Published!

Here it is. My 'Diamonds in the Rough' post has finally been published in the November issue of the Piano Technician's Journal.Of course the cover has absolutely nothing to do with my one page story inside. I had done a slight rewrite, the editor changed some stuff. All in all not a too bad result. Missing a bit of heart, though, in the final draft.
A couple other errors..........but yippeeeeeeeeee!

Now one more to go. My contribution to the Tools, Tips, & Techniques section.

Wicked Witch of Rockport

A happily haunted Halloween to you!

My Horrorscope

Wow. I don't really believe in these things but, wow.

(Oh yeah, the title word play is intentional)

So, back to wow.

Gemini (May 21 - June 20)
Your talents and abilities should be used to the fullest on things that could have a good effect upon your material circumstances. You have what it takes to derive returns from more than one source.

Certainly the stars don't expect me to take on yet another 'job'! Number four? I think not.

******************************

I've added another painting to the Cellar Studio. It's an 8 X 10 oils of the Bluenose II, an adaptation from a newspaper photo. It won't be making the craft fair rounds. Don't know what will happen with it. Just felt like painting.

A Chill In the Air

It's autumn and it's getting cold here in New England. I don't like the cold. While 'A' and I were out for a brisk walk the other day, I made this comment.

"Maybe this winter we ought to find ways to enjoy the cold and snow."

Quite straight-faced she replied, "I don't think that will happen."

Okay, so maybe it wasn't such a stellar idea after all.

I haven't much news. Once again I am swamped with work. I realize that I am very fortunate to be able to say that during these economic times. I'm also debating calling about another local craft fair. I think I will. It's not too expensive and I do need to get out there with the stuff again.

Last weekend brought not only the USS Hall to Rockport, there were many festivities for the second annual Harvest Festival. Rockport shops dressed up and held a scarecrow contest. Interpersed throughout this post are some of the creations.Some were quite clever
Here's 'A' checking out one.Some were more ghoulish than others.Some were geared towards either our seacoast location or maybe our sailor visitors.And one was in keeping with our artsy side.Which is your fave? Bikini gal, hippie, farmer, fancy lady, scared-dead, sailor, or artiste?

(note: I haven't a clue what all this will look like when published. I'm trying a different layout mode for the pics, and well, who knows what will happen!)

Some of the Nicest People

Hope restored. There are thoughtful people! Okay, I know that there are plenty of them but sometimes it doesn't hurt to have a personal reminder.

During all the activities of last weekend, my mother lost a necklace that my father had given her 35 years ago. She was very upset about it. It was three, small, gold charms on a delicate gold chain. An anchor, a cross, and a heart. Faith, hope, and charity. She had come down to town to Tuck's when I was working to tell me of the loss. While there she spoke with an officer off the USS John L. Hall telling him that she may have lost it while touring the ship - just in case. Well, he took off his hat, pulled out some notepaper, and using the top of his hat as a writing surface, took her name, phone number and a description of her necklace.

The Hall left our area and headed out for training on it's way back to Mayport, Florida. It arrived in Mayport yesterday and will be there for a few months of repair work.

Today my mother's phone rang. It was the captain from the USS Hall. He was calling to let her know that he had had the crew looking for her necklace during their four day trip south, but they had not found it. How considerate of him to do this! His call meant so much to her. We're going to get the mailing address for the Hall and send a thank you note (along with a couple boxes of taffy!)
We love the officers and crew of the USS John L. Hall.

Sometimes I Hate Where I Am

Not always, but this evening has been extremely frustrating.

A couple months ago, a friend told me that the local parent-teacher group has a holiday fair. The friend thought that I'd be interested in participating. I sure was and I went online to the school site to check out the calendar. It was still the calendar for the last academic year but I did see that the fair, last year, had been held near the end of November. Once school had gotten underway for this year, I checked the site again. I found the date for the fair and also the contact email for the prez of the organization. On September 26, I sent an email to her expressing my interest in renting a table and asked that she send me the info as soon as it was available.

So far nothing from her.

But last night I did receive an email from my friend with some updated information, contact person directly involved with the table rental and phone numbers for both the table rental person and the prez.

This morning I phoned the rental person, AK (just realized that her initials are the abbreviation for the state of Alaska...bad omen). Another bad omen is that she used to be a newspaper customer. One that never paid on time. One that I had canceled for non-payment (4 or more weeks delinquent) several times. Oh well and anyway...I left a message on her machine and she called me back this evening.

There are no tables available. They've all been reserved. There is a waiting list. If I pay the $40 fee immediately, I can reserve spot 6 on the waiting list. Not knowing exactly what to say, I told her I'd have the money to her tomorrow. I hung up.

Then I started thinking. Hey, wait a minute. Number 6? I had contacted the organization nearly a month ago! Maybe I deserved better? So I called the prez to remind her that I had emailed her and basically whatthe___ (but politely, of course). I got her answering machine and left a message explaining and requesting that she call me back. That was at about 5:30 p.m.

She hasn't. Yet.

Sigh. What to do?

First the screwy Firehouse Trust fairs this past summer. On then off then changed. The last one never happened even though it was listed in the events in the newspaper and the sign was in the window of the building.

Yeah, I know we are literally at the end of the line. We're an island. The attitude is that we are different, special. Need I add irresponsible, inconsiderate?

Right now I just sooo hate where I am. (don't worry, I'll get over it)

My Inbox

SPAMMED!


Good day
Wednesday, October 22, 2008 3:55 AM
From:
"John Mccain Organization"
Add sender to Contacts
To:
undisclosed-recipients
John Mccain Organization, Alaska
London/Germany Extension Office
Uited Kingdom
Address:Buckingham Palace
London SW1A 1AA.

Revised 21/10/2008
JOHN MCCAIN FOR AMERICA:

This electronic mail is to inform you that you have won the sum of £500,000.00
[FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND POUNDS STERLING (GBP)] in the just concluded UK/Germany
John Mccain campaign [CHARITY] extension network held in London.

Participants were selected through a computer voters ballot system drawn from
a pool of over 800,000 names drawn from Europe, America, Asia, Australia,
Middle-East and parts of Africa as part of our international charity program
conducted to encourage the supporters of President John Mccaine — REPUBLICAN
John Mccain.

The result of our computer voters draw (#978) selected your email address
attached to:
Voters Card Number: 58775600545
Serial Number : 3168/10.
----
You have been approved to claim a total sum of £500,000.00 [FIVE HUNDRED
THOUSAND POUNDS STERLING (GBP)] which will be paid to you through an ATM SWIFT
CARD. The card center will send you an atm card which you will use to withdraw
your money in any part of the world.

Contact the remittance department below to process/forward your prize to you.
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Please provide him with the below information for verification:
Voters Card Number: 58775600545
====================
FILL THE FORM BELOW:
====================
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CAMPAIGN MANAGER,
JOHN MCCAIN CAMPAIGN COMMITTEE.
Copyright ©, 2008 UK/GERMANY JOHN MCCAIN ORGANIZATION INC.

Sail Away

It's a done deal. The USS John L. Hall be leaving our waters tomorrow morning to head for southern warmth at their home port of Mayport, Florida, and there will be a small remembrance of their stay in Rockport going with them. The big news I've been hinting at - my little painting of Motif #1 as seen from T-Wharf will be with them. RocNavCom gave the USS John L. Hall my painting for the ship's library!

WOOOOOHOOOOO! I'm sooo thrilled about this.

Thank you so much, RL and SG (RocNavCom).

Anchors Aweigh

Wow, are we ever glad that we toured the USS John L. Hall yesterday. Today a brisk northeast wind was blowing and all ship tours were canceled. Things really started to pick up weather-wise last night and several sailors ended up unable to get back out to the ship. They slept at our church, the yacht club and in cells at the police station! So here's a last view of the Hall peeking past Motif #1.This evening she was moved to a calmer seas location in Gloucester. Most events for the crew will still be held. They will transport everyone from the ship over to Rockport. There will be no more civilian tours. The veteran's tour that was supposed to happen today has been rescheduled for tomorrow in Gloucester.

This afternoon I volunteered at the Drop-In Center for the crew. I was there from 2:30 until 6. It was a blast! Here's a picture. In the right foreground is RL of RocNavCom having a bit of a rest.After the Drop-In Center, I went home and picked up 'A' to go watch the softball game between the crew of the Hall and Rockport's police/fire departments.The second annual game was as cold as the first! The young sailor above was such a cutie in his shorts and heavy knit knee-highs! It made him look like he had knickers on. My mom met us down there and we all cheered for the Navy guys. After the fourth inning, mom went home and 'A' went with me back to the church Drop-In. The Navy guys had used the church for changing in to their game attire and needed to get back in after the game. Also there was a lot of food stuff that needed to be packed away or loaded for transport to tomorrow's Drop-In location and also out to the ship. It ended up that 'A' and I helped pack up and then close up the church. In the process we found a bag of clothes that had been left behind! So......we carted them out to my truck and headed for the American Legion Post where SG (co-chair of RocNavCom) and some of the crew were relaxing for an hour or so. Once parked outside, I called SG on her cell phone to let her know what was up. We then each made two trips around the outside of the building trying to find each other! I finally gave up and stopped by the door and waited. She circled back and all was well! 'A' thought it was great fun hanging out with the sailors.

And for the second year Rockport beat the Navy. The Navy photographer and I talked back at the Drop-In. Evidently the fourth inning score of 25 - 11 left the Navy in a tough spot to catch up. Final score was Rockport 30, Navy 15. It's hard to practice softball on a frigate!

Ahoy!

Well, this morning 'A' and I roamed about town for a couple hours. It was a bright, crisp, clear, autumn day. I took lots of pictures because it is Rockport's Fall Festival weekend so some of the shops were very dressed up. I'll post some of those next week. We also went down T-Wharf and spoke with the co-chair of RocNavCom (RL) and the harbormasters (RL and SS). Oh yeah, RL and RL are married. Anyway, that part's not important. We did find out that tours of the ship were being conducted from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. Unfortunately, 'A' had to go to work and missed out on a ship tour. RocNavCom's RL confirmed some nifty news that I will share with you all in a couple days.

'A' was dropped off at work at 2 p.m. and then I picked up my mom and headed for town. We were going aboard!It was a pleasant, rolling ride aboard the Privateer out to the Hall, anchored about one mile out in Sandy Bay, just inside the breakwater. We approached the Hall on the leeward side and tied up to the large water barge. We disembarked the Privateer on to the rolling barge. From there we ascended the steep 'stairs' to the John L. Hall.The Hall is 453 feet long. One of the smaller ships of the US Navy. She has a crew of approximately 200. In comparison, the battleship USS Alabama is 680 feet and had a crew of over 2500, the aircraft carrier Lexington was over 800 feet with over 4500 crewmen. The John L. Hall has an abundance of computer controlled 'detecting' devices and every type of radar imaginable. We toured the forward deck, wheelhouse, mess hall, combat control room, radar room, and electronics area. Also, we spent time looking down in to the massive engine room and had a tour of one of two helicopter hangers. Mounted on the upper aft deck was a very large gun capable of firing 1500 rounds per minute! Sorry the picture is poor but we were facing into the sun. And all the while we were there, and 24 hours 'round the clock while the ship is at anchor, the patrol boat circles. One sailor at the wheel, the other manning his automatic rifle!Keeping an eye on everything, particularly any boats that venture too close! They kept a watchful eye on the ship tours, as well, and it was a bit unnerving photographing them while they watched me. (click to enlarge this photo and you'll notice the helmsman taking a long look in our direction) There were continual patrols on deck, as well.

*********************************

In other news.

My Thacher Island News (newsletter) came in the mail today. I was surprised to find this article on page two. (surnames deleted by deb for this post). Click on the photo to enlarge.All in all a super day!

Our Ship Has Come In

The USS John L. Hall (FFG-32) is a guided missile frigate. She's now anchored for the weekend in Sandy Bay, Rockport's outer harbor. Here's a photo from the end of Bearskin Neck.This marks the second year that the Rockport Navy Committee (RocNavCom) has brought a ship to the Sandy Bay Harbor of Refuge (as it was once known). The tradition of a navy ship visiting Rockport each year began long ago after plans for Sandy Bay being the home of the United States Atlantic Fleet never panned out. After many decades the visits stopped. And now, thanks to the hard work of the committee and the citizen volunteers of Rockport, the tradition has been renewed.

I told you I would have fun this weekend! Many events are planned for the crewmen and I will be attending and volunteering at some of those. It will be busy at the end of T-Wharf with the whale-watch boat the "Privateer" transporting groups of sailors, veterans, and the public back and forth to the ship.Here's a picture (below) of the "Privateer"(pictured above) as it approaches the USS John L. Hall. Gives you some idea of the size of the Hall.

Take a look at the RocNavCom website link above to see what will be going on. Check back here for some pictures and news over the weekend. Tonight is a welcoming party for the officers from the Hall, Rockport town officials, and RocNavCom.

That Spooky Kinda Feeling...

Just in time for Halloween!

We need to travel back a few years. Back to February 2005. Things were a bit weird then, with my name and contact info having been posted on some raunchy message boards. The Internet version of the bathroom wall. Beyond not being amusing, it can also be quite dangerous. You never know who may be out there........nearby. What they might do. It was at that time that I started receiving obscene phone calls and hang-ups. All from numbers originating in Louisiana. There were a total of six different numbers, repeated calls from several. One afternoon, while I was working in the shop, I decided to try answering one of the calls again. Just to see if they would hang up. Another mumbling of obscenities. I hung up. The phone rang again, nearly immediately. Same number. I didn't answer. This time he left a message. A few minutes later, the phone rang again. Same number, similar disgusting message.

And again, again, and again. No more messages. Just hang-ups. All from the same Louisiana phone number. This guy was mad.

The phone didn't stop ringing. It was continual. The guy must have been dialing, letting it ring a couple times, hanging up and dialing again. Over and over. Eventually I took it 'off the hook' for the rest of the afternoon. After dinner I connected it again and all was fine. I took the recording from the answering machine to the police. They agreed that it was caused by my info being 'out there' and we knew who was responsible. I researched the numbers. Most came from cell phones.

We came to denote the series of phone calls as the 'Louisiana Calls'. After one month they ceased.

October 6, 2008. The phone rang and I checked the caller id. The number showed up with the designation underneath: 'Louisiana Call'

What?

Now, actually, I'm not really spooked by the phrase showing up on my caller id. I'm just finding it quite curious. My system displays the number and name, or number and state only, or private, or out of area. It does not use MY coined phrases!

Oh yeah, the call was from a cell phone.

Mom's Gone Nuts

Yes, here she is vacuuming the front lawn! She's vacuuming up all the acorns. It is soooo much easier than trying to rake them. Oh, for the little bits of humor we can still find.

I mowed yesterday. She vacuumed today. A nearly impeccably neat yardscape.

Next weekend I promise to have much more fun. You'll get to know all about it!

And It Continues

If you haven't yet read it...read my last post before this one!

I was sitting minding my own business, working on necklaces this afternoon, when.....

these two flew by the window,on our back 'common way' and down the neighbor's driveway. Now I'm really pissed off (sorry, at least I didn't swear). So I watched, waited, photographed, and verbally assaulted one of them on his second time around. They quit for the day.

So, today's total....they nearly ran head first in to the front end of a neighbor's car as the neighbor was returning home from work. I heard one kid remark, "aw, that was a close one." And they have once again trespassed on private property.

The pictures show them on the public road in front of our house. These kids are only about 9 or 10 years old, tops.

Another One?

I have never lived in an area where there have been so many self-centered individuals. Maybe it's a symptom of the times. At first I thought that it was parents not being parents. You know the type, have the kids and then let them do whatever pleases them. We have 4 or 5 on our street that think they own the neighborhood. They choose to cut through anyone's yard, play wherever, ride their motorized scooters (yes, motorized, and they travel faster than the cars on the road) and the like on anyone's property, and then look at you like your nuts when you politely tell them it's not acceptable. I'm amazed that there hasn't been a major disaster. On several occasions I've had to come to a complete stop with my car as one or more children have been approaching from the opposite direction, in the middle of the road, at about 20 mph, looking behind them at their friends rather than the direction they are heading. And who do you think would get blamed if there were a resulting accident?

So, we've done what we could to discourage them. They have been told (numerous times) to stay off our common way. We have a small 'road' behind our property which joins with our neighbor's driveway and the general public tries to make it an official road. It isn't. We own it and our neighbor's own their driveway. Sheesh.

Anyway, this bunch of kids hate us.

But wait, there's more!

Over the past several months, our neighbor across the street has been renovating their property. Inside and out. There have been trucks, big ones, maneuvering about to get on to their property. Not a problem except that they have torn up and rutted a rather large section of land in front of our house as they have twisted and turned massive tires. Our property. We like to keep it nice looking. My dad had cleaned up and seeded the whole bit so that it would be easy to mow and look neat. The workers had made a mess, created a mud hole. We had lost soil to the deep treads of the tires. Their trash was strewn about.

We were not happy. We had thought that maybe they would fix the mess they had created on our property. If it had been us or guys working for us that had damaged their property, we'd have been there with fresh soil and seed....and an apology.

No such luck.

So a couple days ago I headed to the front, rake and shovel in hand, and at least got it smoothed out. I also strategically placed some large granite boulders along the edge of our property so that my hard work would not be destroyed. (note: these pieces of granite had been there years ago but we had given permission to have them moved aside when a developer was bringing in house sections. we hadn't moved them back. mistake.) Guess what? We got grief from a neighbor about the rocks. This person had wanted to park there while some work was being done on his driveway. Well, park in front of your own house, I say. Pull in to your own yard and mess it up, not ours. Oh no, that can't happen. He's put a fence up so that people can't park in front of his house!

I just don't get it.

So...the kids hate us, one neighbor that my mom had given many garden plants to no longer speaks to us (huh? haven't a clue as to why), another's dogs aren't allowed to use our yard as their bathroom, and a third is angry that we don't want our property damaged. Then there's the one that we "threatened" by telling them that their dog was barking ALL DAY.

I think we have one household left that might like us.

I've never, never, never had neighbors like this!

Quirky Bot Thingy

Those of you that have been computing for more than a week understand that search engines have little bot thingies that run around the vast internet world and find all those keywords, images, video clips, and sound bytes on web sites, blogs, and the like, and those search engines save and store their findings just in case someone just might want to know about something. So when you take a look at, say, the ClustrMap on this blog you may wonder why some folks have stopped by for a visit. Granted the new map doesn't show much, but last year's was pretty good.

I decided to investigate and here's some things I found out recently. Mentioning Mel Gibson got my blog as a result in quite a few searches, as did Newburyport. The funny one was the person who had used the words harmony AND squirt as the keywords in their search. Even Google's bot showed up in it's travels! Mentioning Sarah Palin got me nowhere. Too many hits in a search, I guess.

It sort of makes me want to tease the bots. A post of just interesting likelihood to be hits keywords. Will me saying that I have an interest in Cuban architecture get me any new and interesting readers? How about my love of classic ragtime? If you are out there folks, come and visit!

It's In The Numbers

One - the molar that I had repaired this morning. The dentist did a bonding on it. It cost more than I'd like but had to be done. I had cracked off about one fourth of it just over a month ago.

Two - the number of trips I had to make to ship one set of keys. I ran to the shipper's on Monday morning before I going to work at Tuck's. Things were not going well there. The computers were giving error messages and then freezing up. The keys needed to get on their way, so I left the box there with approximate payment. This morning I had to go back to make sure all was well, get my receipt, and pay the balance due.

Three - the number of days that required setting my alarm clock this week. I hate the alarm waking me up. Okay, it doesn't actually. I wake up on my own, far too early, in anticipation of the alarm going off. That's just totally annoying.

Four - times that I played the first two pieces on the "No Boundaries" CD (the 5 Browns) while I was working on a set of keys today. Of course that was Gerswhin's "Rhapsody in Blue" and a malaguena that I can't remember the specifics of!

Five - the nickel I found on the sidewalk in town. Add that to the quarter of last week and I'll never be rich!

Six - not a good omen for my ex. It was his 66th birthday on Monday the 6th. Hmmm, 666. But then, I'm not superstitious.

Seven - add 'teen' to that and it was the number of emails waiting for me, at my primary address, after work on Monday.

Eight - dollars that were in my wallet this afternoon. You notice that I said 'were'. Fortunately there was a five there, as well, as I needed to buy milk and potatoes when I picked 'A' up from work. Must go to the bank tomorrow.

Nine - while I was working on Monday, this many tour buses arrived in town. This was no fun considering that I was manning the store by myself. You try keeping nine tour buses of senior citizens happy. They all wait to the last minutes before their buses leave to come in and buy candy! Thankfully, the buses were staggered over about 3 hours.

Ten - the cost of a splurge this morning. I went to the Town Hall with my mom. While she was asking about a refund on her excise tax, I bought THE NOSY BOOK!Now this is a really cool book put out by the town. It lists every household member by address. It gives each person's name, birth year, occupation, and whether they are a registered voter. It comes in handy when the 'fire' horn sounds and you turn on the police scanner to catch the address. With this handy little book you can find out who is in trouble...or who merely burned dinner. Something that has been deleted from this issue of the book is the notation of each person's political affiliation. I think it's deserving of it's unofficial name.

This's, That's, and Other Things

Yeah well, it's Saturday. What can you expect.

I had piles to do this morning and have spent (wasted) much of the time not getting those things accomplished. I wanted to finish up a set of keys to get them shipped, but a repair that had been previously made did not satisfy me and I spent loads of time working on the one key and now glue is drying and I won't get them finished in time to ship today. All because of one key. I did get to the bank for some cash to disappear in to the gas tank of my truck. Optimistically, gas prices have dropped some, even in Rockport. I guess I got one or two drops more in the tank today. 'A' got a ride (from me, of course) to the library to return a couple books, then to the local 'five and dime' for some blank cassette tapes. Picked up a newspaper, too. I would much rather have walked the errands but I've got allergy annoyance today. The wind has been rather stiff and it's stirring up all the mold spores. Sniffle, sniffle, sneeze and sneeze. Ordinarily, we *do* enjoy walking in town. That would have made the gas in the truck thingy a little awkward though, too. 'A' goes to work for 2 p.m. and from there I'll be heading back to the mall to exchange a shirt I bought on Thursday. Tried one color on, figured I could use two of different colors, picked up the second (same size) and paid. Foolish, foolish me. ALWAYS try on. Never assume that the manufacturer would consider making a size the same each time.

David, remember him? Of course not. Well, David was the third owner of the Minoan and got in touch with me here last year about having a lot of pictures. I had no way to contact him other than a response on the blog. Anyway, David got back to me saying that he had loaded a lot of his Minoan pictures in to his computer and would I like to see some. Yep, sure. That was two or three days ago. Nothing yet, maybe it will be another year. Who knows.

(Update: The first photo arrived from David. Yay! Hope to see more. Thanks, David.)

Gee, my mind is really going. Something I wanted to tell you came to mind while I was writing that last paragraph......now it's gone. Drat. And now I've reread that paragraph four times hoping to jog my memory and.....nothing.

Funny thing has just happened. My cursor has jumped ship. Weird feeling to be typing, look up and have nothing blinking there at me. Wonder where it's hiding (and why)?

Aha!!!! Got it! What I was going to say! While we've been traveling up to Skip's this year we've taken the time to check out our old houses. We've been by the house in Groveland and the one in West Newbury. They look horrible. Not just that we don't enjoy the same taste as the subsequent owners, I mean really nasty. Needing paint, needing cleaning, new roofs, windows, and de-trashing. Really. Can't imagine living in the messes that they have become. We keep a particular eye on the Groveland house as that's where I grew up, having lived there for fourteen years. If it ever goes on the market and there is an open house, we're going to be there checking it out. Four of the seven houses that my folks have owned have been neglected.

Now wasn't that worth the wait for me to remember that tidbit? Hah.

Onward to the rest of the day and lack of accomplishment.

On the plus side...my cursor is back!

Just so you know, I'm writing about anything and everything I can think of that is not about Sarah Palin...just can't go there in print.

Edge of Darkness

Well, a while ago it was in the GDT that yet another movie set was located in Rockport. Seems Mel Gibson had been in town, verrrry early in the morning, to film scenes for an upcoming movie titled "Edge of Darkness". Sounds like a good one, doesn't it? For you Brits out there, it is an adaptation of the 1985 British television mini-series of the same name.

Us locals didn't even know that we should get up before 5:30 a.m. and trek to Cape Hedge Beach (as in my post Surf's Up) to watch the action! Well darn, missed that one.

Sooooooooo, yesterday the gang and I headed out on a few errands and then north on Rte. 95. We got off at the Newburyport exit to head for our final Skip's meal of the season. As we approached the top of the exit ramp, Amanda exclaimed, "Look, they're filming a movie nearby! The signs say EOD". Sure enough, there were the now familiar yellow and black 'arrow' signs with the movie title acronym. Hmmm, same as the title of the movie in Rockport.

The signs were indicating the same direction as we were to turn. Yippeeeeeeeee! Maybe some excitement. As we traveled along Rte. 113 towards West Newbury we saw the ocassional signage for the movie. I knew that very shortly we would be leaving that road to head down and across the Merrimack River at the Rock's Village bridge. We'd most likely miss the action. Bridge Street approached and I got ready to turn. There was another sign! We were still hot on the trail.

Crossing the Merrimack River on the Rock's Village bridge is an adventure in and of itself. It's narrow and old. Although it is made of steel, it has a wooden road. Currently, they are in the process of repairing the road so you travel from new planking to old. Some of the old planking has huge chunks missing and I wonder how much wood is separating me from a plunge into the river. Once the planking is complete, the entire surface will be once more covered with macadam.

Well, I got off track there.

We crossed the Merrimack and I turned on my signal to turn right along the river road. Couldn't do it. They had closed the road for filming! We continued up through Rock's Village to Rte. 110 and made out way the long way around to Skip's. On our return trip we tried to use our customary route along the river. It was well after 5:30 p.m. and we thought, just maybe, they would be finished filming for the day. Not quite, but the white limo was just leaving. We waved at darkened windows (have to have some giggles, you know)!

So watch for the movie, "The Edge of Darkness", and have a good look at some of our well traveled areas!

(The photo that I used here was taken of the Merrimack River, in 1976, from the shores of the Moseley Estate (Maudsleigh), as part of a photo essay that I was completing.)

In Review

You may (or maybe not) have noticed that the 'Recent Reads' has changed. It is now "The Story of Edgar Sawtelle" and I have also provided the link to the website if you click on the book cover.

Why did I pick this book? It's about a boy. It's about breeding and training dogs. It's about life in the rural upper midwest.

Nothing that I was particularly interested in reading.

The author was interviewed on the 'Today' show. During the brief interview, I got the feeling that there was more to this book. And there was.

It is an exquisitely written novel of struggle, joy, family, heart, understanding, grief, and adventure. It's 566 pages that I just couldn't put down. A modern tragedy. Haunting.