For Veteran's Day...

and for memories, and to honor those Cape Ann WWII veterans that are still alive, Jason Grow produced a wonderful photography exhibit. 

The official opening was today at Gloucester City Hall.  We know several of the veterans photographed for the show. 

In the auditorium with a small band playing 40's music on stage, food table in the back, and the exhibit along both sides of the seating.

Our friend, Arnold Knauth, was one of them.  Arnold turned 98 just a couple weeks ago and is still very active, out walking most days...still drives. too.

Arnold  Knauth, age 98

When he arrived at the exhibit, we ushered him over to the photo taken of him.  "That's me?"  59 veterans were photographed for this special 70th anniversary of the end of the war Veteran's Day.

Finally Did It

For several years now I have known that the Pines Speedway in Groveland, MA holds a reunion event.  Each year I have decided to go and each year have totally forgotten to do it.

This year was different.

I was determined to see what was going on.

When I grew up in Groveland we would go to the races quite a few times each season.  I loved it.  The noise, the dirt, cheering for Big O, being frightened that my Dad, sooner or later, would join the Spectator Race (he never did, but I feared it would happen).  Sitting on the wooden bleachers built in to the sandy dirt hillside, round and round the 1/4 mile track, the Starter Flagman positioning himself mid track while the cars approached around the curve and in the last few seconds jumping, waving the green flag and dashing to the edge of the track, even the occasional car running off the track and down the embankment to the river to be hauled out dripping wet by the wrecker.

Replica of Ollie Silva's Big O

Those summer Saturday nights that we didn't go to the races we could still hear them.  Lulled to sleep by engines and announcer just audible in the distance.

A new finish line...but not THE original

I wish there were still races at the Pines Speedway.

Someone needed a rest...or was dreaming about winning the next race

  You'd see me there again.

A Few from the Fourth

And then it'll be on to a new topic in future posts.

The Pink Elephant waits in line

And the parade starts!

Rockport conducts a combo of the school and Legion bands with a plunger

Doc walking along side the new Thacher Island boat.  Yes, he is our town doctor.  Yes, he normally looks just like that.

Yay for the Statue of Liberty(ies)!

The parade is followed by a band concert in front of the American Legion Post.

Private fireworks are illegal in Massachusetts (uh huh).

After the concert there is a bonfire near the bandstand and just above Back Beach.  Here the firemen keep Beach Street from melting.

Frosty atop the York's barn in remembrance of the best bonfire in recent history.  (I might have blogged about that.  I'll check and update, if so.)

Of course there were many more floats and bands, including two bagpipe bands.  I'm hoping the R will post some of his July 4th pictures, too.

Just Because It's My Birthday!

This is the Rock's Village Bridge.  It's part of our main route to Skip's. I guess it's about time to fix that wooden road bed.  Yep, macadam over wood.  In recent months the sign has changed from "Only one school bus at time may pass" to "One way traffic" (with a traffic signal at each end of the bridge to alternate the flow.)

Within a reasonable distance, we have three alternate bridges we can use to get to Skip's.  The Groveland/Haverhill bridge is a very rusty span but is open to traffic while they build a new bridge next to it.  The Interstate 95 bridge is open in Newburyport, as is the Route 1 bridge there.  The Hines Bridge in Newburyport has been closed and under repair for several years.

I wonder how long Rock's Village will be closed?

Merry Christmas to All

Happy Turkey Day

These two are as they aren't the chosen ones!

Two buddies at Raymond's Turkey Farm

Plane Show Sunday

Different weekend than Car Show Saturday.

B-24

'R' wandered out of his office with a question, "Are there any airports around here that would have some military planes?"

B-17

Probably not exactly what he said.....

So I told him about Beverly Airport and said that they have a website.  "Why?"  Seems he heard something military sounding overhead.  From a cellar office with the windows closed!  I think that I was running some machinery in the shop, too!

B-24

With a quick online check, he determined that there was a show at the Beverly Airport of some WWII planes.  The list included a B-17, the same type of plane that my Uncle Hughie was aboard when it crashed during a training flight.  My mom has wanted to see a B-17, a real one, not just a photo.  She was ten years old when her brother, Hughie, was killed in that crash.  He was the first serviceman from their city, New Bedford, MA, to die in WWII.  The Standard Times reporter that was sent to the house to tell my grandparents the terrible news found that my grandfather had just come home from the hospital after a heart attack.  The reporter then chose not to tell them that their son had been killed in a crash.  They heard the news later...on the radio.  You can read about the crash and the memorial that has been erected at the crash site here.

So, back to yesterday.  We decided to drive mom down to the airport.

Mom at one of the B-17 props

Truthfully, both 'R' and I wanted to go see the planes, too.  Along with the B-17, there was a B-24, a P-51, a T-6, a Corsair, and a Stearman biplane.

We spent a little more than an hour looking around and taking lots of photos.

Mom, me and R reflected at center

And......we got to go aboard the B-17.  Quite an experience for my mom to see what the plane was like and to imagine her brother aboard.

Mom at the starboard gun

So glad 'R' heard that plane overhead on Sunday morning.  So glad we went.

Memorial Day

Poppies in a  Main Street garden

The B-Day

The sun shone...that I find amazing in and of itself!  Yeah, weather forecasters had warned of showers for today.  But it didn't...not much...a brief sprinkle or two is all.  It was a beautiful day for some photo taking and this post shows a few from our afternoon adventure.

Bionic toad

But let's start the day off near it's beginning. First thing the b-day girl wanted to do?  Hit the grocery store for some needed items!  After that we went for a walk to feed the ducks...except there was only one.  And he wasn't interested in the bread we had to offer.  Oh well, home to relax in the sunshine for a bit.  "A' did too much of that and got some sunburn on face and arms.  She's not too comfortable with it tonight.

The Guinea Fowl

After the entire family checked out 'A's birthday e-card (thanks dickie and b!), we got our Easter dining under way at Mom's end of the house.  Tradition makes our meal simple.  Ham sandwiches and fixings...chips, macaroni salad (this year)...easy stuff.

A bridge-load of dragonflies

After lunch the group decided to drive first to Essex to browse a junk shop and then to Ipswich to Corliss Bros. nursery so Mom could buy some plants with her birthday gift certificates.

The horse frames the rhinoceros (click on it to enlarge)

Neither were open.  Easter after all.

Just add water!

We were so close to a favorite spot that we decided it would be a good day to show it off to 'R'.  We headed to NE Biolabs.  Mom and 'A' sat in the car and watched as 'R' and I wandered around taking photos.  'R' has been much better than I have about photo taking and blogging and I am taking the time tonight to get my Biolab photos posted first.  I've a few different versions than before and they have been interspersed in this post.  'A' thinks the octopus is kind of cool and Mom likes the plant-like sculpture.

Mom's plant

Personally, I think the entire place is just marvelous!

Easter

...is late this year and I can hardly remember what has happened to the month of April!  All of us have been extremely busy.  'A' has had more hours at work, I've been swamped with work, Mom has started her springtime gardening and 'R' is getting settled in to residency in Massachusetts.  'R' has also been an enormous help with my piano work and is fun to travel around with or just hang out with when we are not slaving away over piano keys.
This is also birthday week.  Mom's last Sunday and 'A's tomorrow, Easter Sunday.  With all the stuff going on and work to finish it would be easy to keep on working throughout it all.  However...I have made a conscious decision that I WILL NOT WORK TOMORROW.   (mostly)

And while life has been rather hectic, we have taken time to have some fun touring around...up to Newburyport, Skip's for birthdays lunch, and several walks about town.  The photograph at the top of this post was taken in Union Cemetery and I thought it fine for my Easter post.

Valentine's Day

A very brief explanation...

Back in the 1950's my mom and dad invited their best friend couple to come and live with them while the best friends were looking for an apartment.  My dad and Earle worked together at Western Electric.  Mom and Priscilla had been friends since high school.

While living together at my parent's house, Valentine's Day rolled around and Mom and Pris baked a heart shaped cake while Dad and Earle were at work.  They were thrilled with it and could hardly wait for their husbands to get home.

This poem was written [by Mom (and me)] as a remembrance for Priscilla and Earle's 50th wedding anniversary book.

(Please excuse the punctuation errors and various other glitches...our typist at the time was volunteered for the job and kind of messed up a bit.)    

Have Yourself a Very Merry Christmas

Any of you know how to read Finnish?We found this card in the Lanesville house. It is addressed to the long deceased V. E. Haapa Natti (subsequently Storns). A fitting card to post here. We've been feeding the large clan (flock) of Bubbas and Squirt has reappeared to steal what he feels he's due. He hasn't been very pushy about it as there are an abundance of acorns this year. Today, he was having fits just trying to get one peanut as the bluejays kept landing around him and dive-bombing him. Poor little Squirt was frozen in place and ducking!

Even more wildlife have been coming around. Some not so welcome...

On Sunday there was a lot of shoveling to do. Near the end of the day I shoveled the back garden walk near the birdfeeder and deck. As I scooped up a shovelful at the base of deck steps, I nearly sliced up a small, dark grey mouse under all the snow. He scurried out of the way and burrowed neatly under a nearby drift of snow. Eeeeeew. That makes me real enthusiastic about snow removal back there for the rest of the winter.

On a more interesting note, today after Squirt and the Bubbas were finished with their feasting on peanuts, a hawk landed on out deck railing. Wish I had had the camera handy.

I wish you all the best of the holiday season and I'm so thankful to have you all visiting here.

Got This in the Mail

These folks send out the best invitations. They host a superior open house, as well! You can wander the entire workshop, sample a variety of tasty foods and drink, and enjoy a free concert on the latest organ. The entire organ is assembled, then taken apart and transported to it's new home, in this case Opus 136 (3 manual, 39 stop) will live at St. Peter's Episcopal Church in Charlotte, North Carolina.

I guess I'll be taking myself.
Check out the link to C. B. Fisk in the sidebar.

54 and Counting

As of June 18 that is. Happy Birthday to me, happy birthday to me, happy birthday dear me - eee, happy birthday to me (and dickiebo and Paul, too)!

I'm still awaiting my computer so that I can get back to some fun online. Sorry I haven't been keeping up with y'all. This little laptop is just frustrating to work with and at times it takes over a half hour just to get things running and connected to the Internet. My computer was ready to pick up last Friday, but then I decided to have more memory added. Wish I could get some added to my brain!

Weirdest thing has happened. Work has picked up. Very strange. Keys coming in, tuning calls above average. Must be because I want to take a few days off next week during 'A's vacation.

Oh yeah, as of tomorrow I'll be double 'A's age.

For 'A's Birthday

Checked on our newest 'tenant' this morning and found this.

At Last

Signs of Spring! The garden is greening with plants peeking out and beginning to bloom. We've got squirrels, chipmunks, and birds visiting at all times of day. So far we have only managed to train Bubba II to peanut eating, but give us time. A couple days ago we watched a robin build this gorgeous nest.And tomorrow it is to be over 70°F (and 'A's 27th birthday). Saturday through Tuesday in the 80°'s.

YIPPEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Minutes for Me

Wow! Those acrid keys have been shipped, 'A' is at work, and my mom is off on her own for the afternoon. I've time to myself. In actuality, I should be either working on the reed organ, finishing my taxes, cleaning the house, cleaning the workshop, or working on jewelry. I'm not. Maybe I will later. I found two pennies this morning and when I got home from that I found a box waiting at my door. It's all the stuff from the 50th anniversary celebration of San Jose' Elementary School, in Dunedin, FL. Remember they called about printing posters from my painting? The 'anniversary day' was on February 13th. Yep, Friday the 13th. Hope it went well for them.Included in the box were the program (I got an entire paragraph devoted to me!), a copy of the legislative recognition, two cups (one in photo), two tote bags, one gift bag, two pencils (one pictured), an alumni button for 'A', a copy of the "About the Artist" placard that they displayed with the original painting, AND... the celebration reprint that has my painting of the school as the background. (I gave them permission to make reproductions and sell them to support the PTA.) Mine has a message written in the upper left corner:

D____L____, What a beautiful picture you created for San Jose'. Thank you for supporting our 50th celebration. M____W____, Principal

A magnificent day. Doesn't take much to please me.

Fat Tuesday

Mardi Gras. We used to celebrate in Dunedin. It was a blast to make a total fool of oneself at the Mardi Gras parade. The parade consisted of folks dressed up in costume, most of them riding on floats that advertised local businesses. A mini Nawlins with none of the blatant exhibitionism. The big deal was screaming and begging for tacky, worthless, gaudy, beaded necklaces which had no other appeal than a feeling of exuberance at having amassed an enormous collection. My mom and dad, 'A' and I, and sometimes 'the other''S', a friend of my mom, would be there at the top of my parent's street. Front row for the parade. (In later years 'A' took off to the parade with a friend) We had a system. We'd all plead with the paraders for necklaces. Whenever my dad got any, he would give them to one of us. It quickly appeared that he had none while the folks (us) next to him had plenty. This seemed to cause the young ladies on the floats to feel sorry for him. They'd toss more his way. He'd hand them over to us girls and be back at the begging routine in no time. We'd end the evening with hundreds of beaded necklaces, all tangled together, around our necks! Except my dad, of course!

I wish I were there tonight.

Happiest of New Years

To all of you.

And here snow and more snow and now it's blowing a moderate gale. I shoveled this morning. I shovel this afternoon while 'A' got herself ready for work. At 2:30 the three of us headed out to take her. Our road was miserable, of course. We got to Main Street and although conditions were not spectacular, they were acceptable enough to make the trip to Stop & Shop. Since the storm would be over (at least the snow part of it) by early evening, picking 'A' up from work at 8 p.m. would be an okay trip.

Back to the trip out...we made it exactly one half block on Main Street and we came to a stop behind a line of vehicles. There were blue flashing lights ahead and some kind of large semi-stationary object in the middle of the road. Oh yeah, the 'horn' had gone off a short while back. Rockport has a horn system for emergencies (ambulance, volunteer fire, school closings, accidents, etc.). I had heard the ambulance horn (3 blasts) and the traffic emergency (1, 4 or 4,1 I can't remember right now). So with only a few options, those being sit there waiting for whatever to get cleared up, turn around and go the long way with many hills and curves, or turn on to Dodd's Lane and go home, we opted for home. 'A' called work and told them sorry, but we can't get there, there seemed to be a major accident.

Before it went dark, I went out and shoveled again. Tomorrow I'll have to re-shovel the back walk and cellar bulkhead and the deck. Then we'll head to our friend's house, the friend vacationing in the Barbados (how unfair this is becoming) and shovel his place out. I'll probably have to do some clean-up shoveling of our two drives because the darn wind has changed direction and everything is drifting back in - only the opposite way.

Now, tonight is Rockport's New Year's Eve celebration. Lots of music and whatnot at over a dozen locations in town, including one venue that is in a tent in the town parking lot. HAH. It's blowing a gale outside and temperatures are dropping. Quickly. Should be around 9°F by midnight with a windchill of -7°F or below. Needless to say. Well, it's needless but here goes.

I won't be there.

This is the first time I haven't attended in 7 New Years. Oh well, it's really not much fun when you have to freeze alone amid hundreds of people, ya know. So I'll cozy up with my latest reading, maybe until midnight if I can stay awake. I listen to the wind howl from the warmth of my bed.

May you all have a wonderful, peaceful, and prosperous 2009.

(picture is of our garden shed - hibernating!)

Now That All Is Said and Done

I might just skip over Christmas next year. Well, I guess I mean no big to-do. Why, you may wonder? Well, it seems to have fallen upon my shoulders to make sure everything about the day (and the eve) happen as the other two in the house think it should. This year shopping was a nightmare with limited lists and mom's jumping the gun on everyone else leaving not much left, list-wise, to buy. New lists were created and my daughter, 'A', and I finished shopping in plenty of time... for mom to decide that she wasn't thrilled with her purchases and wasn't there anything else we wanted. And then.........

She got ill.

It started with a backache that physical therapy didn't help (she claims). There was no convincing her that when you exercise muscles that you don't normally use, they are going to ache. Oh well. She scheduled her self for some cortisone injections.

Then her brother died and that spiraled everything down hill. I do empathize. Really, I do. But I have a low tolerance for the constant loud sighs and juvenile behavior that accompanies her 'illness'. She says she needs someone to take care of her. Her doc put her on some medication that evidently caused dizziness. Now she's trying another type and is not much better. I did get her up to the pain management clinic in Newburyport for her shots on Thursday. She was fine that day. Anyway, over the past nearly two weeks she had me leave work early to take her to the doctor (they said she was fine) and then take the day off this past Monday because she felt dizzy and pretty much stayed in bed for the day. She says she's trying. I'm sure Tuck's wasn't happy about being a clerk short on the Monday, three days before Christmas, after a three day weekend storm. My bank account isn't happy, either.

Christmas Eve rolled around and the gifts went under the tree.It's my job to arrange them and then play Santa in the morning. This year two of our normal guests went away for three weeks to cruise the Barbados (yes, oh please, I want that!) They stopped by last week, before they left, and regifted some Jelly Bellies. We are in charge of taking care of their house. The mail and such. Yesterday I had to shovel out the three day's worth of snowfall at their house. Oh MY back! My mom called her friend (our other usual Christmas dinner guest) and canceled with her. Still, I did have a special Christmas dinner to execute for just the three of us. Last year I had promised 'A' that I would make Cito's Special this year and she has patiently waited. It's an all day ordeal that I did get finished yesterday amid the errands, banking, getting 'A' to work and back, shoveling, and working on piano keys. Today I finished the topping while 'A' peeled carrots and potatoes. Thank goodness that 'A' found it within herself to pitch in and help out. She hates cooking from scratch!

Now all is done and cleaned up but the leftovers. Mom is resting on the sofa (last I checked) reading a book. 'A' and I worked on a new jigsaw puzzle for a little while. Mom's canceled guest stopped by with some home-baked cookies. We have an entire pecan pie to eat, too! Tomorrow the world goes back to normal (or semi, considering the mall madness that will probably be occurring without us). 'A' will be back at work and I've got a tuning job. I'm hoping mom will feel a little better tomorrow. I keep hoping. Spring is usually the only cure and that's way too far away.


(afterword - I don't mean to complain 'bout mom so much. She's never had to manage on her own...ever. Seems like all I've done for my adult life is manage on my own. I'm tired.)