What a full day !  Once again i had calls starting in the early morning.… it’s one of the challenges of working with folks all over the world. No time is good for everyone.  I had so many calls all crammed together today that i had to take one in the shower with me… i had to do that to get out of the house in time to get to meet Diane and Jen at Camp Abnaki to see Gabe and make SamStones with the kids. i got to the camp at around 11:30.

 

it was a great scene. There were about 15 kids and counselors crammed into the art room making SamStones. The table was nearly full by the time i got there and they were just about to complete the first box of clay. Gabe was in there with the. it was SOOOOO good seeing Gabe. i can’t tell you how much I’ve missed him this week. He looked good. And seemed to be having a good time at camp. i could tell he was happy to see u… and probably missed us a little. i wouldn’t have it any other way. We all sat there making SamStones and talking for a while until the lunch bell rang.

 

i went up to lunch with Gabe, while Diane and Jen stayed behind and kept working on stones. 

   it was so much fun eating with Gabe and the kids. it brought back memories of being in my own summer camp (Camp Rim Rock . Wimberley Texas 1970) except the weather was about 30 degrees cooler here.  i got to talk to some of the kids and eat pizza (Gabe ate my cheese). After lunch, the camp councilors invited me up to say a few words about Sam and to invite any  kids who wanted  down to help us make a few more SamStones//

 The guys waiting to go in for lunch

Gabe’s cabin posse read for lunch.

Gabe and i walked down again and there were about 20 kids crammed into the small room. i ung out for awhile then had to head back to the car for another meeting. Gabe helped me load up a bunch of the SamStones into a wagon for me to take back in the car.   it was hard for me to say goodbye to him again. i won’t see him for another week.

i was a little sad as i drove away from the camp. Frustrated too as i tried to find a place with enough cell signal to take my phone call. As soon as i found a spot i stopped the car, plugged in my lap top and started working. it was about 20 yards  beyond the gate of the camp that became  my office for an hour and a half. Nice view at least…

Me and my mobile office.

From there i headed in to Burlington so i could catch the Rock Camp show at 4. i found a place to park near Memorial auditorium and plugged in to my next conference call. This was a listen only call so i sat their listening carefully … i thought… until i realized i had fallen asleep. i woke up disoriented with loud Rap music on the radio… which had somehow worked itself into my dream about work. your mind does funny things sometimes.

 

After a  few more calls in my car/office i ducked into 242 Main for the Rock Camp concert.

Both Max and Sam went to Rock Camp for years and hit helped htem both musically. if you don’t know already, Burlington Rock Camp is a fantastic program run by Burlington parks and recreation. They run several sessions each summer and now an after school program in the fall and spring. The idea is kids come learn about playing in a band, music theory, stage theatrics and attitude.  it’s just like ‘School of Rock‘ the great Jack Black movie. The guys who run the program Richard and Greg are great guys and have been really supportive of before and since Sam’s passing.   We’re using Sam’s fund to sponsor some scholarships at the program every year. This year there were a whole bunch of bands,. They had some hardcore bands, some jam bands and some reggae bands. and they were all truly awesome.

A page of Rock theory

I gave Ian my Sam button to wear while he played

Practice or Suck !

“Make good choices Children’

Learing the fine art of loitering

Our friends Nate and ian were in a band called 28 strings. I  caught some of their set here

After Nate and ian’s band i had to leave for more work calls. i was just about out the door when i heard our friend Bobby take the mike. Bobby is a good drummer who helps out with the camp. He’s also a great friend. Bobby has been a great comfort to us. He and his wife Tammy also had a son who was killed in a car accident. it’s a sad and deep bond between us. Bobby got up there and said some great things about Sam and his son. and all the musical kids. He got Diane and i up on stage with him midway. so i had to stop fiming  it was wonderful what he did.  there wasn’t a dry eye in the place. certainly not mine. There was so much love in there.  i could really feel Sam. He was there !

 I wandered up to the 3rd floor of memorial auditiorium. I realized that the last time I was there was Sam’s memorial celibration. It brought back strong memories.

After the concert we were all tired and starving. We all headed back to Tim and Jen’s i Deb and i both went to City Market. the Burlington Food Coop and stocked up on veggie foods and hauled it to Jens.

Jens shirt reflected in her wine glass. Sam’s always with us .

Som inedible fake sheese we bought.. Highly toxic !

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Marie and her friend’s pet turtle

We had a really nice quiet night over there…  Which was good because or house was full of people when we got home,  Amazingly though all the Voices kids were in bed by 11:30. they have another 6 AM stage call tomorrow morning.  Boy are they working hard.

 

i’m struggling to stay awake myself so I’ll end here. What a full day.   lots of love gnite all,  gnite Sam

-me

 

 

Another quiet day. I’ve had 7:30 calls three out of five days this week because I’m working with friends in China and India. I’m not a morning person so waking up that early throws me off a little. Diane had already been up to MMU and back before I woke up.  We were still able to get a run in before 7:30 when I had to get on the phone.   I like working at home in the mornings.. though the world got to hear the sound of 3 cords of wood being dumped in the back as I was trying to run the meeting.

    I worked in a bit of a haze this morning.. then managed to sneak out to lunch with my friend Kerry. We bought sandwiches at a deli then sat in the gazebo at Fort Ethan Allen ain the steady rain. I love talking to Kerry. He’s the guy that’s helping us organize the memorial sculpture we’re trying to create for Sam. Kerry and I have much in common. It was so good talking to him…

    I had a back to back meetings all day.. then finally broke free around 6:30. I’d arranged to meet my friend Raminderpal and his family over in Essex. He and I sat with his wife and kids until their Pizza came.. then we went next store to Tiny Thai.  We had a nice time talking.. His family is beautiful..

    I finally made it home around 9:30. The Voices kids had just made it home. Max had to shave off his beard for his part in the movie.. he looks good with or without it.. Here’s a before and after shot..

   Tomorrow Diane, Jen  and I are going up to camp Abenaki to see Gabe and make some SamStones. Diane’s mom donated a kiln to the camp last year.. and they’ve just wired it up. I think it will be very meaningful to make SamStones with the kids at camp. I’ll take pictures and let you know how it goes… I’m very excited about seeing Gabe. I miss him so much !

Gnite all. Gnite Sam

 
-me

 

Friends…
   I’m going to have to pleed laziness this evening.. it’s about 1 AM and I need to be up in less than 5 hours for an early work call..so this is going to be short. (and un spell-checked)
   One thing I wanted to relate is that yesterday marked the first time that we actually confirmed that a stranger found a SamStone and come to our site. I know it doesn’t sound like much.. but the thought that someone found the stone and took the time to learn a little more about our Sam means so much to me. What’s more.. is name is Sam too….   I am hoping for a day when we get many folks pinging us to tell us they found a SamStone..
    We really appreciate all of your help in spreading Sam’s na,e in these stones. I’m now getting stories of SamStone placment every day . The following is some news I got from Sam’s friend Corinne about the SamStones she placed during her famiy’s trip to the Bahamas.

Corrinne also told us that she placed the SamStone under the water. She told the Captain of her diving boat about it.. He was so moved by the idea that he promised to bring other divers to the spot and challenge them to go find the SamStone. It’s a cool thought.. maybe we’ll even hear from them !

OK.. gotta go to sleep.. Gnite all.. gnite Sam

-jc

ps. Gabe called us today from camp with his smuggled in cell phone. He sounded like he’s having fun.. I miss him so much now that he’s at camp.

I had a very, very quiet day. Frankly, I couldn’t concentrate at all.. the fog that seems to fill my brain these days just got really thick… so just tried to listen in on my teleconferences and stay out of trouble.   Even with all the activity around here.. I am still really  missing Gabe at camp.. Hope he’s having fun !

I got home around 6:30, grabbed a quick dinner  then  Diane, Chai  and I went for a quick walk in the woods… We took the high loop through the sugarbush  on Robbins mtn. it was hot, muggy, buggy and soggy.. … and at one point I had to give Diane a piggyback ride because the nettles were so bad!  Even so.. it was just great getting out doors. I feel  so much happier outside.

 
Just when I thought I had nothing exciting to write about today…..   Max comes through with something really interesting.  He and his Voices friends had decided to launch the raft he’d been building out in the lawn for the past 2 weeks. He called it the ‘One third of Captain Sam’ because it shared some components with the raft Sam built that we’d adapted for pond skimming then later for river rafting.. This new raft is a behemoth it’s floated by 4 55 gallon drums and is made of plywood and two by fours and is about 12 foot long by 6 foot wide.  I was amazed that they could lift it.. but they carried it down to the river and launched it.. it not only floated, but it comfortably carried five of the guys.. The river was way up because of the rain.. so they didn’t have trouble with the draft.. and the current seemed to be fast enough to move them along pretty well. Last I saw them they were disappearing into a beautiful red sunset.   I was very proud of Max’s raftmanship.. what a guy.. Sam would be proud too..

Here’s Max with cinderblock anchor.. and a new haircut for the movie.. He’s so cute !

Before the launch

Here it goes !

It floats !

It floats with people !

Dubious onlookers

…. as they sail off into the sunset…

   Right now I’m waiting for them to call to be fished out of the river… Hey.. there’s the phone… Sounds like they made the park in about 90 minutes.. amazing !   We’re going to go pick them up now..   And we just got two more Voices people staying here.. I think that brings us to 7 folks Never a dull moment…

 

More tomorrow..

-me

 ps.   Just went and picked up the brave rafters..We were able to dismantle the raft and take it home on the van.. Pretty wonderful !