Mom's Childhood Home

On our way to Polly's wedding we formed a six-car caravan. We were following Jim's car, from which Mom navigated us through the neighborhoods of Old Greenwich to the home in which she grew up.

This is it, with at least one addition.

I have vague memories of this place. My granny lived here through the first five years or so of my life. I do remember the timber-frame style. I remember that tree on the right. I remember the streets trending down to the shores of Long Island Sound.

We must have caused some consternation in this neighborhood. A line of cars from several states pulled up in front of a house and a group of all ages, dressed in wedding finery, piled out to stare at the house.

It was important to visit. I'm glad we did.

Road Trip to Connecticut

Colleen and I are in Stamford, Connecticut for my Cousin Polly's wedding today. We drove up yesterday; a long, dreary, rainy traffic-plagued ride up the Jersey Turnpike, across the George Washington Bridge, through the Bronx, and into Connecticut.

Colleen helped me out with a small photo-experiment in which I had her take a photo out the front of the car from her post in the passenger seat every half-hour. I think it would have turned out better had it been a nicer day.

Karen and Christina, meanwhile, are in the Washington area visiting our in-laws for the Orthodox Church's Easter celebration today (Karen was raised in the Orthodox Catholic Church and that's where we were married).

We've had to split the family this week-end, but at least this way we can cover all our diverse family events.

Don't Panic!

Originally uploaded by Divisible Eye.

I dragged Karen out to see the new movie version of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy tonight. It was not really her cup of tea, but Karen is an ever-patient partner and indulged me in this.

The original Guide -- radio show, book and TV show -- and its author, the late Douglas Adams, helped form my world-view; I had to see this movie.

I had to see it, but I was worried that it might not be up to the challenge. I have to say, though, that I enjoyed it. It works!

My only regret is that, if this is a hit, everyone will get the "so long and thanks for all the fish!" joke.

By the way. The re-make miners in Hollywood seem to have it a rich vein of my youth. We saw previews for a remake of The Pink Panther and Herbie Fully Loaded (remember the Love Bug?). Out in the lobby was a poster for a coming movie version of Bewitched.

It's a good thing I was paying attention back in the 60's and 70's. This feels like that one time I'd actually done the reading before class!

In Which I Offer a Prayer for the President of the United States

Please, God. Teach him how to say the word "Nuclear."




Before I have to tear my ears out by the roots.

We Keep It Tight, Apparently

The Town of Smyrna municipal election went down to the wire this week and the race for Mayor appears to have been decided by two votes. As the News Journal reported it this morning (Absentee vote gives Smyrna mayor win) it was a handful of absentee ballots, some handed out by the Mayor himself, that turned the tide.

Yes, it's another close race demonstrating just how divided we can be.

Smyrna has been growing, and growing fast. There was strong sentiment in the town that it has been growing too fast. In a state where incumbents used to be bullet-proof, it's interesting to see yet another very close call for an incumbent.

The question in this case, as in the earlier Sussex County Council race, is will the winners take the evidence of a divided and uncertain electorate to heart?

It's a question that applies at the national level as well. Of course, if you read this blog, you probably know my feelings on that score.

Why I Like Mark Helprin

Mark Helprin is one of those writers whose work I'll always make time to read. He's written some of my favorites and counts, for me, as a writer I tout to other serious readers. Other writers in that category in my book include Patrick O'Brian and PG Wodehouse.

Two of Helprin's novels -- Winter's Tale and A Soldier of the Great War -- I've read several times each. Grand, sweeping, magic, epic novels. The kind of novels in which one can climb and live for a time.

I've just finished a collection of Helprin's short stories, The Pacific and Other Stories. While I prefer the long-form novel, these were a delight. Here's an example of the kind of written gems I find in here. He's writing about what is special about the City of Venice, in a story called Il Colore Ritrovato.

It isn't because of the architecture or the art, the things that people go to look at and strain to preserve. The quality of Venice that accomplishes what religion so often cannot is that Venice has made peace with the waters. It is not merely pleasant that the sea flows through, grasping the city like the tendrils of a vine, and, depending upon the light, making alleys and avenues of emerald or sapphire, it is a brave acceptance of dissolution and an unflinching settlement with death. Though in Venice you may sit in courtyards of stone, and your heels may click up marble stairs, you cannot move without riding upon or crossing the waters that someday will carry you in dissolution to the sea. To have made peace with their presence is the great achievement of Venice, and not what tourists come to see.

That paragraph struck me and has stuck with me. I enjoy the depth of thought and the craft of writing like that.

Filed in:

• book
• helprin

Hilarious layout in a Texas newspaper

Originally uploaded by mathowie.

I know this is likely being posted everywhere. But I got a kick out of this, so I'm posting a link to it too!.

Second Golf Game of 2005

Originally uploaded by mmahaffie.

Christina and I played nine holes on the executive-length Heritage Golf Course, between Lewes and Rehoboth Beach, today.

At nine years old, Christina is starting to learn the basics of the game. So nine holes was a nice practice outing for me and a lesson for Christina.

The day started with sunshine, but got more and more cloudy, windy, and cold as we played. The weather wasn't as nasty as it was for my first game of the year.

My game wasn't great, but I had a few good shots. Christina hit a fine shot just after this photo; a nine-iron that had that nice arc and decent distance. On the ninth tee, she hit another great shot that went at least 100 yards.

Now she knows about that one shot per game that keeps you coming back.

Cat Detente

Mocha and Shoe don't usually get along this well.

Mocha is the new cat in town. She gets on Shoe's nerves, chases him around, ambushes him and steals his food.

So it was a nice change to come home from playing half a round of golf today and find them sharing the big chair. More or less.

Hey! A Gravity-Monument Photo!

I was just doing a quasi-random search on Flickr. I searched on "Colby" and "Maine" to see what images there might be of my alma mater. I found a nice shot from gavinOB of the Babson Gravity Monument on the Colby College campus that was the subject of one of my earliest blog posts.

I too had to have a photo of this; but took mine back in 1989 when Karen and I visited the campus for my fifth reunion and I had only a film camera. That photo is in an album somewhere, waiting for me to get my old stuff scanned.

When I first met up with this bit of stone and the idea carved on it, as a confused 18-year old, I took great comfort from it as evidence that I wasn't the only deeply weird person in the world.

I Have to Link to This From My Blog. I just Have To.

Headline
News Jounal Newspaper
April 21, 2005
Faithful gather at St. Blog's Parish

A Fine Feline Evening

This is Buttons. She is one of a herd of cats that live in and around the stables at the Milton Equestrian Center.

At least once a week I spend an evening here while Colleen takes a riding lesson. Once a week for the last several years. I've gotten to know the cats fairly well.

Buttons is the most shy of the cats. She's rarely out in public like this. This evening, I guess, she just couldn't pass up the warm, clear evening light.

I couldn't pass up the chance to get a shot of her, but she had to be stalked.

Things That Bother Me

I noticed this sign yesterday. It marks the men's room on the main hall of ballrooms at the Princess Royale Hotel, in Ocean City, Maryland.

It's one of those things that bothers me just on the periphery of awareness; something is wrong but it takes a closer look to see exactly what.

Is this meant to be the possessive form of "Men?" Or the plural of "Man." The former of course is "Men's." The latter would be "Men."

But, "Mens?"

I really just meant to take a picture of the sign for use in this post. When I saved it to my laptop and looked at it full size, I realized that I have created "Self portrait in bathroom door."

That, also, is vaguely troubling.

Temptation

This is a very nice car, but is it really so nice that this driver had to take up two spaces in a crowded hotel parking garage?

We took the girls down into Ocean City today. They are competing in a dance contest today and tomorrow. The contest is at the Princess Royale, which has a smallish parking garage. It was hard enough to find a space without this ... person ... claiming two spaces in an effort to keep his or her precious car from getting a ding.

I have to admit, when I see a car parked this way, I face the following temptations:

• Somehow wedge my car tightly in right next to the offending car so that they either can't get in the thing or can't get it out of the space.
• Bump into it anyway. (Not really. Somehow this one, and scratching the paint with my key, are ones I won't even consider)
• Leave a nasty note.
• Take a picture with my digital camera and put it on-line.

The better move, I guess would be to inform the hotel manager. That, I think, is what the guy who was walking by when I took this picture seems to have done. When we came out later the car was parked properly.

Ah! So This is What They Were Going For

I had a chance to have another look at the Harvard House, in Lewes, the other day. The paint team was out adding the final coat to the paint job I questioned last week.

As it turns out, they were going for a dark purple, with a light purple trim and blue accents.

This might work well. It is the case that Victorian Architecture calls for rich colors and complex palettes. It won't be the only purple house in town, and it may be one of the nicer ones.

I'll have to watch for, and photograph, the finished product.

This? This is Just Cool

Originally uploaded by chelajanenoto.

Wandering along in Flickr, and we find...

This is John Wesley Powell

Powell was the second Director of the US Geological Survey; he served in that post from 1881 to 1894. Before that he was an explorer and an emissary to the Native American nations.

This image is from an on-line collection of photos from the vaults of the USGS. There are some fascinating shots in there.

I've felt a connection to Powell since the Fall of 2003 when a team I was working with won the John Wesley Powell Award (PDF) from USGS, in recognition of our work on the Delaware DataMIL which was, briefly, on the cutting edge of on-line geospatial data.

We're not quite at the cutting edge anymore; things move fast in this on-line world. We'll get back out there. Eventually.

Where Have I Been?

I have been right here, in front of my laptop, cursing Comcast for lapses in our broadband signal every evening this week.

I did manage to get an e-mail off to them last night. They replied this morning:

We are currently experiencing an outage in your area. We apologize for this inconvenience and are working toward a resolution as quickly as we can.

Faster, people. Faster!

On Second Street

This is the main street of Lewes, Delaware. It's about three blocks of shops, restaurants, small bars and my friend Amy's bakery and coffee roastery.

That's the Rose and Crown across the way, there in the Walsh Building. It's modeled after a traditional English pub. It reflects our ties with Lewes, in England (our sister city, I think).

Second Street represents that small-town, mixed-use ideal that planners are trying to regain. Those are apartments and offices upstairs from the restaurants and retail. It is possible to live on this street and work here, eat here, and get a cafe mocha too.

I had the pleasure of living in a small apartment above a store down at the other end of the street in the year before Karen and I got married. When we maried, we moved into an apartment above a store the next street over.

I do sometimes regret that my State job, in Dover, keeps me from spending my days here. When Cafe Azafran installs their WiFi system, I may try to establish a Lewes branch of the State Planning Office.

Just a thought.....

Remembering A Neighbor

This is Mary Vessels Memorial Park, a pocket park nestled between Second Street and Front Street in Downtown Lewes.


This is where you wander to sit and eat your King's Ice Cream when the porch in front of King's is too full on soft summer evenings.

Mary Vessels lived in the old Hall House across from our first house, on East Third Street in Downtown Lewes. We knew her for several years in the early 90's. She was a pleasant woman and a good neighbor. She passed away unexpectedly, and too young, at about the time that we had our first child and started looking for a larger home and ended up settling further towards the edge of town.

The Park was named in her honor a short time later.

A great pleasure of life in a town like Lewes is that every spot has history, people, and memories tied to it. As the people of the town, we're the links between those places and their stories. It's our responsibility to keep those memories alive; to keep the town connected to its past.