My favorite time of year

Yes, the holidays, obviously. But I LOVE the darkness. I love it getting dark early--like 415. I just love it. And I am totally an outdoors person too. Isnt that strange? Just something about the world getting darker earlier; it is a 'cozier' time, almost. Things dont seem so rushed. People slow down a bit. Things get more relaxed. More wood stove and couch time. 

And I LOVE running at night. Join me! Haha. Sally snapped this of me last week while I was going out...I have this snappy vest, snappy reflective gloves, and a cute little band around my ankle. Just in case. I still hardly see any cars. If my mom read this blog and saw that I run at night, she would freaque out. So dont tell her. Good thing she doesnt read this. 

Maira seems to be coming around a bit--and by 'coming around,' I mean 'liking me' at all. She, for a good while, was not that impressed with me. It concerned me very much. I mean, I am used to women disliking me, but my own daughter?? But, as you can see below, we share lots of special moments. She loves, as of late, 'pony rides' and 'dinosaur rides' which, to you and me, are just piggybacks. Also, she loves (she told me this) when I call her 'sweety-pants' and 'Mae.' I often call her Mae, since it is a shortened version of Maira Elizabeth. For me.

Notice, also, the pink tutu above? She always wears it over her other clothes....

I am NOT a fan of Thanksgiving starting so late this year!! After Thanksgiving, there are only like three weeks til Christmas!! Very very stressed, as my mom would say. Tomorrow (Sunday) we will probably put up our lights and stuff like that. Meanwhile, little CS is wielding his scissors with surgical precision to make snowflakes to hang on doors.....

The folks from NJ are arriving as I write this. I am not joining them tonight (Amanda and the kids are over BaBa's) since, just a while ago, I returned from the 7th annual Winslow Tailgate Party held at my buddy Wick's (as in Wickman) house in Waterville. A bunch of us guys on faculty get together for 'rivalry weekend' (UNH clobbered UMAINE today, for example) and watch football, eat amazing pot pie, sausages, cookies, and more. A great time with great guys. AND, what makes today even more special is that, for the second year in a row, Winslow is playing in the Superbowl. Here we go Raiders!!!

Happy Anniversary Amanda!

So this is the first digital photo that exists of Amanda and I....everything else before this was taken on this thing called 'film' or something. This is from the summer of 2005, when we were visiting Seventh Lake in the Adirondacks, staying with Brian on his family's island.....

Notice the location of Amanda's arm? yeah. me too.......

Not our actual WEDDING anniversary....something even cooler: The anniversary of our first date!

Thirteen years ago today it was a Saturday and I was living at 21 Edgewood Road with Brian and Josh. Brian, a member of the UNH woodsmen team, was hosting a woodsmen's meet on campus, and the 'after party' was at our humble abode. It was absolutely FREEZING outside, and we had MOE, our old ALL NIGHTER woodstove, cranking. Josh and I had put together perhaps one of the finest chicken soups ever known to man, thinking that when all the hick-redneck-dirty-old-woodsmen came back from their little games they would have something good and hot to eat.

That particular day was also the the date of an awesome concert bill that I really wanted to see in Portland: The Samples. Check them out if you have never heard them. A wonderful, chill, catchy band.

I had asked this girl Amanda, with whom I worked at CFAR, if she wanted to go. She said yes!!! And then she said no..................because she had forgotten that that evening she had a 'gig' of her own with the UNH Wind Symphony. And what a gig it was. The phone call went something like this: "Hi Jared....umm...I hope you arent mad...but I cant go to the concert with you cuz I am playing in a pre 1800 French opera commemorating the construction of the palace at Versailles.....but you should totally come.......if you want."

Oh. The. Joy.

I had other options that night--options I wont go into because they will make me sound like an even bigger jerk than people already think I am. But I just knew there was something about this Amanda girl that was really special. So I went. I left the warmth of the wood stove hearth of 21 Edgewood...with more beer than I cold shake a stick at...with a bunch of fun lumberjacks...and I walked about a mile to the Paul Creative Arts Center, in the freezing cold, to see my future wife play oboe in a dreadfully boring opera about some arrogant French dink who built a big house for himself. But the look on Amanda's face when I walked in was priceless....

After the opera, I waited while she did all her nerdy musician things like clean her oboe or put her handcarved reeds away; then, we walked together the The Licker Store (get the pun...it was an ice cream and coffee shop????) and sipped hot cider outside in the cold. It was perfect. Then we walked together BACK to the PCAC and, on our very first date, on her request, I played a few of my original songs for her in one of the piano studios. One song, "Sunporch," really seemed to bring her joy. "Jeesh," she said. "I could only wish that someday someone would write a song like that for me."

Well Amanda, I am sure someday someone will....

haha

The night came to a graceful end when she drove me back to my lumberjacked (is this an adjective?) house in her 1978 White 240 Volvo and I invited her in for chicken soup (if there was any left) and hot cocoa with Bailey's Irish Cream in it. The 'lumberjack party' was essentially over, as most folks had passed out. But one wonderfully groomed and delightfully corpulent man awoke from his resplendent slumber on our couch (dont even know who he was) and yelled "Dude!! Sorry! Didnt know you brought a chick home!! Want me to go downstairs so you guys can hook up on the couch??" #Grace.

Thirteen years!! Time certainly does fly by, huh Amanda??? Our next and second date before we got engaged (joking) was to go see Will Ferrell's ELF together in Newington. But that is a whole other story....

Happy anniversary Amanda. And Boo to you!!! #insidejokeseven

Awareness....

Really???


I grow a heavy beard each winter--as I have for the past four or five years or so--since I virtually 'live' outside all winter long (running...snowshoeing...commuting to school by bike...etc). This year only--no one has ever asked me this before--people are wondering if I was growing the beard for 'the red sox' or 'Boston Strong stuff' or 'No Shave November' for prostate cancer awareness, and more. No. I dont do 'causes.' I dont wear cute plastic bracelets. And what all this asking has taught me is that Americans these days love to be 'aware' of things because, in my opinion, there is nothing more 'American' during these times than being 'aware.'

I, myself, am totally 'aware' of all the bad parts of the world...all the diseases....all the strife and despair and heartache. I know it exists. If anyone, for example, is not 'aware' of breast cancer in 2013, then they have been living underneath a rock. But what is all this 'awareness' about, and why do I think it is so perfectly suited to lazy Americans? I think we all love this whole 'awareness' thing because it requires ABSOLUTE NO WORK on our part. We can be 'aware' of Autism or Fibromyalgia or Perfringens or alien abductions and be trendy and show all our friends our cute stickers on our SUVs.....and then do absolutely nothing else. To be 'aware' only necessitates that we know something exists. That's it. There's no volunteering or exercising or cutting out anything from our diets or spending any more time than is necessary with our kids.  "Yes, I am totally aware of Hodgkins Lymphoma. It is a disease. I have heard of people in the world having it. That is all. Look at me." What are you 'doing' when you are 'aware?'

Enough is enough already. Go do something about something and stop buying so many stickers.

Go outside.

BREW Club

As in the "Bretheren of Rational Evangelical Witnesses."

Last Friday I had some buddies from church over for one of our beer club meetings. The concept is simple: Everyone brings one or two 'craft' brews that they have either made themselves or bought in some sort of exotic location (like Bar Harbor....Denver Colorado...or Waterville Maine). Each person 'presents' their beer, and we all sample it; believe it or not, we are actually pretty serious about discussing the elements of the brewing process and what sorts of flavors we get out of each tasting. And then we just drink more of it. Also, there are snacks.

We hosted it at my house, down in the den, which remains one of my favorite features of the house. I will NEVER...in any sort of circumstance...call this space a 'man cave' or anything like that. That term needs to be brought out behind the chemical shed and shot at close range. It is a den. With books. And dark wood tones. And a record player. We enjoyed some Chuck Mangione and Leo Kotke, both on vinyl. Amanda baked some of her world famous (because people from Thailand like them) cookies. And we had more beer than you could shake a stick at.

On the futon you can see Jon and Tom enjoying a tasting. On the loveseat (yes...two men can sit on a love seat) are Chris and Brian. What you CANNOT see....near the bottom of the old woodstove hearth, is the Duraflame electric wood stove we bought on QVC!!! This in itself cancels out roughtly 60% of the 'manliness" we had going. Oh well.

Jon (who lives up just off Mount Desert Island in Lamoine), Tom, and Pastor round out the group and all took turns laughing at me trying to do normal, everyday things. Also, the green futon is Lin and Gorge's bed when they come and live with us.....

And, on this day, we are pleased to welcome to the family our beautiful new niece and cousin Annabella Favry!!!!! Cant weight too meat her!!!

New Kennebec River Trail

A HUGE initiative underway in central Maine over the last several years has been to turn old railroad beds into multipurpose trails for biking, hiking, running, and snow activities.....

There are many around, not all of them simply old railroad beds, and hardly any of them are connected. The huge push, lately, has BEEN to connect these trails, by procuring the land and means by which to do so. Reading about the process on line is very interesting, and I think it is one of the coolest ideas around, since it encourages people to get outside and move around. No membership cost. Healthy air. Sunshine. Beautiful scenery. How can you beat it?

http://www.kmtrails.org/

Last Sunday after church, we took a walk on a new section of trail that just recently opened; it connects an already popular Fairfield section of trail to the wilderness (and cross country running!) trails on the campus of Winslow High. The trail leaves from a HydroPower station right on the Kennebec and meanders along the river, through some gorgeous meadows resplendent with duck-populated ponds, and then sneaks back into the woods where a few primitive bridge crossings connect you to the flatter 'rail trail' we often walk in Fairfield.....

It was cold!!! In fact, it has been cold. In fact, it is only 60 in hear right now and, although I am fine, I am sure I will get Amanda begging for a fire soon....haha

Rarely do you see Maira outside without this pink LL Bean hat on. And, furthermore, she ALWAYS has to have it 'tight,' which means she wants the velcro fastened under her chin. Oh, and how can you tell it is an LL Bean hat?? Because she has had it for two weeks and the stitching is coming apart already. LL Bean continues to suck.....

BTW: Notice the pretty sweet running gloves Amanda got me?? Sauconies, even....

Truly best friends.

From the start of the trail, right by the HydroPower station....if you blow the photo up, you can see the dam on the Kennebec. "In back of me" we are about a half mile from my school....across the river is the city of Waterville, and you are looking at Front St, possibly making out Joseph's Market, the opera house, etc......

We just love getting into the woods!! With or without the kids is fine with us!! However, I am trying to get Callum into the woods more to show him they are 'safe.' The kid ALWAYS loved the woods, and he loved bushwacking through the forest behind MeeMee or Baba's houses. BUT....recently I read him LOST ON A MOUNTAIN IN MAINE, which is a true story told by Donn Fendler, this kid who, in 1938, didnt listen to his dad when climbing Kathadin. Subsequently, he ran way far ahead, got lost in a storm, and ended up alone in the wilderness for 14 days. Obviously, now Callum is scared of getting lost in the woods and having to eat wild strawberries and sleep on moss. So yeah.

But it was a lovely hyque.

State Championships-Twin Brooks, Cumberland, Maine

For the third year in a row, Winslow Cross Country made it to the state championships--this year, the entire girl's team made it (this means that, at the semi finals, they finished in the top 7 of all the teams (about 30) there racing. Our girls finished 5th overall. The boys team did not make it as a TEAM this year, but we had two of our seven varsity runners qualify as individuals (this means that they had to finish, individually, in the top 30 runners--there were well over 200 or so runners in the race). So this was great!!

Below, we arrived to our tent already being set up by our awesome parents and booster's club! The meet was at the Twin Brooks recreational area in Cumberland, Maine (near Portland). A gorgeous morning for running. Our EZ UP tent is awesome, and we always have hot water for cocoa and tea...snacks...drinks...water...and everything else. Our parents are awesome. 

Below: Two of our 'stars' Timmy and Sara....Sara is perhaps the greatest photobomber I have ever even heard of. MAGNIFICENT body of work she has. I will try to find more......

The girl's team getting ready at the starting box....doing some stride outs and dynamic stretching....on the very left is Callum's 'special friend' Audrey, and on the very far right is none other than Conner Bouchwin's sister JoAnne

There were probably thousands of people there, lining all parts and nooks and crannies and turns of the trail....this was at about the one mile split, and if you enlarge the pic, you can see the ONSLAUGHT of runners coming up the trail. It is a beautiful course......

Co-coach Chris--probably one of the kindest and most compassionate people I know. Such a pleasure to work with her. A gem. And a great coach. She's run her share of marathons, and, this past April, her husband Joe ran Boston for the umpteenth time--he finished about 50 minutes before the bombing....

And here is one of my senior students and runners, Chloe. She had a fantastic season and she is a wonderful kid. She may be one of the only kids on the team (and in class) that truly 'gets' my sense of humor. Or lack thereof. Or something. Or she's just really polite and laughs. Also, her family is from Nova Scotia, and she has been to Newfoundland, which, in my book, makes her awesomer.

Halloween Party

Yes....I know Halloween is behind us now, but I never got around to posting a bit about the party we had BEFORE Hallows Eve....and George just recently sent me some great pics, since we focused on more of video cams that night......

The turnout was lower than we expected (the ParksStamms forgot and the Fitzpatriques were sique) but we still had a nice little party for the kids. We had 'activities' out in the garage, since some of them involved lots of crumbs and water....PLUS the garage is haunted......

Abby (as a policeman) enjoyed chasing criminals on the ATV...I told her mom that she could NOT say she lived in Maine (they are from Illinois) unless she rode an ATV.....

I dont know how the tradition started, but I LOVE the donut on the string game! And Callum was pretty good at it....I hung...or hang...string from my pullup bar, and the kids had a blast. Maira used her hands, but we told her it was okay.....

TA DA!!! Maira's forte was definitely the bobbing for apples....

Okay. Is this the face of a little shit or what? Maira continues to be as 'girl' as they come (meaning she can be your best friend in the world one minute....and then turn on you and bite your head off the next...) So...now that I think of it...a kitty was the best costume for her. I love this girl.

And here is the beautiful Sally, posing with Lin....Amanda looks particularly radiant in this picture. What a hottie. Should I ask her out?