Patrick Ferri's WRECKAGE-O-RAMA!!!

Skied all last weekend up in Lake Placid, NY.  It was pretty good on Saturday and just o.k. on Sunday. I was able to get  more of my family on cross country skis.  This time it was my brother Brad’s two young boys Cameron and Roman.  Their first time on skis and it is at Mt. Van Hovenburg !  Unbelievable !!!

It should be the end of skiing this year.  However, if my gut says to buy roller skis for the summer than I will buy roller skis this summer.  Geez, I never thought I would be roller skiing !  Celeste and I made the Lake Placid Facebook page.  Talk about Facing your demons ! Here is the photo that was taken by Sue and we are posing with her dog Bear.

Lake Placid w/ Bear

Here is the link to the webpage : Lake Placid Facebook

Below are some photos of the camp I did recently at the Parker School with SeanO and Eric Shovah plus some shots of The Millbrook School Circus Intercession :

My friend Frank Torre had a great quote that I will share :

” What comes after I don’t know ?  It doesn’t matter ! ”  Back when I knew everything, I at least realized that it didn’t matter.

My friend Don Van Patten reminded me while we were talking the other night of the only time he has seen fear in me;  and it happened 28 years ago.  Donny had his leg amputated and I visited him at the hospital.  He said that when I came in to his room I was “white” with fear.  It was me looking in the mirror and seeing my own physicality coming to an end.   I was even afraid of losing my health when I was in high school.  It is time to face that demon as well.

Here is another photo that my brother took of me with an “Original 6″ NHL hat on.  Brad bought it for me at the Lake Placid Hockey Store :

New hat for the collection

Hello ,
There is a whole bunch to relate since my last post.

I have been to a swim meet at Smith College in Northhampton , Mass. to see my niece finally swim.  She is faster than I ever dreamed of being.

Kennedy on the starting block

I have been skiing in Lake Placid and at Notchview in Windsor , Mass.

I skied a 50 km race in Ottawa , Canada this past weekend and skated on The Rink Of Dreams and went to The Museum of Civilization.  Really the race was in Gatineau, Quebec but people understand Ottawa better.  I met an 81 year old man from Finland and France who skied the 50 km Classic on Saturday and the 50 km skate ski on Sunday.  And I thought I was tough ! On Sunday I skied with my friend Celeste and another friend from Gatineau, Jean-Guy Beaudry.  Jean-Guy is a unicyclist, juggler and all around funny man who I look up whenever I am in Ottawa.  Ed Lis, Jason Kahn and Cousin Gordy also skied at the event.

Huron Lookout over the ancient "Champlain Sea"

Celeste and Jason on The Rink Of Dreams

Inside of the Canadian Museum Of Civilization

I bought a new pair of skates ; Graf Ultra G5s. My first  new pair since 1995.  My last skates were Micron Mega 10-90s and that company is not even in business anymore.

I have been getting a bunch of bookings for the spring and summer and suddenly my efforts in everything are getting easier. Very hard to explain at my age.

Here are some pictures of a staircase moulding job I finished recently :

The week of February 20 I worked at Parker School coaching circus with Sean Fagan and Eric Shovah of Circus Theatricks.

This week I am at the Millbrook School with Sean working one of my favorite camps.  And it is not just the great lunches.  I started the unicycles today and the kids kind of shied away from it after showing initial interest.  We will see as the week progresses.

Of course Chris Martin from Coldplay rides a unicycle :

Whatever you want to call it,  it is the same thing.  But “INTENT” might be the hardest to grasp but the best symbol.

From Wikipedia :

Intention and the moral quality of actions

According to Buddhist theory, every time a person acts there is some quality of intention at the base of the mind and it is that quality rather than the outward appearance of the action that determines the effect. If one appears to be benevolent but acts with greed, anger or hatred, then the fruit of those actions will bear testimony to the fundamental intention that lay behind them and will be a cause for future unhappiness. The Buddha spoke of wholesome actions (P. kusala-kamma, S. ku?ala-karma) that result in happiness, and unwholesome actions (P. akusala-kamma, S. aku?ala-karma) that result in unhappiness. The Buddha also elaborated that it was impossible for virtuous action to produce unfavorable results, and for nonvirtuous action to produce favorable results.^[7] However, although a good deed may produce merit which ripens into wealth, if that deed was done too casually or the intention behind it was not quite pure, that wealth so obtained sometimes cannot be enjoyed (AN.4.392-393). There are two classes of determined deeds which always produce good or bad results (fixed results, P. niyato-rasi) respectively, and a class of deeds which may produce either good or bad results (non-fixed results, P. aniyato-rasi) presumably depending on the context, although the Buddha does not elaborate (DN 3.217). Good karma is described as generating merit (P. puñña, S. puñya), whereas bad karma is described as demerit

Your intention is your life and your love !

I hope everyone had a great New Year’s Celebration.  I spent mine in Stowe, Vermont at The Von Trapp Lodge cross country skiing.  One of my favorite things to do in the whole world.  And better yet : I got to share it with my nephew Michael and my niece Kennedy.  I have been trying to show anyone in my family how to ski for years and  it finally happened.  So I really got to do two of my favorite things over the weekend;  pass on something I love to do to other people.

Here is a plug that I will put up again in the future :

don Miguel Ruiz

 This helps figure out  a lot.

A man, who is a Bhuddist walks up to a hot dog vendor , who also happens to be a Bhuddist and says ” Make me one with everything ! ”

The vendor proceeds to make him his hot dog then hands it to him and says ” That will be $2.00 ! ”

The man takes his hot dog and hands the vendor a $10.00 bill.

After a very long pause with no money coming back the man asks ” Where is my change ? ”

The vendor replies ” Change comes from within ! ”

So I am working at this house replacing window flashing when my old neighbor Mike shows up on the property with his blazer and a trailer.  I say to myself  ”hey now, isn’t that snow really heavy and wet that Mike is driving through ?”  Sure enough he gets stuck.  Meanwhile, up at the house, I strapped on my skis for my first ski of the year.  There is Mike , trying to get out of his jam and there I am trying to ski in wet cement.  Neither one of us had great results.  Still, it was my first ski of the year and Mike’s first stuck vehicle of the year.  We are off to a great start !

Got my last cross country ski in yesterday at Prospect. They still have great coverage.
What an amazing year ! 68 days on snow; first trip to Quebec City ( see photo below ) ; Ottawa, Lake Placid and great skiing in Austerlitz.

Checking out a restaurant on a dare from Cousin Gordy in -24 degrees

Here is a video of my last ski at home :

Last ski of 2008-09

Hello,
It looks like Dave and I will do a performance for the Berkshire’s Fools Festival on Friday, April 3. A thank you to Mary Parkman for all her hard work in getting us in.
I will have details in the next few days. Also, I will have new show dates and some circus camp announcements.
I just got back from a backcountry ski on the Klondike Trail in the Adirondacks with my friend and fellow unicyclist Jason Kahn and his longtime friend John who works for the Adirondack Council. Good snow high up and some ice scrambling just to keep it interesting. Maybe a couple of more skis to say goodbye to a great winter. Hope yours was as good.