Well, it is about time! (audio)

catching up after several weeks away from here....

well needed rain coated some leaves on the walk this morning

Marshmallow farm

Yes, Vermont has marshmallow farms too!

marshmallow farm

We usually see these in PA but up in Vermont last week we drove by this one.

Other photos from our trip to Vermont can be found here
http://www.flickr.com/photos/steve_sherlock/sets/72157635127085533/with/9540344355/

Enjoy your break

Yes, spring break week for Franklin and other area schools. For those heading away, I hope the weather and travels are kind to you!



Enjoy the time away. Come back refreshed to tackle your To Do list with renewed gusto!

relief (or stimulus) what they built lasted

The WPA, born in 1935 at an initial cost of $4.8 billion, was at the time, the largest “relief” program in American history (now it’s called “stimulus”). By 1941, when spending on the coming war pulled America out of the lingering slump, WPA had cost $11.4 billion and put eight million men and women to work building 1,634 public schools, 105 airports, 3,000 tennis courts, 5,800 libraries, 3,300 storage dams, hundreds of miles of roads, sewer lines, while the CCC built roads through national and state parks, fire towers, and scores of campgrounds, many of which are in use today.

I doubt if George Bush even suspected that his weekend retreat, Camp David, which Franklin Roosevelt called Shangri-la, was built by the WPA as a recreation area in the Catoctin Mountains of Maryland. Do baseball fans know that WPA workers built Doubleday Field, in Cooperstown, New York, in 1939 to mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of America’s pastime on that hallowed ground?

The architecturally unique bridges of the Merritt Parkway in Connecticut were built by the WPA. Not until 1937 did New York City get an airport, La Guardia Field (named after the city’s New Deal era mayor), with its beautiful art-deco main terminal, all built by WPA labor.

read the full posting by Saul Friedman on Time Goes By

I have driven the Merritt Parkway many times admiring the bridges, each one different and wondered when (and why) they were done that way. Now I know.

On many of our vacations to Pennsylvania state parks, we benefited from the work of the CCC. They did create something that lasted.

Summer planning

Fire Captain Bob says that if you are not on vacation, you should be planning your next vacation. School will be out for the summer soon. Allison graduates one month from today. Dolores says goodbye to her kindergarten friends two months from now. Carolyn is busy working on her co-op through June then she returns to the classroom so she doesn't really get a break. Which is much like the real world. I carefully plan out my four weeks to spend some family time and to do something special for me.

SOBCon08 requires one vacation day in two weeks.

The Dodge Poetry Festival will take a couple of vacation days in September.

Fortunately, PodCampNY and PodCamp Boston 3 and the Lowell Folk Festival won't require vacation time.

How do you plan your vacation?

Stepping back 10 years

I dug into the 1997 photo archives to find the photos on the right. The series on the left are current and digital from this past holiday week.

See my Tabblo>

My how time flies! Hey, I had dark hair then!

Notice how the two "little" kids then are the tallest kids now!

guest reader, plus

I was a guest reader at Dolores' kindergarten class this afternoon. What a delight to read a good book aloud with so many eager faces watching your every move! Intoxicating.

This has been a nice day. A leisurely vacation day. Grab it now or lose it as there is so little time left this year. Dolores' alarm went off. I hid mine. I woke lazily as she stirred and got up to get ready for her day at school.

Before too much time passed, I got up and dressed to run. It was snowing out. I figured I'd shovel first but it was not enough to shovel. Just a very light dusting in the still dark of the early morning.

The girls were up to. While both have come home for the holiday, they are off again. This time to New York. They gave themselves each a ticket to Wicked. How cool is that! And they even managed to get seats next to each other. It was just meant to happen like this.

One booked the hotel and the train. The other scouted out things to do and made those arrangements. They called me this afternoon while they were waiting in line at the NBC Studio tour to let me know (so I could also let their mother know) that they had arrived safe and sound.

Wicked tonight, more touristy things tomorrow, then the train home tomorrow night. Ah, to be young again!

No, actually. Been there done that. I'll take things leisurely now. After running three miles this morning, including a stop at the bank ATM to make a deposit (and why not save a trip in the car (and gas) since I was going right by the bank on the return trip?), I did do some work. I had a conference call cancel out on me but another one I needed to keep as I was leading it. All went well.

Then a delayed breakfast. I made a batch of our homemade syrup and hearty pancake mix then had some French toasted raisin bread. Delicious. Some blogging followed. I got ahead of myself for some Hitchhiker posts. I have been so neglectful of the trail lately. I am still finding places but not finding (or really making the time) to share them. But now is the time. One more workday (Friday) and then vacation until 2008.

I'll concede that I'll keep in touch with my work email while off next week. It will be better to spend a little time along the way rather than try and play catch up all at once. That is not how to return from a vacation!

Oh, the book was The Puppy Who Wanted a Boy. A good Christmas story for kindergarteners!

View from the Skylon Towers

View from the Skylon Towers, originally uploaded by shersteve.

Dolores takes in the view.

Horsehoe Falls: from the Skylon Tower

Horsehoe Falls: from the Skylon Tower, originally uploaded by shersteve.

Another view.

American Falls: from the Skylon Tower

American Falls: from the Skylon Tower, originally uploaded by shersteve.

On the evening of our anniversary last week we had dinner at the rotating dining room on top of the Skylon Tower overlooking Niagara Falls.

Dinner was good, the weather cooperated and the view was spectacular.

NiagaraFalls: Bike Shadow

NiagaraFalls: Bike Shadow, originally uploaded by shersteve.

Taken while on vacation at Niagara Falls, bike riding on a glorious day. My wife (Dolores) is the shadow in front of me. I (riding behind) managed to catch this photo of the shadow without editing it.

Cool!

Who's the sunflower in my life?

Who's the sunflower in my life?, originally uploaded by shersteve.

Easy answer for this one!

Dolores.


Note: from the student section of the Botanical Gardens on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls.

NiagaraFalls: Peek-a-boo

NiagaraFalls_Peek-a-boo, originally uploaded by shersteve.

Visting the Botanical Gardens in Niagara Falls last week, Dolores and I had some fun.

Video: Niagara Falls

A video sample from the American side of Horseshoe Falls at Niagara Falls (32 seconds)




Enjoy!

PS - yes, it was breezy. the video was captured by my camera. next time I'll smother the mic.

holiday plans

I am looking forward to vacation next week not so much to spend time with the family but to spend a "little" more time catching up (maybe) on some of the writing I need to complete.

My listing of books read and ready to be reviewed has grown. I need to cut that pile down some quickly.

While I appreciate and respect the desires of others in the blogosphere for taking a hiatus during the holidays, (I also applaud them for doing so!) you will be able to continue to find some fresh writing in my blog world.