Mar 31
On the road with the boys Grandma helping her move across country from
Phoenix to Knoxville, we took a bit of time to roll through Winslow AZ
where you've just got to "stand on the corner"! The corner didn't
disappoint as they had a flat-bed Ford at the ready and a bronze
statue to commemorate the Eagles classic song "Take it Easy".
Felt like a must-see stop along America's classic and historic Route
66. Oh and yes, we did listen to the relevant Eagles tune as we rolled
into town.
Mar 3
As many already know, the skies over East Tennessee were violent last
night. Here are a few photos I grabbed while the family was a bit
hunkered down in the basement, just in case...
Jan 14
This week I find myself traveling across the country with my father-in-law or at least across most of the country. We started in Detroit MI and will end up in San Jose. Continuing our trip this morning from southern Wyoming under dark skies, I watched as the day's sunrise developed into what you see above. I've photographed enough sunrises and (more often) sunsets over the years to know that they offer a very short window of time in which their show is at its peak. At what I hoped was just the right moment, we paused our travels so I could get out and capture some photos of Mother Nature's spectacular morning show.
The show was no disappointment! The morning light shimmered and seemed to glow from within the clouds it illuminated. Every few minutes the skies canvas would completely change. After taking a few photos I looked around and found an unexpected bonus. It was when I looked
away from the rising sun that another show presented itself. I don't know why I looked there but the sky in the opposite direction was putting on a show of its own.
Shown here, the sky opposite the rising sun presented an amazing display of virtually every color imaginable. I could see a dizzying array of colors from blues and violets to gold, orange, yellow, red and even some greens. It was truly breathtaking and unexpected! It was soft and subtle, a contrast to the sunrise it faced. I only wish my photos could do it justice but they pale from what we saw.
Sometimes it pays to look away from the obvious. There may be surprises in store.
Oct 16
We spent most of the day on Liberty Island and the boys had a great time. It was a mix of history, architecture, art and a little sea gull chasing. What's not to love about that!
Aug 14
I would never have thought I would see the great Harry Carey, heralded baseball announcer who ended his career with the Cubs, caricatured as a canary!?
Last night I spent the evening with the boys at a
Tennessee Smokies Minor League Baseball game. The Smokies are the AA Minor League team in the
Chicago Cubs system. What to my surprised eyes would appear outside the press box for the 7th inning stretch, but a blow-up caricature suit depicting Mr Caray as
"Harry Canary". It felt like heresy. If I were a Chicago Cubs fan with deeper roots I am not sure if I could have withstood it.
"Harry Canary" proceeded to regale the crowd with his frightening version of Harry's famous "Take Me Out to the Ballgame", a performance any Cubs fan of the day would look forward to at every game. This rendition however was a sad impersonation any neighborhood yokel would pull off after having had a few. I sat stunned with what I was seeing and wondered what some of my Chicago friends might think of the spectacle. Somehow it just didn't seem right to me.
I wondered too, what would Harry Caray have thought to know he would one day be impersonated by a blow-up cartoon canary at a minor league venue somewhere in eastern Tennessee. Maybe he would have loved it. I wonder...
Jul 13
The packing crew arrived at 8am sharp this morning and two hours later
my entire office is in boxes! I guess I have to face the fact this
move is really happening. It's not just something we talk about...
Jul 11
Ohh baby... I'm just guessing but I'm thinking this homeowner is
really REALLY ticked off with the neighbor. This is a property line
between two somewhat closely situated homes here in Vestal. This person
had no less than 10 "NO TRESPASSING" signs lined up for the neighbor's
viewing pleasure. (That's NOT a road in the picture but actually the driveway) There couldn't be more than 15' between them. Think
they get the point? Yeow!
Mar 20
What any of us wouldn't give for the simple life of a cat. Here we see our cat Lightning enjoying all he really needs, some sunlight streaming through a window and a soft carpet to stretch out upon...
Mar 7
Here are a few photos from our yard today. Just like everyone in this area we got hit overnight with roughly 20" of snow. Yesterday morning we could see the grass across most of the yard. Today not so much.
Dec 14
The longer I watched, the more this man pulled out and placed in the Toys for Tots donation barrel. One toy after another, most still in their original boxes and in pristine condition. Somewhere this Christmas there are going to be some very happy kids. Maybe even more so there will be some happy dads trying their best to keep those kids from cracking open a collectible Hess truck and running it into walls and doors.
I commented to the man that I believed I was seeing toys from a good twenty years of collecting. He stopped for a moment, thought a bit and said in fact it was 26 years. He had two such collections of which one was his sons and his son had in turn given it over to his son (this man's grandson). He said that after having these for so many years this was the year he had decided they might be appreciated by others. He seemed to be taking great pleasure in dropping them (carefully) into the donation receptacle.
I was wishing later that I had grabbed a photo of all of those toys he left in that Toys for Tots bin. There were some classics! The photo above just shows a few of my own boys Hess toys from the last few years. All I can say is that my heart was racing a bit just to see this fabulous collection of toys being given away. Christmas is a good time and brings out good is lots of people. I hope that man has a great holiday!
