Quiet day,. Which was welcome after all we’ve had going over the last few days. I spent the morning wrestling with the water softener… one of the culprits for the sewage backup in our basement. As much as I love making new things, I am really terrible at fixing old things.. and this softener is old.. What’s more it meant an hour or so hunched over in the basement.. which is too short to allow me to stand. Mix that in with the damp floors and the lingering aroma .of the last two sewage backups and you start to create that unique old house experience. To get the memory of the basement out of my head, I tried to spend some time working on the SamStones.org webpage… . I have most of it there, but I think I could use some help. I’m getting caught in the familiar trap of spending all of my time and energy on one of the less important aspects. E.g. today I’ve been working on the dynamic mapping program that will allow us to see where people have placed or found SamStones all over the world…Anybody who feels they can help me get the webpage finished will be rewarded with at least my eternal gratitude.. maybe more ! As I sat typing on the webpages I realized I was sitting under some artwork that Sam made when he was very young.. the two pictures have sat on the window over our downstairs computer for years.. I love them… Here they are
In the early afternoon, Diane, Chai and I went for a wonderful snowshoe up near the sugar house on the Bolton access road. . There was beautiful snow, beautiful views, and nearly tropical (23 F) weather. We did a really nice bushwhacking loop up towards the ridge opposite the Bolton Valley Quad.. The snow was several feet thick in places.. .We could not have asked for better.
After we got back I had a great conversation with my good friend Kerry.. Kerry is an amazing and accomplished guy with a million talents and interests. He is organizing a group of local artists and craftspeople to help us build a lasting monument to Sam’s spirit. Kerry has been talking to folks at Bolton Valley , in Richmond Town and at MMU high school as possible locations for the piece.. Our thought is to make something fun and kinetic.. e.g. maybe a stylized snowboarder who spins and flips in the wind. If you have some ideas for the piece or a location.. or you enjoy good (or know someone who enjoys) at design , metalwork, etc.. let us know.
The day faded into a very quiet evening. Max is still in Quebec so it was the three of us. I really feel Sam’s presence and absence when we sit down to eat. For some reason, we were all pretty low tonight at dinner. The three of us played a quiet game of Clue (Diane won) and things were winding down to bed in a quiet and subdued way. By 8PM. I could barely keep my eyes open, but It was still a little early for Gabe to go to bed,, I don’t know why, but I asked Gabe if he wanted to go sledding. It was like the opposite of what my body and mind were telling me to do.. but sled we did. Gabe, Chai and I spent about 45 minutes coming down our sledding hill. Which is the happy result of an accident in 1995 when a truck accidentally came 2/3 the way down the hill behind our house .. It wasn’t going back up the hill… so they cut the trees in front of the truck and lowered it down. The result is one of the best sledding hills I’ve ever been on. Our neighbors Barb and Justin who own the hill have allowed us to rig up some lights for nighttime sledding. It’s a great place.. Max , Sam and Gabe and their friends have been using this hill nearly all their lives. My memories of having all the kids up on the hill were very strong. Tonight it was fun just being with Gabe. We did some short movies with my new camera.. they’re not ‘art’ but you get the idea how fun it is to go bombing down this hill at night when you should be in bed. .. We really felt you out there Sam.. we had some great wipe outs that you would have loved.
-jc
Gabe in the snow
ps. Sorry of the typing is funny.. I’m having to do all the uploads over my cell phone since our interenet isn’t working at home
