I left The Point Five in Plymouth yesterday and will be gone for a couple of months.  I had a good three week stay in Plymouth but kept feeling the need to get back on the road.  Spent time with people I love, met and made new friends, saw students old and new, played music in the street...

Last night I spent in the van in a WalMart parking lot in Keene, NH...you know, when you're sleeping, eyes are closed, it really doesn't make much difference where you are.  Ozzy and I both slept well, even though I have been kinda under the weather the past couple of days...a chest throat kind of cold that hit me.  But, it is the first time I have really felt sick in almost two years!!  I think my immune system has been working really well because of my change in diet a year and a half ago.  For those who don't know, about a year and a half ago I decided to lose weight...I thought to myself that I can't do anything about looking like an old man but I can do something about looking like a fat old man!  I have lost 30+ pounds and feel great about it.  (It's hard to walk down the street and be accosted by so many women because of my renewed status as eye candy, but, we all have crosses to bear).  So, what I did was I cut food out of my diet that puts weight on!!  No sugar, "white" carbs, processed food...I eat mostly fruits, vegetables and whole grains.  What a difference...

Tonight I think I will park in a state park which is about 5 miles away from the conference center where I will be presenting tomorrow!  Still need to find one more supply for the hands on section and then I'm ready to go.

So cheers to all who gave me support and shelter during the past three weeks...Tish, Jim, Peter, Mark (who offered me a place to park but I didn't), my students and friends, and Ciara, Aiden and Donna O'Brien who gave me a Bill Bryson Book to read and a gas card for Irving stations.  Ciara and Aiden, don't get kicked out of school today!
 

Okay, an eventful week coming up...I will be leaving my little patch of the Point Five on Wednesday, starting a two month jaunt before I return to New Hampshire in January.  The weather continues to cooperate and it looks like I will make it out of here before the real cold begins.
First stop will be Greenfield, NH where I will be leading a workshop at the New Hampshire Council on the Arts conference.  I will be presenting my discussion on imagination and the creative process.  I have never really done it in front of artists and administrators before and am hoping that it will be appreciated.  That will happen on Friday, the 31st and then I will attend a workshop on Saturday, 11/1.  I am not quite sure how Ozzy will fare through this as I will be spending a lot of time away from him, leaving him in the van.  I also have accommodations for Friday night and that means that he will be sleeping by himself in the van.  Actually, I think it will be stressful for the two of us as I will miss his company through the night.
After the conference on Saturday I will be heading in a southerly direction and have decided to stake myself to $100 worth of gambling at Foxwoods or Mohegan Sun.  Parlay my meager assets into a fortune...so, I won't make any plans other than these, in case I want to plan big after trying my luck.

Hello Everyone...it's been about a week since I last posted.  I have remained in Plymouth for another week and will be here for 9 or 10 days more.  Been working a bit, just a little bit, modeling for the art department just sitting having my face drawn for $15/hour...that's the kind of work I like!  Have been saving money on gas and still thanking the gods of weather who have continued to provide perfect weather for living in the van.  Tonight will be cold but it all seems to be moderate at least for the next 10 days.  I will then be gone and headed kind of south...Rhode Island, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and out of New England for a couple of months.  So far money is holding out okay, van is running great and Ozzy is acclimatizing himself to living the vagabond life.  He is such a good dog!


Last weekend I went to the Sandwich Fair in Center Sandwich, NH...upon reflection I think that in the last 43 years I hadn't missed more than 3 or 4 fairs.  It got me to thinking about my whole relationship with New Hampshire... during the winter of 1970, Dec or Jan 1971, Judy Watson and I traveled to New Hampshire to explore the possibility of moving there from Lancaster, PA.  We had some friends, Connie and John Freed and Jimmy Hunton who were living on Smithville Road in Center Sandwich making a go at the sand candle, stained glass lampshade business, Homestead Farm Industries.  While there we were brought to the Country Store in Moultonborough where the owner connected us with a place in North Sandwich on Maple Ridge Road.  A beautiful little "camp" which had about a 150 yard driveway down to the building which had an incredible view of the Ossipee Mountains...all for $75/month!!  Yes, that's right, no 0 missing after the 5!!  We contracted with Peter and Katie Pohl to rent it beginning in May of 1971.  During our weekend in New Hampshire a blizzard developed, there was a lot of snow that winter, the roads were banked when we got there and a blinding storm as we left.  But, what did we know about danger of driving through a blizzard...we got into my 1971 Datsun 510 station wagon and drove from New Hampshire to Pennsylvania through the storm, spinning out, facing the wrong directions, plowing through drifts feet higher than the car, but we made it.  And in May of 1971 we moved into the camp on Maple Ridge Road.  My first job in New Hampshire I worked at Amatex Corporation, an asbestos mill; now, Mill Falls Marketplace, a retail center in Meredith, New Hampshire.


What a long strange trip it's been...

Still in New Hampshire today living on Tish's property on New Hebron Road...we're joking that because her house is 110 New Hebron Road that I am 110.5...I'm just referring to it as The Point Five."


Still great colors out there and a really terrific storm last night///heavy wind and rain!  The van is now certified watertight.  Miraculously, it all stopped just as I was getting out of bed and ready to take Ozzy for his morning walk.  A lot of miracles this autumn...I could not have picked a better one to stay in New England.  Temperature and weather conditions have been perfect.


But,  I am ready to get on the road...although I look forward to the Sandwich Fair this weekend and my workshop at the NH Council on the Arts at the end of the month, I am ready to go!  There have been lots of events which I have been enjoying at the university, the latest of which was the opening last night of the new show at Drerup Art Gallery, some music tonight, music last Friday at Biederman's, but, I am ready to hit the road with Ozzy. 


Today I will be going to a friend's daughter's volleyball game at Plymouth Elementary and then to a Jammin' at Karl's music show at Drerup.  Cynthia Robinson, Jessica Downs Harris and the whole student crew have really done a great job the last couple of years in making the gallery a welcoming place for the students.  If you haven't been there in a while check it out.


Okay, so I have been posting for a month or so...I hope that those of you who have been following are enjoying.  I'm not quite sure what I should/could be posting about.  I encourage you to ask me questions which I will help me find some direction.  I have a zillion thoughts and reflections but never quite sure which ones to explore.  Ask me and I will be honest about whatever it is...

Okay, I've been kinda quiet the last couple of days...been just hangin' out at 110.5 New Hebron Road...taking naps during the day...walking Ozzy and biding my time waiting for Sandwich Fair on Columbus Day weekend...It's Tish's birthday and a bunch of people will go to Biederman's to listen to music this evening.


Today, I took a trip to Lebanon, NH to the Bear Hollow Vintage Guitar Shop to have them look at my old guitar which, as I have said before, nobody wants to buy.  Neil at the shop in Lebanon didn't want to buy my guitar either.  Same story...because of the structural flaws no one will buy...if I put thousands of dollars in to repair then I would have a more saleable guitar.  So, I have decided that I must start thinking about the guitar in a different way.  I now must think about it as MY guitar and stop thinking about it as a valuable financial asset.  A great playing and sounding guitar which I am lucky enough to have recognized many years ago when I never did think about it as an investment, but, rather as a beautiful guitar.
Also went to the Hood Museum in Hanover where they have an exhibit on art of the 60's and the civil rights movement.  Great pieces but was mesmerized by a film of Nina Simone singing Mississippi Goddamn...powerful!!


Weather continues to be beautiful, colors continue to shine...