Category: connections

'scene' along the way, a second look, connections, friends, perseverance, photography, road trip, travel

Sunset Hill…

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The local photographers here on Cape Cod gave me a heads up on Sunset Hill.  You’d think that if you did a Google search for sunrise and sunset photo locations, and there was a place nearby called Sunset Hill, that it might have popped up as an option.  I have raved about how friendly the photographers in FL are, and apparently they are just the same here.  I was an hour early for the sunset, and there was a wind advisory in effect, and they weren’t kidding.  I could barely hold the camera steady in the wind, so I wimped out and figured I’d come back another day.  Hope I don’t have to wait too long for a nicer day.  Just when I think I’ve toughened up a bit, tolerating the cold a little better, Mother Nature tosses me a curve ball.  It’s been a long time since I felt as if I was hiding out at home and waiting for Spring…

childhood, connections, family, home, Home Team, Loyalty, neighbors, perseverance, photography, road trip, travel

Super Bowl Sunday…

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I’ve raved about how much I loved my Florida neighbors often enough.  Well, in honor of all our years in Baltimore they gave me this sweatshirt and scarf as a going away present as I headed north to Patriot Nation!  Did they intend for me to wear it on Super Bowl Sunday I wonder?  Did they mean to throw me to the wolves? I got brave and I did wear it on Sunday morning, to breakfast with two of my cousins.  I wasn’t greeted by a crowd of Patriot fans as I walked into the restaurant, which is what I had hoped.  I thought it would be fun to hear(and write about) whatever reaction I got from strangers, but we were early and they were the only people who happened to be there as I entered.  One cousin took great exception to my choice of sweatshirt since he says he hates the Ravens.  The other one suggested that I turn it inside out.  The two waitresses just looked at me skeptically, but served me coffee anyhow.  It was, after all, Patriot Nation, and the specials board reflected as much.  So I ordered the Patriot pancakes that they were so happy to recommend, and I guess they decided I wasn’t all bad.  As I crossed the parking lot to leave I did get a thumbs up from a guy walking past.  He said that the Ravens were his second favorite team.  I didn’t expect that.

I have a picture of my two ‘kids’, who were old enough to anticipate the consequences at the time, but they were taking advantage of an opportunity to get together while my son was visiting PA.  I believe there was a play-off game between the Steelers and the Ravens that weekend, and so of course they were watching in a sports bar in Pittsburgh.  My daughter thoughtfully brought enough Ravens’ gear for the both of them to wear.  I think of  Steelers fans as being on the rabid side, possibly because of my Pittsburgh raised DIL, who I’m surprised allowed herself to be seen with them that night.  If there were any issues beyond good natured teasing they didn’t tell me about it.  Probably for the best.

Well, I think of Patriots fans as pretty darned rabid too.  And I’ve already heard a lot of comments about ‘the haters’, and how unfair it is that everybody doesn’t love the team.  And Tom Brady?  Well, he should be sainted, according to them.  They may think that they are misunderstood but I have no sympathy for them, because they ought to try being a Ravens fan.  Now that’s a team that people seem to love to hate.  Being a sports fan in Baltimore isn’t for the feint of heart.  My mother insisted to her dying day that they were a bunch of murderers.  But then she was a Patriots fan so her judgment is questionable…

IMG_6926IMG_6925Lots of fruit in those Patriot pancakes; blueberries, bananas, and strawberries.  Just wondering  what that was all about.

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Shh, don’t tell them I used the picture…

a second look, adventure, bucket list, connections, finding my way, leap of faith, life goes on, perseverance, photography, road trip, travel

Cliches…

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The phrase “Pee or get off the pot” comes to mind, one of my mother’s favorite sayings.  So I did, metaphorically speaking.  Restructured my life with the goal to have nothing to do but have fun for the rest of my days, however many of them there may be.  But in thinking about all the things I’ve longed to do in my life I needed to take it a step further.  I’ve said that I want to travel, to be footloose and fancy free.  And at this moment in time I feel that I’m physically able enough to tackle that lifestyle.  But there can be no more procrastinating, no more ‘somedays’ to look forward to.  It’s pretty much a ‘put up or shut up’ sort of thing.  ‘Do or die’?   

So I did.  Yesterday.  At the RV show.  Bought a tiny little travel trailer so I can take my show on the road, knitting and all.  I hope the learning curve isn’t too steep for me because I’m a total novice at camping of any sort.  I’d let myself get discouraged and overwhelmed at the thought, but then I think of the photo ops and I’m ready for this.  If I hadn’t done it yesterday I’d have wanted to go back today to sign on the dotted line.  Instead of traveling in the weather I’ll be googling places to go.01-20-19geopro

a second look, blessings, connections, death, family, memories, on closer examination, perseverance, photography

My Aunt Millie…

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I’m not sure that anyone in my life has ever astounded me as consistently as my Aunt Millie did.  As a very young girl I lived upstairs from my aunt’s ever expanding family.  At that time I was aware of my aunt as a shadowy figure in the background, always tending a baby.  In fairness to her I remember no parents at all from those days, I only remember the fun we kids were having.  We moved away from that neighborhood, and then I got married and left my hometown, never to live in New England again.  Time passed and the 70s and 80s happened, and I heard that my Aunt Millie had gone back to college and was now a teacher.  Astounding.  I heard about their family summers spent camping, or on ski trips, plus cross-country RV trips, and I found myself amazed again and again.  By now I lived in MD and was happy to have my aunt and uncle as visitors as they traveled here and there.  That’s when Aunt Millie really came out of the shadows to me.  It was then that I really saw her, strong and opinionated (as the Nelsons tend to be), and  it seemed as if I met her for the first time.  I was lucky to have had a chance to spend time with her and Uncle Bob in the last 15 or so years.  If circumstances had been different I might never have really gotten to know her at all.  I’m glad I did.  She died yesterday at 93, and she will be missed.

I read a blog post this morning and the blogger described her lifelong friend as having relocated from her failing body into much better accommodations.  That just says it all…

a second look, connections, family, gardens, live and learn, memories, on closer examination, perseverance, photography, road trip, travel

Armstrong-Kelly Park…

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Armstrong-Kelly Park isn’t the easiest place to find.  The GPS couldn’t find it even when I entered it’s actual street address into it.  I gave up on it the first time I tried to go there, but my sister directed me to it yesterday.  We hoped for a nice picture of the holly tree that is planted there in honor of my brother-in-law, but we’ll come back in the spring to try that again.

My brother-in-law wasn’t a big man.  He was small, actually.  He was about my height and I out-weighed him all the years I knew him.  He.was quiet. Worked all day and came home, had a beer and watched TV.  There was no inkling of what a big man he actually was until he died.  That’s when the crew from Bartlett Tree Experts took over the planning of his funeral, and the stories they told of his expertise at his job astounded all of us I think.  They said that there was probably not a street on Cape Cod that hadn’t benefitted from his hard work.  The story I remember best was about a homeowner who wanted a gigantic boulder moved from one side of his lawn to another.  A Bartlett truck was on the scene, and the crew of workers were standing there trying to decide how they were going to accomplish this task when Neil pulled up.  He got his winches and pulleys out of his truck and got to work.  He had the boulder moved in no time flat, loaded up his tools and left the rest of the crew standing there scratching their heads.  No, he wasn’t a big man, but he had a big impact on his little piece of the world.

This holly tree was planted to honor Neil for his 50 years of hard work for Barlett.  He trained a lot of arborists in his day also, so his influence is still sending ripples out into nature.  Such a quiet little man, who left a legacy behind him.

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'scene' along the way, a second look, connections, ducks, fun, learning, nature, photography, road trip

King Ida…

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I suppose it’s not politically correct to lump people into a group and then talk about my impression of the people who fit into that group.  Like how cat-like and aloof I found the people to be at the one and only cat show I ever attended.  Conversely, my dog show experience seemed to be the opposite.  The people were friendly, like, well, puppies.  But what’s on my mind today is a desire to rave about what nice people photographers seem to be.  What a great activity to re-find at this time of my life when I had figured out that spending all my time alone was probably not going to work out well for me in the long run.  I wanted to get out and do something, and jumped at the chance to go to a photography class I happened to see on Facebook one morning.  I couldn’t have known where that spur of the moment decision would lead me.  The photographers I have met have proven themselves to be willing to share technical information about the camera itself, and locations for shooting.  Not just willing to help, happy to help.

The other morning at the Cape Cod Canal was a good example.  I was standing there with my camera and tripod when several other photographers showed up.  “Have you seen the King?”, was the question.  I think I probably just stood there with a blank look on my face, so he said, “The King Ida.”  I was still lost.  He pointed out that all the ducks I was seeing had just arrived in the last week or two.  The white ones are Ida’s, he said.  The males, he explained, have a blue ‘cap’ over their eye, and he searched the photos in his camera until he found a photo of one.  He had only seen one, but he had heard that there were two with this group.  After our conversation he, and a few other photographers who had shown up, headed down the path to see if there was a King with the group that day.  There wasn’t.  But I smiled through the rest of the time I spent shooting these photos.  A little encounter like this one is enough to totally make your day, even when the King doesn’t show up…12-29canal