A Weekend at the Big Lick

This past weekend my friend from art school Gerry Bannan and his wife Betsy hosted a show of my paintings in their studio gallery in Roanoke, Virginia called BanG Studio. I have often heard that if you want to get anywhere in the art world (or any world for that matter) it is all about who you know. Well, let me tell you, if you are going to do anything concerning art in Roanoke you need to know Gerry and Betsy! Not only did I get the royal treatment and the honor of being the first painter to show at their new space, but I also got to witness power tool drag racing and a speech by former President Bill Clinton! The number one thing that I learned form the weekend is that Roanoke doesn’t suck!I’ll let you figure out why it was once called the Big Lick.

As I said Gerry and I go way back to undergraduates at the Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia and we also traveled around Europe together in the summer of 1987. When I was at Tyler, I often wondered how I ended up in a school with so many fantastically talented people, and Gerry was surely one of them. See his works here. After we graduated from Tyler, Gerry went off to graduate school at the Pratt College of Art in NYC where he met Betsy, who is also a fantastically talented painter. See her works here. They married and eventually ended up in Roanoke, where Betsy’s family is from and have been there ever since. They recently moved their studio out of their house and into a formal studio space in downtown Roanoke.

This space is nothing but awesome! They use about half of it as a studio work space and the rest as a place to show art. I am honored to be the first painter to show work in their new space. This is especially good for me as I haven’t shown work in a gallery setting in about 25 years! Having over 30 of your paintings all in a row allows you to see and think about your work in ways that you otherwise can’t. The opening was great and well attended. I especially liked that mom and dad were able to come up and see it. It is nice to show them that my art school education is still working for me. I also want to thank all of Gerry and Betsy’s friends that came out to see it and made me fell like I was at home. What a wonderful art community you have there! I look forward to more visits in the future. Checkout photos of BanG Studio and the opening here.

The next day, Saturday, was one busy day. It started off with breakfast at Ernie’s with mom and dad in downtown Roanoke. We had planned to eat at Thelma’s Chicken and Waffles but they didn’t open until 9 AM. This was not good as we were hungry at 8 AM. Ernie’s it is. I’ll have to give Ernie’s the thumbs down as the grits that we ordered were instant grits. I could tell they were instant just by looking at them. It is a cardinal sin to serve instant grits south of the Mason Dixon Line! After breakfast we walked around the open market place and then mom and dad got on the road. I headed back to the Bannan house where we then promptly head off to the Power Tool Drag racing.

I must admit I was a little skeptical that these racers would race, or move forward in any significant way. On Thursday night we visited the workshop of Rob Humphrey the organizer and a racer in the event. Also there working away was Matt Ames, the race announcer and also a racer in the event. They tinkered away for a while and when they tested the Philosophy Inc. entry it didn’t move so well. I am happy to say that by race time all the bugs had been worked out of the system because these things moved like bullets! Check out the photos of the race here. 

After the racing Betsy, Gerry and I were feeling hungry. I made the point that it was after 9 AM and Thelma’s should be open. Gerry and Betsy mentioned that it was about the only place in Roanoke that they had never eaten. Decision made and we were off. Now, I have eaten lots of strange meals in my day but this was as simple as this; hashed potatoes with bacon (I’m also pretty sure the potatoes were cooked in all of the bacon fat), a big huge piece of fried chicken, and a Belgian waffle. Nothing green or remotely healthy, just southern comfort food at it’s best. It rocked!

It was my original plan to head back to West Chester at about this time, however, Betsy and Gerry somehow convinced former President Bill Clinton to come speak just blocks away from their house. How could I leave after all the trouble they went through to get him to come and speak to me? I couldn’t, so I stayed.

No matter what you think of Bill Clinton, he is one of the most iconic figures of our time and one of the greatest orators ever. And just incase any of you are unaware, I am a dyed to the polar fleece, union loving, latte sipping, progressive, liberal democrat. Needless to say I was very excited to see President Clinton. The event started at 7 PM and we got in line at 4, and it was worth it! He was as a dynamic speaker in person as he is on TV and we enjoyed every minute of it. Check out the photos of the event here.

Woo. What a weekend. Sunday I got up early and had a very uneventful drive back to West Chester.

Thanks Betsy and Gerry, and the rest of the Roanoke crowd for a wonderful weekend!

Russell

The Last Game of 2012!

Well, the last game of the Philadelphia Union's 2012 season was yesterday. They played the New York (New Jersey) Red Bulls (pink cows). We had high hopes that the Union would put a hurting on them, but in the end, they put a hurting on us: Union 0, Pink Cows 3. 

This season was hard for the Union fans, the team went through many painful changes and their performance showed. That said, Steve and I had a blast going to the games and yelling obscenities at the opposing team (and sometimes at the home team). We missed the third member of our party, Enrico, who only made it to one game this year. He was faced with a big decision, soccer or art. He chose art. Who could have guessed that his studio/gallery Parallel Art Space would be such a success! Congratulations Rico! (Just for the record, Steve and I have devised a alternative soccer plan for 2013 that he will not be able to back out of).

I wanted to thank Mary for allowing me to slip away a couple times a month to see the games. Also, thanks to Rico for allowing us to bring some friends to the game every so often in his place. Steve and I are already looking forward to the 2013 season. We have moved our regular seats from the supporters section to a corner section. Mainly because in the supporters section you must stand for the entire game. Steve and I both turned 50 this year and we have discovered that sitting down is a good thing! 

See some photos of the last game here. 

Doop, doop, doop, do, do, doop, doop, doop! 2013!

Russell

William's New Smile

Today was a big day. First off all three kids had an orthodontist appointments in succession this morning. The only one of the three who was really excited to be there was William, and it was all because his braces were coming off! Emily was there just to have hers tightened and Paddy was there to get sized up.

On the day that the braces come off, they give the kids a big back of candy that they were not allowed to have while they were wearing them. William got home from school and immediately ran over to the bag and started munching. A few minutes later he came over holding out his hand in it was a small white lump that looked like it was covered in blood.

“What’s that?” I asked. He points to his mouth and opens it. There’s blood everywhere. I said “Is that your tooth!” He nods his head yes. “William! We just went through all those braces and you break off your tooth with in the first 8 hours of having them off!” I look at it and think that it kind of looks like a molar baby tooth. I called the orthodontist and asked. They said “oh yeah, he still has his baby teeth back there. Woo. That was a relief!

William’s smile looks great. Paddy’s, however, is going to need some attention. He has a real issue as one of his front incisors is coming in behind his lower incisor. As I told Dr. Burkland, I’m not dentist, but that just doesn’t seem right. Dr. Burkland told me that I had great instincts for dentistry.

Check out other photos of our day in orthodontics here.

Russell

Chris Appleford, 7 April 1957 - 17 October 2012

It is with great sadness that we tell you the news that our friend Chris Appleford passed away on Wednesday, 17 October 2012, after a long struggle with cancer.

In 1991 Mary and I packed up our wagon and headed west. We drove west from Philadelphia until we reached the point that if we drove any further we would need to find our passport. This stopping point in our journey westward just happened to be the doorstep of Chris Appleford and Marcia Bruno. They took us in for the summer until we could securely set anchor in the Pacific Northwest.

What we learned about Chris that summer was that he was the person upon which the Seattle stereotype was modeled: he was the ultimate dorky nerd (or is it nerdy dork?); he loved coffee; he knew the brewing schedule for every microbrewery within 100 miles; he loved the outdoors; he loved hiking, camping and, most of all, his bike; rarely dressed up; a hopeless optimist; and above all else, he was the nicest person you would ever want to meet.

Chris was the first to introduce me to many of the natural wonders of Washington State. My first visit to Mount Rainier was with Chris. My first view of a genuine Northwest old growth forest was on a hike with Chris to the alpine lakes above Darrington. I remember one of our first camping trips to Eastern Washington was to a spot called Wenas Creek. It was about two hours east of Seattle, up in the ponderosa pines near Ellensburg. I remember like it was yesterday because it was what I imagined the western forest to be. Elk grazed here in winter, big horned sheep roamed the Yakima Valley below. Cowboys chased cows around. What I really like about the place was that in and around the ponderosa pines lived one of my favorite birds – the White-headed Woodpecker. I revisited Wenas Creek many times (something on the order of 5 or 6 times a year). In 1999, I used the site as part of a study that I did on White-headed Woodpeckers when I was working as a wildlife biologist. Each time I visited Wenas Creek, I recalled that first camping trip with Chris. I can still hear him trying to calm and keep that silly dog of his, Spammy, who was still a puppy at that time, from whining, “Shhh Spammy! Your going to keep everyone awake.” Of course, he was unsuccessful at keeping Spammy from whining and we were all wake all night.

When I arrived in the Pacific Northwest, I already had a well-developed environmental ethic. It is not easy for anyone to have any influence over that aspect of my life, most of which is set in stone, yet Chris was able to do just that. My approach to being out doors was to analyze it and know all if its parts. Chris’s approach was to simply be outdoors. Chris showed me how to do that. It wasn’t an easy thing for me to do. This, however, was not Chris’s biggest influence over me. That involved a simple machine with two wheels that would carry me further than I could have ever imagined and has forever changed my life in profound ways.

Back in 2004 in an effort to lose weight I blew the dust of my bike. It had been siting in our garage for way to long. Knowing that Chris liked these things, I’d call him up and ask his advice about this, that and the other and Chris would talk to me at length about it. Looking back I can see now just how dumb most of my questions were. Yet, Chris would address all of them with an unparalleled level of enthusiasm as if he was hearing it for the first tine. Slowly but surely Chris guided me along to becoming a respectable and knowledgeable cyclist of my own. I so happy that I got to ride hundreds and hundreds of miles of Washington’s roads with Chris; the Hood Canal, the Olympic Peninsula, the Carnation Valley, Bainbridge Island’s “Chilly Hilly,” Seattle to Portland to name a few. My only regret is that I wish it could have been thousands of miles instead.

Knowing Chris has left with me a greater appreciation for the good stuff in life, something that I will certainly carry with me for the rest of my days and hopefully be able to pass along to others. He may be physically gone from this earth but he will certainly live on in the hearts and minds of many people for a long time.

Ride lots, stop often,

Russell

For those of you who knew Chris and are in the Seattle area, there will be a memorial service for him on 11 November 2012, starting at 2:00 PM at The Hall at Fauntleroy, 9131 California Ave SW, Seattle Washington.

Chris asked that in lieu of flowers people could make a donation to the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance. Chris also requested that his ashes be spread over a mountaintop somewhere in Washington. Marsha said that this event will take place sometime next summer. When the location and time is set I’ll post the details here. 

I've posted a few of the photos that we have of Chris here. 

Paddy 8.0

This past weekend on September 29 Paddy turned 8 yeards old! Happy Birthday Paddy! Because of our Open House event on Saturday, we didn't celebrate his birthday until Sunday. It went well. Check out photos of the Birthday Boy here. 

Emily has a new "do" to share with you

We think she likes it a lot!

A Week At The Beach

Last week we finally got our act together and went on a long over due family vacation! We dusted off all the camping gear and headed to the Delaware Seashore State Park. Our activities were completely predictable. Mary and the kids swam at the beach. Russell rode on his bike. The gnats bit hard. We went to the boardwalk at Rehobeth Beach. Ate ice cream. Swam on the beach some more. See photos here. 

Kevin's Graduation Party!

Hey folks, a few weekends ago we had Kevin's big celebration for finishing nursing school. Congratulations Kevin and good luck with your new career! See photos of the weekend here. 

The Boys Go Camping

Ever since school got out, William has been asking to go camping. The only problem with this request was one of shelter. We have two tents. A giant 6 person tent that requires two adults to pitch, and a small one person tent that I use for bicycle trips. Oh, we also have two old tents (over 15 years old) that leak lots of water in the event of rain. Since Mary wouldn't be joining us on the camping trip, the 6 person tent was out. What to do?

Then I remembered that we still had about $80 on our REI rebate! So, one day William and I went to the local REI and found a two person tent for about $100, which with our rebate, only cost $20. Not a bad deal! Now we had enought water tight shelter for all the Rogers boys to go on a camping trip! 

We chose to go to Hibernia County Park, which was only about 30 minutes away and had a primitive camp ground. Perfect. We also chose to go during the week in hopes of less people to deal with. We packed up are gear and headed out. We got the campsite and set up camp. It was a very nice camp site which we had all to ourselves! Even more perfect!

We then had lunch of standard camping fair (hog dogs) and then I headed over the to park office to pay for our site. At that point I learned why we had the campsite all to ourselves as it was only open on weekends. Total bummer! 

We headed back to the camp ground and took down our tents and packed the car. A quick search on my iPhone showed that there was a commercial campsite just a few miles away. It was considerably more expensive, but it had pool which which was a big bonus for the boys. We swam at the pool, had dinner of standard camping fair (more hot dogs) and s'mores by the campfire. 

The next morning I was glad that I went and bought the new tent as it rained cats and dogs! We had hoped to spend much of the day by the pool. Instead, we packed up the car, and drove over to Lancaster and found a dinner and got hot chocolates and sticky buns. 

Check out photos of our adventure here.

Fourteen years ago today...

...we welcomed our daughter Emily into the world. Happy Birthday Emily! See fourteen years of Emily here. 

Aquatic Vegetation

Yesterday Mary, who was at the Jersey shore, called and said that our neighbor Miranda texted her and said that a wind storm blew a tree over in their back yard. I told Mary that I was not at home but on my bike. She asked if it was storm where I was but to be honest I couldn't hear her very well over the wind. Then I noticed that I was doing well over 20 mph going up a slight incline. If there was a storm, then the tailwind was doing me right! I was a bit worried over the darkening skies but there was nothing I could do but to keep pedaling. It began to rain quite heavily right as I got into West Chester. So my last 10 minutes on the bike were wet minutes.  

This morning we saw that it was a fairly large tree and it had fallen along side their pool! I told Damian that I thought reflecting ponds looked better if the vegetation were water lilies. See more photos here. 

The Boys Visit NC

Back in the last week of June the boys and I visited Grandma and Grandpa. I sayed a week and the boys stayed for two. On my way back I visited my dear friends Gerry and Betsy Bannan in Roanoke VA. See photos of our visit here. 

A Cure for the fickle person?

Oh Joy!

Our first family grown tomato in a couple of decades!

Open Practice

Whoa! Has it really be three weeks since my last post? You would think that being unemployed I’d have all the time in the world to blog away, but I’ve been so busy with other miscellaneous and sundry things that I just haven’t gotten around to it. From earlier post you might have noticed one of the things that keeps me off the street corner is that I have season tickets to the Philadelphia Union Soccer team.

Back on June 21, the longest day of the year, the Union held an open practice for season ticket holders. Paddy and I, along with my friend Steve, jumped at the chance to see the players up close and see how they prepare for a game.

The practice was held at PPL Park where the games take place. Our regular seats are down at the “River End,” or as some would call them the “cheap seats” where all the hooligans sit. For the practice we got to sit in the midfield seats. The first thing that we noticed was that our regular seats are really cheap. The midfield seats are cushioned, and have armrest and cup holders. Plus you have an awesome view of the field!

I was a little afraid that the practice would be nothing more than watching a bunch of skinny guys run up and down the field sweating profusely. Luckily, this was not the case. Since this was the last practice before a big game on following Saturday, they did mostly ball handling activities and practiced setting up plays. It was truly amazing to see athletes at that level (i.e. professionals) kick the ball around.

Paddy, however, was unimpressed. He was there for two reasons. The first was to get a hot dog, fries, and some ice cream. The second was to get his Union tee shirt signed by all the players on the team. He got his hot dog, fries and ice cream and then had to endure the kicking of the ball for a while. As soon as the practice was over, they announced that the team would be available for autographs down front. Paddy immediately said “hey dad, can I go up front now?” Before I could even open my mouth, Paddy worked his way through the crowd and up to the front leaning over the rail talking to the players. Within a minute, I saw his little head pop up and head him say “hey dad! I got a goalies glove!” and he held up a blue and white goalies glove.

I said “dang nation Paddy! You give that glove back to whoever you took it from right now!” I said to Steve “you can’t leave that kid alone for even a minute without him getting into trouble.” Thinking that he conned the glove off of some other kid down there, I worked my way up front to let him have it. When I got there I asked him where he got it. A lady who was standing next to him said he just asked the goalie for it and he gave it to him. She said he gave the other glove to her son.

So it was, Paddy didn’t get his shirt signed by the team. Instead, he got his new, well slightly used, goalies glove signed by the team! I still think he is a little con artist. See photos of the event here.

Russell

School's Out!

With out doubt, the biggest event in our household is that school has ended, well, at least for the kids. Mary is done at the end of this week. All in all, this past school year was good for all the kids. They all made great strides academically and socially. Emily wrapped up middle school and will be a freshman at Henderson High next year. Like most teenagers, we have great difficulty working any kind of emotional response out of her, but we have managed to discover two things that she is happy about; 1) Henderson High is only two blocks away so she will never have to ride a bus to school ever again, and 2) one of her electives next year is photography, which she is very excited about. Emily’s main summer will be a science-fiction writing camp that is held over at West Chester University. Emily still likes writing a lot and is looking forward to exploring some ideas that she has floating around in her head.

William wrapped up elementary school and will head off to middle school next year. Of our three kids, William probably had the most personal growth. He did great academically. His only downfall was a brief period of not following through with homework assignments. But the motivation of a trip to the beach and camping this summer, helped turn that around. Next year William will be in 6th grade at Peirce Middle School. William’s big plan for the summer is a marine biology camp, which is also held at West Chester University. He is very excided about this camp because they will get to study live squids and other marine creatures.

Paddy finished up first grade. His big achievement for the year is that he reads like a champ! At the beginning of the year, he could read almost nothing. Now he picks up books like Diary of a Whippy Kid and plows through it. We aren’t sure what Paddy is going to do this summer. We have not committed him to a summer camp yet. He may go to an intensive swimming lesson session for a couple of weeks so he can get his “green” armband for the pool. If he gets that he can go down the big slide at the pool, which would be the most awesome thing in the world.

Me and the boys also plan to go visit Grandpa and Grandma in North Carolina for a couple of weeks as well. See some photos from the last couple of weeks here.

Russell

Art on North Franklin Street

Thanks to everyone to stopped by for our open house to show sculptures by Steve Garr and paintings by yours truly. Steve, Mary and I had a great time. If you were not able to make it yesterday, the works will be up for 4-6 weeks, or until we get tired of looking at it, or until we get another one of my friends to hang up their works on the wall, or until we get evicted. Check out photos of the installed works and of some of our visitor's from Saturday (I used the camera on Mary's iPhone, most of which came out too blurry to use). 

Kevin's Graduation

A few years ago, Mary’s brother Kevin decided to change bring his acting career to a close and begin a new career in nursing. He enrolled in an intense 18 month nursing program at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. When I say intense, I mean intense. We have barely seen hide nor hair of him the past two years. Highly unusual for someone who likes to be seen!

Yesterday, he graduated, with honors, from the program. He has already landed a job at the Jersey City Hospital just four blocks from his condo. Mary, Grandpa, and I joined Enrico in celebrating this massive achievement yesterday.

We are not the only ones to think Kevin has done good. CNN published an article about his journey yesterday! All those years of acting and he finally gets some major media attention for…leaving acting.

We are all very proud of Kevin and wish him well in his new career!

See photos of the graduation here.

Russell

The Kids

It’s been a while since I’ve posted an update on what the kids have been up to so I thought I’d do that now.

First and foremost, they are very, very, very excited that there is only one full week of school left. Next week is the full week, then the last week in May they have one day off for an in-service day for the teachers, then the first week of June they have two full days, and three half days. The last day of school is June 8th! They don’t know it yet, but after school lets out they go to work at the North Franklin Street work camp for the rest of the summer.

In the last post about the kids, Paddy was playing basketball and taking swimming lessons. Basketball season is over and he has now moved on to baseball. He is still doing swimming. He doesn’t seem to care much about which sport he is doing at any given time, just as long as he is doing it. The one constant is that he talks trash at all of them. Next week he is going on a class field trip to the Herr’s potato chip factory. He is very excited about that.

William, on the other hand avoids sports at all cost, especially if it requires communication with another human. His primary mission in life is to collect every fact about every animal that has ever lived on planet Earth, and remember it. At the rate that he is going he will done with that project by the start of the next school year. Yesterday (May 17) his school went on an all day field trip to Washington DC. When we arrived we mapped out the most direct route from the bus to the Museum of Natural History. We’d have William tell you about it but his head exploded. He was doing pretty good until he came upon the exhibit with a real giant squids (there were two, a male and a female!). Lets just say he is a pretty happy boy today. See photos from our trip here.

Emily is also pretty happy, for two reasons. First, we finally hooked up her hand-me-down iPhone. She now has a gizmo with a phone, email, text message, and internet that she can carry around with her. Second, and probably, the main reason she is so happy, we let her dye her hair. It is now black and purple. These were not freebies for her. To get them we asked her to pull up her grades, which she did. Next year, at Henderson High School she will be in all honor’s classes. We are very proud of her. She is also doing well in fencing. She will be moving up to the intermediate class soon and will be learning to fence with an epee (a type of sword).

See more photos of the kids over the last month or so here.

Happy Spring time!

Russell

My new back yard

When it comes to the location of our living quarters, Mary and I have always preferred homes that are in an urban setting where we are within walking or biking distance of everything. The tradeoff for this that I have to forgo a backyard that offers anything close to natural.

In Sequim, our back yard was very nice, we had a grape arbor that provided shade for our slate patio, grass for the kids to run around on, and room to plant things. It even had room for me to park my bikes (left). For me, my need for nature was met because Sequim was located at the north end of the largest unbroken wilderness area in the lower 48 states. I considered the Olympic Peninsula my "effective backyard" (above). By the same principle our front yard would have overlooked the Strait of Juan de Fuca, where one could see seal, sea lions, whales, and orcas on a regular basis. Not bad by any measure.

In moving to West Chester we liked the fact that Mary's family home was situated only a few blocks from downtown putting us within walking distance from most things that we need. Our back yard is less than half the size of our yard in Sequim, but fairly typical for a city lot here. It does, however, have all the required elements; shade, brick patio for the grill, grass, and a place to plant things (right).

Now we come to my need for things natural. Let us just leave it that southeastern Pennsylvania ain't anything like the north Olympic Peninsula. When we arrived in Western Washington back in 1992 and I saw Mount Rainier for the first time I said to Mary "you don't see shit like that in Philadelphia." This became my mantra every time I saw anything in the Pacific Northwest of overwhelming natural beauty. It is clear, now that I am back here, that I will have to redefine my idea of what is "natural" if I am to retain any level of sanity. So, I have come to accept that Chester County simply will not have landscapes that approach the idea of "natural" in the way that Washington State did.

To that end I have adopted the Stroud Reserve as my adopted backyard (left). Sure, it is not the Olympic Mountains, but at only 2.9 miles away from our home it will more than do. The reserve is 571 acres of mixed agricultural lands, upland hardwoods and riparian wetlands that mirror much of western Chester County is today. It also has a couple of acres of serpentine outcrop that makes for a very interesting native plant community.

Since the beginning of April, I have diverted much of my cycling energies into long walks around the reserve reacquainting myself with eastern flora and birdlife. For now, I'll let these photographs serve as a brief introduction to the reserve. Over the next weeks and months I'll post more about my observations at the reserve and thoughts about its ecology.

Russell