A2 Brute?

What a fun visit to see all our old friends in Ann Arbor. Laura and I lived in Ann Arbor for five years or so, and we made the greatest friends. Luckily, many are still there so we can see so many with a quick weekend visit.

We began the weekend with Tawny and Mike, staying at their condo, and visiting there two cats, and dog Karma. I started the weekend off right, and let the cats out of the house accidentally, and I can tell you that herding cats is just as hard as it sounds. We had dinner at our favorite Thai restaurant with Amanda, Dave, Mike, Tawny, Dana, Florian, and Lilly. Mmmmm, tofu.

On Saturday we visited Darien and Kim. We had a nice lunch, and then went on an afternoon letterboxing excursion around Ann Arbor, finding places I never knew were there. That night, we had a big party at the Naure House with all the old Leslie Science Center crowd...Amanda, Cheryl, Rita, Amiee, and friends. We got to see Allison too, and had a great time chatting and playing games. Mmmm Cottage Inn Pizza.

Did I mention we tried to see the annual spring salamander mating extravaganza. Yeah, "tried" is the key word here, it was warm enough, but not wet enough in my opinion. Maybe next year! Thanks to everyone for taking time to see us, we really enjoyed catching up with everyone, and hope you can come and visit us sometime, we always have room.

Do You Copy?

Ice on the Bay

It was an ice fishing day on Braddock Bay! Brian, Tony, and I arrived at 7:30, when Dom told us to get there. Dom arrived at 8:30. He said he had to get some coffee. Well, we got started anyway, except Dom had the bait. This is a normal morning of ice fishing for us. Well, got a few hits on the tip ups early in the day, but as the day wore on, we had very few flags. That is with fish on the end of them.

The wind was constant, with gusts in the 25 mph range, it kept setting off alot of flags. The sun was bright, and the skies were clear, but the wind was biting. The bay was filled with other guys, most who bugged out a little after noon, probably due to the light bite and the hard wind. We stuck it out until five. All in all we kept the fish pictured, not winning any trophies here. However, the day was a ton of fun giving Brian and Tony their first taste of ice fishing, and joking around as only good friends do.

Desparately Seeking Sun

Wow, Letterboxing is a ton of fun, and its nice to meet other people who think it's fun too. On Saturday, February 18th, in Highland Forest in Fabius, NY, was the Desparately Seeking Sun letterbox gathering, hosted by Lock Wench. What a great job she did! There was Letterboxing Bingo, great raffle prizes, letterboxes indoors and out, and of course a pot luck that was huge. Joystar, Wyvern, and LOSTGIRL were all there (you know...the relations) and a lot of other familar faces that Laura and I met at the Western NY gathering last summer.

We had a great time outdoors finding boxes. It was about 10 degrees above zero, so our hikes were short, sometimes only long enough for someone to jump out of the car, go get the box, and jump back into the car for everyone to stamp into. We strategically found boxes that would help us on the Bingo game, and it paid off. Joystar won the Bingo game, and we shared the gas gift cards with Wyvern and LOSTGIRL since we all got the four rows of letterboxes together. We also got Lock&Lock containers for getting two rows done.

After the gathering we headed to Syracuse to the hotel. You know, after a day of finding small boxes in the woods, you would think we could find our hotel. But good old mapquest gave us directions down a dead end street. Oh yeah, there is the hotel, but its on the otherside of I-90! We settled in though and had fun chatting and watchng Olympics. It was a great day of letterboxing, and I feel very inspired now to carve more stamps, and get more boxes hidden.

Heaven is in PA!

Well, winter was a bust in Rochester this year. Too warm, and not enough ice. I was itching to go ice fishing all winter, but the weather wasn't cooperating. Then Dom invited me down to Big Al's cottage on Lake Underwood in northeastern Pennsylvania. Dom told me that this private lake never failed to produce, in fact he gave me the "G" that we would catch fish. Well I couldn't pass up that chance!
First, I should thank Big Al for hosting us, and the Silver Bear for feeding us. The accomodations were rustic, but it couldn't have been better: woodstove in the middle of the first floor, comfy sofa to sleep on, extra helpings of food. Deer mounts on the wall, and pictures of the trophy fish from the lake decorated the walls. It is exactly the kind of place I can see owning some day. Part summer cottage, part hunting camp. It was perfect. I was sore from laughing at Big Al's constant banter, and diligence in keeping us happy and warm.



The oncoming nor-easter made for a great day of fishing. The TV called for an blizzard along the seaboard, but we were far enough north and west of the storm, that we only got maybe an inch. But the fish were ready for us. I have never ice fished a better variety of fish. We caught pumkinseeds, perch, bass, crappie and pickerel. Big Al's sons came with some friends for saturday afternoon, and they pulled in a 26" pickerel, the biggest of the weekend. The state record I am told is 30" in PA! I mostly jigged while Dom and the Silver Bear manned the tip-ups. I couldn't catch a small crappie if I wanted to, they were all keepers. When we finished filleting fish on Sunday, we had 9 lbs of fish. This was an unforgetable weekend, and I thank Big Al, the Silver Bear, and Domzer for making it a great time!

Sharing Stones

First, I should say I don't really like the word "in-laws". When I say this to people, everyone always rolls their eyes. My in-laws aren't like that, I love them very much. I really consider them a second set of parents, and even more that that, dear friends. I was very delighted when they came to visit in early January for a late Christmas with Laura and I. I was also very delighted that they wanted to learn about curling.

They asked if they could come to the curling club and see what it looked like. They don't have any clubs in Ohio, and they hadn't really seen any on TV before. I couldn't pass up the opportunity to take them down on the ice to throw a couple of stones. I got grippers for their shoes, and assured them they wouldn't fall. They were impressed by the grippers ability to hug the ice (I don't know why they don't sell these to the general public!). We did stick realeases, so they could get the feel for the throwing the stones without having to get down in the hack. I even got Laura out for the first time. We didn't have a lot of time, so it was just long enough for a tease. I was sure glad they came, and got to share another of my intersts with them.

Weekend with Friends

Staying in touch with friends isn't always easy to do. We are self centered creatures for the most part, and its easy to get engulfed in our own day to day tasks. I am very grateful when I can see friends that I have not seen in a long time because we are separated by distance. A phone call, a letter, an email are wonderful, but it never beats a face to face reunion. Luckily I was able to have two great reunions this weekend with great college buddies. On Friday I got to see Fernando and Samantha for dinner at the Distillery and bowling. These two make you smile from ear to ear, their joy is contagious.

Then on Saturday night, Dom (left), Laura (middle), and I traveled down to Corning to have dinner with Ken (right). Of course the restaurant we picked out from the internet no longer existed when we got there, but we quickly regrouped and found a fine replacement. Ken had great stories for us from his time in Memphis. We couldn't help but wondered if anyone sold "glass" in Corning. What a great way to spend a weekend, catching up with the people who make us who we are.

Passing of the Great Bill Casello

Bill went by a lot of monikers. "Old Man" Bill, "Bionic" Bill, were a few recently, I don't know how many more he used in his long and amazing life. Bill was an inspiration to me, and I believed I was not the only heart he touched. I will give him his last nickname, The Great Bill Casello.

Bill was always a bit of a mystery to me. I don't really know a lot about his history, but Bill saw most of the 20th century. He saw the depression, he saw the world wars, he saw all the history I only read about. Being a student of observation, Bill remembered it all, and used it in his vivid stories. He had kids enthralled, and not just for five or ten minutes, but for an hour, sitting on the edge of their seats, waiting for what Bill would tell them about next. This is how I will remember Bill the best, on those warm summer days at the Leslie Science Center in Ann Arbor watching him weave a yarn where you were whisked away to a Pacific island, an apple orchard, or maybe a Depression age school yard. All those little kids looking up at him from the front row, eyes wide, waiting for the next plot twist. Then Bill might end with a big game of HATS!, where everyone got a silly hat, and we all paraded around taking on the persona of the hat we wore.

But the Great Bill Casello didn't stop there. Bill was a naturalist at his core. Those acute observation skills didn't go to waste, he saw everything. From a tent catepillar on a branch, or a pawpaw at the top of a tree, Bill saw it all. And his travels around the world, looking for exotic and endangered species he cataloged on film and slide. I remember the sound in his voice as he would show us a slide of an animal he wanted to see before they were gove forever from the face of the planet. You could hear how much he cared about the earth and its inhabitants. One of this most lively friends was his dog Patsy (pictured). Bill and Patsy would come by the science center and Patsy would want to chase squirrels all day. In one of Bills acts, Patsy would jump on Bill's lap and they would sing together. You couldn't help but laugh.

Though Bill might of thought himself as a "codger" like some of his characters in his stories, you couldn't believe it. He couldn't be mean and keep a straight face for long. Bill took interest in anything. I remember how he enjoyed looking at my Safari pictures from Africa, and how we shared that twinkle in our eyes when we envied what the other had seen. Bill embraced technology as well, I remember when he got his first digital camera, and how he took pictures of everything. I have been very fortunate to be the recipient of his online nature journal that he sent out to friends about his recent travels and nature observations.

One of the greatest gifts Bill bestowed upon me was a CD-Rom, with the written files of all his stories he had written to date. I was, and am, a budding storyteller as well, and marveled at Bill's uncanny ability to bring life to a story. One day I asked him if it would be alright if I could tell one of his stories some time, and he didn't blink and eye lash, letting me know that it was o.k. by giving me everything he had. I hope I can bring the stories to life, and share the passion he gave everytime. That's what Bill was all about; giving. He expected nothing, and always gave his knowledge, his enthusiasm, his passion, and his caring. Long may we remember The Great Bill Casello.(Obituary)

Easy Slippers

Now this was a fun and easy project! We made six pair of slippers for our guest when they visit our house (yeah, we keep the heat low, and we have drafts like everyone else). I wouldn't think of walking around my house without slippers, so we found this pattern on Martha Stewart's website for felt slippers. With my sister Ellen's help and sewing machine skills, we had these whipped out in an evening sitting. O.K. so Laura and Ellen did the majority of the work, but they are great, and we spent less than five bucks for six pair. Now they sit in a little basket for our guests. Now don't you want to visit?

Christmas at Home

The smells, the warmth, the comfort, its Christmas at home. Its like the smell of fresh baked cookies, somehow its comforting at a deep level. I feel at "home" in two places now, at my parents house in Pierrepont, NY, and at my inlaws house, in Shreve, OH. This Christmas was in Pierrepont, and it was very relaxing. How is it different from being at my own home in Rochester? Well, I don't look around and think of things to do, I just spend time with my loved ones. I don't have to think about the leaky faucet, or the garbage can. Its just soothing. It not really recharging the batteries, as it is letting the batteries run dry, just let the energy sap out of me. Just wish there were more snow this year...ha!