Clouds part for Jackson Gore Music Series

Pie Boys Flat took the stage last Friday as thunder rumbled in the distance. The sky's looked threatening, the rain was surely falling in Belmont and Mount Holly, but we decided an outdoor music festival should be held outdoors! The unique sounds from the NYC based band rocked the slopes at Jackson Gore until 9pm, and by that time the sky's had cleared leaving a great night for stargazing.

Those who agreed with my weather forecast enjoyed a beautiful evening on the lawn, great food from the BBQ, and a perfect summer evening.

This week the stage will once again come to life with the unbelievable voice of Skyla Burrell and the Skyla Burrell Blues Band. Again, I'll do my best to make sure it doesn't rain - so come on out and enjoy the show! Skyla's music is listed in the Jackson Gore Music Series page at Okemo.com.

More Snow Early!

Good news!

I just heard that thirty new HKD tower guns designed to project snow with pinpoint accuracy will be installed on the mountain this coming season. This will enable us to open trails like Sachem and Kettlebrook ~ where more focused snow blowing is required ~ even earlier. Yahoo!

Plus - we'll be offering up a "taste test" of sorts with a variety of new, highly efficient snowmaking guns on the lower mountain. Come sample the snow from guns produced by Snow Economics, with four different configurations. Did you know that things like adjustable water flow levers, nozzle versatility and new valving technology all contribute to the texture of the snow? The goal is to be able to produce more snow at closer to freezing temperatures. Our snowmaking gurus will be testing about 15 of them so that they can decided which are the best to invest in for next year.

What it means for you is more snow and more trails early... I say that's pretty good news on a Monday morning! Don't ya think?

Rain?

What Okemomma meant to say was snowmaking pond filler...not rain.

And, does anyone have some children I can borrow....for dancing in the rain. Sounds like there will be plenty of opportunity later this week. I recall from childhood (blurry as it was) that storms were best spent in mud puddles. So be sure to have plenty of puddles for your kids....make 'em wide and slightly deeper than they expect.

as for those mice......sounds like Silver Linings has started a deep sea diving program for her local herd of furry critters. I must admit, mice do like to proliferate in the VT countryside. I used to think they were only a winter probably, as they came indoors to enjoy the warmth and some free food. But now I realize, with my own house, that mice like to hang out all summer long too.

-Dex

Singin' in the Rain

When was the last time you played outside in the rain with your kids?

Next time it rains, just do it.

Double dog dare ya.

It's All About the Segue

My humble little log cabin was transformed into a chamber of horror yesterday, with a little help from the Orkin man. Telltale signs of a fury intruder started showing up in a kitchen drawer and the occasional sqweak from the direction of the kitchen stirred Nelson T. Airedale (the "T" stands for "The") from a deep sleep for a close inspection of the space betweeen the fridge and the kitchen cabinets. When I finally reached the point of feeling tormented (rattling of a wrapper in the pantry or finding dog bisquits from Nelson's cookie jar stashed in dark places for winter sustenance), I knew it was time to call in the big guns. I guess I didn't give it too much thought ... assuming there might be some sort of deterent spray or powder that could be applied to baseboards or under the kitchen sink. Instead, upon my arrival home yesterday afternoon, I found an arsenal of "glue traps." At first glance, the adhesive-smeared plastic tiles seemed like a simple solution for ridding a home of unwanted rodents, but the reality of the ghastly scene is that unsuspecting little gray fur balls with pink feet and cartoon character faces become imobilzed in a permanent scampering position once their feet hit the soft glue. So there they are, still very much alive, but frozen in action until they - what? ... starve to death? So I spent the entire night dropping license-plate sized glue traps, with Mickey and Minney attached, into the pond for a somewhat humane end to their suffering. In my mind's eye I can picture myself in a well-deserved afterlife eternity ... feet firmly planted in a plastic tray with thick glue plastered deep on one side.

Okay ... so here it is ... here's that segue I've been building up to in the telling of this story ...

Speaking of one side ... The Jackson Gore Outdoor Music Series continues tonight with ONESIDE and their "banjo-sweetened music that ranges from indie-flavored jangle pop to straight-out newgrass."

(Ah, I can almost hear the groans as I type the words)

In a time when banjos, fiddles and mandolins are often used for excessive jamming, Boston-based band ONESIDE puts them back in the framework of concise, well written songs. While ONESIDE offers up plenty of solos and tasty licks, the band's songs are also chock full of carefully crafted hooks. The leads are there to serve the song. This organic variety of music has been fondly dubbed "Electrified Yankee Roots/Rock" by lead singer/songwriter Ned deBary. "I see many bands with banjos, fiddles etc… playing strictly "old timey", bluegrass and traditional songs. I love those types of songs and love to play them, but I don't see us being limited to one style of music just because of our instrumentation. I think all these instruments fit very well in the context of a modern pop/rock song." Critics have likened ONESIDE's music to that of Wilco, The Shins, and early REM, but with a stronger basis in Americana. For more information about the band, visit http://www.onesidemusic.com/.

On Friday nights throughout the summer season, the lawn in the courtyard at Okemo’s Jackson Gore Inn is transformed into an outdoor concert venue featuring renowned local and regional entertainers. Admission to the Jackson Gore Outdoor Music Series is free and the grounds open at 5 p.m. Concerts are slated to begin at 6 p.m. and end at 9 p.m. Families are welcome and all attendees are encouraged to bring their own lawn chairs or blankets. In case of rain, the concerts will move undercover. A barbecue buffet is available, as well as dining in Jackson Gore’s Coleman Brook Tavern. Cheers!

OK....fine, summer has some good points too...

Alright, I admit it. Summer does have some great bennies. I spent last weekend on the lake enjoying swimming and sitting on the porch sipping Sangria watching the sunset. Those are things I can't do in the winter. Plus, theOkemo Valley region seems to come alive with culture in the summer. I'm headed off to the Weston Playhouse tonight to see The King and I. Then later this week Hello Dolly is being performed at the Paramount Theatre in Rutland. I once thought that the only culture to be found in Vermont was in the yogurt section of the grocery store, or in the nearby cow pastures, but as I live here longer I find more neat stuff todo.

And I had some fresh corn on the cob, that a friend brought up from NJ last week. And it looks like we'll see our own native corn in the very near future. As for the eloquent waxings of Silver Linings....all I smell and see in the summer is road construction and dusty, cranky directional crews on the highways. Those people should be required to take guest service classes or something. It always looks like they just finished sucking on a lemon.

Did anyone catch the Solarfest over in Tinmouth, VT last weekend? I learned about it this year, the whole weekend is powered by solar energy....that's pretty cool. I went to learn more about photovoltaic and solar thermal heating systems. I'm hoping to reduce my carbon footprint, and I thought that solar energy might be a great way to make that happen. Come to find out VT is an OK place for solar power....of course summer time is better than winter for the amount of solar energy that we can create, but hey, it will help reduce our impact on the planet.

-Dex

Summertime ...

And the living is easy! A tractor is making its way up and down the grassy ski slopes and the first cut of the fields around the Okemo Valley has left the warm summer air heady with the aroma of newly mown hay. Strawberry season has given way to raspberry season and it won't be long before wild blueberries start ripening. Fledglings seem to all be leaving their nests at the same time - to a carcophany of squawks from anxious mother robins and redwing blackbirds. The summer season, in all of its splendor, is marching onward and it won't be long before we notice the daylight hours growing shorter. It's in the quiet moments of the day that we can witness the ever-changing world around us and note the subtle transitions of the seasons. Summer is in full swing. The Vermont hills are echoing with sounds of music festivals and town-green gazebo concerts. Summer theatre performances are a nightly occurance. Harried show-goers dine al fresco. Lotion-slathered children squeal as they splash in lakewater that was still numbing cold just a few short weeks ago. The bounty of the harvest makes each visit to the farmers' market more rewarding. Yes, summertime ... and the living in Vermont is easy. Cheers!