Why I am happy. right. now.

I don't have school tomorrow! No High School teaching. No sitting in a class at UMass Boston.
Good friends are coming into town.
My students don't hate me. And they're not swearing in my face. AND they are turning in their homework.
I ate rice and quinoa for lunch.
A water bottle is in my possession. Finally. I can stay hydrated at school.
People are laughing.
Party tonight.
I don't have homework.

And I get to see you all in less than two weeks. Heeheehee!!!

(I have just found out that in order to cut down on costs here at the H.S., we're not turning up the heat in a Boston Winter which according to the Farmer's Almanac is to be the worst yet. And I'm still happy. For now at least.)

This is the Curtain-Time USA group with Willi Unsoeld, first climber to scale the steep west face of Everest. He and his companion got caught in a winter storm on the way down and had to spend the night in a hammock 2,000 feet above the valley floor. In the cold night, all of Willi's toes got frost bitten. But he saved his buddy's toes by placing them in his arm pits. In 1965, he was the Peace Corps director for Nepal, where this photo was taken. I'm on the back row to the left of the distinguished, gray-haired ambassador. Several years later I read an article in the Reader's Digest that Willi, while skiing in Colorado, was killed in an avalanche. He was a cool guy!

This is the Curtain-Time USA group at the U.S. Ambassador's home with our royal guest, King Hussein of Jordan and his Australian wife. The only two things I remember about the evening is that the ambassador was drunk and the King's younger brother was a very strange fellow. I think he had mental problems after talking to him for some time. But it was a rare occasion to rub shoulders with a world figure like the king, a very nice man, who for years helped keep a lid on the animosities between the Israelis and Palestinians. I'm again hiding, this time behind Norm Neilsen, our director, who later became the head of the Scera Theater in Orem. His wife, Rosanne Tueller Neilsen, was runner-up to Miss America in 1965.


A few years ago our dear neighbor, Mel Marion, got me in touch with Roy Rogers, because Mel sold him and Gene Autrey cowboy hats. He arranged a meeting with the two of us at the Roy Rogers Museum in Victorville, CA one time when I was in southern California attending an academic conference. Roy was my boyhood hero. In all of our games of cowboys and Indians, I always wanted to be Roy Rogers and use my golden six shooters. So, this was a great opportunity to relive my youthful fantasies. He was very kind and showed me around the museum. The most interesting display was a full-size stuffed figure of his famous palomino horse named Trigger.

Autumn in New England

This post is dedicated to Mom. I was talking to her on the phone today and we were talking about Fall colors. I was afraid I was going to miss them when I went to Jordan and Amanda's wedding two weeks ago. Well, they're still 'blooming' gorgeous!

I was going to post pictures of my hike up in New Hampshire overlooking Lake Winnepesaukee (in homage to my love for Bill Murray and Bob Wiley for that matter) but those will have to wait.

These beauties are from the cemetery across the street from me. Yes, I live in celestial realms. Ok, so, the colors didn't come out as vibrant as they really are because it's an overcast day today. My apologies in advance for not being able to adequately transfer the beauty across cyberspace.

I actually run through this here cemetery every Monday, Friday and Saturday.

If you were here with me, we'd be interdigitating while walking through this cemetery. Then we'd go to a farm near the North Shore for apple cider donuts and apple cider to dip said donuts into. These places exist and they've revolutionized my taste buds.

I love these trees. So. So. so.

hey all. i haven't said a word since all this started so i will commence to, now.
bright with the sense of change, this fall and moving from the doghouse in the next couple months, aw yes, you heard correctly, and having been able to walk better than i have in the last four years is all exhilarating! i am making music with friends and learning to speak this new language of song. also, i love you and laugh with eager delight to see y'all again soon. just want to let ye know. that's all, for now.
love, natty

Rock Canyon

My favorite picture!


These were taken way up at the overlook in the late afternoon.



Why is this picture so small?




Looking south from the overlook. The golds don't come in great in the picture. Looked really gold in person.

Coming back to you!

I'm sitting in JFK airport waiting for my flight back into your arms!

My flight from Boston to NYC was delayed for a couple of hours. I could have traveled faster with the Chinatown Fung Wah bus to NYC, but this way I was able to make a friend: A guy from Nashville who is friends with and lives four doors down from Andrew Belle. If you don't know who this guy is...he's my musician crush at the mo. Find him on Myspace. At first this guy was mega turn off due to his loquacious ways. It quickly became endearing as we chatted about music and places we've traveled. He was also super chill. Perhaps it only seemed this way in contrast to our anxious fellow passengers.

An irate couple were livid at the delay (due to inclement weather) and were frantically doing all within their power to expedite the process. Well, as we all know, their alleged power amounted to absolutely friggin' nothing except a lot of negative energy. When we finally began boarding, a team of police-men and women were showing us, the passengers lined up to board, pictures of two people who had skipped security and were already on the plane. They looked concerned and were clearly out of breath. (Cue to my worst nightmare: we are all going to be blown to the furthest reaches of the stratosphere in an Apocalyptic explosion...) My eyes bulged out a little at this point. Just a little.

The police force rushed onto the plane and dragged out the two suspects: the irate couple. The couple had apparently flown past security via the EXIT in hopes of making their flight (the one that was delayed for two hours). Don't ask me why it took security two hours to take action (I hang my head in worry and disbelief) but the rest of the plane had to wait an extra 10-20 minutes for the couple to make it back. I was super chapped and prayed that I would still make that flight to SLC. I even prayed that it would be delayed if needs me. Guess what? Yeah, it's delayed and I'm getting free internet!

Well, we're boarding now. I shall see you all SOON!

Kipona Canoe Races

Every year they have a Kipona festival here in Harrisburg which include some Canoe races along the shores of the Susquehanna.

Right as we got there, the girls doubles were having their last heat and Heather needed a partner, so a seasoned canoer stepped in and helped her row her way to a Bronze medal! First try!

Heather and G getting their award.

My friend, Brant, and I were hoping to place well in the Novice category, but I wasn't feeling as confident when the guys next to us looked like steroid-pumping thugs with deltoids larger than our heads. But we kept up with them up stream to the turn around point when our superior navigation skills got us turned around and heading to the finish line first place!

The winners circle with Dick Reese--the legend... who couldn't care less.

We then took breaks for some food then came back and raced raced raced. Heather raced in the women's doubles, the novice, the mixed, and war canoe (4 racers). Spencer raced in the men's doubles (x2), mixed, novice, and war canoe. We did the mixed and war canoe together.

Getting into the zone.

And the war canoe, that was fun. That was 4 people in a canoe rowing like crazy and being extra tipsy-prone which we found out as we rounded the buoy and tipped right over. It was our last race of the day and tipping over actually turned out to be the icing on the cake. SO refreshing!

Near the head of the pack right before we tipped...

Just enjoying the cool of the river while we get helped back in the boat.

Rowing the final leg after getting back in the boat. Picture the final scene of

Cool Runnings in the water with non-Jamaicans.

It was a great day of canoeing.

We soggy, victorious few.

"These are a few of my favorite things"

Kristin's Sunday post reminded me that we once shared our "favorite things" with each other. IT would be cool to do that again sometime. I'll list what we did before when we celebrated each family member, but you could redo the original anyway you want.
These were the original categories. Maybe we could also include why each one is our favorite, to increase the insights we get from each others' lists. What do you think?
Favorite historical period, book, piece of music, movie, TV program, dish, dessert, season of year, animal, flower, vacation destination, color, scripture.
And speaking of desserts, Diana came up with a winner last week when she added a handful of grandma's blackberries to her zucchini recipe. Annie loved it as did all of her office mates. Try it, you'll like it.

My favorite time of year!

It's Fall and the colors in New England are already changing. It has always been a dream of mine to be in New England to soak in the Autumn colors. And now my dream is coming true as a current resident of this place.

I took these leafy pictures at Walden Pond yesterday. My Walden has come to symbolize freedom and a retreat from the demands of a busy teacher/student schedule. (If anyone would like to donate to my business casual cause, my wardrobe is lacking in the most essential and basic items - I own tons of jeans and t-shirts). I've been at least a dozen of times to this hallowed spot of ground and skinny dipped a time or two as well. Oh to commune with nature and seize the day!

And a favorite from The Razor's Edge by Somerset Maugham-

"It was one man who invented the wheel. It was one man who discovered the law of gravitation. Nothing that happens is without effect. If you throw a stone in a pond the universe isn't quite the same as it was before. It's a mistake to think that those holy men of India lead useless lives. They are a shining light in the darkness. They represent an ideal that is a refreshment to their fellows; the common run may never attain it, but they respect it and it affects their lives for good. When a man becomes pure and perfect the influence of his character spreads so that they who seek truth are naturally drawn to him. It may be that if I lead the life I've planned for myself it may affect others; the effect may be no greater than the ripple caused by a stone thrown in a pond, but one ripple causes another, and that one a third; it's just possible that a few people will see that my way of life offers happiness and peace, and that they in their turn will teach what they have learnt to others."

Hey, this is my maiden voyage into a new corner of cyberspace. In fact, I just got through "talking" to Spencer on my chat space. He was impressed. I just found is little green dot on my computer screen somewhere, clicked it, and "voila," we were connected across who knows how many thousand miles. This is almost like the cold winter evening several years ago when Cody Carter let me look through his high-powered computer-generated telescope and I saw Saturn and its rings for the first time in my life. Fortuitously, it was the weekend after I had discussed Galileo's great astronomical discoveries with his improved telescope. It was one of the pivotal moments in life that changes your perspective forever. I guess this is one also. Thanks to Spence for getting it off the ground. As Wilbur once said: "I think it'll fly, Orville!"

Mom's 67th Birthday hiking to Squaw Peak

This dog wouldn't leave mom alone, and mom didn't seem to mind.

Too bad mom fell on the way down, this has been her last hike. Get better soon!

Goodbye to Summer/Dylan's 15th Birthday