Well last weekend the family packed up and headed over to bizarro Vermont, otherwise known as New Hampshire.  We journeyed deep into the heart of the White Mountains to gather with a group of friends I used to think of as "T---'s friends and who now I just think of as the greatest group of people in the world.  The weekend was supposed to be a end of winter ski/snow fest but since there was no snow we ended up just hanging out, playing games, playing music, and running from zombies.  You know... normal stuff.  Here's a glimpse.

Good times...

Now for something completely...

different?  Earl Scruggs passed on yesterday and his genius can't be overlooked.  He wasn't just a great banjo player, he invented his own style of playing for goodness sake! When you listen to him play the mind just boggles and the speed and precision.  This is not the sentimental reaction to the death of someone whom I didn't know, but a recognition of the loss of a talent who furthered his art and brought it to the masses.  As I read on another blog, "in a parallel universe I can imagine Earl Scruggs viewed much as we view Mozart."

First bike commute of the year

 Mud season bike commutes on dirt roads can be a little dicey but it builds the skills.  28c tires cut deep into freshly laid and graded gravel that it still percolating. But the ribbons of dirt roads still make for a nice trip to work.

The way home was all spring peepers and headwinds.  The ride back to work was all birdsongs, sunsets, and a few a-hole drivers.  But all in all my two wheel commute is 1000 times better than my four wheel commute.  See for your self.

It'll do.

The ribbon of dirt.

Hello horses

A little slice of heaven.

March are you sure?

Well it's been the talk of the town, state, country but the weather this past week has been wacky.  It's the middle of March and the temp has been in the 70s.  It is truly an exclamation point on the winter that wasn't here in VT.  And whether it was due to abnormal weather patterns (probably) intensified by climate change (probably) or not it did allow me to have a truly awesome weekend.  I got a ton of projects done around the house.  First Matt came over and we fired up the chainsaw and trimmed a tree that had been shading the garden.  Tiff has been asking me to cut it for two years and she wore me down.  My hesitation is due to the fact that I live in the "city" and my lot is only 1/12th of an acre.  Said tree sits on the fence-line and said branch leans over the fence.  So I wasn't too keen on trusting my face cut and some wedges and ropes to save the fence.  But the weather had me feeling confident and good.  Success.  Now two things will linger sweetly for a time to come, and they are the intoxicating smell of two-stroke fuel mix and sawdust, and the sense of accomplishment.  Then I moved on to other tasks like repairing the fence on the other side of the yard, raking, organizing, and a little family bike wrenching.  Then I capped Sunday with a bike ride out to our friend Erik's house were I met up with the family.  Now the ride, beer drinking, and grilling would have been enough to put a huge grin on my face but when we got there Erik informed us that one of his cows (oh didn't I mention that Erik and Adam live on and run one of the most beautiful farms in the state?) was about to give birth.  And there you have it, grin bigger, because I got to watch my kids, watch a calf be born.  And that, my friends, is magic.

CTI worked for me!

I believe these folks must have attended the Cardboard Technical Institute, with instructor Ben T. Matchstick.  It obviously changed their lives.

Friday Tunes

For today's installment of Friday Tunes a couple of tunes from a band my brother Shane was in.  The first video stars Birdey Busch, the one without a beard, who will be playing in Burlington at Higher Ground on Monday March 19, opening for Dr. Dog. 

A Red-Letter Day

This Sunday while being noteworthy for the unusually superb weather, mid-50s in early March, it will forever be remembered in history as the day that the family went on their first family bike ride with every one on their own bike.

That's right, A-- recently stepped up her mastery of two wheeled transportation and this Sunday all four of us took off on an epic ride for the first time. 

We crushed all 4.6 miles of that route and spirits remained high the whole time. T-- and I did have a slight disagreement about the length of the ride and whether or not we should take a little hike-a-bike shortcut along an exit ramp median.  I was in favor of staying on the bikes and extending the ride.  I lost, and while the discourse didn't get heated the kids did notice and later R- said to me, "Daddy, you and Mommy got in a fight earlier didn't you?"  But it didn't spoil the day or even cast a cloud for more than the 7 minutes that I was grumbling as we hiked.  Once I lost my sour mood we were back to biking bliss and finding symbols of our love in nature.

I couldn't be prouder and have been giddy with the daydreams of epic rides to come.  Oh yeah and I finished up the ride with one of these.

While the kids is away...

parents remember what it's like to have their life/schedule/house/freetime to themselves.

Good times were had.  Bar tabs were rung up.   Tacos were eaten. Finally, work was called out of in order to ski with my sweetheart.  Let me tell you, skiing with your honey without kids is good for the soul.  T--- hit new highs with her confidence since she was able to go her own pace and concentrate on her technique.  I even got some photos.

Now that's what I'm talking about. Look at that form.  A 10 from the Russian judge and that bastard is tough as uck to impress.

After this we moved on to the drunk portion of the event. 

A friend of ours was leading a pub crawl for the local hashing group that he runs/drinks beer with.  We crashed the event and held our own.  Although there were some friendly faces in the group, but there were also a few steely eyed glares at the outsiders.  So we kept to ourselves and proceeded to solve the  world's problems.

MotherF***ing Bike

Cussing...Check.

Bikes...Check.

Tunes....Check.

Horn solo....Check

I really like the horn/bell solo.

Do you have Cat-skills?

Spent a great weekend with the family of the Mrs.  As we left home on Friday night to drive to the Catskills we were all a little bummed to be leaving town with some great snow on the way and there was a little (not-serious) talk of turning around and skiing instead.  After a dicey drive we got to the Bro-in-law's place high in the mountains around mid-night, and after hugs and hellos we hit the hay to prep for a big day of outdoor activities.

We made good use of the snow that fell did tons o' tubing.

tubing is extra fun when it's fast and big pushes help!

the laughter of a tube stealer

a little whitewash never hurt anyone

Tubing was followed by a little bit of climbing for the kids.

In the afternoon we all got our gamefaces on for broomball.  This was the highlight of my weekend.  The clan formed a super-team and we engaged in a two hour marathon game vs. the suburban-middle aged-dads league.  These guys couldn't handle us and resorted to rough play but our skills were too much for them and they left defeated.  By the way my lovely bride has a possible career path as NHL goalie if the whole Environmental Educator thing falls through.  She was all, kicksave this, and stick save that.  I can sum it up in one word, unstoppable.

All in all just spending time in a different environment and 80% of the day in the great outdoors makes for a happy fam.  Oh yeah and the kids got to hang with an owl..up close.