Umm.. Not Exactly 'Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds'...

We are all Spirit & Flesh, and so we are all part of the Creation around us. As John Lennon wrote: 'I am he, as you are he, as you are me, and we are all together'. One of the things I like the most is looking at the sky. Here is a picture of a recent sky from a road trip....

















... Actually, this is a crop of a larger pic, focusing on a portion of the sky as viewed thru the car window. Did you notice the clouds? If you look close, you'll notice that a reflection is captured in the car window, almost blending perfectly with the image of the clouds.

OK, so it isn't exactly 'Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds'... tis I.

I am the Walrus. Goo goo g joob.

WICKED COOL FROST --
11-09-08















I thought that this windshield frost made for a far-out, other-worldly type of planetary sky...

Sunrise .. All Souls Day, 2008

The promise of a new day... Enjoy! Click the pics to enlarge...

Ice Patterns At Morning & Midnite...

With all of these intensely cold nites, I've noticed that the ice patterns on my windows are pretty amazing...

These four pics were taken at different times during the course of the day.

The larger pics, at the top and bottom of this blog entry, were taken around 10am. The smaller, offset to the left pics, were taken a little bit after midnite.

Enjoy winter's quiet, hidden beauty... As always -- click on the pics to enlarge.

Hearty Souls...

This isn't the easiest place on the planet to live... as I'm writing this blog, it is (-)8*F.. and with the wind chill, almost 20* below zero (F). Is it any wonder why I practically live under my electric blanket for almost 7 months out of the yr?

Yes, this place is not for wimps, or the faint of heart. And tho it does have it's own beauty about it, it does get very hard remembering why anyone would willingly choose to live here... and just when we are about to forget why... our very brief, but excellent summer rolls around... all 10 wks of it!

It takes more than a hearty soul to endure these cold winters, and the biting wind... it takes having roots soo deep that you couldn't cut them with an axe.

... And it takes a very, very good electric blanket.

Stay warm, wherever you are. As always, click the pics to enlarge.

No Words...

It May Be Winter-Time...

If you read my blog regularly, you'll hopefully notice that I try to keep the topics diverse. Variety is a good thing, right?

Well, you will have also noticed, no doubt, that even with 48 blog entries, there are some themes that get repeated. Most notably, I seem to find a way to work in something regarding the John Huston film classic, 'Moby Dick' every several blogs, or so. (What can I say? The more I watch it, the more I take something new away from it!).

Another fairly common motif, especially with my own pictures, is the sunrise or sunset motif.

This blog is showcasing one of the typically awesome winter-time sunrises that we see here. I luved the cloud shapes and the colors, and had to snap off a few shots before they changed (wait 5 mins to drive to a clearer view of it, and the clouds and colors have already changed -- so these were taken from my front porch).

Anyway, enjoy....

As Capt. Ahab put it: 'Tis a mild, mild day, Starbuck -- a mild looking sky'.

Sorry, couldn't resist. As always, click the pics to enlarge.

Random Thoughts From Vacation...

For some reason, eating at a McDonald's inside an airport tastes better than a McDonald's outside the airport...

The probability of a person needing to go to the bathroom on an airplane increases by how crowded that row of seats are...

If you can read lips pretty well, and have an active imagination, there is no need to purchase those airline headphones to enjoy the in-flight movie...

Customer Service is not dead...

Always be nice to the natives...

Newport, RI is beautiful...

Subways are the horizontal equivalent of elevators -- no one looks at anyone, or says a word...

Big Cities offer everything I need... except for the essential quiet, simplicity & ease of access of a small town...

Even when it is windy, rainy and cold, Maine is absolutely beautiful...

Country Buffet is delicious anywhere!

Travelling opens your mind, & your wallet...

The best flight is the flight home...

(Click the pics to enlarge)...

Fall Vacation: Day 7 (Connecticut)...

On our last full day in New England, we started off by visiting Mark Twain's house in Hartford, CT. It was another excellent tour. Our guide, Jason, was top notch. And the house was very interesting -- both historically, and visually. As was the case with most of the tours we took, no pictures were allowed inside; but I did snap a few of the outside of Mark Twain's house. The accompanying museum was pretty good. I especially liked the way they had some of Mark Twain's quotes etched into the walls inside the museum hallways. Nice touch. The opening picture is one of the quotes, which I thought was appropriate at the end of a week of travelling.

Next, our final touristy thing was a Steam Train ride along part of the Connecticut River, followed by a boat trip along the same river. The train ride was a bit of a let down, honestly... it was too short -- only about 45 mins, round-trip. Actually, only about 20 mins of that counted, since the return trip was along the exact same strip of track, just going backwards -- so, no new scenery opportunities on the way back. And the scenery that was visible from the train, wasn't terribly helpful. Most of the trip had trees on either side of the tracks, blocking any real views. Much like you'd see driving on the interstate. It was pretty, but not quite what I thought it might be, scenery-wise.

Next, we off-loaded from the train, and went onto a boat to get a river's-eye view of the Connecticut River. This was better than the train, as far as scenery, even tho the colors hadn't peaked yet. Looks like we were either a week too late (up north), or a week too early (in southern New England). But, mother nature doesn't operate on a fixxed schedule.

And, all in all, everything we saw and did was pretty much excellent. Everyone was helpful, friendly, and knowledgeable. The tours we went on were all very good, and our week in New England was great.

Lastly, and most important of all -- a HUGE thanks to my brother for putting it all together, and doing all the driving -- no way I could've planned it as well, or got us to where we needed to go w/o getting us hopelessly lost. He really did a GREAT job getting it all laid out & organized, which made it really effortless & relaxing for me. I had a really great wk -- saw alot of really awesome things that I will never see again, I'm sure. And, most of all, had a really great time all week long.

Though travelling and seeing new things is always fun, and interesting, it is always nice to get home again. Which is what I'll be doing for most of the day on Sunday, October 15th. So, no blogs for tomorrow. But, I will try to post some final thoughts & impressions, and a few more assorted pictures of the trip, either on Monday or Tuesday.

Feel free to check the archives (right hand side of the page), and take a gawk at each day's entry. In addition to Saturday's posting, I also just finished posting our adventures of Friday, since I got in too late on Friday nite to have a chance to publish that entry. So, take a look. Anyway, each day is posted.

I hope you all enjoyed sharing my vacation with me. It was a really good time, but I'll be glad to sleep in my own bed, under my toasty electric blanket again, on Sunday nite!

Until my next posting... Peace. Out.