5 posts tagged “summer”

Tracing the series of events that lead to things can be interesting.
A few years ago someone studied Screen Arts and I found out that they had kids and that her partner was a musician. I was able to listen to his music and Catherine made a cool music video for one of the songs as well.

She stayed in touch with me and let me know about the launch of the new CD with the new combo which is Fresia and the Offsprings with Eric Fresia and two of their kids, Charlotte and Samuel.
The timing was perfect as it was happening just as my summer vacation was starting, so my son John and I would have our first summer adventure at the CD launch. There were camping facilities available, so I packed up the tent and our sleeping bags so we could set them up if we decided to stay. The weather was calling for rain, so I wasn't sure if we'd camp or not.
We started out after lunch and got a coffee and ginger beer for the trip up. We stopped for gas in Truro and I thought that I'd refill the windshield washer fluid. The gas wasn't a problem, but the hood wouldn't open. I became quite focussed on opening the hood, and it eventually opened. After the fluid was filled, I dropped the hood down and it didn't latch. Hmm. I hadn't thought through the whole process, so now the hood wouldn't stay down. It looked like the wire that releases the latch was broken, so I cleaned around the latch (it was covered with some dirt) and eventually managed to get it to stay and we were back on the road again.
It rained on and off for the rest of the journey, so I figured that we wouldn't set up the tent. The Bussiere - Fresia homestead is in the community of Beckwith, which is just outside of the blueberry capital of Canada, Oxford, Nova Scotia. We sailed through Oxford and drove down the very muddy driveway to find a beautiful house, studio, greenhouse, outdoor stage, sauna, pond and outhouses. While it was too rainy and damp for the outdoor stage to be used, the instruments and speakers were set up in the studio, which was very cozy.
The band started to play as everyone gathered in the studio and they went through the songs on the CD mostly in order. It was great and most people were smiling the whole time. It rained very hard outside, but as the first set ended, the rain did as well. Then after a break where people chatted, kids played, swam, and warmed up in the sauna, the fire was started to make sure that there would be a bed of coals after the second set for cooking hot dogs and marshmallows.
The second set was shorter and had some covers and then the kids got bored and Charlotte slipped out to play. Sam then left to kick the soccer ball around and Eric did a few more songs with some assistance from the audience. Then John got up and performed a few magic tricks. It was his first time in front of a microphone and he took to it like a duck to water. His patter had the audience laughing and paying attention to his skillful prestidigitation. I was very proud and I think that he got a kick out of it too.
Now it was time to roast marshmallows and have great conversations into the night. Eventually it was time to hit the road for the trip home and with a bit of light rain falling we popped the CD in and made the journey home. John was very tired and was asleep before the CD hit the halfway point.
The trip home was uneventful except for a raccoon that crossed the road, but I saw it soon enough to slow down and avoid it. We pulled in with everyone else in the house asleep and I tucked John into bed and then slid into bed myself and fell asleep right away. All in all it was the perfect way to start the summer.

Show us what's in your rearview mirror.

Summer is behind me now and I start to leave behind trips and think about work. I traveled up to New Brunswick a few times this Summer and was able to see family and friends and camp outside. Lots of fun and a very nice time to remember.

I just uploaded the eighth Bad Metaphor which is about Camping this time. I blogged about it and now you can hear the story of camping at Point Wolfe in Fundy National Park. It was fun and the sounds give a bit more of a sense of the beauty of the place, even though it was raining. We recorded some sounds on location and recorded the linking parts in New Brunswick at my Mom and Dad's house after we were rained out of the park.

In the Summer I spend a lot of time driving between Nova Scotia and New Brunswick and while driving you have to make sure that you don't run into anything. There are a lot of deer and moose on the highways along with a many smaller creatures. Every time I drive I'll see dead animals such as porcupines or racoons beside the road. Sometimes there will be a deer as well.

During my most recent trip I actually had to swerve to avoid an Adirondack chair that was in the road. It was very surprising and a little scary. It must have fallen off of a pickup truck that was pulling off the road right after the chair. I also saw about three cats cross the road (all safely), but the chairs are much more out of the ordinary.

John and I head to the Point Wolfe Campground in Fundy National Park today for some camping and hiking. Now we're all set with a camp stove, high-tech lighter as well as our podcasting stuff. Lots to do and it should be a lot of fun. I'll write more from the campground from my phone. Now it's time to pack the car and get on the road!