We started out Memorial Day weekend by heading south, to Skyview Acres in Pomona, New York (Rockland County — on the west side of the Tappan Zee Bridge). There was a gathering there for the dedication of a plaque in memory of my mom’s cousin Irving Wolfe, who had died last year at the age …
Author Archives: deanb
May 25 ’10
I didn’t want to be hung up over choosing a title. I bicycled to work today, for the first time in several weeks and maybe only the second time this year. I stayed in very low gears on all the uphill parts, but didn’t feel particularly tired out by the time I got there or …
Second Seder 2010
We had seventeen people for the second seder, at various times; not seventeen at once, because Patsy had to leave early to get to work, and David had bad traffic coming from Boston and didn’t get here until we were well under way, and Anne had to work late so she and Matt got here …
Early spring woods
Just for a quick update of what the woods looks like in the early spring, here’s, first, a grackle — back earlier than most of the spring migrants: Second, a chipmunk, one of many that are running around our corner of Maine the last few weeks: Some of a broken tree. There have been a …
First try at sugaring
The weekend before last, that is, Feb 27 it must have been, we drove up to Slattery’s Farm and Maple Supply store in West Minot (pronounced like what you do with coal, mine it) to get what we needed to collect maple sap. That was to say, some taps to put in the tree, buckets …
Catching up – Costa Rica day 1
Not counting the day we got there, because all we did was walk around the hotel grounds (seeing several life birds, that is, birds we’ve never seen before in our lives, in the process) and go to that orientation meeting. Well, the airport was more interesting than most airports. There was someone there making cigars, …
A Son-in-law and His Dog
This is from several weekends ago — probably the weekend of Feb. 3. I’m not sure why Matt was so tired; probably from making two round trips out to Pitchfork Springs (a mile and a half each way? Through a foot of snow?) with Dozer. Both of them zonked out on the living room floor:
Cigar Box Guitar update
Arlene asked me something like “are you going to put markers on the fingerboard?” I hadn’t really thought about it, but I guessed I should; normal guitars have marks every so often so you can find where to play different chords and notes past the first few frets. I had some decorative inlay left from …
Snowy Morning
We woke up to exceptionally beautiful snow in Casco yesterday. Here’s the best winter picture of our house I’ve ever taken — We have a very long driveway, because there is a row of house lots between the road and our lot proper, with a right-of-way a little wider than our driveway between two of …
Duduk talk
Last Thursday I went to a talk and demonstration about a musical instrument called the duduk, at the Armenian Library and Museum of America in Watertown. Well, why? you may ask. Mostly because I like music and strange musical instruments, and partly because I’ve been interested in Armenian culture since I lived in Watertown when …