The Holidays approacheth…

 

Where did this year go???!?!??  Here we are poised on the brink of another Holiday Season, and it feels like it should still be September!!!!  Silas is playing basketball, (as soon as he recovers from the concussion he got diving out of bounds for a loose pass??!?!?!), Tink’s Cross Country season ended with a new personal best at the Sectionals on the SPAC course, and now Winter track begins for him.  Bridget and I are tuning up for Mountain Snow and Mistletoe at the Egg on December 10th and 11th, (see www.chrisandbridget.com  for details) and trying to remember all the great times 2011 have brought along.  Here are some photographic highlights…

Silas and his Yellow Jack in Florida…

Tink adds flight to his running agenda...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Silas and his buddies barnstorm Boston...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Len's 50th year of fly fishing on the river...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vintage Silas... write your own caption...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dad sports a 'stache...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Silas discovers Quebecouis girls, er...maybe the other way around...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tink on the fly...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

An early snowfall...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just a few to share before I post some more recent shots closer to Christmas, in the mean time…

 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!!!!!!!

A new dawn…

A while ago, I pitched a kind of “Anthony Bourdain” style travel log show to some pretty high powered TV folks who liked the idea, but didn’t pick it up.  I figured that the places I go, and the people I meet going there would be of great interest to folks.  I still believe that’s true.  The truth of the matter is, I don’t travel to REALLY exotic places, with some notable exceptions, definitely don’t have the budget to hit high end restaurants all the time, but I’m fortunate to still be touring to amazing places, and hang out with some of the most amazing folks you’ll ever meet in person.   Some are millionaires, some are other working musicians, some are teachers, business people, retired folks, young people, reporters, activists,and some are  ”Lobsters” (a code word for REALLY interesting individuals). I’ve decided to tell their stories, and mine, here for now.  This is the first installment of my new direction here.  I’ll still be writing about the Adirondacks, and many stories will be framed up here, but it’s time to expand the horizons of this blog,… so here we go.

It’s taken me a long time to realize, I’m primarily a writer.  I’m an OK guitar player, although I have many friends who are far better at it than I, (and Taylor Guitars certainly sent me down the road of receiving all kinds of recognition for whatever I’ve been able to contribute along those lines).  My sainted wife has tried to tell me that for years… (Just the facts.)

I’ve performed, written, and traveled , telling the stories of the Adirondacks, and the people I love here from Anchorage to Berlin for almost thirty years.  This week I’m playing at 10 different schools in the North Country, and  at the Adirondack Museum.  It’s not just about the performances though.  Today I played at Lisbon Central School for the 4th – 8th grade classes, about 200 students in all.  The principal told me that 70% of the kids I performed for today live under the poverty level.  His greatest concern was not that they “meet the standards” put forth by the government, but rather that they had something to eat before they came to school, and have some idea where they’re going to be sleeping tonight.  This revelation isn’t the exception, it’s the rule.

“Live from the  Nirvana known as the Adirondacks,… it’s Reality.”

Summer photo log…

Big Brook

The summer started with a bang, multiple trips north working with the Adirondack Museum, NCC Outdoor Education, and fly fishing with “The Boys”!  Hang on tight, … here we go!

Adirondack Hotel - Long Lake

The bouncer - Adirondack Hotel

Len - The Grand Pubah of Fly fishing

The river

Silas demoing for Will Rooney

Camp eats...

Silas and Dad finishing up at the Quarry Stretch...

and at the end of the day...

it's just the 3rd of July!!!!!!!!!!

Spring’s back, and so am I…

A little optimism...

To say “It’s been a long winter,” is like saying ” That Shaq fella is kinda’ tall!”  Good riddance.  We spent time following Tink and his buddies in indoor track to keep our minds off the relentless season,…

Tink is the guy with the white headband...

Indoor track, among many other things,  is on the chopping block due to a lack of funding for education by the State of New York.  The State stands in contempt of court after losing a suit to the Campaign for Fiscal Equity for failing to provide ” a sound basic education” for the children of NY as dictated by the State constitution.  The State has lost all appeals.  This Governor would rather take away opportunities like this, take teachers out of classrooms, and limit course offerings and services , than find the budget cuts elsewhere. He refuses to tackle the real problem here.  The fact of the matter is that we don’t fund the education of our children properly here in the State of New York.  The fix is going to be messy, costly, frustrating, and certainly won’t pave the way to DC for Mr. Cuomo as neatly as putting the burden on the local taxpayer, letting the kids twist in the breeze in the interim, and coming out the other side with the Bible to thump on that he’s “Balanced the Budget!”.  Just don’t look at the carnage in the rear view mirror, Mr. Governor, even your girlfriend won’t be able to make something palatable out of that.  BTW, a classroom without a teacher is NOT a classroom, it’s a student warehouse.   ( Next time I’ll quit pussyfooting around and tell you what I REALLY think,… ; >)

In an effort to recover from the effects of a winter that just wouldn’t quit, ( and to lower my blood pressure…)  Bridget, Tink, Silas , and I went down to sunny Florida, returning last night in time for Easter at home.  Here are some highlights…

Silas fighting the surf...

Tink rides the waves...

Silas battles...

The payoff,... a 20+ lb. Jack!

Tink gets in the fight...

Tink's first barracuda...

If there is one image that personifies my youngest son,...this is it.

Tink,... chillin'.

So now it’s time to get back to business, for me, the third week of  May will be spent at the Greenfield Center Elementary school doing workshops and writing songs with the students there, a private concert in Lake Placid that Saturday, the entire next week as the artist in residence at the Adirondack Museum at Blue Mountain Lake working with school groups and visitors.   The next week a visit to the Lake Avenue Elementary School in Saratoga Springs followed by a concert with my friend Cedar Stanistreet at the Ndakinna Education Center in Greenfield Center, NY as part of their “Down to Earth Concert Series”  The first two Wednesdays in June I return to the Northern Clinton Outdoor Education Project to work with kids way out in the woods up in the Adirondacks.  (In the time in between, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a fly rod getting bent a bit… ; >)  The summer dates are STILL coming in, hope to have a final schedule for you all soon.  You can always go to the website at www.chrisandbridget.com , as a matter of fact, that’s where I’m headed now to do a little updating.  Hope to hear from you all soon!  Back to the ‘Dacks!!!!!  Here comes Summer!

A day at the museum...

Fall musings…

It’s been a while since I’ve posted here, sorry for the lag!  The fall has heralded the beginning of a new school year for the boys, travels to old familiar places for me along withsome time to write, and Bridget has been ripping it up in the world of finance!  After a really dry summer, the rains have returned this fall, but a bit too late for our usual burst of bright colors.  The foliage is pretty subdued, and falling FAST these days.

Deer's Leap

Cross Country has made it’s debut on Tink’s schedule, including meets at SPAC…

Off to the new Yankee Stadium with my “adopted” daughter Corey…

Out on Lake George with Chet and Karen…

Homecoming Dances,…

Off to the Storytelling Festival in Fredonia,…

And a scenic ride home visiting my old friend, former duo partner, and roomate Denny,…

Even saw a couple of Amish girls out for a “Joy Ride”,…

All in all, it’s been a great fall so far, and the signs all point to more of the same…

Summer pick for “Best Restaurant”

2128 Doubleday Avenue
Rt. 50, Ballston Spa

518-884-2926

OK,… I know what you’re thinking, “This place isn’t in the Adirondacks!”  And you’re right, of course.  But it IS on the way to, and on the way back from your Adirondack adventures.  These folks have the whole package, the food, the service, the ambiance, AND the price!  No small part of choosing this restaurant as the #1 summer pick was owner/chef Kim Klopstock’s penchant for using local ingredients, truly being a “sustainable restauranteur”.  I’ve been to places where that amounts to a culinary trainwreck, but not here!   Cast your eyes on this,…

Chef Randy Cruse plates his work

Owner/Chef Kim Klopstock paying attention to detail...

My advise to you is “Get there, and get there quick!”, it’s a little off the beaten path for the summer Saratoga track scene, but word is getting out and when it does, you’ll be needing reservations a week in advance!  And don’t worry gang, it’s “kid friendly” too, Silas left nothing but a scorched hole where his entree used to be!!!!!!!

T minus two and counting…

With a little more than two weeks before the boys go back to school, their Dad sits here wondering where the summer went!  It seems like about 3 weeks ago I picked them up from school (I was just six weeks off…), filled the jeep with fishing and camping gear, and headed north for our traditional “School’s Out- Outdoor Adventure”.

We’ve been back and forth to the Adirondacks like we were tied to a yo-yo, fishing and doing shows!

Tink has been training for a Triathalon, Silas has traveled with friends from Maine to Las Vegas!!!!!

All in all it’s been QUITE a summer,…

Two plus weeks left,… but don’t look now!  Uh oh….

Ah,… summertime!

The meadows approaching Paul Smiths

John and Len solve the problems of the universe

Silas sends one for a ride

Tink goes long for a big one

The boys phone home to Mom

Pat experiences wild blueberry overload

Chet and Rob,… it’s a long story

MB proves once and for all there’s no sport she can’t excell at

Full moon in a buttermilk sky

Tip of the week:

The Cellar Restaurant

Long Lake, NY

Location: Just as you leave town headed for Tupper Lake at the intersection of Rt. 30 and Kickervill Rd.(the road to Cedarlands Boy Scout Camp) on your right.

REAL good food, a surprisingly large and diverse menu, beautifully presented and served with a smile!

http://www.thecellarlonglake.com/

Rating: ****

Important summertime information,… take a moment here

A repost from Capt. Mario Vittone’s blog.  Thank you, Captain!

The new captain jumped from the cockpit, fully dressed, and sprinted through the water. A former lifeguard, he kept his eyes on his victim as he headed straight for the owners who were swimming between their anchored sportfisher and the beach. “I think he thinks you’re drowning,” the husband said to his wife. They had been splashing each other and she had screamed but now they were just standing, neck-deep on the sand bar. “We’re fine, what is he doing?” she asked, a little annoyed. “We’re fine!” the husband yelled, waving him off, but his captain kept swimming hard. ”Move!” he barked as he sprinted between the stunned owners. Directly behind them, not ten feet away, their nine-year-old daughter was drowning. Safely above the surface in the arms of the captain, she burst into tears, “Daddy!”

How did this captain know, from fifty feet away, what the father couldn’t recognize from just ten? Drowning is not the violent, splashing, call for help that most people expect. The captain was trained to recognize drowning by experts and years of experience. The father, on the other hand, had learned what drowning looks like by watching television. If you spend time on or near the water (hint: that’s all of us) then you should make sure that you and your crew knows what to look for whenever people enter the water. Until she cried a tearful, “Daddy,” she hadn’t made a sound. As a former Coast Guard rescue swimmer, I wasn’t surprised at all by this story. Drowning is almost always a deceptively quiet event. The waving, splashing, and yelling that dramatic conditioning (television) prepares us to look for, is rarely seen in real life.

The Instinctive Drowning Response – so named by Francesco A. Pia, Ph.D.,  is what people do to avoid actual or perceived suffocation in the water.  And it does not look like most people expect.  There is very little splashing, no waving, and no yelling or calls for help of any kind.  To get an idea of just how quiet and undramatic from the surface drowning can be, consider this:  It is the number two cause of accidental death in children, age 15 and under (just behind vehicle accidents) – of the approximately 750 children who will drown next year, about 375 of them will do so within 25 yards of a parent or other adult.  In ten percent of those drownings, the adult will actually watch them do it, having no idea it is happening (source: CDC).  Drowning does not look like drowning – Dr. Pia, in an article in the Coast Guard’s On Scene Magazine, described the instinctive drowning response like this:

1. Except in rare circumstances, drowning people are physiologically unable to call out for help. The respiratory system was designed for breathing. Speech is the secondary or overlaid function. Breathing must be fulfilled, before speech occurs.
2. Drowning people’s mouths alternately sink below and reappear above the surface of the water. The mouths of drowning people are not above the surface of the water long enough for them to exhale, inhale, and call out for help. When the drowning people’s mouths are above the surface, they exhale and inhale quickly as their mouths start to sink below the surface of the water.
3. Drowning people cannot wave for help. Nature instinctively forces them to extend their arms laterally and press down on the water’s surface. Pressing down on the surface of the water, permits drowning people to leverage their bodies so they can lift their mouths out of the water to breathe.
4. Throughout the Instinctive Drowning Response, drowning people cannot voluntarily control their arm movements. Physiologically, drowning people who are struggling on the surface of the water cannot stop drowning and perform voluntary movements such as waving for help, moving toward a rescuer, or reaching out for a piece of rescue equipment.
5. From beginning to end of the Instinctive Drowning Response people’s bodies remain upright in the water, with no evidence of a supporting kick. Unless rescued by a trained lifeguard, these drowning people can only struggle on the surface of the water from 20 to 60 seconds before submersion occurs.

(Source: On Scene Magazine: Fall 2006)

This doesn’t mean that a person that is yelling for help and thrashing isn’t in real trouble – they are experiencing aquatic distress. Not always present before the instinctive drowning response, aquatic distress doesn’t last long – but unlike true drowning, these victims can still assist in their own rescue.  They can grab lifelines, throw rings, etc.

Look for these other signs of drowning when persons are n the water:

• Head low in the water, mouth at water level
• Head tilted back with mouth open
• Eyes glassy and empty, unable to focus
• Eyes closed
• Hair over forehead or eyes
• Not using legs – Vertical
• Hyperventilating or gasping
• Trying to swim in a particular direction but not making headway
• Trying to roll over on the back
• Ladder climb, rarely out of the water.

So if a crew member falls overboard and every looks O.K. – don’t be too sure.  Sometimes the most common indication that someone is drowning is that they don’t look like they’re drowning.  They may just look like they are treading water and looking up at the deck.  One  way to be sure?  Ask them: “Are you alright?” If they can answer at all – they probably are.  If they return  a blank stare – you may have less than 30 seconds to get to them.  And parents: children playing in the water make noise. When they get quiet, you get to them and find out why.

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A day at the museum,…a photo essay