Pull Tight

A picture of a Good Humor ice cream truck this week reminded me of a trip to the Guggenheim museum in NYC over 20 years ago.  We always took the kids wherever we went.  Our daughter was a few months shy of her 2nd birthday when we paid a visit to the Guggenheim.  I was carrying her, showing her the art and getting her reaction or lack thereof.  We stopped to admire a painting by Chagall and were about 2 feet from the painting.  My daughter looked at the painting and almost immediately began blowing raspberries at it. Evidently this form of critique is frowned upon, as we were quickly approached by a security guard and asked to leave.  Nancy and our other traveling companions finished their visit, while Lauren and I went outside to wait. It was a warm summer day with lots of street vendors and we happened to sit on a low wall near an ice cream vendor.  Don't remember details of how the conversation started, but we began...

You teach me baseball and I’ll teach you relativity…No we must not, you will learn about relativity faster than I learn baseball. Albert Einstein I am writing today about one pitch in one baseball game from the 1920s. But, before retelling what I remember of the story, I am going to share my memories of the catcher in this game. As you have obviously observed, this game took place 20-30 years before I was born. The only record was the memory of the catcher who died 30 years ago and the pitcher who verified the story for me a few years ago. The pitcher, John Crowell and his wife Lois have passed on as well in recent years. A side note - Lois made a Green Grape Cobbler from wild mustang grapes that was even more legendary than this baseball play. They were two of the very strongest supporters and hardest workers for saving the Paluxy River. That the river still flows free is in large part the result of the determination and work of John and Lois. The catcher was my great uncle Bi...

".....a true original Native of America... He is besides, though a little vain & silly, a Bird of Courage...."  Ben Franklin It is interesting how much wildlife you can see in the city if you keep an eye out.  Took this shot with my camera phone (have to start carrying a better camera) while riding my bicycle near my home.  Camouflage is very good, but if you examine closely you will see a wild turkey.  It is a little difficult to see and might be a good endeavor while sipping the beverage named for said bird. This is the bird Ben Franklin wanted as our national symbol. A quick internet search will yield the letter he wrote to his daughter with his reasoning.

Walked out into a parking lot late last Friday night and found this guy catching crickets under a street light.  Had not seen one in the wild for many years.  Only had a camera phone and was not able to get close.    Very fast and agile creatures, I read that miners used to keep them as pets as they are excellent mousers. Below is a photo from the web for any who may not have encountered one before.

As we walked up to this point on the sea wall last week, there was a guy fishing a few feet past this barrier.  He was gone before I could get a photo.  The fine print on the sign says $5000 fine and/or 90 days in jail for going beyond this barrier.  But, what if the fish were biting?  What would you do?

Nancy, being from Philly, doesn't think summer is complete without a trip to the Jersey shore.  We did our pretty much annual Crashcation last week.  Crashcation is the term we use for crashing with friends or relatives.  It is much better than a Staycation or a Nocation. Every morning I would get up early and walk on the beach, sea wall and/or boardwalk. One morning about 7 AM, I stopped for coffee on the boardwalk and then proceeded to a bench overlooking the Atlantic to enjoy my coffee accompanied by the sounds and smells of the ocean.  An older woman (maybe she was around my age : ) ) sits down on the other end of the bench and asks "Are you Mark?"  It seems she was there for a  blind date morning walk, meeting in front of the coffee shop.  We then spot Mark on the next bench just as the woman's friend who had apparently set up the date appeared to introduce the two.  Mark must have thought blind date literally meant the other pe...

When I was a teenager, we used to sell some of the hay grown on the farm to our neighbors.  It was usually my job to haul the hay from the field to the barn.  This was in the days when the hay was in small square bales.  Many of the neighbors were somewhat elderly.  They would frequently walk out their respective barn and entertain me with stories while I transferred the hay  from a trailer to the barn. One of the neighbors was Claude Manley.  He had been a good friend of my maternal grandfather (Ben Wann) and would sometimes have stories about him or the two of them.  He always reminded me, on each of the many occasions we met to get as much education as possible.  Don't think he had much, but seemed to appreciate the doors it opened for you. The other subject that always came up was his prediction I would live to see atomic powered farm tractors.  We are still tending our crops with diesel power with no atomic power in site ...