The CT Blues Society - 13th Annual Band Challenge Finals

Blue Moon and The CT Blues Society present the 13th Annual Band Challenge Finals.

Saturday, Sept. 6 2 - 7 PM
@ Hannon-Hatch VFW Post 9929 83 South St. West Hartford, CT

Donation $10 or 2 for $15 under 16 free. 6 Bands for just $10!

See the Blue Moon Girls from 4 - 6. Food provided by Hannon Hatch VFW
Local Blues Music, Raffles, Prizes, Food, Beer and FUN.
Live Radio Broadcast by WHUS 91.7FM w/Washboard Pat.

Music begins @ 2PM with;
D. Smith Blues Band
Eran Troy Danner
The Blue Lights
Sharp Harp Jr & The Blades
TL & The Allstars
Fade To Blues

The winner will represent CT in the International Blues Challenge in Memphis.
Come party w/CTBS outside from 2 - 7PM! No Coolers or Pets. In case of inclement weather we move inside. Sound provided by Roundhouse Productions.

Canoe trip: CT River and Selden's Creek

We're not all that sporty (although I do have kayak envy) but our friend Audrey wanted to do something outdoorsy today so we hit the CT River with a canoe. We put in at Deep River (where the Essex Steam Train meets the Riverboat) and paddled north, crossing the river a little ways up (being careful to not get hit by speeding motorboats in the channel nor tipped by their wake) - then into Selden's Creek. I had the middle seat, behind Zippy.

We encountered:

....A great white heron, which Audrey thought was an egret but when it took to flight, it was much larger


A family of swans with grey cygnets (one of several families we saw)


Flora growing atop a tree fallen into the river

And finally, a preening yogi. We also saw an osprey, fishing, a bunch of lesser birds, and lots of recreational boaters.

Lovely day, but boy are my arms tired!

Balloon Weekend

Spent last evening and this morning at the Plainville Balloon Festival.

Last night was a "glow" - balloons inflate but do not fly off, and after dark, they fire a special burner to get the balloons to light up. The Kirkwoods were the first to inflate, with an old balloon (affectionately known in the trade as a "rag bag") that they inflated and permitted folks to go inside of for a $1 (donation to the Plainville Fire Department)


Other balloon teams soon followed, including Bill Colyer's "Last Penny", who tethered (ascended a few dozen feet, with straps attached to the earth to keep them down). There were plenty of folks willing to plunk down a few bucks for a tethered ride, both Last Penny and Party Time were busily ascending and descending all evening.


Once it got dark, the balloons glowed. A handful of balloons participated, including Last Penny and the Barn (see below).




Finally, team Berkshire Balloons glowed, at the hands of pilot trainee Kristen, inflating Robert's small home built balloon. The winds were a bit tricky, and as the evening darkened we deflated and packed up, and settled down for the fireworks display.

This morning, the field started to fog in, with morning haze coming off the nearby Quinnipiac River. Balloonists flew, nevertheless, keeping low to the ground but occasionally popping up to the clearer skies above the cloudbank.


Robert took a brief flight from Norton park over to a nearby school, where we traded passengers and I went for a foggy ride down Rte. 10 to a nearby park where e got in with the help of a drop line. I was up long enough to grab this photo of the balloon shadow on a cloud (with a little brightness / contrast tweaking)


A pretty icky day to fly, and true to form, the skies cleared and turned beautiful as we were packing up.

We capped off the morning with breakfast at the Plainville Fire Department - quiche, bacon, sausage, and pancakes.....

Heather Tiddens 2.0

What a difference a year makes. I was familiar with the Yin practice, so I knew what to expect. Many of the WHY teachers got on a bit of a Yin kick following last year's visit (or maybe Sarah Powers, I forget) but in any case, the Yin postures were less about fear and newness and more about settling in. More often than not, I was happy in the posture for the entire time; sometimes the times even seemed a bit short.

Who could imagine that with all the time spent in Yin practice, we'd still get a rigorous yang practice - and I'd leave my usual pool of sweat on the mat. There was still plenty of room for humility and room to grow, but it was nice to have my own answers in terms of props and padding (for the yin postures) - I seem to recall Heather spending some time with me last year propping and adjusting - this year I think I intuitively knew what to do if I needed to adapt postures. '

It was a wonderful practice on a lot of levels - deep, strong, and sweaty. My hips and pelvis feel like they came off a different car - a newer model with less miles on it, I think. Really open and yummy. We finished up with my favorite downwarard frog (which I have not done in ages) and even though I did not get my Sirsasana in, I was find without it. Just toasted perfectly!

Off to bed. Balloon fetching in the morning is a coin-toss, depending upon the winds....

Weekend Looming

Friday morning. I have a pile of work in the hopper, but some blog time while I am drinking coffee and listening to Elo whine about the bowl where the canteloupe used to be (Elo loves canteloupe). In a bit I'll get up and switch on Steve Theaker (FM on Toast / Mixed Grille) on WWUH 91.3. Let Zippy sleep in a bit before we start the music.

Yoga tonight. Tomorrow, Pipes in the Valley at Riverfront Park. Sunday, we're doing a Corn Maze with the True Colors mentoring program down in Middlefield at Lyman Orchards. An amazing website considering the agrarian nature of their business.

MYA has her first full weekend of work; I hope it goes well for her. She deserves some stability and success in her life. I wanted to try to get together with her for a late lunch and take her to work, but her phone was busy all night.....

I also have to believe that I'll be balloon chasing on one of the mornings (Saturday), and perhaps morning yoga on the other (Sunday). It's getting into that balloon chasing weather. I really need to revamp my balloonist's website; maybe if I get tired of electrical engineering today I will spend some time on it.....

Hard to believe we're saying goodbye to September; it's been so warm and humid this past week. The light says fall but the heat says summer.....

Heather Tiddens at WHY

I signed up for a workshop with Heather Tiddens for Friday evening, entitled Unlocking & Opening the Hips & Shoulders

I went to Heather's workshop last September, at which time I blogged:

Definitely a challenging practice for me, since I am not quite so flexible and fluid, but not so energetic and aerobic as some. Less sweat, more surrender and and some new concepts - Yin yoga, which is sort of a surrendering, not hot, do not force breath into ones body kind of practice. Apparently wonderful for loosening up the connective tissue. It was an evening of curiousity. And humility.

So it should be interesting to see how that changes - I am a much stronger and practiced yogi a year later but also I remain challenged by weight and flexibility.

Weekend Meandering

Sunday morning here, in the midst of a long and boring weekend. It's been pretty great end of summer weather, but Zippy and I are still sick, so we're laying low....no balloon chasing (BB is in Europe) and no yoga (cause I do not want to infect others)

We went to a wedding yesterday; Zippy's friend L from the library. It was quite lovely - an outdoor ceremony that was mostly secular (with some Jewish touches, the groom is Jewish). Probably the first wedding I have been to with Zippy, and we were outsiders. I can at least play the wedding game, having been in one, and having been at many. But Zippy was pretty uncomfortable - not drinking, not dancing. We mostly sat at the table and talked to people.

I felt a bit underdressed, partly because I have gained weight this summer and some of my nicer things were a bit snug. And partly because I opted for more casual. Live and learn. It's definitely time to lose weight; I got on the scale at the doctors on Friday and was shocked. Ugh. At least going to regular yoga keeps me feeling OK, but the recent hiatus (work travel and illness) has me feeling pretty sluglike.

Unstuck

Big day today. Sad. Hopeful. Zippy and I have moved into separate bedrooms. We've been in the same room for 6+ years.

Not all bad, really. We've been at an impasse, relationship wise for a while now. And there have been many ongoing issues. Zippy is looking forward to having a Jude-free space (in terms of clutter and chaos), and I am realizing that it been a long time since I have had my own space. When I moved in with Zippy, the house was full of art; so I sort of filled in niches, but never had my own space.

So...a day of big change. It may be permanent, it may be temporary, or it may be a slightly different spin on what has been til now an unconventional relationship. We'll see....

Settling In

It's been a fairly quiet weekend. No balloon chasing; too windy yesterday and my interpid balloonist was off on vacation with his kids. Next weekend will be a busy one - the Plainville Balloon Fest launches from Norton Park. I am likely to be at the park Friday night for the glow (and party) and one of the two weekend mornings.

Zipster and I took some time out for a walk / hike on Saturday - down to Timberlin Park in Berlin. No particular reason, just someplace different. We were 1/2 heading down to Southford Falls in Southbury but decided to go somewhere closer. Not a bad walk; I used to golf at Timberlin back in the day - but its been a while since I have been there.

Not much else planned this weekend. Hot yoga this morning saw a first - I popped up into a handstand against the wall without an assist.