Poltrack Blog

The  MacDowell Colony  is an  artists' colony  in  Peterborough, New Hampshire , United States, founded in 1907 by  Marian MacDowell , pianist and wife of composer  Edward MacDowell . She established the institution and its endowment chiefly with donated funds. She led the colony for almost 25 years, against a background of two world wars, the  Great Depression , and other challenges. The mission of The MacDowell Colony is to nurture the arts by offering creative individuals of the highest talent an inspiring environment in which they can produce enduring works of the imagination. Over the years, an estimated 7,700 artists have been supported in residence, including the winners of at least 79  Pulitzer Prizes , 781 Guggenheim Fellowships, 100 Rome Prizes, 30 National Book Awards, 26 Tony Awards, 24 MacArthur Fellowships, 9 Grammys, 8 Oscars, and 8 National Medals for the Arts. [3]  The colony has accepted visual and interdisciplinar...

Huginn (thought) and Muninn (memory) are a pair of ravens that fly all over the world to bring information to the Norse god Odin - Wikipedia . I was fascinated by the ravens I saw in Port Hardy on Vancouver Island when we visited relatives last summer. My wife gave me Ravens in Winter by Bernd Heinrich as a Christmas gift which I just started reading. It might be a coincidence, but since my visit to Canada, I'm starting to see and hear an occasional raven here in New Ipswich. They are welcome in my yard and if you know of any hangouts, let me know, I'm looking for my totem animal, especially one that can help me with thought and memory. Odin  enthroned and holding his spear  Gungnir , flanked by his ravens Huginn and Muninn and wolves  Geri and Freki  (1882) by  Carl Emil Doepl er I spent some time feeding watermelon to this raven on a reserve on Port Hardy.I completely understand why they are such a part of Native folklore. www.poltrack...

In spite of two back to back snow and ice events, the roads were in good condition for travel on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, We gathered at my mother's house in New Boston on Christmas Day for a ham & turkey Christmas dinner. A Teddy Bear sports the Santa hat my dad used to wear  Streaming some Christmas tunes My sister Susan did a great job on food preparation for both Christmas Eve & Christmas Day Ginny enjoys a laugh Isaak & Joshua zone out with the little screens Jesse sports his Smith Brothers beard It was nice spending some time with my grandnephew Alex My sister has a new sewing machine than can do some fancy stitching  Forget the television image, we had the real thing Alex prepares for a gas attack A new sleeping bag for a junior fireman Here is a classic from my childhood, the drinking bird  and it still fascinating to watch Source Wikipedia The drinking bird is a  heat...

I'm dreaming of avoiding a White Christmas like we did in 2015 but in reality we hit the SNOW jackpot. On Christmas Eve we got a snow/ice mixture but avoided losing power. By the mid afternoon the roads were in good shape so we were able to visit my sister in New Boston for our annual Christmas Eve festivities. It is snowing on Christmas Morning and hopefully it will taper off before noon so the family can visit for a brunch and Christmas gifts. Merry Christmas to all of you, be safe and happy in 2018. Susan found some seasonal chair covers at her recycle center. My sister and I have a mutual appreciation for recycling centers. She has her room at the transfer station and I have my Green Center . Lizzie made a big hit at dinner by providing an Ambrosia Salad. Alex was happy to have his own plate with cold green beans Blowing out candles with Grandma A longtime Polish family tradition is sharing a Christmas Wafer ( opłatki) Alex set up a race car...

I grew up with fresh cut Christmas Trees and continued that tradition when my kids were young. We would go to a local farm and argue about which was the perfect tree until my feet got cold and I would cut something down. I had the room to grow my own so I purchased trees from the New Hampshire Extension Service. The trees were too small and sparse for Christmas Trees and were mocked by my kids. However they continued to grow in the 30 years since they were planted. I have a monster in my front yard that would put the one at the white house to shame.  I decided several years ago to put up an artificial tree. I have enough house plants to water without dealing with a dead tree. Meanwhile the ones outside reach for the heavens. In 2012 I let my friends top one for their Christmas Tree. It has become an annual tradition for them on Dec 23 or 24th. Catch of the day in 2012 - Parker & John In 2013 it was a bit more seasonal with some snow A beauty in 2014 20...

I went back through my photos looking for photos taken on December 23rd  which is the official date of Festivus , I was looking for images that would fit the theme of Festivus , a holiday for the rest of us . There were no images of aluminum poles, airing of grievances or feats of strength in my catalog but I did find these from Dec 23, 2011 which I took at during our morning walk at Smithville Reservoir. A lot of people walk their dogs along the path we take on our walk. Look at these blue eyes. Not so far from being a wolf is she? It was just beginning to snow on that morning  Where has all the color gone?   www.poltrack.net

It's nice to watch the Christmas Television Specials depicting happy loving families walking in soft snow toward a log cabin in the woods with a snowman outside and Christmas lights softly glowing.. The reality is falling in the driveway and breaking a hip, or skidding into a ditch on an ice patch on the way to the mall to buy that last present. What a treat in 2015 when there was no snow, spring-like temperatures and carefree road conditions. It was a once in a lifetime event. The weather forecast for Christmas Eve and Day 2017 is not encouraging. A chance of a mix of  snow and freezing rain. If we get more than 1/2 inch of ice there is a good chance of losing power. So much for the twinkling lights. We'll see how it goes. Merry Christmas Josh & Emily on Christmas Day in New Ipswich Matt grabs a  Christmas Nap (Note the lack of snow)   www.poltrack.net