Autumn On The Nine Mile

Today Billium and I kayaked the Nine Mile Swamp just 3 miles from our home. I'm not gonna write much here and let the picture's do a blog instrumental so to speak. Today was the most beautiful kayak. My true yoga on water.

Waterville Cruise Inn

John Keller

Car Show

Friendly goats and excited children.

Moss Back Mule Band

This Year's Musical LIne Up!

Leonard Heath and biker unknown

The fine wee waitressing fairy's of Michaels Fine Food And Spirits. Jaime Jones and Amanda Dutch.

Waterville was one hopping small town Saturday, September 17th with music, venders, tons of food and fun! Here's some shots I took before my hour long gig on the stage across from the Red Lion Pub.

The Coon Rod

On the way home from Oneida with Nick the other day, I decided to swing by Pratt's Hollow, the geographical center of New York and show off a slice of my ole stomping grounds. The infamous Coon Rod. In my twenties, usually the thought would hit our drunken heads at the Loose Goose, now the Hour Glass to hop in our car and make the trek out to see Butch at the Coon Rod. You'd get your beers in a ball jar while getting poked from secrete holes in the wall under the bar. The coon dogs were freaking hot and you'd eat them in barber chairs. I'd almost always trip on the little step that went into the next room from the bar and alway's end up with a guitar jamming some old Dead tunes or what ever song came about. Most everybody had something to special to say and it was said all over the bath walls. The Coon Rod. Everyone who lives in Central New York likely had tipped a few at this unique slice of life in Central New York. Rumor has is Butch won the lottery some time ago and I don't think its been opened since. The last time I saw Butch was at the Big Moose Inn in the dimly lit bar. I was standing there counting change behind the bar and after hearing the door open, I turned around and there he was. Butch from the Coon Rod. Very strange.

I stopped by Chittenango Falls on the way home from my gig in Caz. Amazing rush of water with all the rain we've been having!

Sherburne Makes The News

http://watertown.ynn.com/content/flooding/southern_tier_flooding_news/556486/historic-flooding-in-sherburne/

Whiteface In A White Out

It was a long over due get away. After enduring 6 days with out power thanks to Irene, Bill and I packed up and headed once again north with Ausable Chasm as our destination. We made it there after having lunch at one of my favorite places, The Adirondack Inn before the bridge at Long Lake. Arriving there in time for another rain storm and having Lou with us made it impossible to tour the Chasm but I managed to get a few shots up top. Driving through Jay and Ausable Forks we could see the devastation from the flooding water which we learned from ranger dude on Whiteface was 19 feet above the normal level. We ended up back in Lake Placid and found us a really sweet room at the Olympic Inn. For a hundred a thirty bucks, the room here was really nice with the largest walk in granite shower I've ever been in!
The next day we traveled north again to Whiteface Mountain and despite the warnings of no 0 visibility from the park ranger at the bottom we paid the entry of 16 bucks a drove up the mountain. I just wonder one thing as I sit here writing this. Where in the world did my fear of heights come from? I was in total panic mode all the way up and all the way down. Once we got there in a total white out I was fine. We walked up through a dimly lit, shiny wet black passage way cut into the mountain to a elevator that would carry us up another 27 stories to the top of Whiteface which I learned is the fifth highest peak of the Adirondack Mountains. The elevator doors let us out in a stone Adirondack style lodge with stone fireplace and large beams and many historical pieces written about the building this mountainous road and lodge in heaven. Outside however found us inside a complete white mist of a cloud. It was as though I was in a scene of a Harry Potter movie. My parents had taken me up Whiteface when I was a young child and as I walked out of the lodge I right away remembered the viewers that you would put money in to experience the grandeur of the spectacular vista. No vista for me on Labour Day. Which is probably just as well being the scaredy cat I am of heights.
After our Whiteface Mountain tour we then toured its Gorge. Amazing waterfalls with stairways and different landings at different levels to experience the power and the beauty of the falls. It was a great trip that ended with a good read called Dancehall, a historical fiction about the girl whose body finally rose and was found some twenty years after her brutal murder on Mirror Lake. Mirror Lake is the small lake in the city of Lake Placid and is so deep that the woman's body had hardly decomposed as she was so deep down in her watery grave. Gruesome. But a good read by Bernard Conners.

Autoharp

I'm truly blessed with new toys this year! Ed Holden and his lovely wife Dot met up with me in the Norwich park at my gig and asked if I would like to play another one of his dulcimers! This one was also made of walnut had hummingbirds cut out for the sound holes. I sat my self right down on the curb and played an original I had composed. Lovely instrument tho not as loud as the one he gave me. Then he pulled me back to his car and opened an old case and there inside was an autoharp! I was really excited to see it as I used to have one years ago. I can't remember what I ever did with it but it was red. I probably traded it in for something else being a typical musician playing the trading game all the time. I can't remember all the different guitars I've had over the years but its been many! At any rate Ed said he would love it if I borrowed it as it is just sitting at his house collecting dust. The tuning bar is missing so I'll have to head up to Big Apple and see if this is something easy to get. I'm really looking forward to tuning this baby up and see she what she can do! It's an Airline Autoharp by Oscar Schmidt. It's gotta be pretty old.

More Gigging Shots Summer 2011

On The Clearwater Old Forge August 13th 2011

Waterville Bandstand August 10th 2011

Breaking In The Bandstand

All summer the city of Norwich has been full tilt in remodeling their park. What a lovely job! I have played the farmer's market there now at least the past 6 years in a row. Here's a few shots taken by my friend Patrick Mill's daughter, Lorraine Emma. I felt like a needle in a haystack to say least. It's a very large bandstand that could stage an orchestra. Honestly it wasn't my best performance as I had hardly any sleep the night before and cut my index finger on a knife while washing breakfast dishes in a makeshift black canning pot I was using as a sink after having no power. I got through it with the help of my son Nick acting as my roadie. My next large purchase will be Bose. I'll never be to old to play and perform...just to old to haul the heavy equipment.

Catching Up In The 10 Year Kitchen

The day before Irene made land fall I emailed Bill's family who live in Ocean City and Washington DC inviting them here to the Country Side in South Hamilton should they be ordered to evacuate. Ryan and Julie in Ocean City did leave driving inland to stay with friends while Kelly and Steve held their fort down in DC. Both families had no trouble with Irene and here in Sunny South Hamilton we lost power for six days! I should of evacuated to their houses! The lights here wavered and went black last Sunday morning as I was heading to the shower to get ready for my Sunday shift at Michaels. I angrily drove to work (because Michael wouldn't give me the day off) in a typhoon of rain squalls, over downed power lines on top of Williams Rd but made it to work where the rain was coming in to the building through the front windows of the bar. Thad and I unplugged the bar lights and pulled out the tables and chairs and put towels and bucket on the floor in an attempt to soak up the rain water. Little old ladies who don't know any better than to stay home in a freaking hurricane, were pulling up in their impalas for a luncheon and getting beat up by Irene in their 6 step walk from the car to the front door. Then bitching at us like it was our fault there was a hurricane to begin with! A large limb broke from a silver maple onto the back deck off the kitchen just missing chef Michael Martin by a few seconds as he was just standing in the same spot where the limb landed talking to his wife on his cell phone. Not having any business what so ever in the bar, it was agreed that I wasn't needed that day and could go home. Which I knew ahead of time. Whatever.
Sunday night, Mom had a house full celebrating all the August and September birthdays of our family with no power and a boat load of dirty dishes and no way to clean them. So, we just scrapped them and put them in a large cooler until the power came back on and had another glass of wine an watched Irene spout off for another half an hour or so before heading home. Mom got her power Tuesday night. Bill and I didn't get ours until last night around five. I was doing a happy dance to my apple radio next to lamp oil light with a dirty martini in salute! I didn't rough it as bad as Bill, driving over to mom's to shower, while he was heating water on the gas stove to sponge bathe in. Bill gets the Anne La Bastille award. But I'm in a close 2nd catching up on canning marinara. Everything organic, tomatoes, onions, garlic, basil, oregano and parsley from our garden. The only thing store bought is the tomato paste to thicken it. I've canned 15 jars of marinara and 6 jars of pickled beets. The ten year kitchen is back in business and with power! Life is good again here in Sunny South Hamilton. I was able to stay on line with my iphone and did catch some video of towns to the north and south of me totally devastated by flooding. Town's pretty much washed away. Such a tragedy. My heart goes out to them and then again fills with pride to see how these small communities pull together in these troubled times to help one another out. All I can say is good night f--king Irene!