/362 - Thanksgiving

Some moody pictures taken today which don’t at all reflect how I feel about today.

Spent a nice day with Ash and Emi. Watched movies, played a little music, video-chatted with friends. Took a walk at Mendon Ponds in the gray misty rain. Heard a strange thumping and looked up to see a pileated woodpecker. Unfortunately not close enough for a pic, but I had the binoculars so we all got to take a close peak. We had one in our yard for a split second once, so it was really cool to see another. Further along, there’s an area of the trail known for the birds coming to eat from your hand. I’ve been here with the ladies before and never put my hand out, but today I did. So amazing and wonderful to have these tiny creature land on a finger, cock their head and look at you. Ash said she heard me giggle. haha Come back, made a great dinner, watched Charlie Brown and at 2 kinds of pie. Not too shabby for a day.

It was weird and wanting not being able to be with the rest of our families today, knowing that feeling was being shared all around us. Still — very thankful for our health, our friend’s/family’s health and prosperity. Hope we can all be back together soon.

/358 - Sundaze

We had a very quiet Sunday — watched movies and played games together. Sat on the couch and played guitar for awhile. Ash worked on a craft and Emi painted some pictures. Made a bunch of weird stuff with Legos and then made up stories about them. Quiet is nice.

I was hoping to post some music tonight, but nothing really clicked today. Spent the evening working with Pam’s trying to get some generative sequences and scales happening: easier dreamed than done. It all technically works — it just doesn’t sound good yet. Maybe tomorrow probably. haha

/356 - Last Hurrah (?)

Emi and I had mostly a great day together today.

Hung around this morning — watched a movie, did some drawing, played some games. Decided to go out to the treasure (thrift) stores to see if there was anything to find. I brought the field recording thinking that I could get some interesting noises, totally forgetting that it would all be ruined by the background music they pump into stores. I also sort of felt like we might not get to go out like this again for awhile since the covid numbers are spiking and another lockdown is pretty likely.

On the way there we passed a playgound that Emi likes and she asked if we could stop there on the way back. I told her sure as long as there weren’t too many people there. We pulled in and it seemed ok, but after getting up the hill I saw there were a lot more people than I’d guessed. Emi was THRILLED to be around so many kids, and is very good with keeping her mask on, so I thought it would be ok to stay for a little bit. Pretty surprising and disappointing to see so many of the parents and kids there not wearing masks. Anyway, Emi and a few girls were playing in the sandbox when I told her we needed to go and she came along without any fuss at all. Once we got into the car she started crying really softly and it broke my heart. “We didn’t get to finish making our cake, Dad.” I sat in the back with her and tried to assure her that it won’t always be like this and that we will be able to see people again. I don’t think she was very comforted and I really wasn’t either.

Once we got home she seemed to feel better (a lesson in resiliency from 4-year olds to us all) and we played outside for awhile. We have a small pond near our house that’s flocked with ducks and geese so we went and sat together and watched them chase each other around. Our last last hurrah was that I realized that it was this week 3 years ago that I went vegan, so while the restaurants are still open we ordered takeout from our favorite Red Fern and enjoyed the hell out of it. Ash and I used to go there on dates pre-pandemic and are really looking forward to doing that again.

We will get there. ♥

/344 - Here We Go (Again)

Another beautiful day. We took a long walk and played on the playground this morning, then finished up all my pre-winter chores (except getting the garage organized) this afternoon. This weekend was great, but it went by really fast!

Tonight I managed to cut another faceplate for moduloti and get so so much desoldering done so I can finally get this thing all the way together and working with the encoders and LEDs. I was really itching to patch a bit tonight, but getting this done and back in the rack will be worth it.

/329 - Chilly

Quiet, but nice, anniversary day home with Ash and Emi. It was pretty cold and Ash has been feeling sort of sick this week so we just laid low, ate food, watched movies. I did get outside for awhile to finally finish installing the front storm door. It looks great and would have been done ages ago if I hadn’t made the mistake which required a lot of work and then rework to undo. Oh well. this is how we learn.

Cold, quiet, goodnight.

/316 - The Very Sunny Day

We got out and saw some family today after a very long time. It was good to catch up in person and Emi was really happy to play with her cousin again. Afterwards the 3 of us took a nice hike around Onanda Park with our cameras. Was surprised it was so quiet there today since the weather was so nice, but the quiet is always appreciated. I hope we get another handful of weekend days like today that we can all go adventuring together before we get into the real cold/snow. Emi and I noticed a few interesting sounds around there that she said we should come back to record so might have to do that together too.

/301 - Infinity

Morning sounds playing the JM into a sequenced looper and effects, with a pulsing accompaniment by Continua. It has been awhile since I’ve played with effects and processing so it felt really good to quiet along with this.

This afternoon the ladies and I went to a nearby park to have a picnic and then walk along the shore of Lake Ontario. I know that Canada isn’t that far out of sight, but there’s still a really deep feeling when looking out over such an immense body of water softly swaying. Really reminds you how small you are.

/275 - Mother Lode

My mom stopped by today. She only lives about an hour away, but there’s a pandemic and we both have anxiety so I hadn’t seen her since Christmas. It was really nice to sit outside and catch up, and Emily was really excited. BUT ON TOP OF THAT, she brought me all my legos I from growing up. Sometime during high school I gave them away to her co-worker’s son thinking I had no more use for them. Good things that moms know best — unbeknownst to me, she gave them to her with the understanding that she would get them back someday. When she arrived holding a 5-gallon bucket I was a little confused but WOW what a gift. These meant the world to me then, and now I am so excited to be able to share that with Emi. We had a lot of fun going through everything (Ash even sat down on a mission to complete all the minifigs haha) today and know these are going to get a ton of use.

/253 - A Veryful Day

We didn’t get any work done on the planters today. We did all go and take a walk in the park and visit the animals at Wild Wings Rescue. So amazing to see these (HUGE) birds up close.

Otherwise we just sort of laid low. Ash did some photo work while Emi and I played. Got to spend a bit of time with my guitar on the back porch — I should really do that more often. Between that and our morning in the woods I want to get a small travel setup together so I can go play music outside. I’ve never done anything like that, but it seems like it would be fun.

/217 - Fourth

Quiet day. Did a bunch of organizing in the garage, which was way overdue. Cleaned out some space to build in shelving as a means to clear up floor space and expand my workbench. Mowed the lawn. Ash made an amazing vegan holiday dinner and then we had a fire to roast marshmallows. It had cooled down and there was a nice breeze blowing. Perfect end to the day together.

Typically we go to a large gathering of all our friends and their kids. Hopefully we can see everyone soon. I mostly feel bad for Emi — she misses running around with her friends so much.

/204 - During, pt 4

Finally etched the enclosure today! Set it up, held my breath, and pushed the button to make it go. Worked great and am happy with how it turned out. Then I got it painted and sanded so now it’s ready for reassembly.

I also had a great Father’s Day hanging out with Ash and Emi. Picnic lunch and then some project time. Dinner together and then our usual bedtime routine. I couldn’t ask for anything more.

/166 - Birthday

Happiest birthday to my lovely wife Ashley! I used the cnc machine to draw her a card (covid quarantine improv style) and got up super early to make her a lemon loaf. I literally never bake and was very happy and surprised it turned out so well. Emi and I are really lucky to have such a wonderful person in our life. ♥

/162 - Test Fits

Pulled the desk apart today to try out some of the setups I sketched yesterday. Seems like norns/grid <> Digitone could go a long way. Did some routing tests which were good, but didn’t result in any sharable clips. Hopefully soon. ;)

Otherwise, we had a low-key Mother’s Day. Took a walk, watched some movies, and played some games with Emily. Hope Ash enjoyed it, and that she knows how much she means to us. We love you!

/149 - Juxtapose

Pics from our summer vacation last year, skewed.

/111 - When In Doubt

Bokeh. We had a nice long nature walk at a nearby wildlife area this afternoon. Lots of birds, and a handful of people. Everyone (birds and humans alike) kept their distance. It was overcast, but warm and overall a nice spring day. Emily brought home a hat full of pine cones and “cool rock.” I couldn’t ask for better people to be isolated with. ♥

/108 - Crafty

Lots and lots of crafts and games going on here now that Emi’s school is closed “indefinitely.” Most of the time I’m still stuck working in the office while the ladies have all the fun, but I get small windows of time when I break to give Ash some work time. Staying inside, laughing and playing with family, it’s hard to remember there’s a very scary reality out in the world right now. The whole situation is so surreal, and for us in the US right now is just the tip of the iceberg,

(I actually colored these awhile ago, but I never got to post them and they still crack me up every time I see them.)

/036 - Quiet Sunday

A day with no plans is basically unheard of, and we made the most of it. Relaxed around the house in the morning, watched a movie and took a walk in the afternoon. Finally finished the roll of film in the 35RC, so will be dropping 2 rolls off at the post office tomorrow. It has been a very long time since I have sent film away so very excited to see what will come back.

/025 - Gratitude

Time and time again my family shows me that they understand me, and that they listen. Their gifts are wonderful, almost as wonderful as they are. Feeling so very thankful. Really looking forward to getting outside with the h4n.

Top left: The note reads “I asked Emily what she wanted to get you for Christmas. She said “a bell with a rainbow string.”” She is really the sweetest. :)

Bottom right: Ash and I made sure Emi got some new sound toys too. She was absolutely jamming on the harmonica all day!