really nice 4th of july.. repeart of many long traditions.. makes me happy and nostalgic . So many 4ths with the kids…relatives, freinds. It was really nice having Pat and Joe here with us today. 

 

first stop (after a run) was the parade at Bressors . We’re all lookign pretty ‘vermonty’

 

then.. the parade !

 

our freind John Hmalin is now a town police officer.. he lead the parade . 

 

Our good, good freind and neighbor of 35 years Pat Quinn died last November. He was named the honorary grand marshal of the parade.. here’s the Kilpeck’s horses pulling a wagon wiht all of Ptt and Janet’s family.. 

 

then the pipers 

the pet parade 

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then the old tractors 

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the town band 

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the new tractors 

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then too soon.. there was marshal bringing up the rear.. 

he always carrys a sign to provoke thought.. 

 

this year it was .. ‘read sarah cleghorn’/. a poet from Massachusetts.. I don’t know her.. so I need to read her to figure out what Marshal is thinking.. always an interesting thing to try and figure out 

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then it was down to the green.. along with everyone from town. I love seeign folks here. 

 

we ran into so many friends. THese guys agreed that we need to re-kickstart the parade .. 

 

we ran into hannah and dave .. hadnt seen them in TOO LONG !

 

foudn Art hamiln.. because I had to take this shot. 

 

we checked out weverything.. including the old cars

 

eventually we went home.. 

 

Joe and I went up to Milton to look at a potential retirement job connection for him.. 

 

then back home for a cookout with gabe and his freinds.. 

 

aroudn 9 we headed back into richmond to watch fireworks at gary and gean’s. (how does one  spell gene ? jean ? geen ? )

 

here’s the back of Diane’s  head.. which i think is beautiful .. \\

 

especially with fireworks 

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great day.. ready for bed..

more tomorrow.

 

nite all, nite sam

-me

 

Good first day of vacation.. only a little of my normal… ‘what do I do now’ jitters I get on most vacations. 🙂 

We woke to no rain for the first time in weeks. Diane and I celebrated with  a run with the dogs.. then headed out to climb the Stowe Pinnacle. A steep but short (1.6 mile) climb.. through wet  and slippery rocks

 

 

the view at the top was great…

 

pent the rest of the day doing some recreational  electronics 

 

around 8:30 dianes brother Joe and our sister in alw Pat showed up.. So good to see them.. 

we’ve been hanging out by the fire outside.. Love this fire pit i made out of a dryer drum !

 

ok.. thats it for the day.. tomorrows the 4th !.. more from them !

nite all, nite sam

-me

Really nice day hanging out with Diane at home.. First day of sunshine in about a week.. so we went for a run, did yard work, hung out iun the pool. Just what we both needed. Around 6 we headed in to Essex Jct for a show at the Fairground. It was out on the green in a place I’d never imagined a concert.. but the venue was actually really nice. The bands were Hot Tuna, Woods Brothers and the Tedeshi-Trucks band.. in that order. We got there at 6:30 just as Hot Tuna came on.. The funny thing was.. they were the band I wanted to see.. but they were like a back up band to the other two. Jorma and Jack did a pretty short electric set.. it was great to see them.. I’v ebeen listening to them since I was 17.. and they are just as good as they’ve always been.. amazing.. 

 

the other two bands were good too.. Wood Brothers was a mash up of soem of the guys  from Madeski, Martin and Wood.. folksy, blugrassy rock.. I liked them better than I remmeber.. Then Teschi-Trucks were great. Susan Tedeschi has an amazing voice.. and Daryl trucks has that Almnan brothers southern guitar style.. great music to listen to as we people watched. We ran into a whole bunch of friends.. which made the night even more fun.. 

 

 

 

ok.. all this relaxing is making me sleepy.. More tomorrow

nite all, nite sam

-me

it’s been raining for weeks….  seriously…

and we have not seen summer yet.. 1/2 hot days.. but mostly rain..

we were not goign to let it keep us inside today.. we went out for a long hike. anyway.. up honeyhollow and down catamount.. about 6 miles.. 

funny thing is..w e ran in to quite a few people who were doing the same thing

 

we tried to ignore the rain.. but by midway.. it was pouring.. 

 

it was worth it.. we got our exercise.. got outdoors.. and were rewarded with this !

 

even the bunnies next door are tired of the rain

 

ok.. thats it for now..

nite all, nite sam

-me