NY Photos Online

I put a small album together of photos from our most recent trip to theCatskills here on Facebook. I do believe you have to be a member of Facebook (and a 'friend' of mine) to view the photos (sorry, I'm not too keen on just posting pictures of the family randomly on the web for anyone to view...). It's easy to join, if you're interested. If you not, email me and I'll send you copies.


You can see from the photo why we love being up there so much... this is the view from the front of the cabin to the mountains and our barn down below. We went for Columbus Day weekend, and the weather was amazing!! Didn't do a whole lot (Obo went shooting with Dad and hauled some logs to be cut into firewood; Grandma, R. and I went to an Octoberfest fair outside of Margretville, and R. helped Grandma plant some groundcover), we were just happy to get away for a few days. The past few weeks have been super crazy with work and other obligations; can't wait for November when my schedule settles down a bit. On top of managing the course and my 25 or so staff during our busiest season right now, I have to submit a new $100k budget and marketing plan for next fiscal year. Yippee...

Cheers!

Wolf Double Talk

One of my colleges brought to my attention a newspaper clipping about guy who brought a live wolf to the library in the town next to us for a children’s program the other day. There was a photo and blurb in the local paper, and the photo showed a guy with a wolf on a leash sitting between his feet.

I will put aside the fact that the wolf in the photo looked more like a skinny husky than a wild wolf for the moment, to say this… after going to the website for his organization to find more info out about them (and I won't name the individual or his organizaion until I have spoken with them directly), I am quite upset about the message they are sending. I'm not out to bash his organization, because I'm sure that they have great information intheir programs and I'm all for wolf education - we need more of it, not less! And I do plan to either attend one of their programs, or talk with them by phone to pose my questions.

But what are you REALLY saying when you bring a ‘wild’ animal into a public setting that has been “raised by us at home”… ? Even if they say to their audiences that wolves shouldn’t be kept as pets, they are giving a double message (do as I say, not as I do). Right on their website is information about pups they are raising and socializing with opportunities for the public to (by paying) go camping and ‘play with the pups’. There’s a fine line when working with wildlife for educational purposes, and I think these folks have crossed it.

"My Mommy Plays Music With Her Friends"

I mentioned the other day that R. has taken to listening to the Contra Banditos CD at night (all night, every night...). Well, we were driving in the car the other day listing to Old Crow Medicine Show, and I guess it must have reminded him of the Banditos (we cover two of their songs) and he said that his favorite song on the Banditos CD was the one 'where all the girls sing together'; this is 'To Be Good', which he has heard us perform live on several occasions. He then asked me what the name of the Banditos CD was; I explained that it didn't have an official name yet, since we weren't done with the recordings. He said, 'well I think you should call it: “My Mommy Plays Music With her Friends”' (on the evenings when I head out to practice with the Banditos, R. invariably asks where I'm going, and my response is always - “I'm going to play music with my friends!”). I told him that I would bring his suggestion for a CD title back to the rest of the band the next time I'm at a rehearsal (which I haven't done yet...). R.'s response was: “I think they'll think it's funny!”. Laughing, I told him I was sure they would enjoy his suggestion, especially since quite a few Banditos are also mommies, playing music with their friends.

Goodnight Routine

I have to record this or it will get forgotten (like too many other sweet moments)... R.'s newest nighttime ritual is to have music playing (a CD on repeat) when he goes to sleep. For the past few weeks it's been one of several classical CDs (designed for kids); but I made a CD of the current recordings from the Contra Banditos to give to family members and Obo played his for R. He loves it so much that he now listens to the Banditos CD all night on repeat (which means we do as well...). I guess we've done a good job so far with the recordings... His other new addition to the evening is to say (and I have no idea why) "Bubbles!", which we must say in return.

Bubbles!

No more pink!

Whew - had to get rid of that pink template; it was giving me a headache. More later...

42nd NEEEA Conference

I spent this past weekend at the 42nd annual NEEEA (New England Environmental Education Alliance) Conference at Sargent Center in Hancock, NH. The last time I was able to spend the weekend at a full NEEEA conference was 6 years ago - the last time the conference was in NH, actually. One of the reasons I love being at NEEEA (yes, in addition the renewed contacts, professional development and other 'official' goodies) is that it essentially is a weekend of camp for educators. For anyone who knows me even slightly, you know I love camp - so this is just a blast, as far as I'm concerned. There wasn't much chance of my not attending this year; I'm on the board for both NEEEA as well as MEES (the Massachsuettes Environmental Education Society). For those outside of our little ee world, the six New England states each have an environmental education organization which is what makes up the population of NEEEA. Just to be confusing, you aren't automatically on the NEEEA board, if you're on the board of a New England state org. I'm the MA state rep for NEEEA, so happen to serve on both, but there are plenty of people on other state org boards that aren't part of the NEEEA board.

Hmm... this post was supposed to be more about my weekend at the conference, rather than a run-down of ee orgs in New England, and now it's late and I need to go to bed. I'll continue my weekend post tomorrow.