Happy Thanksgiving!

Best wishes to all the Waickman clan and assorted hangers-on. We all have much to be thankful for -- in more ways than one and on more days than one. And best wishes heading into the year-end holiday season. John & Ann

Adventure Ireland

Hey all! 

I'm celebrating my recent freedom from academia and summer employment (in what some have called my mid-midlife-crisis...) by taking a 2 month hiatus to Ireland! I've reached the chronological half-way point and it's been just great so far. I've been doing a fair amount of hiking, or "hill walking", and playing lots of music. 

I'm traveling with a baby Martin guitar that was generously gifted to me just days before leaving. It fits as carry-on in all the overheads of planes, trains, and buses, and is a sturdy little composite-constructed instrument. I have had many fitful dreams in the past involving traveling with my "real" guitar (that I spent my last pennies outfitting with a mic and pickup system this spring), so it's nice not having to worry about it in hostels and luggage compartments. 

I flew into Shannon and started my trip up the west coast in Killarney. I've spent anywhere from 2-7 nights in Dingle, Dun Quin, Doolin, Galway City, Letterfrack, and am now in Westport. I've been staying in hostels and making my itinerary about a day in advance. The weather this time of year is a little iffy, and some places have closed for the winter (or gone to winter hours), but of what's available I've basically had my pick - which is working well with my day-to-day planning strategy. I think this is a much better way to go than being here for the all-out tourist season.

Here are a few pictures.

A rainbow over the Cliffs of Moher last week:

Galway city...Quay St...maybe?

The calmest waters I've seen here so far. This is a sunset on Dingle Harbour.

A view of the Blasket Islands from my walk around Slea Head (a 19 kilometer trek) - the very tip of the Dingle Peninsula. It's the most westward point in Ireland. "The next parish is Boston" they say.

This one is from Yesterday! I walked up Diamond Hill in Connemara National Park. The hostel I stayed at in Letterfrack was an old monastery built in the 1840s and was about 25 feet from the back gate of the National Park. Great little town that was having Sea Week festival that featured some great players. 

Hope you're all having a wonderful autumn (and having some great 'craic').

Take care,

Bethany

Summer's end

Hey y'all,

I was looking back at my older posts on the blog and I noticed how excited I sounded last winter while describing the "warm weather down south". Truth be told, I got my wish! I'm sweating down here in Baltimore, wrapping up my summer rotation and getting into the swing of fall classes. I've decided to focus on cancer immunotherapy for the next few years, and Hopkins has been fantastic in providing opportunities to pursue the subject. It's fun juggling classes and lab time, but it's never dull. Hope all is well! AW

Someone's gotta do it ...

Well, it's mid-August and time to look back at some summer events. We had the annual Family Picnic on July 26, involving about 40 people. All of our kids and grandkids made it to Montana. Here's a photo of that bunch at Holter Lake, with only Briana's and Hannah's husbands missing from the picture. (They had excused absences.)
A few days later, we celebrated Ann's 55th birthday. It was rather a quiet celebration, as she was involved in "Volunteer Appreciation Night" at the food bank. Here's a photo of Ann tossing beanbags in Portland.
We hope all is going well for all the Waickmans, and we look forward to SEEING SOME NEWS ON THIS BLOG. I know all caps is tacky -- makes it seem like one is shouting. I guess I am. Happy rest of the summer!

Waickman Family Blog! I've been reading the posts here and have been known to comment occasionally. I think it's about time that I bring you all up-to-speed on the Life and Times of Bethany (via photo captions)!

In May I graduated from UMass, Amherst! My dear parents, mom's parents, and Nicholas came to commencement (graduating class of 4000-ish). Nicholas took this happy little picture.

I'm now at Pinewoods Camp in Plymouth, MA. It's a folk dance and music camp that runs different sessions from the middle on June until Labour Day (Early Music Week, International Dance, Scottish Country Dance, English Dance, American Week, etc). The camp crew is made up of a about 15 college-aged 

musician/dancers/enthusiasts. For the third consecutive summer, I'm on the grounds crew. 

We start work about two weeks before camp opens. After opening we all get 2 days off together and generally have a "crew outing". This year we went for a hike along the National Sea Shore. We had a picnic lunch on the beach and took this smashing crew photo.

We recently had a Kitchen vs. Grounds arm-wrestling championship. I sealed the win for Grounds with an excruciating ten minute stand-off (pictured below).

A number of my band-mates also work here. We're kept pretty busy during the days cooking, cleaning, and generally running camp for a 150 people. We have some great after-hours hangouts though. 

Above is a session with a fiddler from my contra dance band, Anadama (www.myspace.com/anadamamusic). 

Below I'm playing a game with the fiddler from my other band, The Hip Bones (based in Amherst). The game we made up involves spinning a penny ("serving") and then attempting to blow it into your opponents' goal through a home-made straw...

I hope you're all well and are enjoying the summer so far! 

Keep in touch, 

Bethany

Aidan and Denali

Howdy there!

Wow... I've been woefully neglectful in participating here... but I'm back in the saddle again.

The photos you see here are how I've been spending my time. Two wolf pups will be joining the Ambassador pack at the International Wolf Center on August 4. They came to the center at twelve days of age and are in the process of being socialized to humans over a period of three months before joining the adults in the main enclosure.

As it happens, I was invited to join the Wolf Care Staff in mid-April, so I've had the opportunity to participate hands on in this socialization process, and have spent about three weeks in Ely since May 12. I'll be traveling north three more times this summer, including a week to assist with the introduction into the main pack.

All I can say is Wow.

While socializing the pups is an amazing experience on its own, being on the Wolf Care staff also includes interacting with the adult wolves which requires the slow and tenuous process of gaining the trust of Shadow, the dominant male in the pack. That process is a humbling experience in and of itself.

Enjoy the pics...

Awen

Mothers Day

Before the day is done, we need a shout out to all the Moms in the family. So (I hope I get this right) ... Marie, Lynn, Ann, Pat, Marianne, Mary Beth, Kit and Awen ... HAPPY MOTHERS DAY! Y'all rock.