Somewhere over the rainbow

I can't believe how many lines I carry around with me from this movie...I'll get you my pretty, and your little dog too!....so when Grace went out for a spot in this one at the Gates Community Theater I thought great...this will be fun. Well it was but now those lines and hundred others are stuck in my head now as well...



But to the important stuff..Grace did great singing and being a munchkin, snow flake/poppie and Emerald City Citizen...we even went to the cast party afterwards. The Assistant director said Grace was a standout and we should continue to push her. She doesn't really need it...The sunday show that Mot/Eric, Jim n Rose and Cathy came to was really good (no mic problems). Thanks for coming up it means a lot to Grace.


Here's some cute pics and a short clip of one her lines.

Bravo Gracie. Bravo.

XC season 2010

We had the XC banquet last night to finish the 2010 season. Both Carolyn and James ran this year for Owego.
Carolyn ran modified as she's in 7th grade. James was able to run varsity! They both ran with the coach almost every morning this summer. James had the goal of running varsity this year. All that training paid off! He ran varsity and was consistently their #3 or #4 man. The three top runners were all seniors. James really bonded with these boys and we were especially glad they were such good role models.
The coach was great---had them do some fun things like paintball and also the 1st annual Halloween Fun Run. All 40 members of the boys and girls teams dressed as ZOMBIES and ran through downtown Owego! HILARIOUS!

James finished top 20 in sectionals and the two Owego boys who finished before him are going on to States this weekend. His best time for this season was 18:11 (5K)
So here are some pictures from the season. At the banquet last night James was honored with the "Best First Year Runner" for the boys and also was chosen by the S.T.A.C. Coaches conference as "Division First Team All Star!"
He's already looking forward to next season!

Not bad for a "frosh!"

Encore?

You got it.

Grace gives you Joseph's Dream part 1....I'll post more soon....

Watch it a couple times and you will be humming it all day. A few nights before the show Grace woke me up with singing, in her sleep...I think it was part of this song.

WOW

Grace wanted the lead in the school play real bad. She worked hard and got it...they split it up between Grace and her buddy Cece. Grace did the role of Joseph in "Joseph the Dreamer" at the performance at St. Annes....and absolutely nailed it. She had me in tears as I watched it. I heard the songs she was practicing and some of the lines we practiced but ...WOW...I guess the training and practice have had a big impact...the projection, enunciation and emotion...WOW.

But I am obviously biased so you watch...here is where Joseph is wrongfully imprisoned and cries out in a mournful lament...

finding our bald eagle

The summer "to do" list also had "find a Bald Eagle" on it. So I figured now that they are plentiful the task would not be too hard...I have never seen one n the wild and Grace either so we were excited about the adventure. We headed to Montezuma where I read a woman saw 50 different eagles in one day...I figured she put a bunch of flapping fish on the roof of her car and just sat back and watched them come....

We tried just looking....within seconds of being in the park we spotted a low flying raptor type...it was a falcon....not sure which...maybe a perrigrine.or a northern harrier...cool...he dove into the marsh grasses and yanked out a snake or something...so we kept looking....

We saw Herons, grebes, Bitterns, egrets, pipers...wow ...and maybe a sand hill crane(Grace had the brochure so she was calling them pretty good from the back seat )....we did not see anything for certain on the main road...so we headed to Tschashe Pool....just south of the watch tower I tell Grace to watch the dead tree limbs....within a two seconds she screams "DAD...THERE'S ONE!"..I pull over mainly because of the shrill pain in my ear and head from Grace's casual announcement. I look to the west (into the sun) and I see a huge bird just landing on a limb...I squint but I see a line at the neck and I think she is right...that is a bald eagle....stunning bird but light was bad so I tell her....watch him and I pull the car into the next clearing and get the camera gear out...and then he flew off...see him in the pic?

I would say we met our goal but now we are going back to the same pool next time through...morning would be better light.

If you click and look at this one from Tschache Pool you can see hundrds of birds....the blow up is of an immature male bald eagle we tracked for some time but it could be a large harrier maybe.

so we will be back soon to continue this adventure...certainly on a cooler day....

the return to Blue Mountain

Each summer Grace and I make a list of possible things to do during our summer week. Usually the basics of shopping, sleepovers , golf, etc...with a local "adventure" mixed in. It started with the butterfly conservatory a few years back and last year we had an excellent day in Letchworth....well there has been an idea of hiking and this year I pushed at the climb a mountain thing...I read a blog and some stuff about Blue Mountain in the Adirondacks.

I was here in boyscouts in 1979? after a 50+ mile canoe trek. We talked about climbing but we never did(confirmed by EB)....it stuck...we had to return to Blue Mountain...this time to climb.

I read some stuff that said part of the climb was hard but well marked...I said sure no problem....so we went for it. We arrived at 10am with the lure of a 4 hour round trip and lunch at the summit. 3400 foot summit with a meager 1700 foot accent.

So we go...here' s pics from the trail...

great day for a climb...only 85 on the hill but sticky in the woods....tough climb...for me anyway...thankfully Grace had no problems and powered up this bad boy...she mentally dragged me along. My legs just died on me...I was lucky to make it really. I was able to control arthritis and sugars and other issues....so lucky.

Thanks for a great trip Gracie. Please note the LLBean garb for Grace....sorry hun, Converse are nice but you need some hiking shoes for a mountain.

Then ....finally after two families w/ younger kids passed us (and three dogs)...

We took 4.5 hours....to get to the top somehow....had a quick lunch...chatted w/ the families ...enjoyed the incredible breeze and of course took the great shots from the fire watch tower...the 360 view from the tower has to be one of the Adirondacks best.

So we got down pretty good...about 2.5 hours...Grace was a little slow coming down...long legs are helpul on the way down...the AC'd car was a most welcome sight....long ride home. Grace was asleep before we left the village...what a trooper....7 hours putting up with me...but the hardest I have worked in many years and now as the soarness sets in (post climb -day 2) we have some great memories and funny stories to tell in the future "one time" moments. We called some of the siblings as is now the tradition at summits. I also called EB and JB...opened a beer at the summit with JB on phome saluting our climbs from 20 years ago.

I should remember to really warm up for this next time....will I never learn...

Hopefully the learning in this case is there is time to do everything on the list.

Note to siblings...this is a great climb for the kids...Anna would chew this up...the runners would jog it....and BTW...the gauntlet is thrown....even though I don't know if I would do it with you.

Will you return to Blue Mountain?

....but wait there's more....

here's more...

Grace's half sister is officially now an honorary member of the LOUD Family

Like her big sister, Maria Isabella is really loud. The volume control is broken on this one...it's either 1....or she cranks it up to 11. If you don't give her your full attention she takes it to 11 quickly. Dimmy...wass me.....DIMMMMMY WASSSSS MMMEEE.

Welcome honorary member Maria on this your third bithday. Your performance of the Happy Birthday song to yourself, Dear Maria, is tribute to your LOUD qualities.

goofy girls

We said Ciao to the spanish ladies last week. Those boehlert Gonzalez' folks are just a hoot. They are all doing great and Gabbi is all grown up w/ Sydney right behind her....on the way out they gave me a little show that seemed to be designed just for blog posting so here are some more cousins and the first europeans to GRACE our domain....did you see Mo in the mirror?

It was 18 summers ago when I backpacked through europe with jb and we stopped at Mo's and we first met Gabbi....wow another bad case of the time flys. They have them in Spain as well.

We drank cidre, ate calamari at the local market, Mo made Piaie, we sang Rammones to Gabbi...(Gabbi Gabbi Hey) even Sandy was there visiting....MO took us out one night and we did shots and she washed all of our clothes in a very Rose Marie fashion...she tried to wash out the time flys......

we'll keep shooting and posting.

op ed piece

well we don't usually use this blog as an op ed area like tom does with his occasionally but I figured I would mix it up a bit and tell you about a piece of Americana that has me ..."moved".

You may laugh but...it's the marriage of Chelsea...I don't know why I care... probably don't...but what enamours me to this situation is that for the most part Chelsea seems to have navigated through the pitfalls of massive popularity and managed a life. I remember small incidents over time but she was a smart kid in the middle of the liberal Clinton Camelot and she got through it with only the scars of plastic surgery. Stanford honors, nyc ballet, she shows up to volunteer at every major disaster in the last ten years....maybe its all a front and she is being set up as the next congress woman from westchester but...

We watched her grow up as she was 10 or so in 1992 when dad took office...she was first child so to speak for 8 years and so by default she was an american princess.

Well this weekend she was married in cool rheinbeck NY....this is a nice village...worth the stop if you are ever there. I did the bus garage there in 1994. I think this could have been a paparazzi nightmare but they released nice photos and "our" Chelsea is now married and and ready to take on the world.

Maybe this is nothing but the Bush twins are struggling in the same way that W did with fortune and glory and rehab....maybe there is a side to this we will never see but for whatever reason I am "moved" by the whole Chelsea growing up and being a great role model as our american princess. I hope she goes onto be a power player like her Mom in Korea (quoted as having the "iron fist in the velvet glove"). I hope she continues to achieve and stays mostly out of the limelight. I hope that she has inspired the millenials and continues to be an ambassador like her mom on womens rights in the third world. ("it takes a girl" campaign)

Slainte Chelsea....or now its Mosoltov?

The 2010 Grassroots Festival of Music and Dance.

Grassroots turns 20... many good times here...many, many good and great bands over the years. Grace and I camped with the Byrons and Banfords and survived the humidity and thunderstorms....Good to know the equipment can handle the hardest rains....the floor of the tent was a little wet sunday morning as we packed up but no big deal...so we used the pool, ate some fun foods, saw great new and old bands...saw our favorite dance troop during a horriffic downpour Under the roof of the grandstand...whew! Got to see many old friends from Owego/ Rochester and beyond...good times and good tunes with good friends...the best of life.

Gracie/Greyson and Marlena having some fun outside thethe dance tent.

Caught up with some happy folks from Owego...Good to se you Annie!

Galumpha has performed all over the world and they had their roots at Grassroots 1 in 1991...so they put on their usual very cool show...its a combination of ballet, human contortion and cirq du soliel...and in the middle of the hardest most violent rains I have seen in some time...they stopped once to mop up a fully covered stage...they kept doing these crazy things despite the rain blowing all over...very courageous...and of course the grandstand was packed so we all had a great time...the rain stopped halfway through, sun popped out and we were given a great big bright full arc rainbow to close their show.

See ya next year gang.

TV face

Eric with his keen observance - pointed this out to me.

TV face

July 22, 2010 Urban Word of the Day

A condition in which a person's face becomes too relaxed from starting the same thing too long (watching TV).
Symptoms are: open mouth, dropped jaw, eyes glazed over and occasional drooling.

I don't think he heard a thing I said. He has total TV face right now.

The Blog Viva Victoria

Now the blog is graced by cousin Victoria...Viva Victoria....viva Espana!! Vickie will be in Spain for a whole year while Dad does a little sabbatical thing. This will return the Somohanhos / Boehlerts to Madrid where Vickie's madre is from.

we will miss you guys at Christmas but maybe we will visit next summer.?

So GnV will get to spend lots of time together this summer. These 2 are thick as thieves when they are together. If you call one...they both come. If you call both neither comes. They are going to be a force to reckon with soon. Trouble, capital T variety. Vickie went to art camp for a week w/ Grace and they did lots of crazy dancing and singing. They have big reunion in 2 weeks so go girls, revel in the cousinry.

Graduation

My brother is right...scary how time flies. One day you're swinging a niece around with one arm and the next is graduation day.

I feel like a big sad sigh.

A beautiful day for the party just the same. The family was in full Mode and there was much rejoicing.

little bit a can jam?

Little bit of can jam, some cold beer on a friday night, a frisbee that flies just right and Jimmys oldies ooooooaaawwwnn.

Yeah...an instant family classic...portable, easy, competitive (best outa 9?) and the parents can womp the kids....oh yeah...I said that...bring it kidlins.