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Chaundre Broomfield 6212010.mp3

My students gave their spring recital on June 21st.  Here’s Chaundre’s tune.  I’ve got some great students–though I have to admit I am enjoying a little break at the moment.  Ginny, Noah and Claire were here for five days.  What’s a visit with the Beisels without a trip around a Putt Putt golf course?  Ginny and I followed Claire and Noah, who are a little too good at mini golf–it was hard to keep up.  Everyone got at least one ace… The kids especially liked the fire-breathing dragon.  Real fire.  The weather was pretty hot, so we also did a day of indoor sports:  bowling.  The kids loved getting in the Hot Tub, or rather, the Cool Tub, and had several sessions.  Noah proved his prowess at wii, and even Claire got in on the act.  I asked Noah which activity he liked the best this trip, and the spin around the GoKart course was his favorite.  Here’s a few pics.  I miss them already.

Chaundre lesson62010.mp3

It’s actually music in the hall, in the living room, in the kitchen, in the family room, etc.  This is Chaundre Broomfield playing a jazz tune by ear at lessons this afternoon.  We have a lot of fun at lessons.  I actually get paid for this. 

Spring Peepers.mp3  

Spring Peepers!  I recorded the last few sad, desperate peepers around the end of April, and I apologize for forgetting to post them as promised.  Here is a sampling of their song.  Just magnify it by about a thousand and you’ll have an idea of our froggie fest held each spring.  Yay! for Spring Peepers! (You might have to boost the volume a bit.)

These peepers live in the wetland behind our house.  If you want to hear them live, just call us in March.  You can hear them over the phone, while we are indoors.  They are incredibly LOUD enmasse.  I giggle every time I hear them.

          Don’t you just love a good rainbow?  This one was a double, and the clouds soon devoured it, one day a week or so ago. 

 We went for a Walk Over the Hudson this afternoon.  The newest New York State Park in our area is the Walk Over the Hudson, a converted railroad bridge (well over 100 years old) that connects Poughkeepsie with the west shore of the Hudson River.  What a great walk.  It was about 2 miles long, and very high.  When it opened in October, Pete Seeger perched himself at the midway point and sang This Land is Your Land.  I can’t wait to do this in the fall, though it was beautiful today.

We got to spend a little time with the Portland grandkids this past weekend while Ginny and Craig had a little time to themselves without children.  It started to rain on our drive up on Friday, and it rained from Friday until Monday morning.  In spite of the cold, wet, springy weather, we managed to get a round of Putt Putt golf in.  We were happy to find a course open, and it was a pretty good course at that.  Schooners in Saco, Maine.  Next to it is the Pirates Cove, and we’ll go there on the next visit, Noah.  We had two Guys From Space parties and played many games, colored, braided hair, and Noah and I had a clothes fight with socks and underwear.  It was fun to be a kid again for a while.  Here are a few photos.

 Last month we tripped to Seattle. On the way to Newark Airport, we turned over a milestone on the Sienna. Not bad for an eleven-year-old car.

         Looking toward Alki Point.  It was a beautiful, clear day.

             Two views looking east toward the city, quick phone photos.

  And one skyline shot.  It’s hard to be back in NY.  I miss my Seattle people. 

    Happy Birthday to Randy!  

http://weirsicecream.com 

A sure sign of spring is the opening of the local ice cream hang-out.  We usually indulge once a year, and sometimes we forget and miss a year or two.  But tonight we had a real reason to celebrate, so after dinner we trekked to Weirs for ice cream.  The place was built from a kit in the mid 1950’s.  How cool is that? 

  Today Randy and I took a drive to the Connecticut shore.  This is a nice drive, about an hour and a half.  We went to three lighthouses, Black Rock, (third photo from left, with Randy in foreground) Stratford, which isn’t pictured here because it’s in my phone and I’m too lazy to put it here right now, and Five Mile Point, which is also not pictured here, I notice.  Woops.  The Nor’Easters churned the ocean well, and piles and piles of great shells were everywhere.  Also pictured are two drive-bys and one pretty interesting rock photo I took for Allan, mostly.  Quirky quartz.  Maybe a deformed comglomerate, Allan?  The rock, not you.