Sharing bits & pieces...

This sunrise offered a surprise, if you look away from it...

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.

A day the boys won't soon forget, visiting Lady Liberty

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!

Apologies to Chicago friends and especially Chicago Cubs fans!

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...

And so, the NY to Tennessee move has begun!

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...

How to know when you've REALLY TICKED OFF YOUR NEIGHBOR!

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!

Oh, for the cat's life!

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...

A little #Binghamton #snow makes for a lot of fun. A few #photos from our yard...

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.

Today I watched as a man deposited 26 years of collectible Hess truck toys into a Toys for Tots donation barrel!

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!

7yr old Ryan poses this interesting holiday question...

"When the little drummer boy went to visit baby Jesus, he was sad that
he didn't have a gift to give, so he played. So, why didn't he give
him his drum?"

The Canadian Pacific Holiday Train has arrived in Binghamton NY!

What a fun evening! The Canadian Pacific Holiday Train came to Binghamton tonight and we made sure not to miss it.

We took along a donation for the local CHOW charitible organization and enjoyed the live music played right from one of the train cars! Even though it was a very chilly evening we had fun with the boys and they didn't complain (till the show was over). Santa made a brief appearance on the train and the music helped warm things up. I had a great time dancing with Collin (on my hip). In spite of the cold he didn't want to leave until the last song was done!

All in all a fun evening and a little support for local charity at the same time. Thanks Canadian Pacific!!