We started today in Austin. I was planning on taking the whole day off but ended up doing a few hours of work before we left the hotel. I lost track of time and before I new it it was almost 9:30. Diane patiently waited for me to finish working.. She finally snapped me out of work mode and coaxed me out for a run. As soon as I was back we packed and hit the road.  I plugged in my boyhood address into the cars GPS and started driving.. It was like a drive back into my past.  We took Route 71 to I-10.. about 160 miles of flat, green, hot Texas. It hadn’t changed much in 30 years. Lots of cattle.. a few firework stands and lots of nothing. Coming into Houston was another thing. At about Katy things started getting built up… From there all the way into my old part of town was now quite built up. It was almost as if Houston had crawled out another 20 miles !. That stretch was full of new road and overpass construction. Strip malls, car dealerships… it was about as different from Vermont as one could get.  

The start of our journey.. find my old home address.

Ugh !

Wishfull thinking

Things were so built up that I almost didn’t recognize the turn off to my road. We pulled off the freeway and waited in traffic to make the turn down Echo lane.. the road to Memorial Senior High school where I went. I can honestly say this is the first time that I ever looked upon that school fondly.. It looked pretty much the same modulo a brand new front and prison like fences everywhere. We spent about 30 minutes walking around the place.. We found a few gates that had accidentally not been locked and even wondered around inside the compound.    It brought t back all sorts of memories..  I could really place myself back in that time..  I though of many folks.. friends, teacher.. I hadn’t thought of in probably 30 years.. it was pretty cool being there…  now at least.

In the cafeteria

My nrother drew this mural in 1978.. it’s been repainted, though

The interiar hallway.. the fences are new

The track’s named in honor of my dad’s friend Will, the track coach here forever.

I threw a SamStone on the roof in front of My Kozlozsky’s old chemestry class

Ms. Rae’s Chemestry II class

My old Calculus room <3 <3 <3

On the track that my dad and I used to run on. I foud out by goign through the superintendat’s office trash that this track cost $30,000 in 1976.. but they woudn’t give us $300 for a laser… I even petinitione them for it.. and never got it.. 🙁

World History Class

Mr. Saathoof’s old Physics’ Room “John… please be more attentive”

If Diane and I had met here

 

After leaving there, we made a quick stop at Spring Branch Middle School. Middle school was  not much fun for me so my memories from that place were pretty few..   My favorite memory from there was the time that my friend Phillip and I launched a very large homemade rocket from there with a fairly  large high explosive charge (Silver Azide as I recall)  as payload. It went off much closer to the ground than it was supposed to have. It scared us and we ran off just as the fire department was pulling up..  Ah  kids…

 

We then drove down Piney Point to Smithdale to See Memorial Drive Elementary… (I had forgotten that it was Memorial Drive  Elementary.. I remember it as Memorial Elementary. I found my Kindergarten class where Miss Mocha taught me.. I even got a shot inside.. I remember that was before we got air Conditioning in that school. I remember  it was unbearably hot sometimes. I remember the places I stood as part of the 5^th grade crossing cards. I remember being so proud of the white sash we  had to wear as a crossing guards.

The Bus stop

Ms. Mocha’s room

Mr. Eldridge. The Principal. he once made me squat for 20 minutes in a corner becasue I tripped Todd Mitchell

From there we drove past the church where I was in Cub and Boy Scouts then sanaked our way to Shady Glen where I grew up. Shady Glen used to be called ‘Scholars Hollow’ at one point because all of its residents were Rice professors. They changed the name when folks like us showed up

 

A tribute to our neighbor Bud

Our house looked great !. My folks moved from there up to Sherborn MA about 4 years ago. The guy who bought the house had put a bunch of work into spring up the place. It had new windows, a new fence, new landscaping and a new garage door. The essence of the place was not changed, though.  Knocked on the door, but no one was there. I walked around the place taking pictures. It was bitter sweet visiting there. I snuck around back and placed a SamStone in the bamboo that Sam like to play in when we visited here while he was little.  One big change was that the guy had cleared many of the trees from the  back yard so now it had healthy grass growing. Something we could never do with all of the shade.  It really looked great.  

 

Front View

The Garage which was my lab

‘Maggie’ , my favorite Magnolia tree (My friend Dari named her that)

Side view

The living room – this was where Xmas was

The front door

Our old mailbox

‘My’ firehydrant

Our old Thermometer (note the temp)

The kitchen

My old room

The new back yard

The patio

I put A SamStone in the Bamboo that Sam loved to play in

The back yard

The side door

Front of the house
..hotobucket.com/albums/r319/johncohn/jun07c/jun2907212.jpg”>

  It was hard for me to pull away from there.. but we had to get to my brother’s house. On the way., we made a quick stop at St. Francis Church which was across from our little road.  I used to go to nursary school there. Much later, my friends and I used to hang out there at night  and play music. I used to climb on the roof there and make tea… and I used to practice picking the locks on their doors. Those are strange memories. I left a SamStone in the capable hands of one of the statues of St. Francis who used to listen to me when I had problems to discuss.  (the statue I mean.. not the Saint)

Ms Holliday’s Nursary school room .. my first school experience

   From there we made the urban drive to my brother’s house. In the interest of time now. I’m going to write about our grate visit to my brother’s house tomorrow on the plane. Right now I need to go to sleep as we have to wake up at 4:45 to get to the airport.

This has been a really good trip so far.  More tomorrow. G’nite all !

 -jc

 

  

 

 

Folks.. I apologize.. Myspace blogs were down last night.. I had to post this in the morning…

 

Oh man am I sleepy.. We got in so late last night. Found our nice hotel and fell asleep. Here’s a bad picture of flying in that came out pretty cool.

Note the name of the resturaunt behind the hotel.

I’ve fallen asleep twice while sitting down ready to start blogging. . I’ll do my best to get through it. We got in very late night and did not get enough sleep. I still managed to have a really nice and productive day, though. I began today with a short run around some of the roads and paths behind the hotel. I had forgotten what it felt like  to run in this moist Texas  heat. It was really quite beautiful. The Grackles were out making their normal racket..  which reminds me of growing up on Houston. There it was a comforting familiarity to it.     After a quick  breakfast, I headed out to work and Diane began her planned day of just relaxing away from house and yard work

   I spent my day in meetings in building 45  It was actually nice  being at so many meetings in person after all the phone meetings I do in Burlington.   This is my first trip to Austin since Sam’s passing. Many. folks came up to me here to tell me how sorry they were and to hug me. As always., the love an concern folks show us  really lifts  me up.

Here are my good firends Sybil (Slayergrll.. she posts to my myspace) and Peggy.

I finished up around 6:30 and drove aback to the hotel to pick up Diane. It was soooo nice to have her there at the hotel when I got home. I can’t tell you how many times a year I come back to a dark and empty hotel room somewhere n the world.

    Diane told me about her lazy day.. which sounded  very peaceful…she’d also talked to both boys.. Gabe was still having a good time in Oregon.. and Max was doing fine at home.. I miss them both so much..   Around 7 we headed out to meet my friend Leon and co. for dinner.    Leon was taking the managers who reported to him here in Austin for dinner. The restaurant.. was called “Mood and Food”  . Diane and I did the ‘we’re trying to be vegan’ dance with the menu and found something with no meat, eggs or dairy.. Once again.. I’ve been a vegetarian for years with no problem.. but trying to avoid eggs and dairy in our culture is really tough.  One interest side note about the restaurant. was that the room was filled with color changing lights  (I that kept cycling our food between shades of red . white, green and blue… I managed to take most of my bites during the white cycles.  Conversation at dinner was good… it was good getting to know these folks better. 

   AT about 8:30 we excused ourselves and headed over to my friend Jim and his wife Mary. Jim and Mary’s house looks our over Lake Austin… which was really beautiful tonight. Amazingly, the night was quite cool.. I think it’s cooler here tonight than back in Vermont. We sat out on Jim and Mary’s porch and listened to the rain.. t couldn’t have been nicer. One cool bonus for the evening is that Mary and I went to the same High School in Houston (Memorial High)// Mary is a couple of years younger than I am, but we still new many of the same folks. There are very few folks I know who I can reminisce  with about those days.. it was fun. 

    Now were back at the hotel and I keep falling asleep.. I just nodded off for the third time while tying. Time to post this and get to sleep. More from Austin tomorrow !  Goodnight folks.. goodnight Sam !

-me

A story from texas wouldn’t be complete with out a picture of the state mascott !

Diane and I had a great day today. We left our hotel in Parsipanny (sounds like a root vegetable) at about 8 for the drive to New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) in Newark. I was the keynote speaker for summer technology camp for high school kids.  Newark is about as different from Vermont as two places could be.. The air was hot, humid and hazy as people edged their cars along the packed freeways.. I’m not a great city driver. I’m pretty distractible (no.. really ? )   and there was so much to look at as I drove.  I was so happy to be driving the Prius.. it’s GPS got us right to the door of NJIT . My friend Maureen met us and guided us in to our unloading spot. A bevy of camp counselors descended on our car and lugged the equipment up to the third floor where my show was to be while Diane went and parked  the car. It was great having her here with me..  I think there were about 80 kids in this camp.. half from new jersey, half from out of state.. Some for inner cities. They were all interested in engineering and science. .  The show went great… I always choke up a little when I do the introduction and dedicate the show to Sam.. but once I’m into the shtick.. I’m ‘on’. All of the equipment worked today.. which is a bit of a miracle in itself.. the kids were great participants and the faculty and staff at NJIT were warm and welcoming as always. This place has such a great heart…

   After the show… the samy clutch of camp counselors lugged the equipment down stairs for me.. which is  the only part of doing these shows that I usually  don’t enjoy.  It was about 12:30 when Diane and I got the car loaded .. We had about 6 hours to kill until our flight to Austin. For no particular reason we headed down to the Jersey Shore..   It seemed like a better idea than heading into NYC on such a hot and muggy day. The temp outside read 97 degrees as we headed down the Garden State Parkway. 

    We turned off at Point Pleasant Beach because one of the students had told us it was one of the closest beaches. .. looking for the quintessential Jersey Shore experience.. and we found it.  Jenkinson’s Beach at Point Pleasant was about as Honky Tonk as you could get.. a boardwalk, expensive rides, rigged (I assume) games of chance.. cool beach food .. and lots of sunburned people. We looked  for a place to change our clothes.. For some weird reason changing in the restrooms was a punishable offense.. The only place you could change was a ‘bathhouse’ that wanted $4 apiece for the opportunity to change your clothes in a tiny stall.. no thanks.. We went back to the car and di the classic change in the car routine, then headed back to the beach.  We paid $6.50 apiece to be able to go down on  the beach and we sat down in a sea of people.. . I know it sounds yucky.. but for some reason, it was just what we were looking for. The breeze kept the heat down.. the sun was bright… and we just spaced out. We’d ate the few veggie sandwiches we’d found at  a health food store and fell asleep. I woke up before Diane and just stared up at the sky for awhile and spaced out. ..  The kids would love this place.. I missed them all…    When Diane  woke up, we went down to the water and put a SamStone in the Atlantic for him.. It felt good to do that..

Here we are in the parking lot

Check this out !

We’re going vegan in solidarity with Max.. It’s harder than I thouhgt.. and I’m already a vegetarian !

This is me spacing out and starign into the sky

Who does his shopping ?

   By then it was time to head back up to JFK.. We spent a few hours driving back up to NYC.. I had work calls for the whole drive.   New Jersey freeways are … err…. uh… picturesque ?!

We also talked to Max and Gabe. Max is home in Vermont and sounded hot.. We heard it hit 100 in Burlington today !!! Gabe sounded like he was  having a great time Snowboarding in Oregon. Snow sounds great on a day like today.

   Right now, Diane and I are sitting in the airport waiting for our flight..

we’re already an hour late.. which is no fun.. At this point, we’ll probably miss the rental car pick up in Austin. We’ll manage. I’m looking forward to seeing many work friends in Austin..

Hey they’re boarding our flight !..  Gotta go.. More tomorrow !

 

-jc

 

 

 

Greetings from Parsippany New Joysee. Diane and I just got here after a pretty easy 6 hour drive in from Vermont. I’m down here to do a science show at the New Jersey Institute of Technology tomorrow morning before flying to Austin for work .  I’ve been doing shows/talks  at NJIT for several years now.. My good friend Kevin went to school here.. and he turned me on to the place.  NJIT offers a  great science summer camp. In past years it’s been  a great and really diverse group of kids. I’m looking forward to the show. I’ll dedicate it to Sam…

     I do this drive down to NY all the time by myself..      It’s so much fun having Diane here with me this time.. She’s a great travel companion.. interesting, fun and compact !..  Compact is a big deal because I have every piece of my science equipment crammed into our Prius. There’s not room for another toothpick in the car.. but it’s so much better on gas !

    Diane’s able to travel with me this week because Gabe left at 6AM this morning for High Cascade in Oregon. He was so excited to be going.. he’s been planning it for over a year. It will be extra meaningful for him this year. Sam went there last year and loved it.  The boys were looking forward to going there together this year. Gabe is taking all sorts of Sam stuff out with him. He’s also taking a box  to Tyler E., the kid who was paralyzed after a bad snowboarding accident. The box contains  a bunch of  SamStones, a Sam shirt and a letter from the Friends of  Sam with the donation they’re making to Tyler and his family. The High Cascade folks are taking the box down to Tyler next month,

   I have to admit that it was hard for me putting Gabe on the plane with Sumner.. but Diane and I are determined for the kids to live fully and bravely. I know that Gabe will be in good hand and will be well supervised. He got to Oregon without a hitch… so far he loves the camp.. I’ll post any stories he sends me.   He just called as I was writing. I love hearing from him.

    Meanwhile, Chai is home taking care of Max !  Max is dong a 4 going vegan for the next few weeks.. He’s been doing some amazing cooking over the past several days. Diane and I are trying to do the vegan thing too… I’m surprised how hard it is to do.. and I’ve been a pseudo-vegetarian for over 30 years (I eat fish.. but no other meat stuff). I’ll let you know how it goes.

    Speaking of stories.. I ran into our friend Charlotte-san at Richmond Beverage. She told me that she just had a dream about Sam.. In here dream, Sam was dressed in a big bunny suit and handed her a bunch of used-but-clean Tupperware.  Anyone what to interpret that ?

   OK.. gotta run.. Tomorrow, NJ and then Austin. I’ll keep everyone posted.

  

-jc