Here are some photos:
Monday, July 30, 2012
A Hike on Mt Toby
My wife and I took a walk to a Fire Tower on Mt. Toby overlooking the Connecticut River Valley and surrounding hills. It took about 40 minutes to drive to the trail head and the walk took about 3 hours including time to look at the scenery. It was about 4 1/2 miles round trip with a gain of about 1000 feet in elevation.
Here are some photos:
Here are some photos:
A Visit from Daniel
Daniel, our younger son, stopped in for a few days en route from a stint at a neutrino facility in Japan, to a wedding in Boston. His flights took him from Japan to LA to Denver to Chicago to Hartford. Miraculously, he arrived at 1 AM Monday of last week within half an hour of his original schedule despite all the delays and transfers he encountered.
While he was here we talked some physics, I actually was of some help ( I got lucky). We also did a bike ride. At the end of the ride I explained to him his style and mine are entirely different. He starts off quickly and works hard to maintain that pace through the ride. I start off slowly and then as I warm up I slow down further. This gives me lots of practice so that I am well equipped to slow down even more as the ride progresses.
Here are some pictures before and after Daniel's getting trimmed for the wedding. I am not sure what his affinity for Titus Adronicus is ( read the T shirt in the after photo) but it gives me some hope of his developing a taste for the finer things. In the before photo, note how well I finished the siding on the front ( you probably can't even see it, and I still have to finish nailing, filling, and painting).
Before:
After
While he was here we talked some physics, I actually was of some help ( I got lucky). We also did a bike ride. At the end of the ride I explained to him his style and mine are entirely different. He starts off quickly and works hard to maintain that pace through the ride. I start off slowly and then as I warm up I slow down further. This gives me lots of practice so that I am well equipped to slow down even more as the ride progresses.
Here are some pictures before and after Daniel's getting trimmed for the wedding. I am not sure what his affinity for Titus Adronicus is ( read the T shirt in the after photo) but it gives me some hope of his developing a taste for the finer things. In the before photo, note how well I finished the siding on the front ( you probably can't even see it, and I still have to finish nailing, filling, and painting).
Before:
After
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Keeping in touch
It's always nice to hear from you folks. Got nice notes from Sara A and Kate B recently. Thanks.
Photos From Graduation
I have not received any photos from this year's graduation, and darn few from any other year either for that matter. See if you can find it in your hearts to send me a copy of a photo from your graduation.
Plays and Music and Life in Ashfield and Julia V
Wow it's 12 days since I posted about Tangelwood and projects. Well, on Friday the 13th I installed the last siding on the mudroom and am now waiting for all teh limber to cure before final nailing, etc. Also on Friday the 13th, a professor and a classmate of Jean's from Felician College came up - without any mishaps despite the date. We went to see an amateur performance of The Mystery of Edwin Drood, a musical mystery-comedy based on Dicken's last an uncompleted, novel. It was thoroughly enjoyable. Once again I was struck by how much talent is waiting out there to provide us with superb entertainment. Saturday we took our guests to the Williamstown Festival to see the Importance of Being Earnest. It was a very good performance and lots of fun. Williamstown itself is a candidate for most beautiful town in the US.
They left Sunday and I went for brief ride. Monday I started the next project, reframing the large basement doors and then went to Tanglewood to work at a concert by the Tanglewood Music Center ( TMC) Orchestra. These are students from all over the world from mid-teens to mid-twenties who study music 10 -16 hours a day with a great faculty.
They performed Brahm's Tragic overture, Schubert's 8th Symphony, and Richard Strauss' Thus Spake Zarathustra ( Theme to 2001 for the culturally challenged). The Brahm's was as good as I've ever heard, and the rest were up there as well. Amazing for an orchestra that has only been playing together for about three weeks.
Tuesday it was 8AM to 2AM working on the basement doors. We had some exciting lightning storms but only a trickle of rain at about 1AM.
Wednesday we went to Tanglewood again, this time to serve a picnic lunch to 9 of the TMC musicians. There were about 15 couples of volunteers doing this so it provided lunch to nearly all the TMC scholars. Like any kids at summer camp, they were hungry, and like any kids should be, they were very busy. Their small talk centered on music, especially on what they were practicing. It was nice to spend time with talented and energetic young people. It made me nostalgic for teaching. Here are some pictures from this event:
These students were lively, intelligent, courteous, and talented. So I am not sure why they reminded me of my students, but they did.
We then went to Arrowhead, the farmhouse where Herman Melville wrote Moby Dick, partly inspired by the view of Mt. Greylock which looks a bit like a white sperm whale in the winter.
I took Jean home and then drove back to Tanglewood to hear a performance of some great piano works by Brahm's.
Thursday 8/19 began with two fillings and progressed to finally rehanging the basement doors, the pair of them cover 7 feet in height and 8 feet in width so I used lots of 3" bolt to secure the hinges.
Julia arrived Friday evening. Saturday Jean took Julia to see our local framer's market and the Bridge of Flowers, a trolley bridge converted to a public garden.
This was followed by the three of us going for a bike ride, where Julia took some nice pictures. This one is from Whately looking east over the hidden Connecticut River.
Then it was, you guessed it, Tanglewood, for a concert of orchestral music from Wagner. Julia took this great evening shot looking southwest from the Tanglewood grounds.
Sunday morning we went to a nearby state park where Jean went kayaking and Julia and I hiked to a fire tower for a view encompassing hills or mountains in Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Connecticut. Not a bad reward for a 40 minute one way walk.
Here's a photo of Julia and me, one where she looks great and I don't look too bad.
They left Sunday and I went for brief ride. Monday I started the next project, reframing the large basement doors and then went to Tanglewood to work at a concert by the Tanglewood Music Center ( TMC) Orchestra. These are students from all over the world from mid-teens to mid-twenties who study music 10 -16 hours a day with a great faculty.
They performed Brahm's Tragic overture, Schubert's 8th Symphony, and Richard Strauss' Thus Spake Zarathustra ( Theme to 2001 for the culturally challenged). The Brahm's was as good as I've ever heard, and the rest were up there as well. Amazing for an orchestra that has only been playing together for about three weeks.
Tuesday it was 8AM to 2AM working on the basement doors. We had some exciting lightning storms but only a trickle of rain at about 1AM.
Wednesday we went to Tanglewood again, this time to serve a picnic lunch to 9 of the TMC musicians. There were about 15 couples of volunteers doing this so it provided lunch to nearly all the TMC scholars. Like any kids at summer camp, they were hungry, and like any kids should be, they were very busy. Their small talk centered on music, especially on what they were practicing. It was nice to spend time with talented and energetic young people. It made me nostalgic for teaching. Here are some pictures from this event:
We then went to Arrowhead, the farmhouse where Herman Melville wrote Moby Dick, partly inspired by the view of Mt. Greylock which looks a bit like a white sperm whale in the winter.
I took Jean home and then drove back to Tanglewood to hear a performance of some great piano works by Brahm's.
Thursday 8/19 began with two fillings and progressed to finally rehanging the basement doors, the pair of them cover 7 feet in height and 8 feet in width so I used lots of 3" bolt to secure the hinges.
Julia arrived Friday evening. Saturday Jean took Julia to see our local framer's market and the Bridge of Flowers, a trolley bridge converted to a public garden.
This was followed by the three of us going for a bike ride, where Julia took some nice pictures. This one is from Whately looking east over the hidden Connecticut River.
Then it was, you guessed it, Tanglewood, for a concert of orchestral music from Wagner. Julia took this great evening shot looking southwest from the Tanglewood grounds.
Sunday morning we went to a nearby state park where Jean went kayaking and Julia and I hiked to a fire tower for a view encompassing hills or mountains in Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Connecticut. Not a bad reward for a 40 minute one way walk.
Here's a photo of Julia and me, one where she looks great and I don't look too bad.
Company, Company, Company
We have had a company filled summer so far, mostly thanks to all the people who really love my wife. So far since mid June we have been visited by Ina and Frank ( Ina is an old friend of Jean's), the Rapps and Diane from Glen Rock, our young friend Megan, whom we have known since she was three from our work at our scout camp, a professor and a classmate of Jean's from Felician, and Julia, a student of mine and former President of the Ridge Physics Club ( yay), and now last but not least, at least when it comes to sheer size and appetite, our son Daniel is here for a few days.
So now you know Hawley Road is the hot spot to visit this summer and maybe some of you can show up and help me even the score. I really like visitors, because while Jean has to do some extra cooking and cleaning, I get days off from repairing the house.
So now you know Hawley Road is the hot spot to visit this summer and maybe some of you can show up and help me even the score. I really like visitors, because while Jean has to do some extra cooking and cleaning, I get days off from repairing the house.
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Tanglewood and Ashfield
Last weekend we worked three nights at Tanglewood and just to make it a completely overwhelming experience we spent Sunday afternoon listening to a Boston Pops concert. The Friday night concert was an all Beethoven affair and excellent. It included his 6th Symphony, my least favorite of the nine, However, this performance was an eye ( ear) opener for me. It brought out all the nuances and textures I had been ignoring. Perhaps my circumstances now make me more receptive to a pastoral symphony.
The Saturday night concert was a mixed affair with a mediocre performance of Barber's School for Scandal Overture, followed by almost unlistenable pieces by Ravel and Meyer. The latter is a bass player in the BSO and his concerto for violin and bass had some decent orchestral passages but generally annoying and unmusical solo parts. The concert was redeemed by a solid performance of Tchiakovsky's Fourth Symphony. This piece contains some extremely dramatic and rousing music and is sonically unsurpassed. I invite all of you to listen to part of the first movement. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-c1LLZaVCA You will need decent speakers to get the full effect. I hope it will convince you to listen to more classical music. I truly believe that the music written from the mid 1700s through the early twentieth century represents some of the greatest achievements of Western civilization.
The Sunday Boston Pops concert was okay. The second half featured Bernadette Peters, whom I was informed, was born in the same year I was. Looking at her condition and at then at mine, it is clear that I have led an ill spent and hard life.
She has an excellent voice for Broadway tunes, but she sang too many Sondheim lyrics. I won't call them songs since they are really just speeches with some background musical notes.
Monday was devoted to recovering from the weekend and my first real long bike ride since the hip replacement last year: 52 fairly hilly miles.
Tuesday and Wednesday were spent in desultory efforts on finishing up the mud room exterior. This morning, Jean and I walked through some groves of ancient pines in Mohawk State Forest. Some of the trees were over 150 feet tall. It was inspiring and relaxing.
Came home and went back to work. Just three more pieces of siding to go on and then the finish work.
The Saturday night concert was a mixed affair with a mediocre performance of Barber's School for Scandal Overture, followed by almost unlistenable pieces by Ravel and Meyer. The latter is a bass player in the BSO and his concerto for violin and bass had some decent orchestral passages but generally annoying and unmusical solo parts. The concert was redeemed by a solid performance of Tchiakovsky's Fourth Symphony. This piece contains some extremely dramatic and rousing music and is sonically unsurpassed. I invite all of you to listen to part of the first movement. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-c1LLZaVCA You will need decent speakers to get the full effect. I hope it will convince you to listen to more classical music. I truly believe that the music written from the mid 1700s through the early twentieth century represents some of the greatest achievements of Western civilization.
The Sunday Boston Pops concert was okay. The second half featured Bernadette Peters, whom I was informed, was born in the same year I was. Looking at her condition and at then at mine, it is clear that I have led an ill spent and hard life.
She has an excellent voice for Broadway tunes, but she sang too many Sondheim lyrics. I won't call them songs since they are really just speeches with some background musical notes.
Monday was devoted to recovering from the weekend and my first real long bike ride since the hip replacement last year: 52 fairly hilly miles.
Tuesday and Wednesday were spent in desultory efforts on finishing up the mud room exterior. This morning, Jean and I walked through some groves of ancient pines in Mohawk State Forest. Some of the trees were over 150 feet tall. It was inspiring and relaxing.
Came home and went back to work. Just three more pieces of siding to go on and then the finish work.
Sunday, July 1, 2012
Prairie Home Companion Etc
This has been an active weekend. We have friends from New Jersey visiting and we've done a number of short walks and had a good time with them, but the highlight of the weekend was going to Tanglewood for the Prairie Home Companion show. We were on the lawn but still got to see Garrison Keeler and Heather Massey closeup as they walked through the crowd at the start of the show. The show was broadcast live and included Arlo Guthrie.
Hearing "City of New Orleans" at a live performance was terrific. The show began at 5:45 and officially ended at 8 PM, but the cast came back on stage and sang song after song. It was just after the third good night from Garrison Keeler at 9:45 that we headed for our car. As we walked through the parking lot, we heard the roar of the crowd as Arlo and Garrison and others came back for another round of singing. We should have gone back, but it had been a long hot day, so we got in the car and drove home.
Hearing "City of New Orleans" at a live performance was terrific. The show began at 5:45 and officially ended at 8 PM, but the cast came back on stage and sang song after song. It was just after the third good night from Garrison Keeler at 9:45 that we headed for our car. As we walked through the parking lot, we heard the roar of the crowd as Arlo and Garrison and others came back for another round of singing. We should have gone back, but it had been a long hot day, so we got in the car and drove home.
More on Communications and the Ridge Visit
Occasionally I send emails to some of you folks. Many of the emails I send are apparently not reaching their intended recipients. Please check your spam filters once in a while and also please respond to emails from me just to let me know you got them.
I have some nice photos of Ridge staff members. I'll post them if and when I get permission from the folks in the photos.
I have some nice photos of Ridge staff members. I'll post them if and when I get permission from the folks in the photos.
Mud Room Project Photos
Here are some pictures of the work I did to replace a sill and wall in our mud room. Beetles and rot were responsible for the damage. I think the beetles were abetted by the wood being moist. No gutters and lots of insulation were the causes of the moist wood. I still need to install siding outside and panelling inside.
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