Our dog friend Strider died last night. He’d been a constant friend to us as we ran by his house several times a week for the past 13 years; Diane and I went running this morning down by the rivershore. As we turned into the trail the dogs across Cochran road .. Coco and the two Doberman’s at  Deb’s house.. started barking like crazy. Not just their normal barking.. but an insescent wail.. almost a question. Chai and Satori couldn’t make out the sound either They stayed with me while Diane went to check what was up with all the dogs. She came back a few minutes later to tell me that that Strider had died yesterday night..   I knew it was coming.. but still it brought me to tears.   I knew he had not been doing well.. he was in clearly in pain. so I said my private good bye to him yesterday morning.   He would always be standing outside of his house watching me and the dogs run by.. The dogs and I would always walk over to him to say hi. I’d scratch under his chin and he’d smile.. He really did smile.. he had this funny way of curling his lips like he was going to growl   which meant he was happy.   I’m really going to miss him.. Good bye my friend . .. I wish you peace..

As I’m writing this I just found a note from Strider’s owner in tonight’s Richmond Front Page Forum .. Here’s the note

SO LONG AND THANKS FOR ALL THE BONES
By Molly D
Wed, 20 May 2009

Hi Neighbors – I’m not going to be making my morning rounds around Dugway, Cochran  Road and Wheeler Lane to visit you any longer.  I wanted to thank you  all for taking such good care of me.  You fed me bones and treats, you petted me and called me a good dog.  You gave me rides home when you thought I was lost or had wandered too far.   I loved riding in cars and I especially loved getting treats on my rounds.  You can still give your treats to Cocoa – she a really good dog and has been a best friend to me lately.   A big shout out to Max & Elcie across the road – keep howling – AWOOOO!  Chai & Sartori – thanks for the bones!  To the mailman, I hope you enjoy delivering the mail in peace and quiet.  I’ve got a resting place where I can watch Cochran Road and Wheeler Lane – so drive slow.  Thanks to Virginia Clarke for making an extra trip out to see me in the end.  I’m off to a place where my hips don’t hurt, I can run up and down hills, chew sticks into little toothpicks !
 and swim all day long!
Take Care,
Strider

I thought of Strider all through my day..   This evening I had a show down in Monkton. I was feeling a bit sad.. but the prospect of doing the mad science thing cheered me up. I always enjoy visiting the kids in Monkton. Tonight it was cub scouts from monkton, New Haven and Hinesburgh.   The show was noisy and fun.. a great group of kids..   After the show, the scout masters of both packs each handed me  very generous checks Sam’s fund.. I didn’ t even know they knew.. Once again  today I was moved to tears.. 

I love people….   and dogs..

Gnite Sam
-me

Wow.. I just relaized that I thought last night was Tuesday night… I think I’m still stuck in a timelss space…which isn’t at all bad. I just came back from an early dinner with two freinds… Crag and Aparna who are collegues in an engineering and science outreach project called Global Challenge.  B It was a great meeting and very inspiring both technically and personally. The Global Challenge is a program that engages high school stundents around the world in collaborative problem solving around world issues. Ive been peripherally involved with GC for several years.. I was actully on their board several years ago.. then dissengaged after Sam’s passing. The orginization has trsformed considerably in the past 2 years. They currently engage hundereds of kids worldwide.. mostly in the US, India and China. Most of the GC projects result in team written student reports that are judged on impact, science background and novelty. The winning teams get scholrships and other prizes.  Our conversation tonight was about how the orginizatiion could incorporate a more ‘hands on’ component in their projects.. and how the teams could better use collaboration and gaming technology..   The conversation was interesting in its own right.. but more interesting to me was the personal path that both Craig and Aparna had taken. Both of them made mid career choices to devote their time and energy to soemthing they felt passionate about..   it’s got me thinking abotu my own path…
  Hey.. Diane and Gabe are home. more on this tomorrow.. I gotta go hug my family  ! I love you all.. love you Sam
-me

I heard a great quote this morning on Garrison Keilor’s “the writer’s alminac’. It was from Bertrand Russell the 19th centrury matematician and philospher who’s birthday falls today. Rsussell said that ‘time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time’ .. I thought about that all day..  In fact I wasted a good deal of time thinking of that quote which I can say I very much enjoyed doing.
    Not much noteworthy to report today other than I drifted around in a pretty dreamy state.. I did manage to get hoem in time for Diane’s 6PM yoga class… This is the first Mondayn night yoga class I’ve been in for nearly 3 months !.. In fact.. I realized mid class that this is the first time I’d been upstairs in the yoga studio in nearly 3 months. I stll get major time warps liek that since returnign from the Colony.
   Speakign of the Colony.. I had a peculiar dream last night  that mixed The Colony, our new friend

from Cambodia andSam. I dreamed that I was in 

the small town in Cambodia  that our new freind Khem came from. My freinds and I were trying to help them get a water purification 

system working.. (See my blog post from yesterday to see what that’s

about) .

Soem of our friends wanted us to just make it look like it would work.. but that

made me really mad.. We all worked to make something that really worked..

but of course it took time..At the same time, the kids 

from the village were climbing all over the water structure (.some long ‘Y’ 

shaped conduits made of wood ?)   Then.. we  heard music.. It was Sam 

playing guitar and all the kids went over and sat around him while he

played. He sounded great… I really miss his playing so much. We kept 

working and got the project finished.. then I went over to talk to Sam. he 

looked great and said he was fine…   Then I woke up. smiling..   

T
  he strange thing is when I woke it was 2AM.. My sciatic nerve told me that it wanted me to be awake at that point. I got up and went into the bathroom o look for some  advil. I turned on the light, looked around and couldn’t find any.. oso I turned off the light  and walked back into my room.. I was abotu 10 feet back towrads my bed when the light in the bathroom turned back on…  pretty strange and amazing. Not sure what it meant.. but that made me happy too. I wlaked back in turned the light off again.. and went down stairs and walked around for an hour until I felt like goign back to sleep..
   It’s a strange world we live in.. isn’t it Sam ?
-me

Another really nice day..   We hung out trying to stay warm while it went between warm and freezing outside.   We’re expecting frost tongit but mid 80’s on thursday. Gotta love Vermont in the spring.
    We spent today doing small projects around the house including trying to dry out the half pipe, fixing the trampoline, re-running the water softener after it failed the first time, etc.. none of it hard or taxing.. just blissfully mindless work.. ahhhhhh

The big event for the day was a ‘Friends of Sam’ meeting here at 4..  Sam’s freinds   have created this orginization in Sam’s memory. They raise money to help kids around the world.

Last year Sam’s freind Sam T. organized a ‘Jam for Sam’ benefit at Talent Skate Park (with the help of our very wonderful freinds at Talent..Hannah and Dave !!!!!) That event raised more than 3000 dollars to help a Sudanese freind of ours Abraham get his family out of refugee camp and here to vermont.. Sam  wanted to do another Jam for Sam event.. and the group of

This time they’ve found a really interesting cause . am T.’s mom has a freind who has a freind who’s from cambodia . Her name is Khem

Khem  is trying to raise money to help the families in her small birth town of Khang Baing . Khem and  her sister and brother was abducted from their small village in Kampong Chanag province by the Khmer Rouge. They spent many months in refugee camps before fleeign to tthe Thai boarder. therye they got pinned between the Thai military and the Kmer Rouge troops. Khem’s sister got ill and died while her brother managed to escape back to the village. Khem passed out and woke in a hospital. She ended up in an orphange in Thailand where she lived for several years. Eventually she was brought to Vermont and settled with a family in Essex. She went to high school here, then to college in Mass.. then married and now has three kids.. 9 years ago she met another Cambodian women here who was travelign back to Cambodia.. Khem gaveher  as much info as she could about her parents and her village  … Somehow this info proved to be enough for the woamen to find Khem’s family and reconnect them. Ever since Khem has been trying to help her family and therei vary poor family escape from poverty and illness.   Khem actually traveled back to cambodia for the first time last fall.. here she is reunitted with her parents.  You can read about Khem’s story and her vision here.

Khem told the the Kids that she was tryoing to raise money to dig a few wells in the village to get fresh water and perhaps to help them buy a truck in order for the village  to sell their produce. The FOS guys were excited to help. it looks like the event will be 6/6/09 at Talent.. I’ll let everyone know as that date gets closer.. The event should be fun.. music, food and skateboarding..all for a great cause.. what could be better ?

Whiel we had everyone toghter.. we couldn’t forget that it was Brit’s 19th birthday. Diane had mad a great carrot cake (our Sam’s favorite).. and we brought it out as a surprise.. Crit was suprised and happy !

Well now it’s about 9 PM on Sunday and Im having trouble staying awake.. What’s up with that ? I think I’m really getting soft in my old age.. but who cares.. I’m goign to sleep. Gnite everyone.. Gnite, Sam !
-me