trip to the big city

Posted on July 21, 2011 by is there any more pie?

I missed exercise class this morning, due to having to make a quick trip to the Big City, which is an event, believe me.

There was coffee at a gas station, a sausage biscuit from McD’s and ice cream from the Cenex station on the last leg home.  Two grocery stores, TJ Maxx and Kohl’s were on the route.  I’m not much of a shopper–and I especially avoid supermarkets–but IT WAS FUN TO SHOP.

It had been a while.  That’s why buying a bath mat seemed like a summer highlight.  Before you judge, you have to realize that this wasn’t any ol’ bathmat.  It was made of microfiber.  And foam.  “Like stepping on a cloud”, the tag said.

Well, hot damn!  Who doesn’t want to step on a cloud?  Especially after a long day in the Big City?

And it was on sale.  Here’s the link, if you ever want a cloud on your bathroom floor.  Life is full of one little thrill after another.

http://www.kohls.com/kohlsStore/bedandbath/bathrugs/solid/PRD~c22306/Tranquility+Memory+Foam+Bath+Rug.jspere

Posted in lake | Leave a comment

make a wish

Posted on July 19, 2011 by is there any more pie?

Here’s what was in front of us while I drove home from Montana a few evenings ago.

It was leaning to the right.  Way to the right.  As in, knocking leaves off the trees.

Please don’t tip over and cover my car with hay.

Please don’t tip over and block the road because I am very hungry and counting the miles until I can get home and heat up leftover chicken enchiladas.

Please don’t run into a deer.  Or a sheep.  Or a bear.  Because I really, really need to go to the bathroom.

Especially since we just came from the dam.

Posted in lake | 1 Comment

more bodacious photos

Posted on July 19, 2011 by is there any more pie?

Many, many years ago Glen and I were part of an energetic group who wanted to build a community center in our little town. The first Bodacious BBQ was held in the summer of 1984 and it was an event like no one had seen before. And it has been going on ever since, raising money for the community center’s expenses and the preschool program.

Pretty darn cool.

We were thrilled to be able to attend this year.  Greeting old friends was the best part.

Banjo Man turned out to be a real flirt.

The location was gorgeous.

As were our hosts.

Just-as-good-as-Willie-Nelson entertained.

A pig was roasted.

Mike (trumpet player in our band) helped out serving the “cracklin’s”.  He is one of the friendliest people I know.  And pretty good with a pair of scissors.

There was dancing.

And silent auctions.

 Look at this closely (or maybe not).  One holds the hot dog and the other two marshmallows.  I wish I’d won it.  It would make a great wedding shower gift, but I’m not sure who I’d give it to.  Or who would really use it, besides me.

And here’s that pesky Meryl Streep-lookalike  sneaking in another bid for a basket of wine.

Patsy won a set of pearls.  She swears she’s going to wear them while she vacuums.  We suspect she has June Cleaver fantasies.
Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

One last conversation…

…before the last shuttle across the bay.

See you all again next year.

Posted in friends, lake | Leave a comment

music in the genes

Posted on July 18, 2011 by is there any more pie?

Meet son #1.

He lives in Texas.  He plays bass guitar.   He’s in a couple of bands.  He sings.
And he writes songs.

He was born almost 11 weeks early, and that first month of his life was incredibly scary.  He actually died three times and was resuscitated  (I love doctors, nurses and neonatal hospital units and the Baby Bird respirator).  He was purple and bruised and incredibly tiny.

Now he is 6’4″.  Imagine that.

I originally decided to take violin lessons so that I would have a connection to his world.  I’d played guitar in high school and took piano lessons in my twenties (but had to stop because morning sickness made me too dizzy to sit on the piano stool).  My mother remembers my taking violin lessons for a couple of months in 4th grade, but it doesn’t sound as if that went very well.  At least not the way she describes it!

So here I am, still struggling after 5 years.  It’s a good struggle,  though.   I may never stand on stage and play fiddle riffs while my son sings, but the fantasy keeps me going.

And the music connection does exist between us, because Son #1 has an amazing tendency to call me when I’m in the middle of band practice or about to walk in the door of band practice.  It’s a little eerie.  I guess he feels the vibes and wishes he was playing with us instead of those music legends in Austin.

Posted in family, the band | 1 Comment

preview of the bodacious barbecue

Posted on July 16, 2011 by is there any more pie?

I have 75 pictures of tonight’s annual Bodacious BBQ, a fundraiser for the community center and its preschool program.

And I’m not going to post them tonight.

But…I did upload them to the computer.  And there are some good ones.

Name this movie star:

This looks like one of those grainy National Enquirer photos. Who is this woman who just stepped off her yacht to enter an exclusive private party?  And when does her next movie come out?  And didn’t she just break up with Hugh Jackman?

I hear he is still not over it.

Pay no attention to this guy.


The last time he went to an auction he came home with 100 oysters and a strange diamond cocktail ring. This picture was taken right before I took his paddle away and sat on it. Just in case something caught his fancy.

I won the table’s floral centerpiece.  And this.

It’s a spa basket and a gift certificate for a manicure and pedicure.  Hurray!!!!!!

More tomorrow…

 

Posted in friends | 2 Comments

wherever we are, it’s christmas

Posted on July 16, 2011 by is there any more pie?

One of my sisters-in-law said her mother used to say that.  Last week we took Mother’s sentiment to heart.

We decided to celebrate Christmas together, having not done such a thing since 1984.  It’s a large family and we’re scattered all over the country, so these July reunions mean a lot.

How do you like the tree?  Cute, isn’t it.  The house immediately felt cozy.

There was a traditional Christmas breakfast.

Which was enjoyed by one and all.  There were presents, very special presents that brought back a lot of good memories.  There were boxes of photos and letters to read and share.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Glen put together a slide show. Funny how we all looked so much younger! And how little the children were. Now we need to convert them to digital pictures so everyone can have copies. (I’m working on it, I promise).

A lovely, special day.
Thank you, everyone.

Posted in family | 1 Comment

an aside from New England

Posted on July 15, 2011 by is there any more pie?

Here is a picture my friend Sharon sent me earlier this week.

Is she smiling because she likes to borrow her neighbor’s riding lawnmower and spend an afternoon cutting grass?
Nope.

Is she smiling because she is happy to be outside in the heat and humidity because her husband hurt his back playing golf?
Uh, no.

Is she happy she finally gets a chance to show off her new pink socks?
Maybe.

She is actually waving goodbye.  In three days she and a girlfriend are escaping to cool and rainy–Sharon’s favorite kind of weather–Scotland for a tour of Edinburgh, Skye, castles, distilleries and Glasgow.

Or so she thought.

Because this morning she sent me an email, and it wasn’t from an old ruin of a castle where a ruggedly handsome (naturally) laird poured whiskey down her throat and held her hostage in order to avenge the death of his beloved, mad, older brother, who was secretly plotting to poison the King.

(I could go on and on, of course, but I’m going to spare you the details of what-could-have-been if I was writing it. There is no laird, no whiskey breath and no village healer).

There isn’t even a happy ending, here in 2011.
Turns out that Sharon’s big plane clipped the tail of a smaller plane, right there in the airport.
You can read all about it here: “http://overheadbin.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/07/14/7085722-delta-767-clips-regional-jet-at-logan-airport-1-hurt#comments—”

I’m sorry, Sharon.  I hope you can try again soon.

Posted in friends | 6 Comments

they call it the “devil’s box”

Posted on July 14, 2011 by is there any more pie?

Meet my fiddle. I love her.

There’s an old joke that goes, “What’s the difference between a violin and a fiddle?”
“Attitude.”

The fiddle obsession has officially begun for the summer. And that is a good thing, devil or no devil.

Last week Glen, brother-in-law Burt* and I stopped into the music store in town and happened upon the new fiddle teacher, appropriately named “Fiddlin’ Fred”.  I bravely booked some lessons with him.

On Saturday afternoon we (meaning two carloads of visiting family) went to a local bar to hear Fred perform. He also played guitar, mandolin, spoons and some kind of mouth twanger, which I wouldn’t recommend because he said it’s all too easy to chip a tooth.

We stayed for almost three hours and had such a great time–when we reluctantly left, we stuffed the tip jar so full that Fred later told me he was able to buy himself a new pair of cowboy boots.

On Tuesday I raced to town, braving the construction traffic and the tourists, to my first lesson.  I am now practicing an Irish tune  I can’t pronounce.  Fred uses tablature (a kind of shorthand) instead of notes, which makes the process a challenge.

In other words, I don’t really understand it.

After the lesson  (and having my bridge taken down a tiny bit, which made a huge difference in the height of the strings, making playing a heck of a lot easier), I hustled to another part of town to join two of my fellow band members for their mandolin and guitar lesson.

We worked on new song ideas, harmonies and arrangements.  We sang and played our happy little butts off for over an hour.  Next week it will be even longer.  As the teacher put it, “We’ll just play until we’re tired.”

I liked his enthusiasm.

This afternoon we had a mini-practice to see if we remembered what we learned on Tuesday.  And to give Glen the thrill of playing with us (his food-processor injury has healed).  He likes leading those gospel songs.

Tomorrow we have another “strings” practice.  Then a full band jam/practice next Wednesday night, when we will test new song ideas.  There’s a rumor that the brass section is working up a super hot blues number, definitely something to look forward to.

Did you know you burn 70 calories an hour playing the violin? At this rate, I will weigh 100 pounds by Labor Day.

*years ago his nieces thought he looked exactly like Burt Reynolds–it’s good to have a famous uncle.

 

Posted in the band | 1 Comment

Jaws splashed

Posted on July 13, 2011 by is there any more pie?

To my fisherman in Austin:

You know who you are.
You have a strange way of baiting a hook.

And you use your boot as a beer cooler.

I thought you might be interested in knowing The BIG ONE is out here.  Waiting for you.

Four nights ago I was sitting on the dock with your uncle and saw a fish jump. A very big fish. I thought I’d imagined it, so I didn’t say anything (like all of those folks at Loch Ness).  Your aunties might think I was having Chianti hallucinations again.

But…tonight your father told me he’d seen “a giant jump”. That’s what we’re calling it: the giant.  And THE BIG ONE.
Godzilla, too, maybe.

I’ll bet it was bigger than all four of these put together.

Kind of gives you goose bumps, doesn’t it?

Mom, that’s so mean.

Posted in lake | Leave a comment

boy, it’s quiet around here

Posted on July 13, 2011 by is there any more pie?

I guess the party’s over.

It rained all night and most of the day, which made it feel like the end of August, not the almost-middle of July. It was a good day to take a nap.

Which I did.  I skipped exercise class this morning because I woke up in the so-tired-I-could-cry mode that strikes a few times a year.

The house feels very empty and very quiet. Which we are not at all used to.

The sun came out this evening, so I grabbed my sweatshirt and camera and went down the path to take a picture of the new boat.

I need to learn more about boats.

And birds. What the heck is this? About a hundred of them flew over my head while I sat on the dock contemplating my boat ignorance.

What is a nautical knot?  I need to google it.  I know they come in handy when used with this.

I really like this picture.  This is what happens when I’m alone on the dock without wine or Wheat Thins.  It is less fattening to take photos and sit quietly and contemplate clouds.  And hum Joni Mitchell songs.

I hope all of our travelers made it home safely.  Your chairs will be here for you next year.

Posted in lake | Leave a comment