Playing music was something I re-visited in 2015 when I was informed I needed to have a tumor taken out of my head.  My neurosurgeon mentioned,  a bit prior to the scheduled surgery, that I could lose speech.  I asked "would I be able to recover it", and the answer was yes.  Then he mentioned I could also lose use of my right arm or hand.  Again, my question was "would I be able to recover use".  Answer, yes.

So, I began to read even more than usual, and picking a guitar a good hour a day.  With the guitar, the idea was to build muscle memory so that in the event I lost that control, I would be able to gain it back sooner than later.  Fortunately for me, my surgeon's hand was steady and I did not have any issues afterward.  And, I was making sounds with the guitar.  

I had also come across the following article, which is also part of the Band Who Would Be King documentary, when searching for guidance with guitar playing.

How to play Guitar - by David Fair

I taught myself to play guitar. It’s incredibly easy when you understand the science of it. The skinny strings play the high sounds, and the fat strings play the low sounds. If you put your finger on the string father out by the tuning end it makes a lower sound. If you want to play fast move your hand fast and if you want to play slower move your hand slower. That’s all there is to it. You can learn the names of notes and how to make chords that other people use, but that’s pretty limiting. Even if you took a few years and learned all the chords you’d still have a limited number of options. If you ignore the chords your options are infinite and you can master guitar playing in one day.

Traditionally, guitars have a fat string on the top and they get skinnier and skinnier as they go down. But he thing to remember is it’s your guitar and you can put whatever you want on it. I like to put six different sized strings on it because that gives the most variety, but my brother used to put all of the same thickness on so he wouldn’t have so much to worry about. What ever string he hit had to be the right one because they were all the same.

Tuning the guitar is kind of a ridiculous notion. If you have to wind the tuning pegs to just a certain place, that implies that every other place would be wrong. But that absurd. How could it be wrong? It’s your guitar and you’re the one playing it. It’s completely up to you to decide hoe it should sound. In fact I don’t tune by the sound at all. I wind the strings until they’re all about the same tightness. I highly recommend electric guitars for a couple of reasons. First of all they don’t depend on body resonating for the sound so it doesn’t matter if you paint them. As also, if you put all the knobs on your amplifier on 10 you can get a much higher reaction to effort ratio with an electric guitar than you can with an acoustic. Just a tiny tap on the strings can rattle your windows, and when you slam the strings, with your amp on 10, you can strip the paint off the walls.

Moody Spring, Dubuque State Forest, Hawley 

It has been written that Moody Spring has been a place of pilgrimage, and for picnics and outings, for over 150 years.  It is named for William Moody (died in 1860) on whose farm it was located.  The water here is said to possess strong medicinal properties, and people come from great distances to get some of it.  This water is reputed to be an effective cure for scrofula* and other skin ailments.

My mother occasionally mentions snowmobiling to Moody Sping back in the late sixties and early seventies for clambakes.  We started snowshoeing out to the spring back in ’96 or so.  The area remains very popular for snowmobiles, although I don’t know how many of them depend on the water from the spring to drink like we do. 

****  (Scrofula: a constitutional disorder of a tuberculous nature, characterized chiefly by swelling and degeneration of the lymphatic glands, especially in the neck, and by inflammation of the joints, according to Random House Dictionary).

The Old Goat filling up at Moody Spring from the mid-to-late 90's

Upped the effort to a 7-miler on the road in Suffield...  the Hill Street loop.

Ran on the roads to avoid ice and mud in the woods...  this is my least favorite time of year;  not enough snow to snowshoe and not bare ground to be safe.  Shouldn't be long til I can get back to the trails.  Right around 5-miles in Suffield.

I read a lot.  Always have.  Over the past decade or slightly longer, one book in particular has changed me and my thinking.  The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff.

A favorite piece from the Tao of Pooh is:

"When you wake up in the morning, Pooh," said Piglet at last, "what's the first thing you say to yourself?"

"What's for breakfast? said Pooh. "What do you say, Piglet?"

"I say, I wonder what's going to happen exciting today?" said Piglet.

Pooh nodded thoughtfully.

"It's the same thing," he said.

Fifteen years ago today, January 26th, 2002, Beaver Brook Snowshoe Race, in Hollis, NH.

Back in 2002, I did some snowshoeing from Hallockville Pond to Crooked Neck Pond....  including a graveyard pass-by (Stark Cemetery).

Starks Cemetery

Elvira Bartlett and Rufus Stark Gravestone

Crooked Neck Pond, Plainfield, MA.

Pop and Paul at the old Fritz homestead, January 2003.

Mount Greylock from Little Egypt, Adams.  Tippi for a bonus, 2003.

Warm temperatures, muddy trails, and moisture is present.  I didn't want to struggle on the trails, so a quiet run along the roads in Suffield was the choice.

The morning was spent at STCC and by the time I got home I was lacking motivation.  I drove to Robinson State Park to explore some, but I just didn't have the energy to enjoy it.  Tried to follow the Metacomet into the park but was not successful.

In 2002, on this day, I drove up Route 2 to Adams to venture into the Glen one more time.

Hail to the Sunrise, Charlemont.

Never frozen pond, Greylock Glen.

Fifteen years ago today, January 20th, 2002, we had a decent snowstorm in Connecticut... from the Suffield Swamp.

Fifteen years ago,

January 19th, 2002, we held a Greylock Glen Snowshoe Race.

Pop and the Steamer racing to the finish...

A drive to Adams to check in with my folks, wonderful visit.  Weather was foggy from the hill, looking toward the Hoosac Range....

Fifteen years ago, on this day, I made another visit to Hawley.  Stopped along the run to take some photos at the cemetery along Hallockville Road.

Another addition of music for 2017...

Here is effort #2, Jump Into the Fire.

"...we can make each other happy"

Happy Martin Luther King Jr day!  Spent a little time in Shenipsit State Forest with Wuzzam, Sammy and K2.  4-miles nice and easy.

It has been a very long time since I ran from Route 57 in Southwick to Robinson State Park in Agawam along the Metacomet Trail (or New England Trail, NET).  7.1-miles, the trail is busy along the ridgelines (intersecting and reroutes aplenty).  Highlight of the run was the message chained to a bench just into Robinson State Park....

Also, on this day in 2002, I explored the Hawley Kiln area, and then took a tour of the Greylock Glen with my Pop.

Beaver activity in Hawley.

This stone wall is now underwater from the beaver activity, I believe.

The Kiln.

Pop and Tips, rambling through the Glen.

3.7-miles on the Metacomet Trail from Phelps Road south.

Also, on this day fifteen years ago (2002), an exploration of Hawley and Dubuque State Forest.

Looks like I have enjoyed balanced rocks longer than I thought....  this is Hawley's.

Tippi frosted up in front of an old foundation.

The old graveyard.

Another view of the rock.

Almost to the day, twenty years ago.  Me, the Old Goat, and Georgie Bear doing Round and Frissel along Mount Riga Reservation.  January 14th, 1997.

Fifteen years ago today, in 2002, we held a South Pond Shuffle Snowshoe event at Savoy Mountain State Forest.  This would have been about the 5th South Pond event....

A favorite view of North Pond;  I camped here overnight one cold April  with my old spaniel Dusty.

We based many events out of these old structures....

On this day in 2003, we held the the 6th Annual South Pond Shuffle Snowshoe Race.  There were 90 finishers for this one, and it was one of the "deeper" snow conditions.  Photos from the start pretty much give an indication of the snow... what wonderful memories these things are.

 

Once upon a time, on a winter journey to High Bridge, our group came upon some moose-droppings.

The Legend of the Snow God

Once upon a time, in the lands of the Trail People, there lived a jovial spirit named Farmer Ed. 

Farmer Ed was known far and wide for his enthusiasm, positive attitude and contagious smile. He was the Keeper of the Flame, a scribe recording the lore and journeys of the Trail People.

The Trail People were different from other folks. They frolicked in the forest, jumped over rocks and roots, sang in the rain, ran through fields of mud and laughed at the wind.

But, every year, Old Man Winter, with his snow, ice and cold, forced the Trail People to crawl into their caves and long for the dance of spring.

Then, one year, Farmer Ed pronounced there must be a better way. He went on a long journey, far from his homelands, seeking guidance and wisdom for his people. When he reached the mountaintop, he called upon the four elements: earth, fire, air and water. In the stillness of each dawn, he listened to the whispers of the Great Spirit. And when the cold winds came, he learned to bend with the wind.

He came back to his People and assembled the Wise Ones:

• Dion, the God of Lightning and Speed.
• Worsham, the Shameless Shaman.
• Princess Ellen, Gourmet Temptress.
• Swanee, Greylock Warrior.
• Nymph Kaniac, the Goddess of Youth Eternal.
• And, The Great Silverback, Grandfather of the Trail People.

Farmer Ed shared his Vision Quest and told about the music of birds and mountain streams and how the animals guided him through the winter wilderness. He asked the Trail People to breathe in the freshness of the Earth Mother and walk on the snow.

So now, when the December moon shines brightly overhead, and the north winds blow cold, the Trail People come out dancing in their snow shoes of gold.

And that is how the Trail People learned to embrace the high lonesome sound of winter and found their souls reflected in a snowflake. And thus, Farmer Ed became known as the Snow God.

Go quietly into the forest, plant some snowshoe prints on the trail, and soon, you will be smiling like Farmer Ed.

Ed, Thank you for the wonderful, magical mystery tours in the snow!

Barbarella S.

Took the snowshoes to McLean Reservation, thinking that the "forest roads" would be ok to snowshoe on.  It was worth wearing the snowshoes due to ice underneath it all, but the snow was only about an inch deep....  3.9-miles.

Slippery snowstorm hitting the area, managed to drive to Sunrise Park and rumble through a 5.7-mile adventure.  Some of the route I took seems to be posted private property now-a-days. Only 20 degrees and snow and ice falling, but it sure did feel good to be outdoors regardless.

On this day in 1996, I participated in the annual "Fat Ass 50" in North Adams, Massachusetts.  It consisted of many loops on the road, on a cold, gray day, and I believe there was a pretty bad snowstorm on the drive home.  I have a time listed of  5:32:35, and I think that was for 26.2 miles - not 50k.  This was my 8th marathon completed.