This was a great summer. I did a lot of activities, the family went on a number of trips and saw different things, and we all had a nice, positive vibe about most things. Among the events this summer were the following: Train in concert at Tanglewood, Saratoga Springs Race Track, tree/bridge jumping into the Swift River in Belchertown, kayaking the Housatonic River (saw a bald eagle on the wing), disc golf, hiking on Mount Greylock, and a number of other fun things.
The Train concert at Tanglewood was really fun. Pat Monahan (I think this is the lead singer's name) is a first-rate entertainer and the band was tight and raucous. The evening was not without drama, however. All along since February when Chris bought the tickets we believed that the show was on Tuesday, August 9--that Monday, August 8, at 5:30 PM, my sister-in-law, Sue Sarage (Susie B) got a call from a colleague of hers who was also attending the show. Sue's friend wanted to know where she was. Sue told her she was at her condo. Sue's friend wanted to know why she was there and not at Tanglewood--the show was about to start!! So we dropped dinner plans, tossed a few drinks into a few coolers, threw some chairs into the trunks and dashed off to Tanglewood, about 25 minutes down the road from where we were staying. It was all good and it was all love. We got to the lawn on a gorgeous summer evening about a half hour before show time, split a few $8.50 Reubens, knocked back a couple of Coronnas and some vino, and enjoyed one heck of a show. We were all concerned that we did not know any Train songs, but we were wrong about that too! We knew at least half the songs, and the others were so good we danced right along. This was a great night.
Next post: Saratoga Springs and Hattie's . . . .
Kayaks on Grout Pond
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Biking in Provincetown
One of the most fun activities that I took part in while we were staying up in Provincetown over the week of July 1 - 7 was biking on the Province Lands Bike Trail off Race Point Beach. I ended up taking three trips on three separate occasions, and each trip was great both physically and mentally. My riding companions included both my boys, Patrick and Alex; and my sister-in-law Susan Sarage (Susie B) and her daughter Serena. Chris and Sue's husband John both had some difficulties with the hills so they were not riding with me though I do believe the entire Sarage family rode the Trail after we all left.
The Province Lands Bike Trail, map link as follows: http://www.nps.gov/caco/planyourvisit/upload/Final2008bikerevise.pdf , was a lot of things: scenic, fun, challenging, grueling, breathtaking, and all of those things were experienced on each ride. The first ride I took was on a sun-splashed beach day after a few hours of reading and lounging on Race Point Beach (a beautiful beach, but no waves this week). We did not know what to expect, but we had heard the Trail was hilly--it is. But the really fun thing about that is once you crest a hill, and especially a longer, steeper hill, you have 150 - 200 yards of downhill to enjoy and that is worth the sweat and breath to get there. In fact, we often found that the Trail had a distinctly roller-coaster style to it in that you get enough momentum from one downhill to crest the next uphill. In the end, five of us completed the entire Trail and we got back to the beach hot, sweaty and ready for a long dip in the chilly waters of the Atlantic Ocean.
The longest ride I took was with Alex and Serena on the morning before we left. We started out at our condo on Bradford Street, rode up Moors Road onto the Herring Cove Beach Spur onto the Beech Forest Loop, which was the ride mentioned above. This was about an eight or nine mile ride and it took about all I had to complete it--a quick note: if you do ride this Trail use your road bike, my wide-tire mountain bike didn't have the fluidity this route requires. But we did ride it and it was good. Once again the day was sparkling sunshine and blue sky and riding without a shirt was fabulous. We were a bit more prepared for the hills than the previous ride, so we felt more confident and paced ourselves better. Still, there was one hill that kicked my butt and I walked up the last part of it--then it was roller-coaster time!
On one other occasion we were pressed for time so we rode from our condo over the Herring Cove Beach Spur to the Loop and back, which was a nice ride but not much challenge.
One last note: If you can not bring your own bike, there are a number of bike shops in and around P-town where you can rent, and these shops have good, quality bikes that will provide all the fun you'll hope for.
Our entire trip to Provincetown was fun, and the rides on the Province Town Bike Trail were definitely highlights--if you're out on the Cape, take a day and journey to Race Point to beach and ride. It's a great day.
The Province Lands Bike Trail, map link as follows: http://www.nps.gov/caco/planyourvisit/upload/Final2008bikerevise.pdf , was a lot of things: scenic, fun, challenging, grueling, breathtaking, and all of those things were experienced on each ride. The first ride I took was on a sun-splashed beach day after a few hours of reading and lounging on Race Point Beach (a beautiful beach, but no waves this week). We did not know what to expect, but we had heard the Trail was hilly--it is. But the really fun thing about that is once you crest a hill, and especially a longer, steeper hill, you have 150 - 200 yards of downhill to enjoy and that is worth the sweat and breath to get there. In fact, we often found that the Trail had a distinctly roller-coaster style to it in that you get enough momentum from one downhill to crest the next uphill. In the end, five of us completed the entire Trail and we got back to the beach hot, sweaty and ready for a long dip in the chilly waters of the Atlantic Ocean.
The longest ride I took was with Alex and Serena on the morning before we left. We started out at our condo on Bradford Street, rode up Moors Road onto the Herring Cove Beach Spur onto the Beech Forest Loop, which was the ride mentioned above. This was about an eight or nine mile ride and it took about all I had to complete it--a quick note: if you do ride this Trail use your road bike, my wide-tire mountain bike didn't have the fluidity this route requires. But we did ride it and it was good. Once again the day was sparkling sunshine and blue sky and riding without a shirt was fabulous. We were a bit more prepared for the hills than the previous ride, so we felt more confident and paced ourselves better. Still, there was one hill that kicked my butt and I walked up the last part of it--then it was roller-coaster time!
On one other occasion we were pressed for time so we rode from our condo over the Herring Cove Beach Spur to the Loop and back, which was a nice ride but not much challenge.
One last note: If you can not bring your own bike, there are a number of bike shops in and around P-town where you can rent, and these shops have good, quality bikes that will provide all the fun you'll hope for.
Our entire trip to Provincetown was fun, and the rides on the Province Town Bike Trail were definitely highlights--if you're out on the Cape, take a day and journey to Race Point to beach and ride. It's a great day.
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Summer of 2011
June 23: The last day of school!!! Actually, I had seniors this year so my last day was a while ago; but this is the official, actual, certified LAST last day . . . so what to do, what to do:
I'd like to say I am going to learn German and work on translating Nietzsche, but I'm not--besides, that whole thing's been done and re-done; I'd also like to say that I am going to work on assuring peace in the world, but I'm not doing that either: I will be trying to keep peace in my own home, though! Finally, I'd love to say I'm going to hike the Appalachian Trail or explore the Amazon River basin, but I'm not really planning on doing either of those things. What I've got in store is a bit more mundane, a bit more simple, but fun and exciting just the same.
The family is vacationing in Provincetown and the Berkshires and during those trips, in no particular order or designation, we'll go on a whale watch, catch a Cape Cod League ballgame, bet on thoroughbreds at Saratoga, zipline, listen to Train at Tanglewood, beach, bike, hike, dine famously in home and out, shop (ugh), play mini-golf, and relax and read. And this is just on the trips out of Dodge. In Holyoke I'll be doing a "lot of painting around here," according to Chris, and any other odd jobs we need done--cutting down trees, gardening--and watching Sandy Koufax and Legion ballgames. There will be day trips to the beach, and Chris and I have tickets for Lucinda Williams at Mt. Park; and I fully intend to ride my bike three times a week at least and kayak once every two weeks. Hopefully we can get Patrick a job and get him earning some bucks, and hopefully Alex will fall into a basketball or baseball camp, but he usually stays pretty busy.
As usual, once August gets here it's football season for Alex and everybody starts thinking about getting back to routine, so summer really goes by quickly; but it's nice to have time off with family and it's nice to get together with friends and relatives. So enjoy your summer and perhaps I'll see some of you at some point.
Finally, maybe I'll grab Chris and we'll do a little doubles freestyle canoeing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5d_ecs7h184&feature=related
Nah, probably not . . . Genießen Sie den Sommer, Spaß haben und seien Sie vorsichtig!
I'd like to say I am going to learn German and work on translating Nietzsche, but I'm not--besides, that whole thing's been done and re-done; I'd also like to say that I am going to work on assuring peace in the world, but I'm not doing that either: I will be trying to keep peace in my own home, though! Finally, I'd love to say I'm going to hike the Appalachian Trail or explore the Amazon River basin, but I'm not really planning on doing either of those things. What I've got in store is a bit more mundane, a bit more simple, but fun and exciting just the same.
The family is vacationing in Provincetown and the Berkshires and during those trips, in no particular order or designation, we'll go on a whale watch, catch a Cape Cod League ballgame, bet on thoroughbreds at Saratoga, zipline, listen to Train at Tanglewood, beach, bike, hike, dine famously in home and out, shop (ugh), play mini-golf, and relax and read. And this is just on the trips out of Dodge. In Holyoke I'll be doing a "lot of painting around here," according to Chris, and any other odd jobs we need done--cutting down trees, gardening--and watching Sandy Koufax and Legion ballgames. There will be day trips to the beach, and Chris and I have tickets for Lucinda Williams at Mt. Park; and I fully intend to ride my bike three times a week at least and kayak once every two weeks. Hopefully we can get Patrick a job and get him earning some bucks, and hopefully Alex will fall into a basketball or baseball camp, but he usually stays pretty busy.
As usual, once August gets here it's football season for Alex and everybody starts thinking about getting back to routine, so summer really goes by quickly; but it's nice to have time off with family and it's nice to get together with friends and relatives. So enjoy your summer and perhaps I'll see some of you at some point.
Finally, maybe I'll grab Chris and we'll do a little doubles freestyle canoeing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5d_ecs7h184&feature=related
Nah, probably not . . . Genießen Sie den Sommer, Spaß haben und seien Sie vorsichtig!
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Summer Reading, 2011
First day of Summer and my 25th wedding anniversary!
Our family will be going out to Provincetown in July and up to the Berkshires in August for our Summer vacations this year, so it is that time of year where I start to plan for my own Summer Reading:
First off I plan to read Malcolm Gladwell's books The Tipping Point and Blink. I recently completed Gladwell's Outliers, which I could not put down. Outliers is, essentially, a debunking of the prodigy myth. According to Gladwell, there are no prodigies or outliers beyond the norm--anyone and everyone can become an outlier as long as a few circumstances fall into place. Perhaps the simplest example of this is his '10,000 hour rule.' Anyone can be an expert or a Mozart or The Beatles if you practice what you do for a total of 10,000 hours.
Gladwell is my favorite New Yorker writer. He is articulate, interesting, copiously read, and he writes in a direct, breezy style that is at once informative and fun to read. I highly recommend anything by him--even the things I haven't read. The following is his website: http://www.gladwell.com/index.html . Trust me on this guy.
A few must-reads are some books for my AE-9 class: How I Live Now (Meg Rosoff), The Killer Angels (Michael Shaara), and The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (Sherman Alexie). I know nothing about these books, but I will get them read as part of the job. I have read all the books for my AE-12 and WL-12 classes, and can highly recommend at least three:
So please read some of these books--let me know what you think, and maybe let me know what I should add to my list; but don't tell me to drop Beowulf--the book rocks . . . enjoy the Summer and enjoy reading.
Our family will be going out to Provincetown in July and up to the Berkshires in August for our Summer vacations this year, so it is that time of year where I start to plan for my own Summer Reading:
Gladwell is my favorite New Yorker writer. He is articulate, interesting, copiously read, and he writes in a direct, breezy style that is at once informative and fun to read. I highly recommend anything by him--even the things I haven't read. The following is his website: http://www.gladwell.com/index.html . Trust me on this guy.
A few must-reads are some books for my AE-9 class: How I Live Now (Meg Rosoff), The Killer Angels (Michael Shaara), and The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian (Sherman Alexie). I know nothing about these books, but I will get them read as part of the job. I have read all the books for my AE-12 and WL-12 classes, and can highly recommend at least three:
- Friday Night Lights by H.G. Bissinger is a story about a season of the Permian High School football team in Odessa, TX. It's a good read, though he bogs down quite often in detail and minutiae.
- The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini is an absolute must-read--don't settle for the movie; the book is much better--about an Afghan boy's searching for his place in the world during and after the Taliban's taking over in Afghanistan. Some of the scenes are brutal and graphic, but it's great everything: literature, history, story, characters . . . everything. Read it. Today.
- The Tiger by John Valliant is a fascinating story revolving around a man-eating tiger hunt in Siberia. I'll let the author tell you about his own book: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NE-w1K4LCyw . Again, I couldn't put this down. You will know more about tigers than you thought was possible to know, and you will come away awed by the power and influence of the world's apex predator. A potentially great beach read.
So please read some of these books--let me know what you think, and maybe let me know what I should add to my list; but don't tell me to drop Beowulf--the book rocks . . . enjoy the Summer and enjoy reading.
Father's Day, 2011
How can a Father's Day be perfect? Let me count the ways . . . start with Eggs Benedict for breakfast, kayak the quiet, flowing waters of Arcadia Wildlife Sanctuary at noon, watch your older boy play ball in the early afternoon, do a bit of gardening after that, grab a quick hot tub, then finish the Day with some ribs and a College World Series game. It was such a great day.
I've already spoke a bit about Arcadia (see post: Kayaking the Oxbow) but on this day we got to go deeper into the Area on the Mill River. The current was really flowing toward the river, which meant a tough pull into the Santuaruy, but on our way out we were flying. This is a great spot to paddle because it is so quiet and usually so full of observable wildlife. Today we didn't see much, however, only a solitary heron and a few turtles. But the ride was fun, and Chris was zooming along with the current on the way back out toward the Oxbow. The only negative part of the event was the number of folks fishing off the bridge near the put-in. We were concerned about getting tied up in a line or two, and whether it was us or them, neither Chris nor I felt really welcome as we put in. Maybe the fishermen thought we'd scare the fish away? Maybe we were in a bad spot? Who knows, but next time we'll get a different put-in spot with fewer people and fewer fishing lines. Once again the LL Bean Kayak cart proved itself to be one of the greatest inventions of the Modern Era. If you kayak or canoe, you have to have one of these . . . here's the link one more time: http://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/48787?feat=502150-GN3 .
After kayaking we caught a few innings of Patrick's Legion game against Easthampton. Here's a great one: Just as Chris and I were pulling into our parking spot I noticed Patrick loosening up getting ready to hit. I told Chris to hustle up and let's get to the field. We got around the dugout just as Patrick was stepping in, and then CRACK!!! he crushes a ball to deep left-center--the first steps by both the leftfielder and the centerfielder were backwards. He ended up with a beautiful RBI double. I turned to some of the parents there and I couldn't resist: "That's my Father's Day gift, Baby, yes!!!" We stayed a few more innings and left--ultimately Patrick's team lost, but I got my present out of it . . .
The rest of the day we were homebound, doing a bit of garden work, sitting in my hot tub for a bit, and manging on some Babyback ribs in chipolte marinade. I caught a bit of Rory McIlroy's US Open win and watched a few innings of South Carolina and Texas A&M. It was a great day--lots of love going around the Dragon house . . .
 |
| A map of Arcadia; our route is in blue. |
After kayaking we caught a few innings of Patrick's Legion game against Easthampton. Here's a great one: Just as Chris and I were pulling into our parking spot I noticed Patrick loosening up getting ready to hit. I told Chris to hustle up and let's get to the field. We got around the dugout just as Patrick was stepping in, and then CRACK!!! he crushes a ball to deep left-center--the first steps by both the leftfielder and the centerfielder were backwards. He ended up with a beautiful RBI double. I turned to some of the parents there and I couldn't resist: "That's my Father's Day gift, Baby, yes!!!" We stayed a few more innings and left--ultimately Patrick's team lost, but I got my present out of it . . .
The rest of the day we were homebound, doing a bit of garden work, sitting in my hot tub for a bit, and manging on some Babyback ribs in chipolte marinade. I caught a bit of Rory McIlroy's US Open win and watched a few innings of South Carolina and Texas A&M. It was a great day--lots of love going around the Dragon house . . .
Friday, June 17, 2011
The Winter Past
The winter of 2010 - 2011 was great; actually, the winter of 2010 - 2011 was excellent. By the numbers, here's what it was all about: 6 snow days; 4 delay days (I'm a teacher, these are still cool!); 14 days of skiing at Ski Butternut; 5 nights of skiing at Berkshire East; 2 days at Mount Snow; 1 day at Killington; and 5 days of snowshoeing. All these numbers mean that of a winter snow activity season that ran from December 4 to March 20--my first and last days of skiing, though Alex snowboarded at Okemo on April 6--or 105 days, I did some kind of winter snow activity 27 of 105 days, or 26% of the time. When I consider that the Ski Butternut season didn't really start until Xmas week, the actual activity numbers are 26 of 84, or 31%. That's a great winter! An excellent winter!
Of the 22 days of skiing, I would have to say that 18 of them were just about perfect. I'm not a great skier, probably a solid mid-intermediate, so I really need the packed powder to truly enjoy the game. Killington's conditions were a little rough and there were a few too many people on the slopes for my taste, and the last 2 days at Ski Butternut were awful--the snow was melting and I felt I was skiing in mashed potatoes--but there were some beautiful blue-jay days with packed powder conditions in between. Especially at Ski Butternut, where me and Alex strive to get the first chair, conditions were superb: cold snow, hours of fresh corduroy, thin crowds, and when you factor in the 2 mental health mid-week days, well, this ski season was one of the best in recent memory. However, as good as the skiing was, the snowshoeing was almost at least as good. The reason for this is because Chris and I got to share this activity.
Chris doesn't ski. She got a bit spooked over the last couple of years and she gave the sport up--which is ironic because she was the one that got me back into the sport in the 80's--so all my skiing has been with the boys. They are superb snowboarders and good company, but they go much faster than I do and they like doing tricks; I go as fast as I can control and I like my skis solidly on the snow. Besides, I wouldn't really apres ski with them and then drive. Thus, skiing with those guys was sometimes bittersweet. But Chris and I strapped on snowshoes for the first time in years in mid-January, and it was a mental, physical, spiritual revelation. We loved it.
And we were doing it together and we were spending quality time together. We found the perfect spot to go down by the Connecticut River in an area called Jones Point: flat land, plenty of paths, plenty of bushwhacking area, beautiful scenery. Another great area was at Ledges Country Club in South Hadley: more slope, plenty of space, some bushwhacking, beautiful scenery. We took plenty of pictures, we chatted, we worked out together, and now we have sport number two we can do together for the rest of our lives. As crazy as it may sound, I am eagerly looking forward to the deep snow of January and February 2012; there's a number of new locations I want to snowshoe.
How about this for the perfect winter weekend: First chair at Ski Butternut with Patrick and Alex on Saturday morning; hot tub and steak dinner on Saturday evening; brunch with the family at Gramp's in Holyoke on Sunday morning; snowshoeing Jones Point with Chris in the afternoon; and homemade chicken soup and a Patriots playoff game in the evening . . . it sounds great; actually, it sounds excellent.
Of the 22 days of skiing, I would have to say that 18 of them were just about perfect. I'm not a great skier, probably a solid mid-intermediate, so I really need the packed powder to truly enjoy the game. Killington's conditions were a little rough and there were a few too many people on the slopes for my taste, and the last 2 days at Ski Butternut were awful--the snow was melting and I felt I was skiing in mashed potatoes--but there were some beautiful blue-jay days with packed powder conditions in between. Especially at Ski Butternut, where me and Alex strive to get the first chair, conditions were superb: cold snow, hours of fresh corduroy, thin crowds, and when you factor in the 2 mental health mid-week days, well, this ski season was one of the best in recent memory. However, as good as the skiing was, the snowshoeing was almost at least as good. The reason for this is because Chris and I got to share this activity.
 |
Chris at Ledges CC; Mt. Tom is in the background. |
And we were doing it together and we were spending quality time together. We found the perfect spot to go down by the Connecticut River in an area called Jones Point: flat land, plenty of paths, plenty of bushwhacking area, beautiful scenery. Another great area was at Ledges Country Club in South Hadley: more slope, plenty of space, some bushwhacking, beautiful scenery. We took plenty of pictures, we chatted, we worked out together, and now we have sport number two we can do together for the rest of our lives. As crazy as it may sound, I am eagerly looking forward to the deep snow of January and February 2012; there's a number of new locations I want to snowshoe.
 |
| A shot of Ledges Country Club: Our route is in yellow. |
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Jumping Off Things for Fun
Click on the link below and watch Alex having some fun:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6kQakaHN0w
This is a little fun that I had with Alex a couple of years ago on the bridge leading into Arcadia Wildlife Sanctuary (see post Kayaking the Oxbow). Chris and I saw a couple of kids jumping off this bridge on an earlier kayak trip, and we thought that Alex would love it; and he did! Later in the summer we took a bunch of the neighborhood kids and off they went. Unfortunately, on one trip we took a beaver came swimming out of the Sanctuary right under the bridge and it spooked Alex badly. He actually thought it was an alligator; but no matter what he thought it was he saw, he was not bridge jumping there anymore, and he hasn't. But it was good fun while it lasted--we tried to get Chris to do it but she wasn't going there, and no, I ain't doing it either.
Below I've included a video of my sister's family jumping off a rock somewhere in Baxter State Forest in Maine. They hike and camp there a few times a year. Naturally, Alex is dying to try this jump:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59bFOezKNxw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6kQakaHN0w
This is a little fun that I had with Alex a couple of years ago on the bridge leading into Arcadia Wildlife Sanctuary (see post Kayaking the Oxbow). Chris and I saw a couple of kids jumping off this bridge on an earlier kayak trip, and we thought that Alex would love it; and he did! Later in the summer we took a bunch of the neighborhood kids and off they went. Unfortunately, on one trip we took a beaver came swimming out of the Sanctuary right under the bridge and it spooked Alex badly. He actually thought it was an alligator; but no matter what he thought it was he saw, he was not bridge jumping there anymore, and he hasn't. But it was good fun while it lasted--we tried to get Chris to do it but she wasn't going there, and no, I ain't doing it either.
Below I've included a video of my sister's family jumping off a rock somewhere in Baxter State Forest in Maine. They hike and camp there a few times a year. Naturally, Alex is dying to try this jump:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59bFOezKNxw
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