedian and all around wonderful lady, our friend Jennifer Myszkowski!  →

   HIP HIP HOORAY FOR JENNIFER!! Yay and thank you Jennifer for all your time, energy, commitment, and love ("right here") that made this event work so well for so long.

   So, I'll really miss this event. It's been one of the joys in my life. And now it's gone. "Probably." So as far as I know, all the other open comedy mikes in the area are held in bars, and I'm just not a bar person. So now what do I do? Huh? Huh? Now what do I do? Waaaah!

 

   Today is a happy day in marriage land. Today is my lovely wife's and my 10th wedding anniversary!!!!!!!!!! (that's 10 !'s). Ten years ago, I married Nancy Fleetwood Little in the Bridgewater New Church in Bridgewater MA. That's our ←official wedding photo. My father officiated the wedding. My two talented children played the music. My nephews were ushers. And a whole boodle of our family and friends were there. After the ceremony, one our way out of the church, everyone who wanted to picked up either a balloon on a stick or a ribbon dancer that we had stuck in the edge of the lawn all the way around the two outer sides of the church. Then we all walked across the street to the Bridgewater Common inside the very long rotary in the center of town where we took pictures for about 20 minutes or so. After that we continued across the Common and crossed the street on the other side where we held the reception at the Bridgewater Masonic Lodge. All the food was provided by our guests. Music was DJed by Nancy's brother and his wife. Booze was provided by Nancy's dad. Our wedding cake was a whole wheat, maple-sweetened, vegan cake with fresh flowers made by Star Drooker and Trish Overstreet of Fire & Water Cafe in Northampton. The toast to the bride & groom was by my best buddy Don Benjamin. Entertainment was provided by my good friend and fellow Hats Off Performers Guild member Rob Peck and his wife Linda doing all my favorite juggling tricks from their repertoire.  Photography was by Nancy's friend Carol (who's last name I'm spacing right now). And quite a few people helped with clean-up afterwards. What a fabulous wedding we had!

   Then we went to the Virgin Islands for our honeymoon. What a fabulous place! We're going back.

   And now, 10 years later, we are the happiest couple I know. I just adore that woman, and she just adores me. We don't argue about money, chores, or sex. In fact, we don't argue about anything. In fact, we're still waiting to have our first fight. There's so many reasons why we get along so well, but the biggest one is that we fit together just right. We share similar tastes in lots of things (food, music, cleanliness, lifestyle). We both like to keep our place neat and clean. We're both take the long view and are pleased with small incremental improvements. We also both have good communication and listening skills. We can disagree about things without arguing. We both have a live and let live attitude. And the oddest thing is is that we're both perfectionists! Who woulda thunk a couple of perfectionists could get along this well?!?

   Well we're head over heels in love still. Asking this woman to marry me was the best decision I ever made. (Thanks Mom!)

 

   Today was the regular monthly meeting of the Hats Off Performers Guild, and I tell you: what a bunch this group is! I love these guys!

 

   One of the perks of this business is that I get to meet tons of nice people. Marilyn Wilson of Bristol CT is one of these. Marilyn is a volunteer parent who helps run the Enrichment Program at the Greene-Hills School in Bristol. She and her co-hort Alison Savino booked me to do one of my full-day residencies at their elementary school today.

   Throughout the day, I worked with each grade level one at a time in the gym for 30-45 minutes depending on the age level; and then at the end of the day, the entire school gathered in the gym for  my Stiltwalking & the Aerial Delights Show.

   I got there about an hour early, and after I had checked in with the office, gotten the day's schedule, and scoped out the performance space, Marilyn and her pre-school son Benjamin stopped in to meet me. Marilyn and I had a nice little chat, and Ben and I had some fun moments together before they had to go.
   If possible, I always like to see the kids ahead of time. The school gym is located right inside the main entrance, so while I was waiting for my time to begin I stationed myself in the hallway there with one of my favorite toys: ←my Astrojax, and interacted with the kids as they arrived at school. Several preschoolers and their parents were also hanging out in the hallway there waiting for something or other... and Marilyn and her son were among them. So I had some really sweet connections with with the kids coming in the door as well as some real quality time with Ben and his mom again. It was great! They were both laughing quite a bit, so I knew they were enjoying it as much as I was!

   And finally it was time to actually get to work! Greene-Hills School runs through grade 5. Each grade level has roughly 60 kids, plus both the morning and afternoon kindergarten & pre-K for a total of 320 kids or so. I introduced about a dozen new games to the Greene-Hills School student body including Fishy Fishy, Lemonade, Smaug's Jewels, Everybody's It, What Are You Wearing Today, and Knees Up Mother Brown. Despite a few unfortunate injuries (kids do fall down and get hurt sometimes when they are playing hard, it pains me to say), despite that, the kids seemed to be having a wonderful time, enjoying the games, enjoying play time in the gym, enjoying me... and I was sure enjoying the kids, too!

   So thank you to Marilyn and Alison for the opportunity to share some New Games & Cooperative Play with all the students at Green-Hills School in Bristol CT!

 

   Day One of our 10th Anniversary Celebration Vacation. In celebration of our 10th Wedding Anniversary, my lovely wife Nancy and I are spending three days and two nights on Cape Ann, which is about 40 miles north up the coast of Massachusetts from Boston. She found this terrific little private place for us to stay in Gloucester MA called Plum Cove Cottage. It's just one house away from the ocean and a very brief walk from Plum Cove beach � a brief little strip of sand tucked between a couple of rocky outcrops.

  Since check-in isn't until 3:00 p.m. and we wanted to have the whole day off together, we got up early, packed up and left home by 9:00 a.m., drove the 2½ hours to Gloucester, and went straight to a long, beautiful beach on the north shore of Gloucester called Wingaersheek Beach. →

   After a nice lunch together on the very fine and velvety sand of this out-of-the-way spot, Nancy took a little walk on the beach while I took a little snooze.

    Then we climbed back in my vehicle (I just like to say the word vehicle) and drove to the south shore of Gloucester to Stage Fort Park where they have an information center staffed by a couple of gabby old ladies (who were great by the way), a sweet little â†‘ beach right behind the visitor's center, some hiking trails, and a long ocean walk that goes both north and south along the coast. The northern route leads to a long curving beach that looked really good from a distance but it was getting on towards Snack Time so we decided against the long walk.

   Instead we went to the Common Crow � the local natural foods store � and stocked up on a few things before heading to Plum Cove Cottage on the corner of Washington Street and Plum Court. We parked in the cute little one-car garage, walked up the stone path past the little waterfall and flower gardens between the apple tree and the horsechestnut tree with it's compound leaves and prickly burrs, and then opened the door into this very welcoming cottage. It's a great little private vacation spot with all the amenities of home including a full kitchen, full bath, eat-in living room, bedroom loft, DVD & CD player with quite a few disks, cable tv, wireless internet, coffee maker, spiral staircase, and more.

   Once we'd unloaded and settled in, we walked hand-in-hand to ← Plum Cove beach (we still do that!) for our third beach of the day! After exploring it thoroughly, we returned to our little getaway cottage for another fine Scooter meal at the little tiny dining table in the corner of the main room. Over dinner, we talked about thee day, the first of three great days celebrating a decade of our happy, fulfilling, growing marriage. 

   After dinner we sat down and talked for a while about what beaches we're going to tomorrow before Nancy got too tired to stay awake.

   Here's a collage of ripple photos she took today of sand, ocean, clouds:

 

   Day Two of our 10th Anniversary Celebration Vacation. This morning, after we both got up, we walked 10 minutes north to the little village center up the road where Nancy got a coffee and a pastry. On the way back, we checked out an old graveyard (circa 1720!), where Nancy took a lot of photos. From there we walked a short way through the woods to the ocean where we took in the view for a few minutes (and Nancy took some photos) before returning home.

   Then we headed out the driveway once again, but this time by car. First we stopped at a local seafood restaurant, where Nancy picked up a lobster roll, before heading along to our next big destination of the day: Good Harbor Beach. →

   It was a little windy, so we picked a spot sort of tucked in a little nook up against the dunes at the back of the beach. From there, we watched a scattered bunch of beach strollers � most of them with their dogs � while we enjoyed a nice lunch together. There's a small island very close to shore at the north end of the beach. My lovely wife is a trained geologist who loves sedimentary petrology the best (that means she loves sand) so I asked her some questions about the effect that island would have on the beach. Her answers were quite educational, and after we finished eating we took a stroll over there to witness the geological effects first hand.

   And there I saw something I'd never seen before. Due to the wave action coming around both sides of the island, the sand was slowly but steadily being moved into the space between the island and the shore. The intersection of these two wave motions was particularly beautiful, too, but neither of these were what was new to me. What was new to me was that due to the combination of the loccation of this island so close to shore at the north end of the beach and the bi-directional wave motion around it, the sand was being moved around in such a a way that the end of the beach was actually out in the ocean (as opposed to tapering off gradually at the edge of the shore) so that there was actually a corner at the end of the beach. It was pretty cool!

   From there, we drove south along the east coast of South Gloucester and Eastern Point � a long, narrow isthmus of land protecting Gloucester Harbor. Destination this time: ←Eastern Point Lighthouse. It took several tries to get there because there's a lot of private roads there and there's absolutely no signs directing people to the lighthouse. Several times, we had to make a decision about going through a No Trespassing or Private Roads sign, but eventually, after ignoring the Don't signs we finally got to the lighthouse. Somehow, we knew it was okay, because yesterday the gabby ladies at the info center (see yesterday's entry) told us to be sure to visit this particular lighthouse.

   So we finally get there and it turns out it's part of a local wildlife sanctuary, so we knew we'd been right about driving in. The lighthouse itself is closed off and has people living in the buildings around it, so we didn't get to go up in it as we had hoped. But there's a huge stone jetty built way out into the ocean at the foot of it that has another significantly smaller lighthouse at the end of it. Neither of us felt like walking that far out and back (that's how long it is!) so Nancy just walked out a little ways to get some photos. 

   After that, we decided to visit downtown Gloucester. We'd driven through a couple times, and actually stopped there yesterday when we went to the Common Crow, so we knew we wanted to explore the downtown area a little bit. It was kinda kitchy: lots of "gift" shops with tacky junk that evidently tourists buy, but we did find a couple nice little shops worth exploring before climbing back into the car for the final leg of today's tour of Cape Ann.

   It was a leisurely drive north along the eastern coastline and around the tip at Halibut Point and back down the western coastline to our little cottage next to Plum Cove. It was a beautiful drive with not much traffic. We had originally hoped to be able to stop at Halibut Point Reservation for a while, but it was getting pretty late in the afternoon and we were both ready to be done for the day. 

 

   Day Three of our 10th Anniversary Celebration Vacation. 11:00 in the morning is check out time at Plum Cove Cottage in Gloucester, â†’ so after we got up we began packing our stuff and toting it out to my vehicle and were out of there by 10:30. But first, I had Nancy take a photo of this gorgeous flower â†“ in the front yard.

 

 

 

 

 

  We had made arrangements to have lunch at a place called Lobsta Land with Nancy's old chum Heather Reid, but since it was only about 10 minutes away and we didn't want to end up waiting there for 20 minutes we did a little detour on the way to the Annisquam Exchange. Yesterday, Nancy had overheard a couple of ladies talking about it and what she heard had made her want to see the place. So when we saw the sign for it on our way to Lobsta Land, we followed our impulses and quickly followed the sign to the quaint little village of Annisquam. It was a fun little shop; more antique shop than anything else, but I think it's actually a consignment shop. 

   We both found a couple of things we wanted: me, a Rosenberg Trio cd ($1), an Annisquam Massachusetts sticker with a lighthouse on it ($1.50), and a 5" dark red pull-back metal original VW Bug in nearly perfect condition; her, two china cereal bowls that we need ($6), and something I don't remember ($1). 

   As we proceeded on to the restaurant, we both commented that the prices seemed pretty skewed: some things way over-priced and others way under-priced. For instance, I've seen the VW I got for three bucks selling for $30-$40 in antique stores, and there was a round cardboard hat box that would be perfect for my wedding hat that I expected to be like $5 or something thereabouts that was priced at $30. Granted, neither of us are antiques experts, but we have been around the block a few times, ya know.

   So Heather got to the restaurant about 60 seconds after we did. We had a really nice lunch at a window table overlooking a huge salt marsh. Nancy & Heather got to catch up with each other and I got to enjoy their company. It was a really nice lunch. 

   About an hour later we parted company, Heather heading home to pick up her son at school before heading to Maine for the long weekend, and us heading north to Halibut Point Reservation before heading home.

   Halibut Point Reservation was simply gorgeous! It's central part is a huge old rock quarry↑↓ that is now a rock-rimmed lake. It was so beautiful. We ended up walking all the way around it with side trips down to the ocean and up to an awesome lookout site. We were there about an hour but could have easily spent three hours there. I sure wasn't ready to go when our appointed hour to leave arrived, but we really wanted to be home around 5:00 and especially wanted to miss the rush of traffic escaping the area for the long weekend. So we left...  a little bit late, but we left.

   However, Nancy was regretting not getting a certain item at the Annisquam Exchange, so since it was pretty much on the way, we went back there so she could  buy a $10 hat.

   Then we started heading home. I think we were actually on the vanguard just ahead of the bulk of traffic: there was lots of it, but it was still moving along at a pretty good clip. It did slow down a bit here an there, but never by much. Phew! We made it out of Eastern Massachusetts without getting stuck in Friday rush hour anywhere!

   And finally, to add one more little feather to our vacation crown, when we got home, we unpacked the truck and went out to dinner at our favorite restaurant because we still had a bit of money left in our vacation fund. (Gotta spend it all, you know.)

   So all parties agree, our 10th Anniversary Celebration Vacation was a resounding success! YAY! Thanks for marrying me 10 years ago, Nancy my love. I adore you still and always will.

 

   This morning it was by pleasure to read the true story of Johnny Appleseed (born John Chapman)→ at the River Valley Market Grand Opening Apple Day celebration in Northampton MA. Faithful readers will know how involved I am in this member-owned community grocery store that we've recently opened in Northampton.

   We have an entire month of events scheduled to celebrate our Grand Opening this month. We specialize in locally-grown food and currently have somewhere around 20 varieties of locally-grown apples available in our produce department, so it makes sense to have a special day to celebrate that old classic: the apple.

   There were all sorts of activities for kids to do outside today at the co-op besides the story of Johnny Appleseed including: a bounce house; edible merry-go-rounds that you get to make yourself out of an apple, straws, animal crackers, and peanut butter for glue!; a free drawing; several activities sheets like an apple maze, coloring pages, and the like; a guess how many apples in the bushel basket contest; entry forms for the co-op's kid's acrostic poem contest; and more! Not to mention, other activities indoors! A good time was had by all.

 

   Although I admit I enjoy every single gig that I do, I must admit that there's some gigs I enjoy more than others, and Brown's Harvest Annual Pumpkin Festival Weekends in Windsor CT is one of them.  

   I've been helping the Brown's celebrate their harvest every year since 1995! In fact, this is the first year since 1997 that I haven't done appearances on two different weekends in October for them. To date, I've done 25 appearances at Brown's Harvest!

   I've been a part of the Brown's annual festivities for so long now that I know not only them, but their adult children and their grandchildren, too! I've seen their grandkids (who help out on the farm, too) growing bigger each year. And I've really enjoyed seeing the whole clan each October from Mr. Brown himself down to the newest grandchild. I love hearing Mr. Brown telling me how good this year's harvest is every year. I love catching up with Sue & Kathi, and I love having the grandkids follow me around with a big smirk on their faces as I'm walking on stilts and doing shows for the customers each year.

   I've also enjoyed seeing their little pumpkin festival getting better and better each year. The old favorites are always there, and then they add some new little twist each year. It's such a joy to see everyone � kids, parents, and grandparents � enjoying the delightful activities and general festiveness that the Brown's have created for everyone.

   Three cheers for the Brown's: hip-hip-hooray! hip-hip-hooray! hip-hip-HOORAY for the Browns!

 

   Julianna Tremblay is a cheerful, spirited, spontaneous child so it was great to entertain for Julianna Tremblay's 5th birthday party at Hold the Anchovies! pizza parlor in Pittsfield MA today. I got there about 15 minutes before I was supposed to start. And Julianna's grandmother (also cheerful, spirited, and spontaneous) arrived shortly after I did and announced, "Here I am, late as usual," so I announced, "Here I am, early as usual!"

   Julianna's mother Christina met me at the door and was also cheerful, spirited, and spontaneous (surprise, surprise). She was also very helpful with arranging with the management exactly where in the restaurant I was going to perform.

   So, soon they had the crowd gathered in front of me with most of the kids in the front and most of the adults in the back. Usually this means that the adults pretty much talk through my whole show, but this group of adults watched all the way through and many of them participated whenever it was appropriate! It was refreshing.

   And young Julianna, in her pretty party dress and shoes, got quite a few spontaneous laughs for her antics and also shed a tear or two at one overwhelming part of the show... but nothing that a little ketchup couldn't cure! So Happy 5th Birthday, Julianna!!!!!

 

   When I got home, my best buddy Don and his wife Barbara were semi-spontaneously visiting. He had called me the day before to see about coming by sometime today, but both my wife and I seemed to recall he was going to call ahead of time after I got home from work to arrange a time to drop by. It's fine that they just showed up � it was just a little surprise!

   So we chatted for a while and then went for a great walk to Fitzgerald Lake (our favorite nearby walk in the woods). When we arrived home an hour later, my old Northampton Food Co-op chum Doug Black was also semi-spentaneously visiting. He had called a few time to arrange a visit while he was here from Oregon, but I seemed to recall that he was going to be arriving late in the evening. It's fine that he showed up at supper time � it was just a little surprise!

   So we all chatted up old times until Nancy had our dinner ready. Doug had a dinner engagement elsewhere, so after he took off, the four of us had a delightful meal before Don & Barbara also headed out. 

   After I did the dishes, the two of us wound down with a nice warm cup of tea on the porch before Nancy hit the hay.

   ← My best buddy Don came down from Vermont for another visit this evening. We hung out here for a while, watched a movie, talked, and then went to visit a mutual friend we both hadn't seen for a while. It was a nice night. I'm really glad he came for a visit.

 

   We went to two (2!) terrific events today after five days of housework. We've been fixing up and cleaning one of our upstairs rooms to get it ready to rent out again. It's been pretty tedious, boring, dull, yawn producing... and we've both been pretty tired out at the end of the day every single day this week. So it was really nice to finally get out of the house today and do something that wasn't scrubbing floors, cleaning out heating ducts, or lugging stuff the previous tenant didn't bother to take with her.

   This morning, it was Explore the Eastern Forest Hike and Talk with big tree expert and arboreal-loving guy ←Bob Leverett. It was co-sponsored by River Valley Market and the Broad Brook Coalition. As my faithful readers know, RVM is our new member-owned grocery store in Northampton MA, and the Broad Brook Coalition is a volunteer group that helps maintain and root for the Fitzgerald Lake Conservation area which is  also in Northampton. The coop is located adjacent to the conservation area. Well, maybe not actually abutting, but you can easily walk through the woods from one to the other.

   This hike and talk was held at our favorite local walk in the woods. Nancy & I do this walk 20-40+ times each year, so it was pretty cool to hear an expert teach us about some of the trees we've been walking past for years and years and years.

   And this evening it was Comedians for Change, an improv comedy show fundraiser for Barack Obama featuring members of the local comedy troops the Villa Jidiots and the Ha Ha Sisterhood (plus a ringer or two). The publicity for the event all featured local comedian and soccer mom Cathy McNally as Sarah Palin→. She was hilarious and stayed in character for the entire evening, which I thought was simply fabulous. She did a monologue to open the show that was just brilliant. She worked in Palin's speech patterns, mannerisms, and personal stage presence with both biting humor and great comedic effect. The entire audience was laughing, chortling, ha-ing, guffawing, snorting, and snickering under their breath from beginning to end! 

   And the rest of the show was a real rip-snorter, too. It was simply impossible to be a stoic in that room for the hour and a half that this wonderful collection of people did their thing.

   The show was held at the North Star school in Hadley which was probably a free space but it was too small for the huge crowd that showed up for the show. They actually had to turn people away because they were over capacity! But those who got there on time (let that be a lesson to you latecomers) got to enjoy a mighty lot of laughs for Obama. Plus I got a couple free campaign stickers, too.

    ← Here's a picture of me, my lovely wife, and Sarah Palin after the event courtesy of comedian extraordinaire and founding member of the Villa Jidiots, Cathy McNally.

 

 

   Glastonbury KinderCare has been booking me nearly every year for quite a few years now to come to their center and entertain the kids for an entire day. They had already booked me once this year, so I was surprised last month when I got another call from them. They did indeed book me for a second time this year, but not to be at their day care. Nope. This time, they were kind enough to sponsor my appearance at the 34th annual Glastonbury Chamber of Commerce Apple Harvest Festival ↓ held at the Welles Street Riverfront Park in Glastonbury CT...  and thousands of people were very glad they did.

   What a great event! The fair was already in full swing when I got there for my 11:00-2:00 stint.  There were nearly 150 booths selling everything from food to crafts to funky stuff. (This photo→ must have been from last year because there were way more booths this year. Way.) There was live music all day long plus a children's entertainment area at the opposite end of the grounds.

   Lots of local organizations had booths to promote their services or to fundraise for a good cause. The local Fire Departments' trucks were very popular. I got a great sticker from the Glastonbury Police Department, plus quite a few social service agencies, several churches, and various youth groups had booths, too.

   The midway â†“ was also a big attraction. There were lots of rides, Ferris Wheel and all!

   First, I got to stiltwalk the fair for about an hour and a half, doing thousands of REALLY high fives and lots of little "spot shows" whenever I gathered a crowd. Everywhere I went, there were tons of people having a great time (except that one unhappy little boy who wanted a third ice cream cone!) This is one great fair, let me tell you! Kudos to the planners.

   Thankfully, I was able to park my truck right beside the children's entertainment area, so when I was done on the stilts, I just sat on my truck and took them off in front of a small crowd of curious children.
   Next, I pulled out my parachute for a half hour of Parachute Games. As more and more children noticed this exciting activity, the group clutching the edge of the chute got bigger and bigger. It started out with just 7 children, but had grown to nearly 50 by the time we were done.

   For my final segment, I grabbed my big red ribbon suitcase and set up my Ribbon Dancer Factory for Project: Ribbon Dancer. All the kids got to make and decorate their own ribbon dancer to play with and take home courtesy of Glastonbury KinderCare. I was very busy! Any time the line got too short, I'd pull out my megaphone and call out, "Get your free ribbon dancers here! Free ribbon dancers to play with and take home! Practically no line, almost no waiting! Get your free ribbon dancers here courtesy of Glastonbury KinderCare!" and as if by magic a bunch more children would suddenly appear. Cool.

   And so here's a special thank you to Glastonbury KinderCare for sponsoring my appearance at this delightful hometown fair.

 

   I got a call two days ago from a man who turned out to be one of my landlord's best buddies. They go way back. He booked me to do a delivery � something I don't do a lot of but that I really like doing. It was for is granddaughter. So this morning at 8:00 a.m. (something else I don't do a lot!), I did a delivery and performance for Taylor Perrier's 7th birthday in Easthampton MA.

   So when he called me, Charlie Graves told me that her birthday theme was Hannah Montana. I don't know a lot about teeny bopper music these days, but at least I've heard of her. So I called the local place where I get balloon bouquets to see if they had any mylar Hannah Montana â†“ balloons, and the did! But when I went in last night to pick them up, it was even better!

   So, I walked out of there with a singing Hannah Montana mylar balloon! The look on Taylor's face when she saw the balloon was great... but when Hannah Montana actually began to sing, that look became priceless! She was absolutely thrilled. 

   She also was really happy with the little show I did as well as with one of my unique, custom-made TREVOR's Fun Packs specially made just for her that I delivered to her along with her balloons. In fact, all the little 3- and 4-year-olds in Taylor's mom's day care � Tiny Toes family day care � were also really happy.

 

   I don't often get calls from bars. When I do it's always means FUN. Back in August, Angie Stemp at the Brewmasters Tavern â†’ in Williamsburg called me and booked me for the entire day for the first annual Williamsburg Fall Festival that she and co-worker Kathy Cayo planned and pulled off so well that the town officials asked them half way through if it could become an official "Williamsburg Town Event" from now on!

   It wasn't big, but it sure was great FUN for everyone who participated whether it was as a performer, a vendor, an organizer, or an attendee. The "Feed the Cute Little Farm Animals" area and the "Live Rock Music All Day in the Beer Garden" area were both extremely popular. There were  fabulous local craftspeople set up inside the Grange Hall. And outside lined up along Main Street and the entrance to the Anne T. Dunphy Elementary School were various booths and activities including face painting, balloon hats, food, cotton candy, 4-H with a paint your own pumpkin booth, several "antique junk" dealers, homemade cookies and pastries, hayrides, a great show on the porch of the tavern with the audience sitting on the front lawn, multiple award-winning local author of young people's horse books Ellen Feld doing a book signing, local blacksmith Ben Westbrook of BMW Ironworks doing a live demonstration, several vendors of the unusual, and me. I probably missed a few there, but you get the idea: It was a fun little rural town fair.

   I got to stiltwalk the fair for the first few hours doing lots of High Fives ↑ and several brief "spot shows". This one boy purposely â†“ climbed up into a tree just to give me a REALLY High Five.

   Then I began telling fairgoers that I would be doing my show at 3:00. When showtime rolled around, I had crowd of nearly 50 people gathered.

   After the show, I told the audience that as soon as I put my show equipment away that I'd pull out different equipment and we'd be playing some parachute games on the front lawn of town hall and after that I be setting up for Project: Ribbon Dancer. But in the 10 minutes it took me to pack up after the show, 80% of the children had completely disappeared. There were, like, maybe 5 kids left. Period. And I looked all over, too.

   So I set up the Ribbon Dancer Factory and began churning out ribbon dancers for the kids to decorate and enjoy. But the whole time, these two girls who were evidently there all day kept nagging me about when are we going to be playing the Parachute Games anyways, huh? Huh? HUH? When? Huh? When?

   So, despite my uncertainty about if it would work, I pulled out the smaller of the two parachutes I brought, cleared the cops off the front lawn of Town Hall, and spread out the chute. We started out with only four of us, one at each of the four red "corners"... making the round parachute basically a square! Four is not really enough people to play any of the parachute games where one or more players lets go of the parachute (which is most of them!) so I was glad when within just few minutes we upped our numbers to nearly a dozen. By the time we got to the end 45 minutes later, we had plenty.

   And then it was right back to making ribbon dancers at the craft table for the rest of the fair. I was kind of tucked away in an out of the way place, but I didn't mind using my megaphone as needed to bring the customers in. After all, my "product" was free anyways! And then, I got this guy to help we just carry my entire table out onto the front lawn. That worked!

   I was supposed to be working until 7:00, but by 6:00 nearly every booth had packed up and gone home. The only ones left were two "antique junk" dealers and me. I still had 4 or 5 kids plus their parents working at my table, so I planned on sticking it out until the end. But 15 minutes later when a guy from the Grange Hall said they wanted their table back so they could go home, too, I quickly helped my young charges finish up. And by the time I was ready to carry the table back in, the nice man was there to help me... which was great because I'd had to carry that big unwieldy thing up out of the basement of the Grange and then back down the outside stairs by myself.

  So I packed up all my stuff and drove my truck up to the site to load it all back in. By the time I was done, Angie Stemp came trooping out of the tavern with her checkbook in hand. Perfect timing. I actually got to go home a little early... and with check in hand, too!

   And for me, that was the end of another great day at work.

   But for Angie and the rest of the crowd still at the Brewmasters Tavern in scenic downtown Williamsburg Massachusetts, the music and the food and the tap kept right on going well into the evening.

 

   It's no surprise that one of my favorite books by one of my favorite authors � Heaven and Hell by Emanuel Swedenborg � contains one of my all-time favorite quotes. He's already explained that in heaven, people live in communities together with other people who love the same types of things as they do. The quote I love is about when someone new arrives and finally settles down where they belong, everyone else around them is amazed by how this new person's talents make things better for everyone else; and the "old timers" often wonder how they ever got along without this new person up until now.

   And this is just one of the ways that heaven keeps on getting better and better and better to eternity. Pretty cool, huh?

   So, I'm continually finding evidence that this is the way it is with good people here on earth, too. Today I came across a little paragraph in the newspaper, in Shelby Lyon's nationally syndicated chess column no less, that exemplifies the point perfectly:

 

 

   Yesterday afternoon, my lovely wife and I drove 3 hours north from our home in the Pioneer Valley of Western Massachusetts up to the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont to visit my in-laws. We had a nice dinner at Nancy's sister Wendy & Jon's last night in Brownsville. The photo above is their entryway table. I think it's wicked cool! (And I can say that for two reasons: 1. it's appropriate to say "wicked" on Halloween, and 2. I went to high school in the suburbs of Boston in the 70's!)

   When it got close to "pumpkin time" (as in: the time Nancy turns into a pumpkin), we drove a half hour south to her parents' house in East Burke VT. Then this morning, we drove back up to Brownington and spent most of the day with Wendy and their young daughter Chloe(late 2's) and their dog Higgins. (Jon was at work.)

   Nancy had her camera out and was letting Chloe take some pictures. They actually came out pretty well. But I took the two pictures below â†“ of the sisters hard at work.

   Then, late in the afternoon, Chloe put on her "Strawberry Fairy" costume and we drove to meet up with some of their friends in Island Pond VT so they could go trickortreating together. Nancy & I opted to skip the trickortreat part and drove 15 minutes south from there to her brother Pete's place on the other side of Island Pond where most of the gang was going to be gathering for dinner later. After a fun evening with Pete and a bunch of other good people, we drove the half hour down to East Burke for the night.

  Tomorrow morning, we'll drive back up to Pete's to spend more time with him before we have to leave shortly after lunch. 

trevor@trevorthegamesman.com

PO Box 463, Haydenville, MA 01039