Happy Holidays!

Hi all! Had a wonderful Christmas day, Sherrie and I kept it low-key and stayed in all day yesterday. We cooked a wonderful meal, listened to music, just hung out, twas' nice. This morning we got up early and headed to the hills. As volunteers for the Division of Wildlife we got to feed Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep. The weather was a bit funky, we almost got stuck in the snow, but all worked out.

Yum, apple mash and hay! These guys were pretty skiddish at first, but the free food won them over quickly.

Tis' The Season...

Tis' the season, Sherrie and I have been preparing for the upcoming holidays. This pic was taken at the Paquette Gallery at the Steamplant yesterday. It was after I played a reception for local artist-quilter Lori Isenberger, that's her work in the background. T'was a busy day, I went straight from there to another gig at Apogee Studio here in Salida.

Can you spot the Chapman Stick player in the crowd?

Here I am practising for the gigs earlier in the week. Nice and cozy at home. We cut our own tree and spent numerous hours stringing popcorn. This of course is a great way to spend the evening when it looks like this outside...

Things have been going well. The odd jobs and window washing biz has been pretty slow but I'm still finding work to do. I'm looking forward to some time to do some hardcore practising and recording. I hope to have the CD together soon. Last weekend I played for the Tree of Life ceremony for the Angel of Shavano Hospice here at the hospital. It was quite moving to hear the names of all the people who passed on this last year and a reminder of how brief this time we are given is. It's a gift to be here. Wishing everyone a wonderful holiday season.

An Old Fashioned Halloween!

Since moving to Salida, CO from Cleveland , OH my life has changed in many ways. One of those ways manifested tonight, on Halloween. I was not sure if we'd get any trick or treaters but we bought a few bags of treats just to have on hand. Sure enough, there was a steady stream of vampires, pirates, ghosts and ghouls, even the three musketeers! We had just enough candy with a little left over for our private enjoyment : )
It had been years since I did the trick or treat thing, and it just reminded me again of what a wonderful community I'm living in. I love this place!
Sherrie and I spent the evening staying in, having pizza and watching some old scary movies. T'was a great way to spend Halloween.
This week I'm working hard on getting some tracks done for the new CD, more on this soon. I'll also be on the local radio this Friday. I'll be playing some guitars for local luthier Jeff Bamburg as he discusses his craft. Its been a while since I actually played guitar, since getting my Stick my guitars mainly collect dust. Its been nice getting reaquainted with my six stringed friends, I just may keep it up.

Then on Saturday afternoon I'll be playing Chapman Stick at a reception for my darling Sherrie at the Salida Cafe. She does gorgeous linocuts, check them out here.

Such Tourists!

Earlier this week ( Monday & Tuesday) we headed to Grand Junction, CO to meet up with my friends Matt and Kim from Ohio, and their daughters Ava and Lana. They were vacationing in Utah. Grand Junction was a good half way meeting point. It was great to see them again!

We spent some time exploring Colorado National Monument, some awesome views, pictures just don't capture the grandeur.

Of course everyone wants to capture some images, after all, we need something to blog about! This is me playing dueling cameras with Sherrie.

Humor and Art

Spent the weekend in Denver with the fine folks from Colorado Art Ranch.
What's So Funny About Art? The Artposium was an event exploring the intersection of writing, art with humor. I provided some background music during the reception playing my Chapman Stick. Had a great time! Lots O' laughs!

Catch-up

Hi All!
Well, I've been neglecting my blogging duties, here's a bunch of pics to give you an idea of what I've been up to. Autumn is here and I'm loving it. I don't think I've ever said "What a beautiful day!" more times than since I moved to Colorado.

Hangin out at the Black Canyon of Colorado.

Standing in downtown Aspen. We drove over Independence pass from Salida, the colors were spectacular!

Labor Day Weekend

Had a great Labor Day Weekend. On Labor Day we got up early and went to the top of "S" Mountain overlooking Salida. It was cool to see the town from this perspective, we could even see the house! From there we drove a short distance to the trail head at Castle Gardens.

Lots of interesting rock formations, was a perfect day to roam around. As a bonus we saw plenty of lizards.

Batman, Indians and Rainbows!!!

This awesome artistic rendition of "Batman" was sent to me by my niece Lily. Made my day in a big way. I think I'll hang it on the wall in my studio. Love that lil' gal.

Here I am standing in the middle of Indian Market in Santa Fe New Mexico. I got to hang out in Santa Fe for a few days while Sherrie taught workshops, had a great time.
Before heading to Santa Fe we had a downpour and this was the view from the front porch, cool eh?

Ginger, Ginger, Ginger!

A couple of weeks ago I came home to a Fed-Ex truck out front, when I got in, there was a large heavy box on the dining room table. It was a case of Blenheim's Ginger Ale. It was a house- warming present sent to me and Sherrie by my friend Antoinette back in Ohio. Antoinette remembered that we are both serious ginger addicts, and this gift was a wonderful surprise for the two of us.
Neither of us had ever had this brand of ginger ale before... yikes!!! This stuff makes your throat burn, your eyes water, you feel your brain doing backflips, in other words, we love it! My discovery is that with some vanilla ice cream you can make the most indescribably wonderful Ginger Float!
Thanks Antoinette!!!

Whew! This summer is passing quickly! Here's some of the things I've been keeping busy with.... Picking up where my last post left off, these are some wildflowers I saw in Crested Butte during the wildflower festival. What a beautiful town, spent a few spectacular days there.

This is me standing on the Royal Gorge bridge, the highest suspension bridge in the world. I was treated with a trip to the park by my sweetie for my birthday. We had a great day!

This is the view of the bridge from a distance.




Here I am playing my Chapman Stick during open mic night at the Salida Cafe. Lots of great local talent, looking forward to playing some more. Last night we went to a house concert sponsored by the fine folks at Weathervane Farm. It was awesome, rootsy acoustic music, with a twist, the theremin! Great performances by Cahalen Morrison and Sven Hoosen.


Today is the Salida Omnium. The house is on the race course, so cycles go whizzing by every few minutes. Thats all for now....

Time to catch up. I've been super busy lately. I've been working a lot trying to make $$. In between I try and get out and explore my new surroundings. The UFO Watchtower in Hooper, CO. is a must see destination. Nice folks, lots of Alien memorabilia available there.

A couple of photos of me playing my Chapman Stick out during Art Walk in Salida.

I've been getting out and hiking in the mountains, awesome views, loving it here in Colorado.

Finally, on 4th of July, me standing in a snow patch in the mountains. Never got to do that in Ohio!
For the next few days I'm in Crested Butte, CO, for the wildflower festival. Awesome place, I'll write more soon.

It's a parade!

The 60th FIBArk Whitewater Festival took place here in Salida this past weekend. There was food, rides, great music, and lots and lots o'people! Ohh yeah, and a parade!!

"S" mountain overlooks the city. They have an annual race, up and back down. Those spots are people running. I think its much more enjoyable to observe from down below.

My favorite event was the "Hooligan Race", this is where anyone can build a craft that is not worthy of being on the water and float downstream to their certain demise : )

Hiking Day!

Yesterday (Sunday) I got a chance to hit the trails and go hiking. It was fantastic!
Since we weren't sure about the weather conditions we stuck with a close and easily accessible trail. Greens Creek Trail is located about 13 miles from town. It turned out to be a beautiful day, it was great to be outside. The only snag was finding 4 ticks on my clothes. Afterwards we ran home and did a thorough inspection of our clothes, and selves. Happy to report, all were tick free, whew!

After hiking, tick inspection and lunch, we decided to take a drive to Buena Vista. Along the way we stopped at St. Elmo a historic "ghost" town. Lots of beautiful scenery along the way.

Things have been going well, I have my first paying gig on Friday June 27th, at a gallery as part of Salida Art Walk. I'm also awaiting word on a possible job, I've had a couple of interviews, keeping my fingers crossed! Lastly, a funny story. Apparently when my mother was asked what my blog was called, her response sounded like " Optimistic Bitch" to the person asking. Too funny!