Day 762: Three miles outside!

At the beginning of January, I joined a group of athletes (?) who have committed to doing one mile of  activity every day in 2014.  Any activity counts: running, walking, elliptical, biking, swimming, spinning.  I have been either walking outside or using the elliptical machine in the basement this month.  The elliptical is so boring, but at least I can keep moving.  I missed one day for a migraine and one day cause we were too busy.  I'll try not to break the streak in February.  Once spring comes, we hope to do many more miles on our bikes and then in May, back to swimming!

You wouldn't think that removing one tree could make such an impact on our yard.  The house looks bare and exposed.  In the spring, I'll plant a redbud that will be exquisite, but we will miss our grand sweeping sycamore.

Day 761: Good-bye to the sycamore

Jason is an artist with the crane controls.  He and his crew performed miraculous feats today as they extracted two giant trees from our yard without harming anything!  The tree removal was necessary to maximize the efficiency of the solar panels.  The sycamore would have cast dense shadows on the garage and a few on the house as well.

We loved spending the day outside watching and photographing the whole process. Roger had lined up Jason to do a few projects at his house, too, so they were here all day.

Jason was a student of mine back in the mid 1980s when I was teaching a ninth grade social studies class called 9S.  It would be called AIS today and of course, it was before all the horrible restrictions on what NYS teachers can teach.  For several years, our class hosted a Middle Eastern smorgasbord on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving as a culmination of our study of the Middle East.  The kids and parents loved it.  We researched recipes and ingredients, printed out recipes, made title placards and invited the staff and parents.

Jason made individual lamb pies all on his own.  He lived with his dad who was in the State Police.  When his dad arrived for the luncheon, he said he had never seen Jason work so hard on a school project.  Both were incredibly proud.

I lost track of him over the next few years because he left our school.  And then one day in the early nineties, he knocked at my door.  He said, "Mrs. Cobb, I'm getting married on Saturday and I want you to be there.  Will you come?"  Of course, I went.  The wedding was set on their property in Brocton.  The ceremony took place on a point of land overlooking a steep gorge and surrounded by trees.  It was so lovely and I was incredibly touched.

Ever since then, whenever we need tree removal, he comes and we catch up like old friends do.

Molly is such a smart cat!

Steve on the stump of the old soft maple

Flying into the trees

Connecting the supporting straps

Hoisting the maple trunk over the house

The sycamore

Day 760: Mr and Mrs Cardinal

I tackled the new chapter on group dynamics today.  It revolves around the four sets of relationships as defined by NOLS: individual to individual, individual to group, group to individual and group to group.  I already have about five pages, but it includes no quotes or anecdotes, so there's a ton to do.  I reread many of the interviews and realized that I've used much of that material.  When we meet with the new student leaders next week, I hope to line up interviews with them and collect new insights.

Many schools were closed and even more were on the two hour delay, including Fredonia.  We decided to pick up a few groceries at Tops.  Although it was sunny and bright, the wind made it feel like 20 below.  Brutal.

Talked to Justin tonight and it looks like we will be going to NYC in Feb.  If we don't, we won't see the guys until summer.

Day 759: Bitter cold

Steve spent the afternoon at a house fire in South Dayton.  Bitter cold and sharp winds endangered all the firemen as they struggled to contain the fire.  He came home chilled to the core and his feet were numb.

I had to get out a bit, so we again drove down by the lake looking for new subjects to photograph.  I stepped out of the car for about two minutes with no glove on my right hand.  In just moments, my hand was gripped by pain.  How can workers continue to endure this intense cold?  Another day without school is really jeopardizing their vacations and they may have to have a delay or another snow day tomorrow.

NRG on ice!

Day 758: Another chapter complete!

I finished the field sanitation chapter except for the little anecdote that Mike has promised to write.  I did more research to be certain all my facts are straight and I rearranged the content to focus first on potty stories.  I hope I've accomplished the goals of making it both informative and entertaining.

Steve was out all day so I disciplined myself to write from 9 am till 3:35 pm.  No laundry, only two short phone calls, no cooking and no going outside.  There are benefits to being trapped inside due to the return of the polar vortex!

The same spot in the backyard that I photograph nearly every day.  

And the same old dozen turkeys who visit us each day!

Day 757: Chicken stew

There was so much writing at Penelope this morning that we worked till 1:00.  Pat had written a delightful poem about how smiling tv weather reporters delight in reporting on disasters like the polar vortex and monsoons and hurricanes.  It was a rough draft, but really fun.  

Then Linda had finished her short murder mystery story.   It's beautifully written, smooth and unique.  She based the story on some frightening experiences she's had with a neighbor.  It acts as a cautionary tale.  If something happens to Linda, we know all the dirty details of the cruel pranks that he has played on her.

Next, we moved on to a four page grant application that Valerie had written.  That generated over an hour's discussion.  She is so ambitious and focused on community action that she wrote a proposal to address the causes of child abuse through a series of community workshops.  

I did not get to present my newest chapter, but that's ok cause I am still working on it.  I revised the list of rules for going potty again today and the headings are much funnier.  Mike B. is supposed to be writing up a description of an incident last May when the one of the boys left a poopy mess in the woods.  Usually, I have to take the whole crew of girls out to to clean up a pile of toilet paper.  For the first time, it was the men who had to do that job and I'm sure Mike made it both uncomfortable and hysterically funny.  

Twenty degrees and a harsh windchill means we did not walk outside, so I had to hit the elliptical again.  Jason is supposed to come this week and take down the trees in preparation for the solar panel installation.  I hate to see the sycamore go, but we have been afraid it would tip over onto the house for years.  Plus, I can plant a beautiful flowering tree in the spring in its place.  

A yummy chicken - sweet potato stew!  

Day 756: Birdie dancers

The Birdie dancers look and sound terrific already.  Brie's energetic and exciting choreography brings the whole show to life.  The Ed Sullivan number has such high notes for the sopranos!  I don't know how they reach them!

Our costume crew worked to prepare fifty working garment bags for the cast members' costumes.  Broken zippers were the most common problem so we are changing them over to velcro closures.  It was fun to be back with these dear friends: Ellen, Kathy, Sandy, Stacy and now Kay is back.  Plus, we have three student workers, all seventh grade girls, who are so eager and dedicated.

Day 755: Gulls and ducks

I had to visit a new locale to have fresh photography material, so we drove down by the lake.  The morning was sunny, but by the time we went out, gray clouds again filled the sky.  This cold wave and the winds by the lake are so intense that I feel sorry for the birds.   We discovered they have plenty of food.  Frozen fish, caught in the ice, are being plucked apart by hungry gulls.

The field sanitation chapter is coming along very well.  I want it to be really funny as well as informative so I've devised a few rules as guidelines for going potty in the woods and then added a story to illustrate each rule.  The serious stuff is at the end.

Although a few need rewording to be consistent, the rules so far are:
1. If you gotta go, go!
2. Know where to go!
3. Know where your whistle is! (Check your whistle)
4. Who's got the trowel?  (Maybe Deploy the trowel!)
5. Hug a tree!
6. Just when you thought you were alone...

Day 754: The search

One more parent attended a backpacking meeting tonight, so that makes a total of three.  If any other Silver Creek families want to participate, Josh will conduct the meeting.  After all, he has now attended three himself.  We expected to start small.  The advantage that SC has is Josh.  He had put up signs all over the middle school, had his own student meeting after school, put out announcements and wrote a cover letter for ours.

Last night when I got home, there was a message from Mike, the solar power representative.  He needs a copy of the deed to go forward on the project.  So, we started the hunt.  Steve checked the metal strong box where all the important documents are stored and it wasn't there.  Where could it be? I moved from room to room, looking in drawers and closets and boxes.  Of course, it wasn't in any of those places. How could I misplace such an important paper?  Steve went to sleep and I sat up thinking, retracing my steps from four years ago, the last time I saw it.

I slept badly and woke with a terrible headache.  Immediately, we started in again.  I hit a few more boxes of memorabilia and Steve returned to the strong box.  And there it was! Right where it was supposed to be!  GRRRRRRR.

It's not all bad.   I found a bunch of other valuable documents in various drawers that should have been in the box all along.  I threw away a ton of junk and it was delightful to discover some lovely cards, notes and photos.  And we discovered we don't know where our search is.  Damn.

That blasted cat!  Paddy is still sitting outside on the picnic bench.  Three degrees and he won't come in.  Last night, he didn't come in till 1 am.  I can't wait till it warms ups so he can spend the whole night outside.

FOR EVAN

Senior Flex 2001

Senior relay 2001

Day 753: Second cataract

Mary was euphoric after her second cataract operation today.  She delighted in reading the clock and the menu and seeing the intense blue sky.  They took her in to surgery at 11:15 and we were sitting in Aunt Millie's at noon.  Unbelievable!  I am so happy for her.  Only a few minutes to change someone's life, in a very positive way.

Again, I am recycling favorite photos.  This one is from Christmas, 2008.

Day 752: Potty stories

I put out a call for potty stories on Facebook and snagged a few great ones!  They offered a few pieces of advice:

First, always know where your whistle is.  One time Amanda set down her whistle and then lost track of it.  She squatted and peed right on it.

Second, always know which areas are set aside for boys and which areas for girls.  Mike reported that he fell asleep during the afternoon and missed the directions, so when he went out to go potty, he was interrupted by a gaggle of girls. Fortunately, he was able to hide behind a tree.  It must have been some tree to conceal him!

Third, never hang onto a dead tree as support when going potty.  One girl latched on, squatted and fell backwards when the tree snapped.

Brutal cold has returned and it's making me dream of sunshine, blue sky and warm sand.  So, my photos are from summer time escapes.

Our 2003 trip to Hawaii included a visit to the USS Arizona Memorial

A black sand beach on the big island

A trip to Minister Creek in 2006

Minister Creek fungi

Day 751: A walk in the back woods

No sun again today, but we had a lovely walk through gently falling snow.  In our back woods, I captured a few shots of the gnarly willows.

 The backyard

Gnarly willow

Adirondack Squirrel Chair

Day 750: The manuscript

I printed the classes chapter today, 35 more pages, and added them to the book binder.  Now, the manuscript is 211 pages.  I realize there is more to do, but the end is in sight.  Writing a book has been my lifelong dream and now it's coming true.  Five years.  Yes, I skipped some of the summers, but five years of brewing, planning, researching, interviewing, writing and rewriting, editing,
There's lots more to do to get it published, but now I have a usable, valuable product that can help Quest carry on in the future.  

Next, I will tackle the field sanitation chapter which is already five pages and filled with funny stories.  Perhaps I can finish it in just a few days.  After that, either group dynamics or games.  I also want to interview all the new student leaders.  The letters went out on last week and arrived at their homes on Saturday.  Lots of excited kids!  We finally decided to take all the upperclassmen and none of the Fredonia freshmen.   It's a shame, they are all terrific young people, but we can't take 29 student leaders!   The ten seniors are all veterans, of the seven juniors only two are new.  Next year, there will be many more openings.

Colin's improv class with the Upright Citizen's Brigade begins on Tuesday.  What a thrill!  He has always loved being a comedian and now he can improve his skills.  He has absolutely the best boss in the country.  Lindsey Adelman gave every member of the studio a gift of a week-long workshop, all expenses paid.  It did not have to relate to their work of lighting design and production.  It only had to help them grow as an individual and then they have to share what they learn.  The entire studio will go to Colin's final show in two weeks.  I wish we could be there, but I'm sure he'd feel restricted with his parents in the audience.

Day 749: Our crew at work!

No rehearsal today so our crew had the whole stage for set construction.  Tom brought in the components for two sets and very quickly they were assembled.  We were happy to see Rick cause he is such a good instructor with the kids.  He directed Meredith, Mary and Jake D. in building a lightweight bar.

Kathy, Sandy, Kay and I had a crew of a few great gals to help us haul out the costume storage room, sort and put away all the costumes that had been borrowed and returned in bags and heaps.  We pulled dresses,  shirts, raincoats, suits and skirts in preparation for the show.  It was exhausting!

Meredith

Part of our crew at our pizza lunch break.

Day 748: Jack Ryan

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit = thrills, excitement and fun!  It doesn't matter that it was totally unrealistic or that the chase scenes and break ins were impossible.  We loved Chris Pine as Jack Ryan.  It's set at the beginning of Ryan's career, but in the present.  He doesn't have the gravitas of Harrison Ford in Patriot Games or Clear and Present Danger, but he had the same fire, intelligence and grit.

I so enjoy these escape days because Steve puts an away message on I am Responding so that he is not on call for six hours or so.  He only spoke with Julius once today and we didn't do any backpacking business.  Tomorrow will be a busy day of set construction and cleaning out the costume room.

These are some of my favorite wildlife photos from a trip we took to the Butterfly Conservatory back in the summer of 2004.   They remind me of the beauty of spring.  Even though it was sunny today, the intense cold is on its way back next week.

Day 747: Hostas popping

For book club, we read Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline.  A nine year old Irish immigrant named Niamh's (later Vivian) was sent west by train to Minnesota in 1929 after her family was killed by a fire in NYC. She and many other orphans were destined to be adopted or employed.  Judy did additional research that revealed that over 250,000 orphans were sent west between 1854 and 1930.

When she is 91, she encounters another orphan, a foster child named Molly, who interviews her for a school project.  The students are instructed to ask about their journeys. "What did you choose to take with you?  What did you chose to leave behind?  What insights did you gain?" That spawned much discussion among us.  If we had an hour to escape from our homes, what would we take.  We were unanimous.  Other than our family photos, a few mementos from our families, and our legal papers, there's not much that we are attached to anymore.  It's only people we care about, not things.

One of the most poignant responses Vivian offers to Molly spurred even more thoughtful discussion.
"Time constricts and flattens, you know.  It's not evenly weighted.  Certain moments linger in the mind and others disappear.  The first 23 years of my life are the ones that shaped me, and the fact that I've lived almost seven decades since then is irrelevant.  Those years have nothing to do with the questions you ask."

We talked about the turning point moments in our lives that have shaped us and several revealed very painful events from their youths.  One friend said that only through talk therapy was she able to face a terrible family fracture that occurred when she was 13.  She had not even realized it had been such a powerful influence on her.

We agreed that being professional women struggling through the 1960s against male domination in virtually everything we did had a huge impact on our lives.  Every one of us had stories about our battles with the men we worked beside or for.   The inequity, the injustice, the rage!

Hostas popping!

Day 746: Cataracts

One of these years, I will have to have cataract surgery like Steve and Mary.  It freaked me out today because Mary could see what the surgeon was doing even though she couldn't feel it.  He even gave directions to move her eye in different directions.  That was not the case for Steve.  He woke up and it was all over.  I definitely prefer his experience.

I had another productive day with editing the classes chapter and cut another two hundred words.  Sarah suggested that the cooking lesson should be a series of steps that could be easily followed so a novice instructor might look at it and say "I can do this." I hope that's what I've achieved.

The final three classes are instructions for the one, two and three day hikes.  I have copied and pasted the actual directions that we issue, but I don't know if that works as a model for another group or if I should provide general topics to address those days.

There are very few photography opportunities on these gray, dismal days, so I am reverting to favorite old photos.  Maybe I'm repeating, but that's ok.

During the summer of of 2003, Colin got orders for Korea.  We had a big family picnic as a send off and my sisters came north for the event.  This is one of my favorite pictures of my great aunt Edie and my sister Nancy.

Day 745: Booked for Scotland!

I forgot to mention yesterday's exciting accomplishment: booking our trip to Scotland!  We depart for Glasgow on May 24 and return on May 30.  Mary will be flying with us and then Lisa will meet us there.  We were hoping that all the boys would be able to join the party, but it's highly unlikely now.  I visited Scotland with Amy and six students back in the summer of 1999 as part of an EF tour.  Mary and her mom did their own tour many years ago.  It will be Steve's first trip to the land of his ancestors.  We will do some genealogy research, see the sights of Edinburgh and tour the highlands.

Today was nearly consumed by backpacking.  We had the last Fredonia parent meeting tonight finally after three postponements.  A total of 67 Fredonia parents attended the four meetings.  If we pick up five from Brocton and another five to ten from Silver Creek, we could have a very large expedition.  There are 29 great student leader applicants, but we will have to put all the freshmen on a stand by list.  There just won't be enough space to take all of them.

My goal for the classes chapter was to cut 300 words and I did that in the first eight classes.  Penelope ladies thought the outline format was effective and that I should cut more of the narrative in the cook classes.  I may be able to cut another 200 in that lesson alone.   I'd like to finish tomorrow, but we will be with Mary for her cataract surgery.

Paddy is approaching his 11th birthday.  His coloring was so unusual as a kitten, but he gradually lost the silver coat as he grew and grew.  

Day 744: Long walk

How wonderful to have 48-55 degrees in January!  We walked through Russell Joy Park and down Water Street.  A new pizzeria called Maria's opened recently so we stopped in for a menu.  It was immaculate, neatly arranged and empty.  They looked at us so eagerly, hoping for an order.  I asked what kind of pizza they make and the lady said simply, "delicious, the best."  Of course, I was hoping for more specifics, like thin crust, or brick oven or mashed potato with bacon.  There is no comparison to pizza created in New Haven, CT, but we'll give it a try.

I was thinking about our family trip to Las Vegas in Dec. 2010.  Our brother Steve was running a half marathon and we decided to go watch him.  Two days before the race, Nancy and Glenn, Steve P., Steve C. and I visited the Grand Canyon for the first time. We booked a bus tour that turned out to be a bust.  We would never recommend a bus tour.  Instead, rent a car and control your own schedule.
We never reached the canyon until late in the day so we had only a short time to view it before the sun went down.  It was breath-taking!

We had such fun together that week!  Magic shows,  buffets, sight-seeing, the Santa Claus fun run, comedy shows.  And the main event, Steve's race.  So glad we took that trip together.

Steve, me, Nancy and Glenn

The Grand Canyon at sunset

Day 743: Penelope and SS department party

I love our department.  Nearly, six years post retirement and we are still close friends.  How I have missed working with those folks!  Now it's more fun to get together for dinner and good conversation.  I think everyone was talking all at the same time.  So much news!  Nick B. got engaged, Pat's had great success with Model UN, Beth was thrilled that Ryan got into Cornell, Dave is loving taking care of his grandchildren, Nick C. has another great Mock Trial team,  Eileen is in radiology school, Lisa sees our grads succeeding at Fredonia State.  Then there were discussions of water in the basement in several of their homes, and a gas leak on Central Ave, and Orange is the New Black, and Charlotte in kindergarten, and Emmet's torn ACL and Shawn's cat plays the banjo and Rory loves stage crew and Amy's new grandson and a basketball player is starring as Birdie!  Exciting and fun and full of love!

Penelope was just the same.  Only five came, but that's ok.  We worked till 12:45 and talked the whole time.  Worry over spouses, traveling in the blizzard, needing help with computers, writing memoirs, kickstarting projects, traveling the world, Molly's old age, finding agents, peepers peeping, organizing chapters and adding illustrations.  So much productive discussion!

And Silver Creek is a go!  The board gave its approval yesterday morning at a special meeting. Steve met the superintendent when spoke at the rally to save Lake Shore Hospital yesterday.  Today, Josh joined us for another discussion on the next few steps to enroll his kids in Quest.   We are so pleased!

Valerie's newest project: all hand painted nesting dolls!