Are We There Yet??

"Walkin' Myelin & Myel-out" to Help Support a Friend

noreply@blogger.com (Linda) — Wed, 25 Feb 2015 03:51:00 +0000

On April 19th, I will be participating in the 2015 Walk MS in Narragansett, Rhode Island as part of team "Walkin' Myelin & Myel-out." The team is captained by my friend Renee Holder and so far a little over $1,900 has been raised of the team's $2,500 goal - with most of that being raised by Renee who personally battles MS every single day of her life.

I'm walking this year not just to support Renee who is an amazing woman but also to support the on-going research of a disease that affects millions of people with its unpredictable symptoms that range from numbness and tingling to blindness and paralysis.

I'd like to ask for your support in helping my team meet its goal but rather than just hope you'll find it in your heart to donate the cost of a cup of coffee (the expensive Starbucks kind!), I'd like to offer you something in return for your kindness and generosity. If you click on the link that I'm providing at the end of this post, visit my personal page, and make a donation in the amount of $3 or more, I will send you a digital file of this photo of Portland Head Light in Maine - one of America's most iconic symbols - that I recently shot on a very cold February day.

The high-resolution file (that won't include a watermark!) will print up to 16x20 should you want a photo that large or make a snappy background photo for your computer if you don't want to print it out but either way, it's my way of saying "thank you" for your support and help in the battle against MS.

If you don't wish to make a donation, I fully understand and would simply ask that perhaps you'd consider sharing this post just in case someone you know does. So what do you say? Visit the link and help a friend out who's trying to help a friend out! Thank you!

My MS Walk 2015 Page

"Ordinary Boy" is No Ordinary Read

noreply@blogger.com (Linda) — Wed, 11 Feb 2015 01:02:00 +0000

I've not posted anything on this blog in a very, very, very long time but I thought I'd bring it out of mothballs long enough to share a book review from Goodreads as I think this book is definitely worthy of not just reading but reviewing and recommending!

Ordinary Boy by Stacey Longo
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

As a rule when I think about Stacey Longo's writing I think of words like "Terrifying and scary!" but the only thing that's terrifyingly scary in her new book is how well she - as an adult female - has managed to get into the mind of a teenage boy. Even though the opening of the book tells us that Curtis Price is dead, Stacey does a terrific job of bringing him to life along with all of the nuances growing up as an outsider in the 80s entailed.

In "Ordinary Boy" you meet ordinary people who lead ordinary lives but they're ordinary people that you like, ordinary people that you don't like, and ordinary people that you've no doubt met in the course of your own ordinary life. Stacey Longo has written an extraordinary story about an ordinary boy who may have led an ordinary life but who is anything but ordinary as there is a little of Curtis Price in all of us.

Curtis is a good kid with a good heart growing up on the wrong side of the tracks (if Osprey Falls, Maine has tracks that is!) with a mother who can't afford to pay the bills, his older sister Sally that he shares a room with even into his late teens, and his beloved Nana who exits the story way too soon. Like a lot of kids from broken homes, Curtis has a dad who fails to pay his child support and barely pays any attention to the kids he left behind leaving Mom to explain about things like wet dreams and other parts of growing up male that should have been answered by dear old Dad. It's in some of Curtis' conversations with his mother that you really have to wonder if Stacey Longo grew up as a boy in another life as she's got male puberty nailed down quite well.

Growing up in The Meadows, Curtis is not one of the popular kids in school nor is he one in his own neighborhood after a brief indiscretion but he doesn't go out of his way to try to become one either. He frequents his local library (good boy!) where some of his best friends are found in the pages of sci-fi and horror novels, makes a real-life best friend in another outsider - Al - whose family has money but a lack of familial warmth, works at a local nursing home where he truly cares about the residents there, and falls in love with a girl who in turn loves Curtis for the sensitive, good guy that he is. Unfortunately though, there are adults in the book who make a lot of bad decisions which end up in Curtis' tragic death which in turn ends up showing Curtis that he was no "ordinary boy" after all.

The true hallmark of a good writer is when you want to reach into the pages of a story and shake or slap a character or two and that's exactly what you'll want to do with several of them in this book. A story that you're going to have a hard time putting down once you pick it up, I highly recommend an "Ordinary Boy" which left me with a few questions but that's good as it meant I cared about the story's characters and I think you will too.

View all my reviews

Well ... ARE We There Yet??

noreply@blogger.com (Linda) — Tue, 10 Sep 2013 17:14:00 +0000

Yesterday marked either the end or the beginning of my 55th year on this planet (I can never remember if a birthday means you've just completed another year or you're starting another one!) and it brought to mind the question - "am I there yet?" And where exactly is 'there'? Where better to contemplate that than on the blog I haven't updated hardly at all during this passing year!

I guess one of the questions a lot of ask ourselves when birthdays and such roll around is if we've managed to accomplish the things we had hoped to in life and as I look back over the more-than-half-a-century that I've been alive, I can only answer that with a 'yes' and a 'no'. Am I where I want to be in life now? Not exactly. Have I done the things I've wanted to do? Some - absolutely - while others are still in the hope-for stage. Am I where I thought I'd be when I got to be this age? Oh hells no!

First off, I have absolutely positively NO idea how I got to be in my mid-50s so quickly - especially when my mind is solidly stuck in my early 30s! Not that I feel at all like I'm in my 30s when I try to roll my oftentimes achy self out of bed in the mornings or when my back starts twinging and my joints start aching if a storm is rolling in but for the most part, I don't feel like I'm as old as I am. That said though, my memory has started to suffer from major lapses from time-to-time which I am going to solidly blame on menopause which I have the sneaky feeling I'm in. I'm definitely at the right age to start wading through the hormonal changes that we women go through in our advancing years but it's kind of hard for me to tell exactly what's going on as I had that ablation a few years back and don't have the monthly indicator that so many other women do.

Not that I'm complaining, mind you, as I don't miss that at all but as I've only had the occasional "gee, it seems kind of warm in here all of a sudden" flash and the "oh my gosh, I'm going to bust into tears over that?" sort of moments, I'm just not positive where I stand with my hormonal levels. If not remembering why I walked into a room, being unable to think of the name of someone I've known for years, and not being able to grasp the right word even though it's on the tip of my tongue are any sort indication of those levels, though, then I've been in menopause for over a year now!

But advancing years and menopause aside - am I 'there' yet? Am I at a point in my life where I can say that I'm satisfied with the way things are going? That I'm where I thought I might be when I was a young kid of 18 or 21 imagining what my life might be like as an older adult? Nope as I sure the heck never would have thought that at 55 I'd be twice-divorced with two older daughters still living at home who bicker with each other every chance they get while working in a stressful job where there was no hope of retirement other than whatever Social Security would provide as I live paycheck-to-paycheck. I don't believe that's exactly what I had in mind as I started down the path of adulthood.

That said though, life could be a lot worse and I am ever mindful of that. I could have NO job like so many others in this country (including those two bickering daughters of mine), I could have never fallen in love and had children that may or may not drive me crazy from time-to-time, and I could have a lot more physical ailments than a couple of herniated discs that like to predict the weather and allergies that seem to get worse as I get older.

I have had a lot of opportunities that others haven't had including the chance to travel to interesting places where I've met some terrific people along the way who have become dear friends; I have had the chance to not only enjoy my hobby of photography but to share that with others; I have made some fantastic friends though the miracle of the Internet; and I have a decent roof over my head complete with electricity and running water and never go hungry.

Those are things that I am thankful for so even if I'm not 'there' yet it's okay as I'm still moving forward and maybe someday I actually will get 'there'. Even if I don't though, for the most part, I've enjoyed the journey and I hope the good Lord gives me the chance to continue on it for a few more decades though guaranteed if I ever make it to 85, I'll be sitting there wondering how I got to be in my mid-80s when my mind is still in my early 50s!

Thank you to everyone who wished me a happy birthday yesterday, I appreciated every single greeting and gesture, and now if you'll excuse me, I do believe there is some cake in the kitchen that just might be calling my name!

It Had Been Brought to My Attention ...

noreply@blogger.com (Linda) — Fri, 31 May 2013 05:00:00 +0000

... by my youngest daughter that I hadn't written anything new on this particular blog in a very, very long time and by golly - she was right! It has most definitely been collecting digital dust but I guess with everything else going on like trying to write two other blogs and occasionally do some honest-to-goodness reading in addition to all of the time I seem to spend at work, I just hadn't even thought about updating here. Besides, I guess I figured I really didn't have anything of any interest to say either. Not that something like that ever stopped me in the past of course but this time it did!

So anyhow, here it is, almost the first weekend in June and we're going to be going from cold enough to have to turn the heat back on (again) last Saturday to our first potential heatwave of the year. Ah New England ... I love you in spite of your lousy weather but I would have loved you more had we actually had a spring of some sort this year! Alas, no such luck.

What makes it even worse is that I have a wedding to photograph on Saturday - an outdoor wedding in a lovely park on a hill in Manchester which is in a part of the state where storms like to gather. Even though I get the feeling that it's going to be hot and humid enough to melt fondant (something that doesn't melt easily at all!), I just really hope that we don't get any big thunderstorms blowing through. I've heard it said that rain on one's wedding day is good luck but I'm thinking thunderstorms are overdoing it a bit!

This will only be the fourth wedding that I've photographed so I'm a bit nervous about it but I've almost got myself talked into not stressing about it and just doing the best that I can. The nerves come from not wanting to mess up someone's special day but considering that everyone and their brother/sister/aunt/uncle/cousin brings a camera to a wedding these days, even if I mess up some of the photos, there will be plenty of others out there.

I think I know what my biggest problem is going to be though ... as I was looking through some other wedding images today to perhaps get some ideas for photos, I found myself starting to tear up more than once so I think I can pretty much guarantee that I am going to get all teary-eyed at least once or twice during Saturday's ceremony. Sentimental fool that I am, I no doubt will find it darned hard to look through a lens with my eyes all watery but I could bet you right now that's exactly what's going to happen! Guess I'd best make sure I pack tissues along with my other photo supplies!

Anyhow, I think that's it for now, I figured I should at least pop over here long enough to toss up a new post and clear out the cobwebs so that Jamie wouldn't question me anymore about my lack of new material. Kind of funny how I used to make sure to blog everyday and now I can go weeks and/or months at a time and not feel the least bit of guilt. Well, at least over here, I still feel guilty about being so far behind on posts for The Distracted Wanderer and Travels With Nathaniel!

Speaking of which, I gotta go ...!

Good Teachers Should Be Recognized and Rewarded

noreply@blogger.com (Linda) — Thu, 30 May 2013 18:26:00 +0000

Throughout the country parents, educators and community leaders are engaged in discussions about ways in which the nation's schools can best educate the next generation to take its place in the workforce and academia, as well as in positions of leadership and responsibility.

Suggestions range from increasing time devoted to specific subjects to adding (or subtracting) time allotted to sports education and the arts, school hours and extracurricular activities. Some professionals promote a particular curriculum while others encourage parents and other community members to become more involved in the students' educational process. The classroom atmosphere, relationship with the staff and even the physical structure of the classroom are subjects for discussion.

One issue for which there is no debate though concerns the importance of successful and concerned educators in the students' school environment. The impression that a strong, dedicated and influential teacher can make on a child's school career is immeasurable. Effective teachers are not only able to present the material in a way that engages and motivates their students, but they can stimulate and inspire the students to strive and achieve.

Throughout the country various initiatives have been created with the goal of recognizing the importance of effective educators as a major factor in providing students with a high quality education. One of these initiatives, the Milken Educator Awards, was co-established by Lowell Milken of the Milken Family Foundation in 1985. Via this award the Milken Family Foundation shares their vision of education as a vehicle that prepares students to succeed in life by providing them with needed knowledge and skills along with a desire to take their place in society.

The Milken Educator Award (MEA) provides public recognition to outstanding educators who teach in kindergarten through the 12th grade. The Award is granted yearly and alternates between elementary teachers and secondary school educators. Award recipients are generally early-to-mid career teachers who receive $25,000 which they can use for any activity that will allow them to further their personal educational goals. This, Lowell Milken believes, will inspire the teachers to continue their high quality work and will allow them to use their award monies to advance their careers, achieve greater successes and stimulate other educators to emulate their accomplishments.

The Milken Family Foundation accepts nominations for the award from a blue-ribbon panel which is appointed by each state's Department of Education. The panel looks for teachers who exhibit exceptional educational talent as evidenced by effective instructional practices as well as by student learning results in the classroom and school, based on standardized testing.

In addition, the panel reviews the teacher's educational accomplishments beyond the classroom such as participation in extra-curricular school events or active involvement in professional or community groups. These activities, the Foundation believes, provide a model of excellence for the profession. The MFF aims to identify educators who offer strong long-range potential for policy and professional leadership, motivate their students and positively impact their colleagues and the community.

Once chosen, the award recipient is presented with the opportunity to join the Milken Educator Network, a select professional community that includes past recipients of the Milken Educators Award, top education officials and education think-tanks. This group continues to impact the nation's education at local, state and national levels by serving as a resource to fellow educators, legislators, school boards and others who shape the future of America's education.

Adhering to the Rules When Using Someone Else's Images aka Giving Credit Where Credit is Due!

noreply@blogger.com (Linda) — Sun, 03 Mar 2013 22:26:00 +0000

So there I was, minding my own business catching up on Facebook posts this morning when I came across one from a friend sharing the link to a post about the Peabody-Essex Museum in Salem. As it's one of my favorite museums I decided to go take a look-see as I'm always up for reading about what someone else's opinion is about places that I go to.

As I was reading the post and looking at the photos - of which there are many but that's quite alright as I'm a firm believer in 'more is better' in this instance - I had to wonder if the writer had taken all of the photos herself as some were definitely more professional-looking and from angles that I was pretty sure she wouldn't have had access to. As some of her photos had image credit to other places/people I could only guess that the ones that didn't have additional credit were hers.

Finishing that post (which by comparison made some of mine look downright short if you can believe that!), I decided to check out her next post "The Steel-Gray Charms of Salem in Wintertime" as you all know how I feel about Salem and would live there if I could! There were some great photos of the city that I've come to know and love and then the author moved on to The House of the Seven Gables where I soon came upon the following sentence:

"Unfortunately, interior photography is prohibited, but I’ve been able to find photos online which were taken by less rule-adhering visitors than myself."

That was then followed by six of the photos that I had taken during my private tour of the house for a post on The Distracted Wanderer.

Srsly?

In my post from which the photos were taken, A Virtual Visit to Salem's House of the Seven Gables - Part Two, The Turner-Ingersoll Mansion, I wrote:

"Again I should point out that photography is not allowed on the tours - even non-flash photography - but I was invited to return to the house ... by Anita Blackaby, Executive Director of The House of the Seven Gables, and was given a wonderful private tour of the property by Alan Collachicco, the Deputy Director and Curator of the Museum. I was able to ask questions and take pictures to my heart's content so that I could share them with you here and give you a glimpse inside one of Salem's most historic and important treasures."

Obviously I was not "less rule-adhering" when I took the photos and had I tried to take them on a regularly scheduled tour, the guide would have no doubt reminded me rather sternly that photography in the house was NOT permitted. How the author thought I was able to 'sneak' six photos that don't exactly look like they were shot from the hip is beyond me!

Even though I was less than pleased that my photos were used without permission and there was nary a hint of image credit, I think it just really got my goat that the author assumed I was "less rule-adhering" than she was because she was obviously breaking one of the simplest rules when it comes to blogging and the use of other peoples' images: provide image credit to the website that you got the images from!

Ideally, a quick email to say, "Hi, I found some images of yours that would go great with my post on blah, blah and I was hoping I could get permission to use them in exchange for image credit" is always nice and I've received many of them over the years. My answer has always been "absolutely" and it would have been the same to this gal had she bothered to take the time to ask. Barring that, if she had credited the images back to my blog and not called me "less rule-adhering" I would have been okay with that, too as I take the photos I do to share with other people.

It's somewhat ironic that this came up at a time when I've been having numerous discussions with friends about image credit and watermarking and copyrights and all that fun stuff. Just because it's on the internet doesn't mean that it's free and common courtesy calls for just that - a little common courtesy in giving credit where credit is due. Sure, there are those folks who will ask for a fee to use their images but the vast majority would probably be flattered that you asked and be more than happy with a credit back to them and that's not a hard thing to do at all.

At the very least, when you use an image on your own website, add it via URL rather than right-clicking and saving the photo as your own or worse yet, if the photos are right-click protected, taking a screenshot and then editing the photos for your own personal use which is a more advanced form of thievery. Once you've added the photo, take the time to also caption it with the URL of the website you found the image on. Most of us are not going to mind the link back to our website at all - in fact, we like it!

And whatever you do, don't disparage the person that you stole the image from as that's just adding insult to injury!

As for finding my own photos on someone else's website this morning, I left the following comment which last I checked was still awaiting moderation and may very well never see the light of day but which I hope the blog author would address now that her "mistake" has been pointed out:

"Great post about one of my very favorite places in New England however, just one thing … some of the photos you used for the interior of the House of the Seven Gables were not “taken by less rule-adhering visitors than myself” but by someone who had permission to take them for use in a blog post about the property during the course of a personal guided tour by the museum’s curator with the director’s permission. I know because I took them for my travel blog “The Distracted Wanderer”. I really don’t mind that you used them though image credit would have been nice and being referred to as “less rule-adhering” was a bit of sting but I guess that’s what I get for not watermarking my photos. Live and learn, eh?

Anyway, all of that aside, I quite enjoyed your post as well as the one about the Peabody Essex Museum which is indeed a wonderful place."

I may be allegedly "less rule-adhering" but at least I'm polite!

Update: I took a look at the blog post in question today (Monday, 3/4/13) and am happy to report that the sentence containing the words "less rule-adhering" has been changed to "Unfortunately, interior photography during normal house tours is prohibited, but I’ve been able to find photos online which were taken by visitors who had special permission to take pictures." Additionally, image credit has been given below each photo with the words, "Photo courtesy of The Distracted Wanderer/Linda Orlomoski" There's no back-link to my blog but at this point, I am happy for the corrections to what I am going to chalk up as an oversight on the author's part in her original posting.

Yep, I am polite and gracious both!

"It Was the Best of Times, It Was the Worst of Times" - Yep, That's February!

noreply@blogger.com (Linda) — Sun, 24 Feb 2013 01:38:00 +0000

Well, I've been back from Florida for over a week now and we still have snow outside which is highly disappointing as I gave explicit instructions for it all to be gone by the time I returned from Orlando! Perhaps I didn't say it loud enough as it's threatening to snow yet again tonight. Enough already!

At least I've got some warm memories of my trip south two weeks ago which included a meet-up with the on-her-way-to-svelte Barb in Saint Augustine where the weather was absolutely gorgeous! It was great to see Barb again even though it was a quick visit before she had to make her way back to Georgia and Morgen and I went in search of spiral staircases.

We found our first batch of stairs - all 219 of them - at the Saint Augustine Lighthouse and Museum which, with a tower that's 165 feet tall, is a pretty good hike but we took our time and made it to the top for some absolutely gorgeous views of the area.

Normally I'm not keen on having my photo taken but I figured that climbing all the way to the top of my very first lighthouse was an auspicious enough occasion to have a photo snapped for posterity.

After climbing back down those same 219 stairs and touring the rest of the museum and grounds, we made our way south in need of some lunch after working up a good appetite and then followed that up with a nice stroll along the beach. The photo below is Crescent Beach which is a very, very wide expanse of sand! It was an absolutely gorgeous day to be there and I wish we'd had more time to spend but there were more spiral staircases calling our name further down the road in Ponce de Leon Inlet.

On our way there we passed this guy who seemed to be having a good time advertising Mulligan's. Hey, these days a job is a job so good for him for being enthusiastic about his!

Arriving at Ponce de Leon Inlet Lighthouse - Florida's tallest at 175 feet - we knew that this one was going to be even more of a challenge than Saint Augustine was as even though there are only 203 steps, they are much steeper and narrower. But Morgen and I were there to climb to the top so climb it we did !

It's a little hard to really get a good view of the stairs from this angle but this was taken from almost the top looking back down. The higher we went, the narrower and steeper the stairways got but again, we took our time and managed to make it to the top of the tower without being too out of breath!

Again I decided to forego that whole wrong-side-of-the-camera-lens thing and have my photo snapped while out on the balcony. It was a lot breezier there than it was in Saint Augustine and, with a narrower balcony deck, it was a lot skeerier, too! But again the views of the surrounding area were more than worth it as well as the chance to say, "I did it, I did it!"

Back on solid ground again once we had navigated the very steep stairs which were trickier going down than they were up, we had just enough time to check out the Fresnel Lens Exhibit before it was closing time. I have to say that I was in Fresnel Lens Heaven seeing that 16-1/2-foot tall First Order lens in person! What a magnificent piece of craftsmanship!

After our big day of climbing not one but two very tall lighthouses, Morgen and I took it easy on Wednesday and went to go see "Lincoln" at the local movie theater. I hadn't had a chance to see it yet and was so glad that Morgen didn't mind going to it again as I thought it was very well done. We finished up our night with appetizers and dessert at The Cheesecake Factory which was quite delicious and a real treat!

On Thursday, even though the forecast was threatening rain, we went to Universal Studios Islands of Adventure where I had a great time getting turned every which way but loose on several rollercoasters, became totally drenched on the Jurassic Park Adventure Ride, and had a chance to glomp onto Iron Man a little bit! Our last ride of the day was a spin on the Caro-Seuss-el because I just can't pass up a carousel - even if there's nary a horse to be found!

Unfortunately my time in Orlando seemed to fly by and all too soon it was time to come back to Connecticut and the realities of February which has included more snow, temperatures that are way too darned cold, and all the other the things that make February a rather sad month for me like the one-year anniversary of my good friend Cyndi's passing on the 17th and the ten-year anniversary of my father's death which is coming up tomorrow. I'm having trouble believing that it's been that long for either of them.

Cyndi and I at Lake Tahoe in April of 1997

Dad and one of his radio-controlled models that he built

Then, as if February couldn't be sad enough, last Saturday evening one of Morgen and Eyad's beloved fur-kids - Peter Pete - threw a blood clot and passed away the following morning following emergency treatment that could only ease his suffering and not prolong his life. I was happy to have had the chance to meet the little fella before his untimely death but that just made it all the more heartbreaking as Pete had rather reminded me a bit of Tesla and I quite enjoyed watching his interactions with Little Isis. Morgen and Eyad are both still hurting very badly from this sudden loss so if you've got a moment, please send them a good thought or two. For my money, I've got no doubt that Peter Pete has found his way to Cyndi as she was quite the cat magnet and he'll be well looked after in heaven but I know the guys would rather have him home with them.

Photo Credit: Morgen's Facebook Page

Finally, to end this post on an up-note, today I launched my very own photography website where I hope to maybe occasionally sell a print or two - hopefully at least enough to cover the nominal monthly hosting fee! LOrlomoskiPhotography.com was designed by Eyad and I think that he did a phenomenal job! It's very user-friendly for any potential customers and it's also easy for me to upload new photos and keep the content fresh. Until March 3rd, I'm offering a coupon good for 20% off the entire purchase which includes free shipping in the United States - not a bad deal if I say so myself! Should you find yourself over there and want to help a poor starving artist out (or at least help finance my next batch of wanderings!) use coupon code TAKE20OFF and I'll do just that!

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go back to wishing that this month - and winter - was over already as I try desperately to get my hands warm enough so that I don't have to wear finger-less gloves well working on the computer! I hope that your February has been good to you!

Goodbye Cold Weather, Hello Warm!

noreply@blogger.com (Linda) — Sun, 10 Feb 2013 20:06:00 +0000

Hmmm ... last year at this time I was out in California visiting my good friend Cyndi for what, most sadly, turned out to be the last time ever as she passed away shortly after I came home. This time, I'm going to Orlando to visit Morgen with the hopes that it won't be the last time I go to visit a friend in a sunny climate during the worst of winter.

And boy howdy did we get the worst of winter the other day when Storm Nemo decided to make its way into New England! In spite of all the references to Disney's Finding Nemo, the storm was actually named for Captain Nemo, also known as Prince Dakkar, a fictional character invented by the French science fiction author Jules Verne who appears in two of Verne's novels; Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (1870) and The Mysterious Island (1874).

The character of Captain Nemo is what's considered an antihero who simply roams the depths of the seas in his submarine, the Nautilus, and personally I would have preferred he remain doing just that rather than coming to the surface and landing in our backyards where in Norwich, Nemo deposited about 25 inches of snow. Ugh.

Granted, it was quite pretty in places when all was said and done but dang, was it ever a bear to shovel and some folks still aren't dug out. Needless to say, road crews have been overwhelmed and it's been a real mess but alas, 'tis New England in the winter and sometimes these things happen.

Of course, I would have been happier had it happened after I got on my flight to Orlando so I could have missed all of this but no such luck. The storm actually ended up pushing my flight back a day so rather than winging my way to sunny Florida last evening, I'll be leaving tonight instead. In about three-and-a-half hours as a matter of fact!

I was going to leave my Nikon home this trip and just use my iPhone for a few photos here and there but when Morgen made mention of the fact that there were a couple of pretty cool lighthouses not too far from his home, that plan went right out the window. Tomorrow we'll be driving up to Saint Augustine to spend the night there and as an added bonus we'll be meeting my friends from Massachusetts, Walt and Juli, for lunch at The Floridian before they catch their delayed-flight back to Boston.

As an added, added bonus - Barb is going to drive down from Valdosta and not just join us for lunch but she's booked the room next to ours at the Casablanca Inn On the Bay and will be spending the night also! I predict there will be some wine-drinking on our balconies and lots of laughter to go along with it!

I've got to say that it's pretty darned cool that I get the chance to visit a friend and add in even more friends while enjoying some warmer weather all at the same time. You can't beat that with a stick or - as the case has been the past few days - a snow shovel!

Hopefully by the time I get home on Friday, all of that up there will be gone or at least reduced to a more manageable level!

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to finish packing and then I am outta here! Oh ... and don't let me forget some sunscreen!

Blowing Through Briefly

noreply@blogger.com (Linda) — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 11:26:00 +0000

Yep ... I reckon that's about how things seem at this here blog but it's certainly not because I haven't been blogging as I've been writing about all kinds of things over at The Distracted Wanderer and Travels With Nathaniel. I'm finally starting to catch up on some of my adventures with Claire this past fall and as I took SO many photos, it's taking a lot of time to get 'er done. That and having multiple blogs is harder than it may seem!

So, things'll just continue to be quiet here I reckon until - at least for awhile longer but at least I'm providing a home for a lonesome tumbleweed or two!

What's New In Connecticut?

noreply@blogger.com (Linda) — Mon, 14 Jan 2013 21:54:00 +0000

To be perfectly honest - not a whole heck of a lot! Well, except maybe that earlier the temperature gauge in my car looked like this:

Unfortunately, the tiny bit of sun that we had to go along with it went buh-bye a bit ago and temperatures are going to steadily make their way back down to where they normally are in January. Hiss! Boo! Actually, a big "Hiss! Boo!" to the local weathermen who had said that the whole weekend was going to be sunny and mild and it ended up being foggy and drizzly. How is that no one has sued a weather forecaster yet? Surely there must be some sneaky lawyer out there who can build a case for dashed expectations and mental anguish for when nice weather is predicted and it's a total bust!

You would think that with all of their fancy-dancy Doppler radars and such that predicting the weather would be more of an exact science these days but alas, that does not seem to be the case and the best indicator is to still look out your window or - better yet - poke your head outside! And even then, there are no guarantees as Mother Nature is surely a fickle wench if ever there was one!

With the forecast definitely falling short this past Saturday, I set out in the drizzly fog to drive my cousin Amy and her niece Caitlyn up to Lexington, Massachusetts to see a bluegrass concert that Amy thought perhaps I would like. Based on the weather forecast, we thought it might be a good day to take a walk around the Lexington Battle Green so that I could get some photos for one of the other blogs I write (Travels With Nathaniel) but alas, it was like walking around in the tule fog out in California that sends a shiver down my spine whenever I think of it! Of course, I think tule fog tends to be thicker but I'm sure Sandee knows what I'm talking about!

After our foggy stroll around the soggy Battle Green, we took a drive over to Saugus so that I could check out an enormous Chinese place that I'd driven by numerous times and never stopped at. The Kowloon Restaurant has been a North Shore go-to place since 1950 - Barb can reminiscent about it with the best of 'em! The food was okay though not good enough to make the drive up there for it alone - unlike the clam chowder at Newick's Seafood House in New Hampshire! It might be worth a second try another time I'm up that way but we'll see!

After sharing a Pu Pu Platter, we made our way back to Lexington where the Gibson Brothers concert was being held at the National Heritage Museum. The show was sold out but the venue has great seats all the way around and we found some good ones in the back of the auditorium where I could record a few songs with my iPhone and snap a few photos and not disturb anyone. Not that it makes for the best visual quality mind you but the audio is pretty good!

This song that I'm sharing was the last one that the reigning IBMA 2012 Entertainers of the Year played at the concert, a Loretta Lynn and Shawn Camp song called "Dying For Someone to Live For". It was their first time playing it on stage and I thought they did a mighty fine job with it. See? I've gone to enough concerts now that I'm starting to pick up the lingo!

All in all, in spite of the not-so-great weather it was nice day and at least I wasn't driving in a blizzard or dealing with sub-zero temperatures! We usually get plenty of both in January so today I greeted the 56 degree reading on my car dial with a big smile and the knowledge that spring will eventually be here to stay - I just need to have some patience ... and the occasional hot beverage ... until it does!

This, That, and a Couple of Other Things

noreply@blogger.com (Linda) — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 18:01:00 +0000

First off, I am very pleased to announce that Officer Jonathan Ley was released from Yale-New Haven Hospital today and received a wonderful police escort home. Law Enforcement truly is a band of brothers and I'm sure that the support and encouragement will go a long ways towards Jon's healing and rehabilitation. Thank you to everyone for your prayers and best wishes sent his way!

It's an unusually mild and sunny January day here in Connecticut and as I look out the window and see the snow melting, I can't help but smile a bit. Don't get me wrong, I don't totally dislike snow and think it looks absolutely beautiful when it first falls but after it's been around for awhile, it rather loses a lot of its beauty and just needs to go! With a warm rain predicted for tomorrow and a weekend with temps in the high 50s on the way, most of what's left should be gone. I suspect we'll get more at some point unless we're going to have another unusual New England winter but we'll deal with that when the time comes. In the meantime, the sunshine makes me smile!

Last weekend I took a trip up to Salem so that I could then take a trip up to Kennenbunkport in Maine with my friend Juli, Amanda, and Juli's friend Anita who was a real delight to get to know. We were supposed to originally make the trip when Barb was up for Christmas but alas, the day that we were slated to go was windy and rainy and snowy depending on what part of New England you were in so we stayed in Salem and went to the movies instead.

This past Saturday was a beautiful sunny day so we took advantage of that and ventured north in search of hats and lunch! There's a small shop in Kennebunkport called Dannah that Juli had discovered this past summer and they were having a 50% off EVERYTHING in the store sale so who could resist? Amanda got a few things and I also picked up a nice hat for myself as well as a fascinator which I plan on wearing for tea at the Hawthorne Hotel should they decide to host a "Duchess Tea" for us older folks sometime in addition to the "Princess Teas" that they already do for youngsters. I quite love the whole concept of tea and what better place to wear a fascinator? After all, I can't quite wear it to work with my uniform!

Even with the trip up to Salem and Kennebunkport, I still managed to watch the rest of Season 2 of Downton Abbey so that I was ready and waiting with the rest of the country for Sunday night's Season 3 premiere. As a rule I don't watch a whole lot of TV but everyone kept telling me that I would totally love DA and after watching both seasons - thanks to a lovely Christmas gift from my cousin Amy - I can say that they were right and I do! I just hope it doesn't take that long to release Mr. Bates!

Of course now I have to wait patiently and watch each new episode when it comes on as I'd really rather not watch them online and skip ahead so far that it will seem forever before Season 4 comes out - as tempting as that may be!

Let's see, what else? Hmm, I got my hair cut today but am less than pleased with it as I really wasn't going for the Dutch-Boy-on-the-paint-can look but that's kind of what I ended up with. I told the gal cutting my hair that I needed it up off of my collar for uniform policy reasons but I don't think I meant THAT far up off of my collar! Thankfully it still grows fairly quickly and through the wonders of mousse perhaps I can make it look a little better but ew ... maybe it's a good thing I bought a hat in Kennebunkport along with my fascinator as I think I'm going to need it!

Ah well, speaking of work, I'm in for the evening shift today so had best think about getting some lunch and getting going. I switched shifts with a co-worker so that I could get to my allergy shots on Thursdays as I'm supposed to have them on Mondays and Thursdays but so far the process hasn't gone very well as the shots seem to cause me some wheezing and fatigue so the doctor is having to reevaluate the regime. With as many things as the testing indicated I was allergic to, I guess I'm not surprised - unfortunately. Truthfully, though, I'm kind of enjoying only working one 16-hour shift a week now rather than the two that I had been doing. Once you've done 16's, 8's are a real breeze and I still have three days a week off - not a bad deal at all!

Remembering and Praying For a Norwich Police Officer

noreply@blogger.com (Linda) — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 01:46:00 +0000

It's been over ten years since I wore those things pictured to the right but when I turned in that badge and put the tie clip and name tag away for the last time in August of 2002, I didn't put away my concern and feelings for the men and women that I once dispatched at the Norwich Police Department. Because of that, when I caught the news clip tonight declaring that a police officer had been shot during a stand-off at a Norwich residence, my blood ran cold.

At first it seemed rather unreal, like I had somehow managed to teleport myself back to Stockton, California where I first became a dispatcher and officer involved shootings were - sadly - quite common but the world has become a different place and things like school shootings, mall shootings, and officer-involved shootings can obviously happen anywhere. There's no such thing as "it'll never happen here" anymore as unfortunately it does and does so more frequently these days.

Photo Credit: Groton Police via Facebook

As of this writing, a stand-off is still underway at the location where a mentally disturbed man pumped five bullets into a young man who I fondly remember from his rookie days at NPD and beyond. Others know him as Officer Jonathan Ley but I always think of him as "The Monkey" as that became his nickname shortly after he came on duty. He was quick, he was smart, he was a decent bowler, off-duty he wore some pretty outlandish Hawaiian shirts, and he had a great sense of humor which you have to have if you're going to be a law enforcement officer.

No doubt, Jonathan is still all of those things and more - still a member of the Coast Guard Reserve, still someone with a great sense of humor, and still a darned good cop while also taking on the role of father to a son who no doubt idolizes him and who's going to wonder why daddy hasn't come home from work this evening and why somebody would want to hurt him.

Since I heard the news and found out who the officer was that had been shot, I have been hoping and praying that Jonathan will recover fully from his injuries; I've been hoping and praying for all of the men and women at Norwich Police - those I know and those I never met; and I have been hoping and praying that those who were sitting on the other side of the radio and heard those horrible words that we as dispatchers never ever want to hear are holding up okay. People always seem to think that this sort of stuff doesn't really affect the dispatchers like it does the field officers but I can guarantee you that it does - more than you will ever know.

Finally, I am hoping and praying that the world somehow manages to stop the downhill slide that it's on as this is not the legacy that we want to be leaving our children and grandchildren. And it's not just about gun control, it's about people who are mentally ill getting the help that they need - help that works and doesn't just put a band-aid on a serious injury.

God be with you, Monkey, as he watches over you, heals your wounds, and brings you home to the family that loves you. I may have been gone for ten years, but I've never forgotten.

Happy New Year!

noreply@blogger.com (Linda) — Tue, 01 Jan 2013 11:32:00 +0000

I do hope you all remembered to say "Rabbits! Rabbits! Rabbits!" out loud first thing this morning to not only insure a great month but a terrific year, too!

I did!

Weekend Catch-Up

noreply@blogger.com (Linda) — Mon, 31 Dec 2012 01:35:00 +0000

A few days ago I made my very last trek up to the North Shore for 2012 so that I could meet up with Barb who was spending the Christmas holidays with her family dearest in Tewksbury. After consulting her jam-packed calendar which was overflowing with fun family events, we determined that there was just enough time to spend a day in Salem. Go figure, huh?

With a rather dire weather forecast being predicted, I drove up to Salem on Wednesday evening (just beating the snow that started to fall in Connecticut a short time after I left) and then managed to talk Barb into joining me for two nights at the Hawthorne Hotel rather than just one. She reluctantly gave up her spot on the couch and I made the short drive over to Tewksbury to pick her up once again being just ahead of the bad weather!

Thursday dawned with lots of wind and rain so we skipped our planned drive up to Kennebunkport, Maine with Juli and opted instead to go see "The Hobbit" at the local theater. I think we both kind of fell asleep during different parts of the movie but not because of the movie itself but due to the late night/early morning we had before the movie! Following that we made our way back over to the Hawthorne and had a lovely long nap before meeting up with Walt and Juli, as well as her sister Mari-Ann and her husband Steve who were in town for a late Christmas celebration, for a delicious dinner in Nathaniel's.

Before we knew it, it was Friday morning and time for me to take Barb back to her sister Lynda's but not before we hit up Nathaniel's one more time for breakfast! I snapped the photo below of Barb on her iPhone with my iPhone - two accessories that we never seem to not have with us!

For those who haven't seen photos of it a million and one times over on Facebook, this is Nathaniel's - the more upscale restaurant at the Hawthorne Hotel. Even though it's upscale, it's not stuffy or snobby at all and it's easy to feel comfortable and relaxed all while being pampered by some real friendly folks who work as waitstaff there. Not to mention the food is really good!

Following breakfast, we got ready to check out but wanted to be sure to say goodbye to Juli who had yet to arrive at work. While we were waiting, Barb asked a couple of ladies who just happened to be from Norwich, Connecticut if they would mind taking a photo for us as we hadn't had any taken while we were together. Barb had met the ladies earlier and found out that they were there for a relative's funeral. It truly is a small world!

After dropping Barb off with a big hug back in Tewksbury, I made the drive home to Connecticut with a stop at the Market Basket grocery store in Oxford, Massachusetts close to the Connecticut border as they've got lots of things we don't have down here in Norwich plus their milk is only $2.49 a gallon as compared to the $4.09 a gallon here. Yikes! Add on the fact that I was having a hard time staying awake on the turnpike and I figured getting out of the car for awhile would be a good idea!

Yesterday I worked for 16 hours while outside snow was falling and Norwich was being covered in a blanket of white; the forecasters were predicting 6 to 8 inches - we ended up with 14! Someday they're going to get it right and I am going to be absolutely astonished! When I got home from work around 11:30, I spent a little time shoveling away some of the snow that had accumulated since Amanda had last shoveled and while doing so took the time to attempt a couple of photos with my iPhone being that it was so pretty out. These are those!

Today was another round of shoveling followed by a nice hot shower and just being lazy. As cold as it was outside, I thought that was a good plan! Tomorrow Jamie and I will be going to lunch with my friend Paula at the Olive Garden as I'm jonesing for some Zuppa Toscana and maybe a breadstick or two. Amanda is off to friend's house for a few days to celebrate New Year's so she'll miss out but she was there when I took the photo below the last time we were at Olive Garden when Claire was still here visiting. Wow, that seems so long ago but it really wasn't.

Anyway, after lunch it's back home and hopefully an early night as I've got to work a 16 hour shift on the first day of 2013 - lucky me! Ah well, the most excitement I ever have on New Year's Eve is to change the calendar and wonder where the past year got off to so it's not like I'm going to miss a party or anything!

Whatever your plans for New Year's Eve may be, I hope you have a great time and that the coming year is a fantastic one for all of us. I'm of the mind that 13 may just be a lucky number after all in spite of all that superstitious nonsense!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like ...

noreply@blogger.com (Linda) — Sat, 22 Dec 2012 13:29:00 +0000

... I'm not going to be ready for Christmas in three short days if I don't get my act together!

I woke up quite early this morning with visions of things I need to get done dancing through my head so as soon as my hair dries and I manage to pry myself off of this computer, I'm going to head out into the fray and take care of some of those things on the list. Oh boy. Shopping the weekend before Christmas. Definitely not one of my favorite things but it needs to be done.

As I am working for 16 hours on Christmas Day itself, I'm having some of my family over for an early dinner on Christmas Eve so that I don't feel like the holiday has skipped me by completely. For years now the extended family has gotten together on Christmas night at either my Aunt Eleanor or Aunt Nancy's houses but as I can't be two places at once and duty calls, I won't be able to make it this year hence my attempt to have a gathering of my own.

Right now I've got a spiral ham on the menu and have been kicking around various and assorted side dishes. I don't have a place where folks can sit and formally eat dinner so I'm trying to come up with good "lap food" choices which may include some sort of cheesy potato casserole, my grandmother's baked beans, and a few other dishes to be named later. I guess I'll see what inspires me once I get to the grocery store!

In addition to planning for that, I really ought to consider wrapping the few Christmas presents that I have as well as finish buying a couple of others. Truthfully I've been at a total loss as to what to get anyone this year but that seems to happen every year.

Back in the kitchen, I've got a couple of Chocolate Scotch Whiskey Cakes to make for work, an Eggnog/Gingerbread Trifle to put together for Christmas Eve dinner, and something else that I can't quite remember at the moment! I really need to start writing things down!

If I'm a good girl and manage to work my way through my list of "Things I Gotta Do" then I'm going to take myself to see "Lincoln" at the local theater which I just haven't had the opportunity to do yet in spite of the fact that I've really wanted to see it. Amanda and I did go see "The Hobbit" last week and I thought it was wonderful in spite of what the critics had to say about it being too long and too boring in places. Really? I must have missed those places because I didn't think it was boring at all - it was beautifully done!

So, ho ho ho, off to the stores I go! I hope that everyone has a wonderful weekend-before-Christmas and that your own to-do lists are ta-done and you can enjoy the spirit of the season without feeling like you forgot something!

"I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day"

noreply@blogger.com (Linda) — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 03:09:00 +0000

Most people who know me at all, know that I take great interest in most things from the Civil War so I guess it should come as no surprise that one of my favorite Christmas songs was written partially in response to the feelings of despair that particular war caused. In 1863, Cambridge, Massachusetts' poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow penned the poem "Christmas Bells" after his son Charles was severely wounded in the Battle of New Hope Church in Virginia during the Mine Run Campaign.

First published in February 1865 in a juvenile magazine entitled Our Young Folks, it wasn't until 1872 that the poem was set to music when the English organist, John Baptiste Calkin, used it in a processional accompanied with a melody he had previously used as early as 1848. The poem was set to several other melodies over the years but it has always remained a song that Ray Bradbury, in his 1962 novel Something Wicked This Way Comes, describes as "immensely moving, overwhelming, no matter what day or what month it was sung."

In light of last week's horrific events at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, the words seem even more moving and overwhelming than they were back in the dark days of the Civil War as people still reel from the shock and grief and despair that was wrought upon a small town with the taking of the lives of 26 innocent people.

"... And in despair I bowed my head;
"There is no peace on earth," I said;
"For hate is strong,
And mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!"

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The Wrong shall fail,
The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men."

If you've got a few free moments, please take the time to watch the embedded video which tells the whole story of Longfellow's epic poem and includes a marvelous performance by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. If you aren't in need of a tissue by the end, I will be utterly amazed.

I Will Never Understand, Nor Should I

noreply@blogger.com (Linda) — Sat, 15 Dec 2012 14:45:00 +0000

I woke up this morning and my brain immediately shifted to those people on the other side of the state who are waking up today - provided they were able to sleep - with their lives completely and totally changed by the actions of one young man with a gun, an action that I still cannot wrap my brain around. How did someone get to this point in his life? How did he ever come up with such an atrociously evil plan? And why?

But I guess those questions don't really matter as the act has been committed and many, many lives have been shattered and will never, ever be the same.

As I talked to Amanda about it yesterday, she said that perhaps it's a good thing that I can't understand this sort of thing; that even with all of my years working as a dispatcher in law enforcement and EMS that I'm still at a loss when things like this occur. And that's a good thing when you get right down to it.

I hope that none of us ever get to the point where we can understand the evil that men do or that we can justify it either. No matter what Adam Lanza had going on in his head, no matter how f'd up his own life was, there is NO justification whatsoever for what he did. If your own life is that bad then feel free to end it but please, don't take anyone else with you - especially innocent children who still believed in the goodness of a world that seems to be sliding downhill faster and faster.

My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone who has been affected by this horrific tragedy at the Sandy Hook Elementary School and whose lives have been shattered, a tragedy that I will never in all of the years of my life understand.

Contrary to What Is Probably Popular Belief ...

noreply@blogger.com (Linda) — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 01:31:00 +0000

... I have not exactly fallen off of the edge of the Blogosphere though it almost seems like that when I think about how long it's been since my last blog post! Suffice it to say that time has been flying by like a witch on a broomstick in October or a fat man wearing a red suit in a sleigh in December but 12-12-12 seemed like as good a day as any to finally pop in and say HI!

After six weeks of wandering around with Claire, I put her back on the plane to England almost a full two weeks ago and since then have not been able to get my act together long enough to do much more than occasionally post on Facebook or think about writing a blog post or two. Trust me, I've got plenty to write about along with plenty of photos to share but I apparently put my ambition and motivation on the plane with Claire as I can't seem to find them anywhere around the house. Hopefully if she finds them stashed somewhere in the things she took back with her, she ships them back posthaste but I have the sneaky suspicion she will keep them for her own use!

As for my Google Reader, I have honestly been afraid to even peek at the thing! I definitely think there will be some "mark all as read" action going on and then hopefully I can get back to visiting the folks who live in my computer (as Claire likes to put it) and see how your lives have been doing since I somehow found myself ridiculously busy!

I started getting my twice-weekly allergy shots last Monday (one in my right arm and two in my left) and have come to the conclusion that they kind of make me feel like I've been hit by a truck for a day after I get them. I'm going to have to talk to the folks at the allergist's tomorrow and let them know that "Yes, I have had increased wheezing, respiratory issues, and flu-like symptoms to report!" Those questions have to be asked before each injection though I'm not sure what impact it makes if you answer 'yes' versus 'no'. Guess I'll be finding out! I'm not at all sure how long it takes before one notices the benefits of the injections but I do hope it doesn't take too long.

Let's see, what else? Jamie will be coming back from visiting her Dad in Texas this coming Monday when - naturally - some winter-like weather is being predicted. I'm hoping it's more rain than anything else but with New England you just never know. Like they say, "If you don't like the weather, wait a minute!" We were fortunate with the weather for most of the time that Claire was visiting though we did get that hurricane and there was snow and rain and fog on occasion but for the most part, we had some pretty good conditions for traveling around the countryside. I am proud to say that I managed to get her to all five New England states while she was here - along with Pennsylvania and Canada, too! Wait till she gets the bill in the mail for my "travel guide services"!

This weekend promises to be a busy one as I'll be hosting what's become the annual Christmas party for the Dispatch and Scheduling Department wherein we all get together and drink and eat too much and which means I need to do a little extra cleaning before Saturday night! On Sunday Amanda and I are heading up to Cambridge to attend Afternoon Tea at Upstairs on the Square with my friend Juli and then from there we're going to a bell ringing concert by the New England Ringers at the Shalin Liu Performance Center in Rockport. The plan is to spend the night at Juli's in Salem and then head down to Providence to pick up Jamie on Monday. Hopefully the weather will cooperate for all of that!

Oh, and just to make things even more interesting, I'm taking Amanda to see "The Hobbit" at the midnight showing on Thursday night and hopefully attending the Canterbury Historical Society's Holiday Potluck on Friday night in my hometown. Somewhere in between there I'm supposed to work eight hours, too.

I think I have just worn myself out all over again just reading about the upcoming next few days! I think I may have forgotten that I am old and tired and that Christmas is now less than two weeks away! Yikes.

Let's close this with a YouTube video of the folks that we'll be going to see on Sunday that was filmed at a recent concert here in Connecticut; perhaps I'll get the chance to take a video or two of my own then and then hopefully I'll get a chance to share it with you!

Greetings From the White Mountains of New Hampshire!

noreply@blogger.com (Linda) — Sat, 24 Nov 2012 14:05:00 +0000

In our continued travels while Claire is over visiting from the United Kingdom, we've been spending the past few days as guests of the Sunset Hill House in Sugar Hill, New Hampshire and taking full advantage of as much as the region has to offer as possible - all within very easy driving distance!

Just a few photos to show you what I'm talking about!

We took a ride on the Mount Washington Cog Railway which, even though it only goes halfway up its normal route this time of year, was a great way to get some terrific views of the area.

We stopped by Echo Lake located in Franconia Notch at the base of Cannon Mountain.

We took a walk through the beautiful New Hampshire woods to see The Basin which has been formed by thousands of years of rushing water eroding the rock into a smooth, circular cave-like formation.

We drove through the New Hampshire countryside and took in some lovely views.

We took a drive to the small town of Bath where we found both America's Oldest General Store and New Hampshire's longest covered bridge.

And we drove over to Jackson Falls to take in the view there, too!

All in all, it's been beautiful and we're not done yet!

Visiting Pennsylvania - A Quick Weekend Recap

noreply@blogger.com (Linda) — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 18:30:00 +0000

Yikes! The time has been flying by since Claire arrived almost three weeks ago; it's hard to believe that her visit to the States is almost half over already but I guess that's because we've been pretty busy going and doing and going some more since her plane landed on October 17th. This past weekend found us down in southeastern Pennsylvania in search of food, friends, and a couple of things we really didn't expect!

Friday morning found on us the road heading east at approximately 6:30 a.m. in the hopes to avoid any traffic back-ups on our way to Pottsville, Pennsylvania and the home of the oldest brewery in America - the David G. Yuengling and Son Brewery. The plan was to meet up with Claire's friend Jenn who was driving over from Pittsburgh and go on the 1:30 tour before heading up to our hotel in Hazleton and figuring out what we wanted to do for the rest of the weekend.

Due to road construction and traffic tie-ups, we barely parked the car (in what I hoped wasn't an illegal spot!) in time to run into the brewery gift shop where the tours step off from. Due to the same problems, Jenn was a few minutes behind us and there was barely time to say 'hi' before we started out on our tour of the caves beneath the brewery

From the caves we then climbed to the upper levels of the brewery to the room where the hops and other ingredients to make the beer were cooked and with the change in altitude also came a major change in temperature - going from 47 degrees in the caves to a heck of a lot more than that upstairs. Because of that and because she hadn't eaten since the night before, Jenn barely had time to tell Claire that she was feeling dizzy before she passed out in front of us as I was suggesting that she sit down before she fell down. Had I been quicker, I might have been able to at least break her fall a little bit but as it happened so fast, Jenn was down on the floor before we could even blink and blood was pouring out onto the concrete.

One of the other folks on the tour called 911 while I rendered what aid I could and made sure that Jenn didn't try to get up again while trying to stanch the flow of blood with a small red hoodie from one of the two children that were on the tour. Fortunately, Jenn said that the floor was much cooler and she was fine staying there until the local ambulance service arrived, got her onto a backboard, and transported her to the local hospital which was only a few blocks away.

Claire and I filled out the accident report as best we could and then hustled over to the Emergency Department Waiting Room while Jenn was stitched up over her eye, given some IV fluids to rehydrate her, and a CT scan was taken to make sure everything in her head was where it should be. Thankfully it was and within two hours (a veritable miracle when it comes to EDs!), she was released and ready to roll ... though there was no way that we were going to have her drive her own car the 25 miles to Hazleton in the rain, the dark, and the traffic.

Enter in two more wonderful folks that Claire had met via blogging - Beth and her husband Cliff of Retroroadmap.com who live in Phoenixville. We had planned to meet up with them for dinner after our tour of the brewery but when Claire messaged Beth to let her know that there was a change in plans and that we'd have to cancel dinner, Beth immediately asked what they could do to help and drove the 2+ hours to Pottsville to drive Jenn's car to the hotel for us. What is that Blanche DuBois said in "A Streetcar Named Desire"? Oh yes, "... I have always depended on the kindness of strangers." Wow was that ever the case this past weekend!

Once we got to Hazleton, we all trooped over to a retro-diner/dive for a late dinner. Jimmy's Quick Lunch is a family-owned business that has been serving up hot dogs since 1937 and even though it might not look like much and most definitely fit the category of "dive", the food was pretty darned tasty and very reasonably priced!

After a good night's sleep for all three of us, Claire, Jenn, and I set out to do some exploring but not before we stopped at the Hollywood Diner and had a hearty breakfast as there was going to be NO passing out of any sort going on! Jenn and Claire had sausage gravy on a biscuit while I chose a childhood favorite, chipped beef on toast - though the waitress asked if I wanted it on a biscuit and I simply had to say "heck yeah!"

Following our stick-to-your-ribs breakfast, we drove about 25 miles southwest of Hazleton to the former town of Centralia where in 1962, workers set trash on fire in an abandoned mine and an exposed vein of anthracite coal also caught fire. Since then the ground beneath the former town with a population of 3,000 has been burning and everyone was relocated elsewhere - well, except for a small amount who refuse to leave. The 2006 horror film "Silent Hill" was inspired by Centralia and the video game has made it even more popular. Had I not gone to visit while we were so close, I'm sure that Amanda would not have approved!

I'll be writing more about our visit to the town on The Distracted Wanderer once I have a chance to fall back and regroup a bit but in the meantime, here are two shots and no, that's not Claire all pixilated checking out the smoke coming from the ground ... or is it?!?

From Centralia, we did a little more driving through the countryside eventually coming across a covered bridge that I simply had to take some shots of and then eventually winding up in Wyoming, Pennsylvania at another RetroRoadMap favorite - the Victory Pig. They serve what's called "Old Forge" style pizza which ended up not really being much to our liking (there's just something about having onions overpowering the taste of everything even hours later) so we decided that a stop back at the Hollywood Diner near our hotel was in order for some pie!

After saying goodbye to Jenn around noon on Sunday, Claire and I then wandered over to Lisa's house for a lovely afternoon visit with her and her delightful daughter, Megan. We had originally kicked around the idea of taking a drive around to some of the covered bridges in the area but as Megan had the sniffles and the weather wasn't exactly all that great, instead we sat in Lisa's living room eating brownies and beer bread with a delicious herb and spinach dip and just chatted for close to five hours. It was really a great way to end our visit to eastern Pennsylvania and I was happy to have had the chance to get together again with Lisa as well as give Claire the chance to meet her in person.

It was the perfect end to a not-quite perfect weekend but one that I'm sure Claire and I will remember for a long time to come!

On the Other Side of Sandy

noreply@blogger.com (Linda) — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 14:44:00 +0000

Wow. What a weekend.

First and foremost, I am happy to say that Claire, Amanda, and I made it through "Super Storm Sandy" just fine and dandy as we sat warm and comfy in Walt & Juli's living room in their Salem home which was built in 1795 and has survived more than its fair share of storms over the years. As the wind whipped around outside and whistled down the chimney, we were dry and warm, well-fed and quite happy to be sitting where we were.

Watching the news this morning and seeing the devastation along the New Jersey shore, the Connecticut coastline, and the streets of New York City, I am thankful that everyone I know is safe and sound and suffered no catastrophic losses but I know that there are a lot of folks out there whose lives will probably never be the same as they assess the damage that this super storm wreaked.

Personally I feel somewhat like we've all dodged yet another bullet and I am very grateful for that as the news reports certainly made it feel like the end of the world was coming and even though I was hoping that once again the news media would be wrong and just whipping everyone up into needless fear and frenzy, there was always the underlying fear that maybe this time they were going to be right and the sky really would be falling.

Even though forewarned is certainly forearmed, all of this "Boy Who Cried Wolf" weather-forecasting is a bit much. Yes - we all need to be prepared; no - we all don't need to be in sheer, bloody panic. And honestly, I don't need to see some news person and camera crew standing on the coast where the waves are furiously breaking over a seawall to grasp the fact that yes, we are having a storm and yes, the tide is higher than usual and things are getting dangerous.

Watching the news yesterday until I decided I'd quite had enough, I kept wondering whatever happened to responsible journalism and why we all have to see to believe rather than be able to use common sense to understand that it's not fit outside for either man nor beast. How do we get regular folks to stay home and away from dangerous areas when news stations are telling viewers to "send us your photos of the storm" and they're seeing news reporters standing out in the weather so why can't they?

I don't know.

Nor do I know where I'm going with this particular post as it was certainly never my intention to go from saying, "Hey, we're all fine here and heading home to Connecticut shortly" to grumbling about the media's coverage of Sandy but obviously I did! I guess I'll chalk it up to the surrealistic feelings of the last few days and the slight twinge of guilt that I feel at not having been at work to help out there though I have no doubt that my co-workers did a marvelous job in keeping the City of Norwich and surrounding areas safe.

For now I'm going to pack up the car and we're going to head home - thankful that we have an intact home to head back to, thankful that we had wonderful friends who shared their home with us during the storm, and more grateful than grumbeful no matter which direction this post took!

Greetings From the Roof of the Hawthorne Hotel!

noreply@blogger.com (Linda) — Sat, 27 Oct 2012 04:01:00 +0000

This weekend finds Claire and I in one of my very favorite places ever as it's the weekend of the big Halloween Ball at the Hawthorne Hotel where Claire will be doing her best Simon Cowell impression and even though there's a potentially major storm bearing down on us in the form of Hurricane (or Tropical Storm if you prefer) Sandy, Friday was an absolutely gorgeous day on the North Shore as evidenced by the following photos that were taken from the roof of the hotel.

View to the west and downtown Salem

View to the south, Hawthorne Boulevard

Essex Street and the Peabody Essex Museum

View to the east, the Custom House and Salem Harbor

View north with Salem Common on the right

The Salem Witch Museum and the Roger Conant Statue

I'm sure that Claire enjoyed the view of Salem that most visitors to the city will never ever get that was made possible by my friend Juli - hope you enjoyed it too!

From Boston On Beyond!

noreply@blogger.com (Linda) — Sun, 21 Oct 2012 01:05:00 +0000

Let's see if I can do a quick catch-up on what Claire and I have been doing since she arrived in the States on Wednesday evening and I left her standing abandoned at the airport while I sat in traffic in God-knows-where-downtown Boston because in spite of the fact that I had actually gotten to the airport on time, the parking lot for the international terminal was closed and I somehow ended up driving the wrong way and couldn't get turned around.

Have I ever mentioned that I hate driving in Boston??

After finally making my way back to Logan, I ran into the terminal and found Claire who was looking a bit lost and then it was off to Bangor where we spent the night in a cheap but comfortable Howard Johnson's Inn before setting out the next morning to stalk Stephen King's house ... or at least take some photos like the one below, more of which you can see at The Distracted Wanderer where I actually managed to write a short post for once!

After admiring the Mansion of the Master Macabre, we did some quick necessity shopping, grabbed lunch, and then continued east towards our next stop for several days - Lubec, Maine which is one of the most lovely little towns that I've seen in a long time and a great place to see several very cool lighthouses which - as anyone who knows me knows - I just love!

West Quoddy Lighthouse with some truly wonderful evening light to show it off in.

East Quoddy Light aka Harbour Head Light which is actually in New Brunswick on the northern end of Campobello Island where Franklin Delano Roosevelt had a lovely summer home. More to follow on all of that on The Distracted Wanderer once I've had a chance to catch up more.

As for those of you who are waiting anxiously to see a photo of Claire - anyone who knows Claire knows that she doesn't under any circumstances like to have her photo taken so don't expect to be seeing any full-on shots of her. That said, she did allow me to post the two of her below - enjoy!

Tonight we've landed in Hopewell Cape, New Brunswick where tomorrow morning bright and early we'll be setting out to explore some really cool stuff at Hopewell Rocks where we'll take a walk on the ocean floor and make sure we're safely back on land before the 42-foot tide comes back in. Trust me, there will be photos!

Let the Fun Begin ... In A Few Hours, More or Less!

noreply@blogger.com (Linda) — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 14:31:00 +0000

It’s funny how something that you’ve been planning for years and years can still somehow manage to catch you a bit by surprise when the event finally arrives even though while you were in the middle of the planning, you more or less felt like the day would never arrive when that which you were planning for so long finally happened.

That’s rather been the case with Claire’s second trip to the United States; a trip that we’ve been talking about for over four years and planning quite extensively for the past year. Through a major series of emails and Facebook messages we’ve plotted with meticulous detail the what/when/where/how/why of her jump across the pond and I’ve got to say that even though we’ve got things hammered down to almost the nth degree – it’s still rather surprising to me that the day has finally come when she’ll actually be here. But it has and in just over four hours, I’ll be tossing stuff in the car in the hopes that I’ve not forgotten anything important as I set out to first pick up Claire at Boston’s Logan Airport and then we head north to Maine and further on to New Brunswick, Canada in search of the world’s highest tides at Hopewell Rocks.

Wow. How did that actually get here so fast? Well, sort of fast, but not really I guess when I look back over the past four years and all of the planning that has gone into this trip – as well as the others that we have planned while Claire is here. I get the feeling that the next six weeks are simply going to blow by and I’ll be sitting on the other end of Claire’s journey wondering “Wow, how did the time go by so quickly??”

In the meantime, though, I’m watching the clock creep ever so slowly towards the time when I can get out of work, say good-bye to my co-workers until next Wednesday, and wrap up a few small errands before loading up the Caliber, dropping Amanda off in Quincy at a friend’s for her weekend plans, and then continuing on to the international terminal at Logan to await Claire’s arrival and the start of Phase One of our big adventure.

And trust me, time is moving awfully slowly right now!

The British Are Coming! The British Are Coming! Well ... One of Them At Least!

noreply@blogger.com (Linda) — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 02:15:00 +0000

Ever since I had the pleasure of first meeting one Miss Claire Rachel Pitt a bit over four years ago, we've been planning on her coming back over to the States for another visit. We've talked about places to go, things to see, people to meet while tossing out one itinerary in favor of another several times over but with only two weeks before that long-awaited and much-talked-about visit actually becomes a reality, I think we have finally settled on a rather busy agenda which will pretty much fill up every moment of the six weeks that Claire will be a guest in the United States. Six weeks packed full of activities and honestly, we could have probably easily planned out another six weeks chock full of things to do and still had more left over on our list!

So, what do we have on that oft-changed, rearranged, and busy agenda? Read on and you'll see that I need to put vitamins on the top of the list of things I gotta pack!

October 17th - While on her side of the Atlantic Ocean Claire will arise at the crack of dawn, get herself to the airport, and travel back through time as she hurtles towards Boston at about 500 miles an hour, I'll be doing my usual work routine having hopefully gotten all of my packing done so that when quitting time comes I can run home, change clothes, toss my suitcase in the car, and head north to greet her on the other side of Customs with her requested "coffee and vodka". Lots of coffee, a little vodka, and maybe one of those silly little signs with her name on it just to make her feel important. Hmmm, wonder if I can find a limo driver's hat by then??

Once we've got Claire's cases tossed in the boot along with mine, I'll point the car north and set out for Bangor, Maine about 4 hours northeast of Boston. Upon arrival we're going to check into a cheap motel that will hopefully at least be clean and comfortable, let Claire attempt to sleep off some of her jet-lag, and then head out bright and early the next morning for an early morning jaunt past the home of horror writer extraordinaire Stephen King who reportedly has some wicked cool gates that I just gotta get a photo of!

October 18 -19th - After hopefully not being arrested as stalkers, we are then going to continue through Maine to the most northeastern town in the United States - Lubec, Maine. While there we will be staying for two nights at the lovely Peacock House, a historic bed and breakfast overlooking the Bay of Fundy! While there we've got lots of exploring planned including a tour of the local lighthouse that has long been on my list of lighthouses to see!

October 20 -21st - Passports in hand we're going to continue heading east and cross over the Canadian border driving through New Brunswick to Hopewell Rocks - home of the world's highest tides. During our time in Canada, we'll be guests of the Innisfree Bed and Breakfast who have promised to make sure we see all there is to see in the area - sending us out with our bellies full from a hearty breakfast first.

October 22nd - 23rd - Leaving the wilds of Canada behind, with hopefully the closest encounter with moose or bear being from a safe distance, we'll start homeward bound stopping first for a night in the area of Acadia National Park with the hopes of catching the sunrise from the top of Cadillac Mountain before we make our way back to Connecticut.

October 24th - 25th - Claire will hang around the house chatting with the girls and keeping Tesla company while I go to work for a few days and rest up for the next phase of our wanderings.

October 26th - 28th - Back to Massachusetts and the North Shore where Claire will get her first glimpse of my beloved Salem - right smack at the peak of the Halloween madness that is the hallmark of Salem in October. We'll be staying at Chez Lederhaus - home of my friends Walt and Juli whom I can't wait for Claire to meet and vice versa. On the 27th of October Claire will be doing her best Simon Cowell impression as she takes on the role of judge at the uber-cool Hawthorne Hotel Halloween Ball. As she gets to take a guest, that will be me along with my trusty Nikon and I'm sure it will be just as much fun - if not more so - than last year's Halloween Ball. Hopefully there won't be any snow this year but you just never know!

October 29th - November 1st - Back in Norwich, Claire has talked me into a visit to Dark Manor which is supposed to be THE #1 haunted house in Connecticut. Fortunately it's located not too far from home so in case anyone needs to change clothing before heading out to the Harp and Dragon for a pint afterward, it will be easy enough to just pop by the house! I'm sure that on Halloween night, Amanda can find something spook-tacular for Claire to do - zombie makeovers may be included!

November 2nd - November 4th - We'll be trundling southwest to Hazleton, Pennsylvania and staying at the Ramada while meeting up with one of Claire's blogging buddies from Pittsburgh as well as Lisa and her Macs (both big and little!), whom I have already had the pleasure of meeting up once a few years back - of course, that was pre-Little Mac! I believe a coal mine tour and a tour of America's oldest operating brewery are on the current agenda while there, as well as meeting up with Mod Betty from Retro Roadmap who is going to point us in the direction of some of the true Americana that Claire craves!

November 5th -10th - Back in Connecticut for a breather while I'm once again off to work and Claire keeps the home fires burning as she prepares some Doodologist-type things which she'll be attempting to peddle at a craft fair in Rhode Island being held at the Scottish Rite Masonic Lodge in Cranston from 10am to 3pm on November 10th. We've rented a table at the annual event sponsored by the Rhode Island Chapter of the National MS Society and I'm sure as long as we have Claire do all the talking and mention that the crafts are from England, she'll sell out completely!

November 11th - Off for tea and luncheon at Mrs Bridges' Pantry in South Woodstock with Princess Patricia of Ansonia in the Valley and my friend Paula who is an amazing art teacher and occasional distracted sidekick joining us. Mrs. Bridges is an authentic British tea room but we won't know exactly how authentic until Claire gives it her authentic British seal of approval! I anticipate a jolly good time though I still think we should consider wearing proper hats!

November 12 -14th - A little more hanging around in Norwich while I work and Claire possibly meets up with another blogging chum of hers from nearby New London.

November 15th - 19th - Back up to Salem and the lovely Hawthorne Hotel for five awesome nights with lots of wandering planned so that I can show Claire exactly why I love the North Shore as much as I do. Depending on if we can fit it into the schedule, we might even get down to Plimouth Plantation for a visit with the Pilgrims if our timing works out and we don't get distracted visiting too many retro-diners and sampling pie and coffee while Claire checks out one lunch counter after another and drops the occasional quarter in a jukebox. Diners, drive-ins, and dives are definitely on her list of "must-sees"!

November 20th - 25th - Off to the lovely Sunset Hill House located in the White Mountains of New Hampshire for five nights of ... free! As Claire says, "Who says social media doesn't get you lovely things?" Again lots of things penciled in, but nothing concrete other than helping them to decorate for Christmas and being able to take advantage of all the wonderful hospitality of the innkeepers and their staff as we take on the role of "embedded Facebookers". Make sure you like their page, Sunset Hill House on Facebook, as we'll be live-blogging on both their page and ours during the time that we are there.

November 25th - 26th - Before heading home to Connecticut we'll be spending one night in a place that has been on my bucket list for a very long time, the beautiful Omni Mount Washington Resort which is a member of Historic Hotels of America as it has a truly impressive history - one that Claire and I will be learning all about on our private tour of the resort on Monday morning. As excited as I am about everything else - and trust me, I am! - I am really looking forward to our one night in Bretton Woods as it will be the perfect way to end our whirlwind touring of the northeast.

We'll be arriving back in Connecticut probably late in the day/evening on the 26th with just enough time for me to catch a few hours sleep before it's back to work for me and a couple days rest for Claire before I have to take her back up to Boston and Logan Airport on the 29th so that she can climb on a plane and jet back to jolly old England. Provided she manages to get back through Customs of course!

Like I said, Claire's going to be here just about six weeks and I've got no doubt that the time will fly but hopefully not so fast that we don't get a chance to enjoy all of the things that we've got planned. And yes, we do have a lot but you should see the list of things we had to shelve for another time! Yikes!

Hopefully Claire won't wait another four years before she gets back here so we can start work on that next list but in the meantime, I also want to start working on my own list of things I want to see in England as it's my sincere hope to get over there before Claire gets back over here. Provided she doesn't like it so much that she finds a job and moves over permanently! If that happens, we'll be making even more lists!