Shaw Girl Happenings

We thoroughly enjoyed the family wedding this month of Lisa and Trey. Taking place at the Noble Winery, the wedding and reception overlooked Lake Erie and a sunset. Though it rained on and off, the wedding was beautiful, the reception fun, and the dancing great! This pic is not the bride and groom, of course, but Matthew and his Aunt Robin.



Here's a picture of Katie and her cousin Maria enjoying the wedding reception.

Rick and I had a marvelous time dancing to the Caribbean band that played at the reception. We found that our swing, foxtrot, and rumba work just fine with this music. We were the last one's on the dance floor, dancing until a gust of wind blew in from Lake Erie and toppled the tent on top of us!

Brian was not with us for the wedding because, fortunately or unfortunately depending on your point of view, his kick ball team team (which was playing in a tournament to raise money for young adult cancer patients) made the playoffs which started the same time as the wedding, on the other side of the county. They placed 2nd.

Here's a shot of the bride and groom. If my calculations are correct the bride would be Rick's 1st cousin, once removed. Whatever...they're family.

Labels: Katie, Matthew

Our last evening at camp, we traveled over a pass into the Green Mountain National Forest to the Robert Frost Interpretive Trail. The trail features poetry, views, and berry picking. Along the trail, Frost’s poetry is displayed at strategic locations, i.e. “The Road Not Taken” is posted where the trail splits into 3 forks. We picked huckleberries, enjoyed the views, and read all of the poems.





The collected experience of the poems, combined with the surroundings where Frost walked and lived, became overwhelming to me when I read the last poem on the trail "Reluctance". I realized that my readings of the lovely poems were more than just about nature and seasons. This was the poem where I realized I had been reading about life and death and the season that I was currently experiencing in my life. It seems trivial to write, but the moment stunned me. Observing my reaction, Katie was asking "what? what?" not understanding anymore than I did when I first read Frost's poems as an adolescent. "You're spring and I'm nearing the end of autumn" was all I was able to choke out.



We broke camp in the morning, then attended the last of the classes. Katie and CeCe did a fine job of playing their 4 hand duets in the afternoon concert. Then it was hugs all around, and time to hit the road.

Katie and I had a wonderful time in Vermont, filled with growth both musically and within our own spirits. Katie has gained confidence as a composer and will be adding that as new musical dimension to her life. Thanks for reading our blog, and joining us on our adventure!


PS. I spoke with cousin Ava, who is a naturalist for the National Forest in Pennsylvania. She says that Goshawk watched us from the sky during our entire hike, knew who we were, and where we camped. The goshawk in our camp was no coincidence, but a warning! Yikes!

Mozart, Bach, Dello Joio, Hawks, Slugs, Drumming, and New Friends. That sums up our trip!

Labels: Katie, music, nature, vacation

My goodness, I forgot a class! Here's Lady Kate learning the minuet, with the other Ladies (and one princess) from Dance Mistress Jane. The theory is if you learn to do the minuet, and learn about the time period, you'll be better able to play a minuet (and visa versa.)

Labels: Katie, vacation

After waking up to a beautiful sunny Vermont morning in our hosts' home, Katie & I headed back to the Green Mountain Suzuki Institute, refreshed and dry for the first time in several days. We scouted out several places to explore after classes on the drive. Here's Katie and CeCe practicing their duet at CeCe's house.



I'll share a bit about Katie's classes. Her first class, New Music, is with Vermont composer Dr. Sarah Doncaster. The class is collectively creating a piece based on Charles Ives' "Central Park in the Dark" with xylophones, drums, with a quote from the "Charlie Brown" theme woven together. Katie plays Charlie Brown and then pounds the keyboard with her forearms creating tone clusters while drums crescendo and xylophones trill. Very Ive-ish.




Next, Katie has composition class and works with Vermont composer Erik Nielson. She is composing a piece for the piano based on a major minor chord structure that she created. Perhaps, when it is finished, I can post it her for you to listen to.






After a lunch break, (we brown bag it under a tree) there are mini-recitals for 1/2 an hour, and then we are off to Taiko Drumming. I don't have many pictures of the class, as I joined in too! Taiko Drumming is from Japan and is highly choreographed, steeped with customs and traditions, and very challenging, yet really fun. Here, at the end of class, students were allowed to be "drum heads.


Then comes piano master class, and then piano 4-hands. Katie and I then head off back to our campground and hike, swim, or take a nap!

Labels: Katie, music, vacation

It's rained everyday we have been here, and now the roads are flooded and the passes are closed. CeCe's mother rescued us and we are spending the night at their lovely house, in their living room, over looking the Green Mountains. Katie and I were excited to see more of Vermont, but the drive north was through torrential rain, so mostly we watched the car in front of us, with a close eye to the road striping.


Yesterday, after classes were over, Katie and I, swam in the White river. Cold, but refreshing. There were a couple of swimming holes, which we swam through. The current was quite strong.

Back at camp we hiked the yellow trail out of our campsite to the overlook. The trail loops around, but we had been warned to turn back at the overlook so as not to disturb the nesting northern goshawk. Apparently, this hawk will attack if it's nest is threatened. Our timing was great for the hike, as we arrived at sunset. We turned back, as warned, and hiked back down the mountain, returning to our campsite, where we found the hawk, in our campsite! Yikes! Nothin' like seeing a hawk, 15 feet above you, in a tree, spreading her wings and squawking at you, to get your heart racing! Fortunately, she flew off toward the area we are supposed to stay out of. Here's a couple more pictures from the summit.

Labels: Katie, nature, vacation

I woke up this morning to a squealing, rattling, thumping noise. A squirrel found Katie's travel mug (still had a bit of cocoa in it from last night) and pushed it off the picnic table (thump), dragged it out of the shelter over rocks (rattle) and proceded to enjoy both the contents of the cup (squeal) and the cup itself. When I looked out of my tent, Katie's red Harvard cup was rolling around on the ground with a squirrel tail hanging out of the cup's mouth.

A bit later, after I had rescued what was left of the cup, a squirrel ran up the tree next to our tent, while Katie was in it, chattered loudly and threw nuts on top of the tent, startling Katie. Same squirrel? Who knows.

Here's some of Katie's pictures from around the campground.

Labels: Katie, nature, vacation

Our first day at Suzuki Institute and it was a long one. (I got a lot of knitting done; in fact, I knit so much I need to rip out 12 rows otherwise the front armhole will start 1 1/2” above the back armhole.) It is 9 Pm and Katie is already asleep in our tent.

Our official day started at 8:30 and ended at 5PM. Katie started with an improvisation class, followed by riding our bikes up town where she had her composition class. hour later, we rode back to the school for Baroque Dance (she wears a medallion that identifies her as “Lady Kate” and answers to the Dance Mistress.) Then it was lunchtime, and we ate, under a tree, the brown bag lunch I had packed, then she practiced on a brand new Kawai Grand for an hour. Then off we went to the Taiko drumming class, followed by her piano master class, and then she finished with a piano 4-hands class for an hour. Whew!

She complained that she didn’t have any time to meet some new friends. With hope, those relationships will happen tomorrow when she sees the same kids in the same classes. She is one of the older students here; however, the student musician’s age ranges up to 17, and today was just our first full day.



Piano 4-hands was interesting (photo left.) Katie is playing the lower (secundo) part of a couple of movements of Norman Dell Joio’s Family Album. Both she, and her partner CeCe were nervous at first, but ended the session playing with confidence and laughter (including the teacher!)





Lots of thunder and threats of thunderstorms, this evening, with 50+ mph winds. I’ve battened down the hatches by tying down the tents with wind lines. Those old sailing knots, bowline and half hitch, come in handy when camping.

Labels: Katie, music, vacation

Leaving on her 14th birthday, Katie and I arrived at the Suzuki Institute this afternoon. We are doing this on a shoestring: Katie won two scholarships that paid for the institute, and we are camping for the week. (Bed & breakfast $200/night, camping $12/night. A no brainer for us.)

We are camping half way up a mountain; we bottomed out B.O.B. (Bucket of Bolts, our van) on the washed out “driveway” on the way up. We have no electricity, we’re living in a tent, water’s available across the field, and sites 11 and 12 are closed off because of nesting falcons who attack any campers who come near. It’s primitive; yet, here I sit at our campsite with my laptop, while Katie practices on her keyboard, and her iPod charges. There is no cell phone service whatsoever, yet I can connect to somebody's wireless. The Coleman lantern is lit, and the campfire is burning. The entire campground seems to be filled with Suzuki families. As I write, 2 flutes are playing across the field, and a young violinist is practicing an etude in the next campsite.

Labels: Katie, music, vacation

What a wonderful party we had to celebrate Katie's birthday! Katie was able to celebrate, for the first time ever, with the other coast relatives: her grandparents, and her Aunt Rebecca. The weather cleared out and we were able to dine al fresco on the patio.

Labels: food, Katie, party

This week, my parents are visiting from the Pacific Northwest. Meanwhile, Matthew's off doing his counselor bit at the Boy Scout Camp for the summer. So, we called up the camp and arranged for a tour so that grandparents and grandson could visit each other.


Matthew's job is to teach scouting skills to new scouts from Tenderfoot to First Class. He says, in all seriousness, "after they work with me, they know whether they should stay in Scouts or go home."


We enjoyed a walk through the woods. Matthew pointed out the official flower of the camp, poison ivy, flourishing in banks by the trails, winding its way up trees, with its characteristic "leaves of three let them be."




We meandered through the trails and eventually ended up at the lakefront. Large flocks of canada geese were drifting by and we chatted with the scouts assigned to the waterfront. I've always been impressed with the maturity of the Boy Scout counselors at this camp, they are confident in their skills, and authoritative in their actions. Matthew is fitting right in, although when we asked to see his tent, he said "believe me, you don't want to go there."





Here's a final shot from our visit. Can you guess which one is the Eagle Scout? It's not Matthew, he's a Life Scout, the rank below Eagle. The Eagle is my Dad!

Labels: Matthew, nature