Vermont to Switzerland
The view from our stay in New Hampshire – atop a hill on a dirt road in what felt like the middle of nowhere. I taught a 2 day SketchUp class in the tiny town of Tamworth to a few timber framers, builders, and designers. We focused on general model building and then tightened in on timber specific joinery techniques. The scenery and the students were magnificent…
I’ll be teaching at Heartwood this May, and hopefully I’ll secure a spot at the TF Guild’s Eastern Conference.
Spent the week in Montreal. Lots of bikes. Lots of bike infrastructure. Need to get back with more focus on photographing the city…
Many ‘cycle tracks’ along side the main boulevards and streets – going both north / south and east west. Plenty of ‘bike lanes’ on minor streets – complete with sharrows near intersections or zones where cars and bikes need to blend. Lots of fixed gears, city bikes, and old 10 speeds.
Burlington, VT on steroids? Lots of bikes, bike lanes and infrastructure. Plenty of good street performers. Unique shops, good food aplenty. Downtown is a stark contrast to the everywhere development surrounding our hotel just 10 miles south.
Grandpa Woodstock, in Boulder, CO. He is quite the character, and according to the mighty Google he travels about the country on foot, bicycle, and moped living in the woods and off the kindness of strangers. We chatted for a bit and he tooted his horn at everyone that passed, proclaiming his message of peace and love.
We spent a few days ‘out west’ – Jen had client meetings and Ava and I got to play. We were staying in an exurb of Denver – and from the little exploring I did it seemed like this type of development stretched from the burbs of Denver nearly all the way to Boulder.
The shock of the new was something I didn’t anticipate. I guess I’ve grown accustomed to the history of the northeast. Everywhere we went on the main stretch of road was littered with retail and corporate developments. Housing was always off to the side – and the ‘town center’ was a retail conglomeration of chain land surrounded by acres of parking – I could have been anywhere. Local was nowhere to be found.
We were staying near the ‘Promenade’ – an outdoor mall anchored by a multiplex cinema – complete with canned music and canned history.
At the crossroads of the development was an inlaid compass – complete with distances that only reminded me that I was nowhere and everywhere – wishing I was in Rome, or NYC – both places that I’ve enojoyed, both places with history, with unique energy and with their own local sense of place.
The Brompton was fantastic for getting around PDX in lieu of a rental car. About 1 minute and it was folded up nice and tight, ready to roll as a shopping cart, onto the MAX, or to tuck under a table at a cafe. I did all three – and it worked like a charm. I was working at the Expo center for a home show – and the bike folded in the back of the booth was a great conversation starter. The integrated bag was wonderful for toting a load about – the low position of the bag meant that I could drag the 17″ laptop, a change of clothes, rain gear, and some literature for the expo – and still have room stop at a hardware store and fit in glass cleaner and paper towels – all with relative ease and no adverse affect on handling.
If I lived in a larger town with good mixed modes of public transportation I’d seriously consider a folding bike. I’d search out a Brompton with more options for tuning my riding position – or maybe get a BikeFriday. If I ever hit the road again for work, or perhaps even if we join the budding Green Mountain Car Share here in Burlington I’ll add a folder to my stable as it would be the perfect vehicle for mixing commutes, business travel, and utility cycling ’round town (and with the right bike – a great bike for traveling via plane and train).
It has been some time since I’ve read (and re-read) Thoreau’s classic ‘Walden‘. I stumbled upon this lovely development near my parents place in Hickley, Ohio during our trip to the Cleveland area for the holiday weekend. As I crested the hill on my bike I felt like I was sucker punched. I’m inspired to revisit my well worn copy – but I don’t think this is what Mr. Thoreau had in mind when he wrote about his life in the woods.
A month of extremes.
3/27 Lake Champlain, finally a chance to ride!
3/25 Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC
3/17 On the road for work near Winchester, VA.
3/10 View from our room at the Ritz Carlton St. Thomas with St. John in the distance.
3/9 Sailing in the Virgin Islands.
3/8 Snorkeling with Jen in St. Thomas.
3/1 Snowshoe with Jen and Maya.
Spent the weekend with Jen in Montreal. This was our ‘Holiday – Valentine’s Day Getaway’ present to ourselves. We drove 2 hours north Friday night – staying right downtown within walking distance of St. Catherine’s Street. Saturday we checked out the Montreal Museuem of Fine Arts and ate some great food after wandering old downtown. Sunday found us wandering old downtown again as fresh snow was falling. We settled on crepes for lunch and dessert then headed south out of the Canadian flatlands back to the mountains of Vermont.
I had the pleasure of visiting a client (turned friend) when I was in the greater Cleveland, Ohio area enjoying the Thanksgiving holiday with family and friends. I’ve done several projects for John and his family over the years – the barn / workshop that I hand cut and raised during the summer of 2004 is the largest – and most rewarding to date. The frame is crafted from Eastern White Pine and Douglas Fir, and is accented by Walnut pegs and splines. The barn sits atop a traditional sandstone foundation and is protected from the elements with a slate roof and a blue heron inspired weathervane. The project is nearly complete – John took to doing the finishing work himself with the help of a few of my craftsman friends from the Cleveland area. Working on the project was surreal – I commuted by bike 18 miles each way to my day job, cut the barn frame in my shop (when I lived in the Finger Lakes) at nights and on weekends, and worked some local mountain biking into the mix on trails right out my back door with fantastic views of Canandaigua Lake.