Tunes at Newfound Lake 2008

Gail and I returned to Newfound Lake in NH awhile ago to get together at our friend Tii's family house on the lake. There are some fifty cousins who keep this place going and Tii invites friends up to play tunes and visit every year. Views of the house from land and water. There are several other houses/cottages, plus a sauna, boat house, woodshed....

Tunes at Newfound Lake 2008

People drop their instruments in the front room. A hazard of getting there early is it gets to be impossible to get to the far side of the room after awhile.

Tunes at Newfound Lake 2008

The fundamental difference between banjos and bass: one ends up on the couch after vigorous hammer-ons, the other gets the floor and is hammered on.

Tunes at Newfound Lake 2008

Gail had a nice hike with old (and young) friends Geoff and Andrew. Andrew almost got up to the honeycomb Geoff wanted him to steal out of this tree.

Tunes at Newfound Lake 2008

A big house has multiple jams going on at once. The kitchen and living room were going full steam Saturday afternoon. There were people out on the porch too.

Tunes at Newfound Lake 2008

A bunch of hikers went up the local mountain to get some exercise, fresh air and the honor of meeting and visiting with Tii's aunt at her cabin. They enjoyed nice views, walked Aunt Mary's labarinth and took time out to reflect on things with Aunt Mary.

Tunes at Newfound Lake 2008

One of the great parts of playing, of course, is getting to play with people I've admired since before I started, and in a space I heard people play in before embarking on this musical journey. In this session with Tii in the attic I got two-in-one.

Tunes at Newfound Lake 2008

The weekend had a sad shock at the conclusion. Tii's Aunt Mary had a stroke Saturday night and had to be taken to the hospital Sunday morning. She died soon after, surrounded by dozens of family members singing the songs she had taught many of them. She looked feisty and inspiring in this shot from Saturday, a fine life right to the end.
May we all be so fortunate, and loved.

Twenty-Fifth Annual Caroline Walk-About

OK, so it's only the ninth one, but we've had twenty-five years worth of fun. Back in the day it was a twenty-six-mile walk (for real), but these days we do just under 20.
Hard to tell from the happy faces that the cutest dog in the world had just had a brush with death, or breakfast.

Twenty-Fifth Annual Caroline Walk-About

Starting out, Ed Cope points out his house in the distance to Gail. That's my shadow on the ground to the left.

Twenty-Fifth Annual Caroline Walk-About

This is the top of the first hill. You could say we followed the command of the sign and stopped for a view of where we came from. There's the dog that wanted Bean for a snack.

Twenty-Fifth Annual Caroline Walk-About

These rocks seem to just like to be in this formation, and I like putting them there.

Twenty-Fifth Annual Caroline Walk-About

We never tire of this view from high up on Bald Mountain. This is looking east towards where we started and will end. Click on the photo for a better look.

Left for the Crows

This buck had been hanging out in our neighborhood and I got some pictures of it in the neighbor's yard at the end of August. I didn't see it again until a few weeks ago at the beginning of hunting season and was glad it was still a city-slicker like me and would hopefully make it another year. Sadly I learned today it stood in a neighbor's yard for a few hours with an arrow stuck in its neck, the neighbor didn't know what to do. So when the deer collapsed, he and his son dragged it to the nearby woods and left it for the crows.