Great day.. great weekend.. I was getting so stressed by the end of last week with all I had to do I was having trouble sleeping. This quiet weekend was just what I needed.

Somehow I managed to sleep until about 8:30.. We got up and took the dogs for a fast long walk up the Catamount ski trail about 2 miles down Duxbury rd from our house. We were trying to find a place that was a bit more open since everything here is so soaked from all the rain. The trail was beautiful and clear.. the flax was out with its beautiful blue flowers. The air was warm and dry ….. for a change.

All of the streams were filled with rushing water.. the sound was very cool .

We took a detour through the woods on an abandoned logging road. The rains had spawned a huge vaiety of mushrooms.. Wish I knew which ones we could eat !

It was a great walk.. we went all the way to the top.. as we turned around. Satori ran right into me because she wasn’t looking. She really hurt herself… she was wimpering.. we thought she might have broken soemthing.. she managed to get up and walk.. but whe was really favoiring her left front leg.. We took our time getting down.. She’s fine now..

On the way down we met another Labradoodle.. This one’s name was Khrama.. and her owner drives a prius and a subaru.. (but the subaru was in the shop getting new kayak rack).. I told her she matched the perfect profile for a McCain voter.. She looked at me. horrified… She couldn’t figure out that I was kidding..

I ran home while Diane and the dogs drove.. A bit later we got back in the car and drove to Charlotte to the MIT Club picnic. It was at the summer home of John and Alice Outwater. John was one of the original founders of the the MIT Club of Vt (AKA VoMIT – Vt’s own MIT club) .. John’s now 83 years old and is in a nursing home because his memory is failing.. He’s an amazing guy.. He graduated from MIT with a PhD in 1951 after graduating from Cambridge University in the UK.. He was an inventor, professor and entrepreneur for more than 60 years.
Even as he could no longer remember our names, he was able to tell us amazing facts about all sorts of scientific curiosities.. i remember him tellign me how tree’s were able to lift their sap much higher than could be explained by simple capillary action. I also remember him giving me a very eye opening and risque treatise on the sexual prowess of drysopholae (fruit flies).

Alice hosted us today.. Though John wasn’t present in person today. .. he was very much in spirit.

There were abotu 40 people at the picinic.. the largest turnout we’d
ever had. TheThere are about 380 MIT grads in the state of VT.. so
today’s take wasn’t bad. it’sa a very interesting and diverse group of
folks.. Lots of different interests, professions and skills. We even had two of the three kids who have bene accepted as freshmen there in the fall. I’ve known one of them , Colin S. , since he was little I worked with him in science camps when he was in elementary school. He’s a tru math prodigy
. He got 1st place in the US math olympiad this year.. and helped his
team win 3rd place (after china and russia) in the international math
olypiad in Spain last week..

My freind KC was there (her licence plate is KCN..
her initials.. and the chimical symbol for Potassium Cyanide.. one of
the worlds most dedly poisons)

We stayed at the picninc for about an hour and a half.. went shoping.. then came home.. My folks called to talk about the vacation we’re taking with them next week. As I was speaking with them I noticed that we had our first ripe tomatoes on the vine !!!!

Diane used them to make a great dinner for the 8 folks here. , cuke and tomoatoe salad, fresh Pesto pasta and garlic bread.. all the veggies and the basil for the pest were right out of the garden.

As we were cleaning up, nicholas serenaded us.. This is a song he wrote since he’s been staying with us.. I relaly like it (I apologize.. there are 2 short gaps in the recording.. but you can get the idea)

Since I’m adding movies, I wanted to share this one that Gabe and I made ysterday.> We put up blue tarps behind the trampoline then ised the ‘chorma key’ feature in Adobe Premiere to drop out the blue.. Digitial video rocks

OK.. I have a few hours of work to do now.. so I’ll quit here.. This is goign to be a wicked busy week and I need to prep for it. Love to you all.. Love you Sam
-me