Hey Everyone!
I finally figured out how to get on this blog.
I am currently living at home with Mom and Dad while student teaching and taking a teaching seminar class once a week at Alfred University. Tomorrow, I end my first placement at HF-L. Monday, October 28th I will be starting my second placement at Bloomfield Elementary. The kids are great here at HF-L! I am in charge of a photography class, 3 studio art classes and a sculpture class. Im soooo proud of everyone's ecomplishments! Both the studio and sculpture kids have really done an amazing job on thier projects which I:
-Brainstormed myself
-Wrote a 5-6 page lesson plan
-Taught
-Facilitated/helped along the way
-Graded
-Displayed the artwork.
When going into college, in never thought I would really love being a teacher, I just wanted to do it for something concrete to pay my loans back with. However, from the first week up until now, I realize I do like teaching a lot and it has been a good choice to take this road. I can definitely see myself in my own classroom someday. The question is...High School or Elementary? I'll see what I think after this next placement. I graduate in December with a Major in Art and Design, a Minor in Education and will be certified to teach art K-12 in the state of NY!
On the weekends I am working at an Italian Resturaunt. I love the people I work with and now that the school year has started, the money has been good.
I'll give you the update on Elementary Teaching when I am at Bloomfield!
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Cummings Nature Center, Naples NY (Ranger School Woodsman's Team)
Brain gets a workout with the Ranger School Woodsman's Team at the Cummins Nature Center in Naples, N.Y.
Nothing like a little bit of log cutting and pulp tossing to get the heart pumping.
Monday, October 5, 2009
Dear Family,
A unique event took place over the weekend that my brother Larry and I were fortunate to attend.
It all started with a call from an old friend of mine Saturday morning. Jim Trott once played in a bluegrass band I came to know and was an unofficial roadie for, ‘The Hogs Back Ridge Band’ (or Hogs for short). Jim was so excited on the phone that his voice was trembling as he prepared me for the news to follow.
Jim explained that through his daughter (via face book) someone had inquired as to the name "Trott" and asked if she knew Jim Trott. The people called Jim old friends connected and he in turn learned of a bluegrass gathering that was to be in Lima, on Doran Road. Jim was blown away when he realized the event was on the former Decker farm and called me first thing Saturday morning. He had spent the previous night pickin’ and singing with these friends and was heading back again that afternoon to play some more. Another one of the former Hogs band members was there as well and had recorded a CD with the family in recent years.
I had called Jim earlier in the summer asking him if he would like to attend a bluegrass festival I knew of in Ovid, NY. Mary's cousin, John Denniston, is the mandolin player for the host band (Seneca County Bluegrass) that has the festival on one of the members’ farm for the past couple of summers. I never heard back from Jim regarding the invitation but he had one better for me. It turns out that cousin John was also in the loop of acquaintances and had been to the gathering on Friday night as well....small world.
The extended host family once lived in the Wayland area and used to come out to see the Hogs play whenever they were in the area. Now after 30+ years they had developed into a family of pickers and singers themselves; Dad on guitar, Mom on stand-up bass, sisters on mandolin and banjo. Stacy and Jamie are now grown woman with young families of their own. Jamie and her husband Dan are now the proud owners of the large home built in the center of the former Decker farm in Lima. They have been on Doran Road now for three years and this was their 3rd such party in October.
I told Jim that I was going to be out at our Lima property that afternoon and would stop in to see him and the rest of the bluegrass pickers. After an afternoon of projects in the woods, I changed into an extra set of clean jeans and a T-shirt and drove down the long driveway to the house.
Was I surprised to see the rows of cars parked in the front lawn and a dozen or so campers around the property! There were guests and friends from near and far as well as several Canadians in town for the weekend. In the side yard was a 20’x 40’ tent set up with an adjoining 10’x 30’ food tent. There were rows of lawn chairs set up facing one corner of the large tent that had a carpet laid down for the pickin’ area.
Slowly I moved about the crowd and soon met up with my buddy, Jim. We met up with the former Hogs banjo player, Tom Carle and I was then introduced to the homeowners (Jamie and Dan) and their extended family. There was a break in the music to celebrate the 40th wedding anniversary of Jamie's parents, Jim & Bonnie Smoot, before the music started-up again. I wandered around the grounds to take a look at the old (Decker) family swimming hole located behind the house.
The night sky was fading and the cool evening air was settling in as a full moon rose above the Decker woods to the east. I found it striking that a once barren, god forsaken clay knoll at the center of our old farm was now the new center of a full blown bluegrass festival. I was overcome with a range of emotion looking back on all the history and ironic collision of events that led me to be there at this moment in time. Considering all that was taking place in my life at the present and the past history of this place it was a heavy moment for me to say the least. I made a call to brother Larry and urged him to drive on over and share the evening with me.
In time Larry arrived as did several of the surrounding neighbors to enjoy the sights and sounds of the night. It was a fun time that has now slipped away into memories that will last for some, a life time.
Joe D.
A unique event took place over the weekend that my brother Larry and I were fortunate to attend.
It all started with a call from an old friend of mine Saturday morning. Jim Trott once played in a bluegrass band I came to know and was an unofficial roadie for, ‘The Hogs Back Ridge Band’ (or Hogs for short). Jim was so excited on the phone that his voice was trembling as he prepared me for the news to follow.
Jim explained that through his daughter (via face book) someone had inquired as to the name "Trott" and asked if she knew Jim Trott. The people called Jim old friends connected and he in turn learned of a bluegrass gathering that was to be in Lima, on Doran Road. Jim was blown away when he realized the event was on the former Decker farm and called me first thing Saturday morning. He had spent the previous night pickin’ and singing with these friends and was heading back again that afternoon to play some more. Another one of the former Hogs band members was there as well and had recorded a CD with the family in recent years.
I had called Jim earlier in the summer asking him if he would like to attend a bluegrass festival I knew of in Ovid, NY. Mary's cousin, John Denniston, is the mandolin player for the host band (Seneca County Bluegrass) that has the festival on one of the members’ farm for the past couple of summers. I never heard back from Jim regarding the invitation but he had one better for me. It turns out that cousin John was also in the loop of acquaintances and had been to the gathering on Friday night as well....small world.
The extended host family once lived in the Wayland area and used to come out to see the Hogs play whenever they were in the area. Now after 30+ years they had developed into a family of pickers and singers themselves; Dad on guitar, Mom on stand-up bass, sisters on mandolin and banjo. Stacy and Jamie are now grown woman with young families of their own. Jamie and her husband Dan are now the proud owners of the large home built in the center of the former Decker farm in Lima. They have been on Doran Road now for three years and this was their 3rd such party in October.
I told Jim that I was going to be out at our Lima property that afternoon and would stop in to see him and the rest of the bluegrass pickers. After an afternoon of projects in the woods, I changed into an extra set of clean jeans and a T-shirt and drove down the long driveway to the house.
Was I surprised to see the rows of cars parked in the front lawn and a dozen or so campers around the property! There were guests and friends from near and far as well as several Canadians in town for the weekend. In the side yard was a 20’x 40’ tent set up with an adjoining 10’x 30’ food tent. There were rows of lawn chairs set up facing one corner of the large tent that had a carpet laid down for the pickin’ area.
Slowly I moved about the crowd and soon met up with my buddy, Jim. We met up with the former Hogs banjo player, Tom Carle and I was then introduced to the homeowners (Jamie and Dan) and their extended family. There was a break in the music to celebrate the 40th wedding anniversary of Jamie's parents, Jim & Bonnie Smoot, before the music started-up again. I wandered around the grounds to take a look at the old (Decker) family swimming hole located behind the house.
The night sky was fading and the cool evening air was settling in as a full moon rose above the Decker woods to the east. I found it striking that a once barren, god forsaken clay knoll at the center of our old farm was now the new center of a full blown bluegrass festival. I was overcome with a range of emotion looking back on all the history and ironic collision of events that led me to be there at this moment in time. Considering all that was taking place in my life at the present and the past history of this place it was a heavy moment for me to say the least. I made a call to brother Larry and urged him to drive on over and share the evening with me.
In time Larry arrived as did several of the surrounding neighbors to enjoy the sights and sounds of the night. It was a fun time that has now slipped away into memories that will last for some, a life time.
Joe D.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Owen Luke Klos
Our new baby ~ Owen Luke Klos!
Owen was born on Friday, September 25, 2009 (our due date) @ 8:24 pm, 8 lbs 12 oz, 21 in.
Kat & Owen are doing well & Isaac is very excited to be a big brother!
Love,
~ Matt, Kat, Isaac & Owen
Owen was born on Friday, September 25, 2009 (our due date) @ 8:24 pm, 8 lbs 12 oz, 21 in.
Kat & Owen are doing well & Isaac is very excited to be a big brother!
Love,
~ Matt, Kat, Isaac & Owen
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Skydivivg at Otay Lakes, CA
Jordan & Jen,
Pre-skydiving harness in place, almost time to hit the plane.
I'm pleased to report that Jordan and Jen made it back to tierra firma at a safe speed.
#5
Sept. 19, 2009
Hey John-boy; did you lock the keys in the car, again?
"I wish!"
Judy and I attended the 30th Annual WaveCrest, Woodie Car Show at Moonlight Beach in Encinitas, CA. Awesome cars, tons of the 'California Beach Culture thing' and Beach Boys sounds bouncing around in our heads. IT WAS WAY TOO COOL!
Take care, Jd & Judy/SD
Friday, September 18, 2009
September 13 ---- 1/2 Marathon Memorial Run
I noticed that the "postings" on our blog have gotten a little thin, quite possibly due to the trauma of this past summers events. It just so happens that I do have something of interest to share. I participated in the Rochester 1/2 Marathon held this past Sunday along with our nephew Bernie Klos. I already shared "my adventure" with Sam and she encouraged me to post it for the rest of us to share.
As many may already know, I have taken up running about two years ago and it started when I saw both Abby and Alex participate in X-country and Track. I figured it would be intersting to see how running felt in a middle-aged body ( thats right, middle-aged body..what, what are YOU all going to say?!) I quickly realized that running is a full contact sport; I came into "full contact" with how diminished my physical powers were compared to my memories of running as a child! Running if pursued seriously makes working out at a gym seem easy. I have since ran in about 6 5k races which are 3.1 miles. Even though these are "long distance" events they are generally the shortest of long races and hence are run rather quickly.
While at Bernie's funeral I was talking to Bernie Klos and he happened to mention running in the Rochester 1/2 Marathon. He recounted that he was planning on it but once he heard the news of his uncle's death and that it coincided with Bernie's B-day he knew that he "just had to run it now." Right then I made the decision that I too would join him. This was an interesting challenge to me because the differnce in length of a 5k compared to a 1/2 marathon is more than 4x, the 1/2 is 13.1 miles. Normally runners build up to a longer race but I felt that I had motivation enough.... do it for Bernie. It turns out that Bernie was a runner himself. Sam related that he ran in the spring and summer for the past 4 years and he did it at the urging of Sam to get in shape. It is amazing what people do for love!
Well that is the framework for the tale I will recount now, and it does have a happy ending too. About a week before the race I reconnected with a buddy who is virtualy impossible to pin down; I tried unsuccesfully for about 5 years! He invited me and my family to visit him at his home on Duck lake, this is a beautiful lake situated between Rochester and Syracuse north of Rt.104. I concocted a plan to visit him with my son Alex on Saturday and spend the night; "The best made plans of mice and man". My host had invited us because he was having a get-together with several buddies and to enjoy what little of summer we had left. Long story short: when the last of the guests left we had dinner by 10:15 pm and went to bed at 12 pm. These are not ideal conditions to launch into uncharted running waters much less a race in general. We awoke Sunday morning at 5:30am as planned. My host assured us that it would take roughly an hour to get to Rochester, unfortunately being in a strange location and home has its own challenges; we left later than our intended 6am and also discovered that the trip to the city took closer to an hour and a half! At his point my ever-growing teeage son was fast asleep while I was participating in my own "Pre 1/2 marathon race" racing to get to the race. Brother Bernie and I must share some of the same genetics because this is all to familar. It gets more convoluted.
Ultimately I missed the start-time by a mere 31 minutes. A very fast 5k race can be completed in about 15 minutes to give some racing perspective. When I checked in at Frontier field for the race and subsequently came in contact with several volunteers, no one bothered to state the obvious, such non-statements I have learned from past experiences usually only accompany REALLY BIG screw-ups! It's as if I was waging my own personal battle of "shock and Awe"; the onlookers were too shocked or polite to remind me that there would be no visible competitors for me to see at the start-line. I was accompanied by Alex to the starting line located on Andrew's St. (How appropriate). At exactly 8:16 Alex announced "Go" and I began my lonely vigil down the street. At this point the only thing that kept me "in the race" and not conceding to the foolishness of starting all alone and with no directions!, was the knowledge that Bernie Klos was already out there and that I was running this in memory of Brother Bernie who in a much different sense was also already "out there". Biblicaly speaking he had run well the hard race set before him and now enjoys the crown of life. Undoubtly he has a much better body now than I have! (Look it up!)
As I ran along I didn't have the benefit of seeing a well mapped out course route since all the officals and spectators, etc. had long moved on. I only had a vague sense of the course and was aided a lot by evidence of the race; there were numerous shirts abandonded and scattered along the route which slowly became less as I traveled on. I stopped several times to ask the few people I did see if they saw the race. Eventually I did come upon a course offical who handed me a map. Around mile 4 or 5 I came upon the "walkers" of this event and from there on it was easy. I got to pass them all one by one. Around mile 8 the first of the Marathoners (26.2 miles) glided past me. This was to be expected since they started at 7:30am and many are much faster than I. In many ways this race was actually easier than a 5k because my main goal was simple-finish the race; as such, I found a comfortable pace and stuck to it, even allowing for a bathroom break, stops for stretching, and stops for water/gatorade. In all I probably spent 10 minutes not running. I finished the race minus the "rest times" in 2 hours and 10 minutes.
The Post-race events were pretty sweet. The runners section included many goodies such as all the food one could eat of pizza, chocolate milk, oranges, bannanas, bagels, gatorade, etc.. If you run like a kid you may as well eat like one and I did. There were professional massues there who gave massages on the spot. They worked my tired legs over for about 15 minutes and then I moved over to the next tent and had a chair massage for another 10 minutes. This was all accompanied with a live band. Finally we left and sometime that day I had the catch-up sleep I missed from the night before and the workout of that morning. I may well try another 1/2 marathon but this time I'd like to do it under different circumstances and perhaps with some caffeine too.
Post Script:
At a X-country meet this week Alex identified one of the coaches there as a 1/2 marathoner in my race. I had to say something to him. It turns out that he came in 2nd and his traveling buddy took 1st out of a field of about 1600 runners. This was impressive I thought but then he asked me if I wanted to hear something funny. It turns out that both of them had to take a last minute "pit stop" in the bathroom prior to the race and both missed the start by 45 seconds! This is all starting sound strangely familar...... I guess the lesson to be learned from all of this is it doesn't matter when one starts or even how long one runs just as long as one enjoys the trip and finishes their race well. Well done Bow, see you at the finish line!
As many may already know, I have taken up running about two years ago and it started when I saw both Abby and Alex participate in X-country and Track. I figured it would be intersting to see how running felt in a middle-aged body ( thats right, middle-aged body..what, what are YOU all going to say?!) I quickly realized that running is a full contact sport; I came into "full contact" with how diminished my physical powers were compared to my memories of running as a child! Running if pursued seriously makes working out at a gym seem easy. I have since ran in about 6 5k races which are 3.1 miles. Even though these are "long distance" events they are generally the shortest of long races and hence are run rather quickly.
While at Bernie's funeral I was talking to Bernie Klos and he happened to mention running in the Rochester 1/2 Marathon. He recounted that he was planning on it but once he heard the news of his uncle's death and that it coincided with Bernie's B-day he knew that he "just had to run it now." Right then I made the decision that I too would join him. This was an interesting challenge to me because the differnce in length of a 5k compared to a 1/2 marathon is more than 4x, the 1/2 is 13.1 miles. Normally runners build up to a longer race but I felt that I had motivation enough.... do it for Bernie. It turns out that Bernie was a runner himself. Sam related that he ran in the spring and summer for the past 4 years and he did it at the urging of Sam to get in shape. It is amazing what people do for love!
Well that is the framework for the tale I will recount now, and it does have a happy ending too. About a week before the race I reconnected with a buddy who is virtualy impossible to pin down; I tried unsuccesfully for about 5 years! He invited me and my family to visit him at his home on Duck lake, this is a beautiful lake situated between Rochester and Syracuse north of Rt.104. I concocted a plan to visit him with my son Alex on Saturday and spend the night; "The best made plans of mice and man". My host had invited us because he was having a get-together with several buddies and to enjoy what little of summer we had left. Long story short: when the last of the guests left we had dinner by 10:15 pm and went to bed at 12 pm. These are not ideal conditions to launch into uncharted running waters much less a race in general. We awoke Sunday morning at 5:30am as planned. My host assured us that it would take roughly an hour to get to Rochester, unfortunately being in a strange location and home has its own challenges; we left later than our intended 6am and also discovered that the trip to the city took closer to an hour and a half! At his point my ever-growing teeage son was fast asleep while I was participating in my own "Pre 1/2 marathon race" racing to get to the race. Brother Bernie and I must share some of the same genetics because this is all to familar. It gets more convoluted.
Ultimately I missed the start-time by a mere 31 minutes. A very fast 5k race can be completed in about 15 minutes to give some racing perspective. When I checked in at Frontier field for the race and subsequently came in contact with several volunteers, no one bothered to state the obvious, such non-statements I have learned from past experiences usually only accompany REALLY BIG screw-ups! It's as if I was waging my own personal battle of "shock and Awe"; the onlookers were too shocked or polite to remind me that there would be no visible competitors for me to see at the start-line. I was accompanied by Alex to the starting line located on Andrew's St. (How appropriate). At exactly 8:16 Alex announced "Go" and I began my lonely vigil down the street. At this point the only thing that kept me "in the race" and not conceding to the foolishness of starting all alone and with no directions!, was the knowledge that Bernie Klos was already out there and that I was running this in memory of Brother Bernie who in a much different sense was also already "out there". Biblicaly speaking he had run well the hard race set before him and now enjoys the crown of life. Undoubtly he has a much better body now than I have! (Look it up!)
As I ran along I didn't have the benefit of seeing a well mapped out course route since all the officals and spectators, etc. had long moved on. I only had a vague sense of the course and was aided a lot by evidence of the race; there were numerous shirts abandonded and scattered along the route which slowly became less as I traveled on. I stopped several times to ask the few people I did see if they saw the race. Eventually I did come upon a course offical who handed me a map. Around mile 4 or 5 I came upon the "walkers" of this event and from there on it was easy. I got to pass them all one by one. Around mile 8 the first of the Marathoners (26.2 miles) glided past me. This was to be expected since they started at 7:30am and many are much faster than I. In many ways this race was actually easier than a 5k because my main goal was simple-finish the race; as such, I found a comfortable pace and stuck to it, even allowing for a bathroom break, stops for stretching, and stops for water/gatorade. In all I probably spent 10 minutes not running. I finished the race minus the "rest times" in 2 hours and 10 minutes.
The Post-race events were pretty sweet. The runners section included many goodies such as all the food one could eat of pizza, chocolate milk, oranges, bannanas, bagels, gatorade, etc.. If you run like a kid you may as well eat like one and I did. There were professional massues there who gave massages on the spot. They worked my tired legs over for about 15 minutes and then I moved over to the next tent and had a chair massage for another 10 minutes. This was all accompanied with a live band. Finally we left and sometime that day I had the catch-up sleep I missed from the night before and the workout of that morning. I may well try another 1/2 marathon but this time I'd like to do it under different circumstances and perhaps with some caffeine too.
Post Script:
At a X-country meet this week Alex identified one of the coaches there as a 1/2 marathoner in my race. I had to say something to him. It turns out that he came in 2nd and his traveling buddy took 1st out of a field of about 1600 runners. This was impressive I thought but then he asked me if I wanted to hear something funny. It turns out that both of them had to take a last minute "pit stop" in the bathroom prior to the race and both missed the start by 45 seconds! This is all starting sound strangely familar...... I guess the lesson to be learned from all of this is it doesn't matter when one starts or even how long one runs just as long as one enjoys the trip and finishes their race well. Well done Bow, see you at the finish line!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)