Month: August 2020

Breaking Things on the Last Summer Weekend Sunday

Posted on by Markman

Spent a big part of yesterday down at the beach house, quite possibly our last chance of getting in the ocean. I used my inner tube again and bounced on the waves. The wind was blowing and made it a bit exciting and maybe even a little scary but surprisingly not as cold as you would think – the sun basking away kept us from shivering. Nothing us hardened New Englanders couldn’t handle. The little rope I have on it broke so I want to get a new piece of rope and tie it anew. I bought this tube down at the Cape probably about 10 years are so ago but never used it. It just sat in the garage for, like, 10 years. Finally this year I pulled it out and so far have used it twice and it’s held up great. It really did feel glorious to be riding the waves with the sea spray in my face,.

Speaking of things breaking, my beach chair appears to be on the way out. One of the rods seems to have rusted out so it’s time for a replacement. Unfortunately it appears that this particular chair isn’t being produced anymore so I’m trying to find something comparable because I love that chair.

One the way back home got a call from my mom saying the power to the house is all messed up. Usually something blows out somewhere and the panel needs to be reset. She said she did that though and still no luck and wanted to me to come check so I headed over there last night. When I got there it just didn’t make sense. I reset everything but some outlets just wouldn’t work, while others did. I was wracking my brain over this one. Long story short, EverSource came down this morning to check something and come to find out a tree across the street broke something on the wire in the wind or some such. Strange how it would only affect certain outlets and not others but whatever they replaced fixed it up. Nice thing is we didn’t need an electrician to come out (and we had called because we thought he would be needed) but it wasn’t so we cancelled. Anyways I stayed at Earth-1 over the night but slept like crap so I may be taking a nap later. My mom also placed a ticket with the city to trim some of the branches of this city tree that apparently caused the damage to the electrical gadgetry.

The story behind the photo: Just looking around Brewster and came across the historic Stony Brook Grist Mill, probably one of the first grist mills ever in America, if not THE first. Herring also swim up the brook in this location and you can easily see them when they come to spawn. It’s a lovely scenic area worthy of checking out.

Make Life Worthwhile and Smile

Posted on by Markman
A seal smiles while basking on a rock.
A seal smiles while basking on a rock.

“You’ll find that life is still worthwhile, if you just smile.”

Charlie Chaplin

Been doing some rearranging in the house today. LD’s office is temporarily going to be in the sun room which is a big improvement. Also looked at some ovens today because it’s getting to be time to replace the one that’s there as it’s quickly running out of its useful lifespan and it’s time for an upgrade. One that would match the decor better would also be a nice improvement to the kitchen. Still trying to get the right match (dimensions, etc.) Not easy to get just the right combination of factors all lined up! Would’ve maybe liked to get one on the tax-free weekend but it isn’t happening. It’s got to be right so there looks to be more looking around for the time being. Anyways, the new setup in the sun room is a reason to smile.

I’ve also been following the Tufts Covid dashboard. Interesting.

Gametime: SokoDroid has been keeping me busy lately.

Tonight’s movie watch was Lymelife. Kind of a strange movie, but we kind of dug it! I’m giving it a recommendation if you haven’t seen it.

Summer’s Ending on the Horizon

Posted on by Markman
A silhouetted dowitcher looks to the waves at sunset in Chatham, MA.
A silhouetted dowitcher looks to the waves at sunset in Chatham, MA.

The story behind the photo: This was taken a few weeks ago down at Hardings Beach in Chatham as the sun was setting. A dowitcher kept running back and forth into and from the surf. I was really trying to capture the movement of the waves, their undulating flow was hypnotic to me in a sense that night.

Got my RealID coming finally. This time I made sure to have all my ducks in a row by having more documents than were needed, just in case. Had to wait over an hour in line because one of the machines apparently broke down, so that sucked (going to a AAA location is still better than the RMV in my opinion), but finally getting the thing is good. Glad that’s over with. Now I’ll be able to enter federal buildings as well as get on a airplane after Sept. 2021, not that I plan on ever possibly doing those things, but good to have just in case. Naturally you have to wear your mask and be socially distant as you wait your turn. I wear glasses when I drive so I had to take the eye test (which is really easy – basically just tests to make sure you’re not blind IMO) but they ask if you wear your glasses while driving which means it needs to be checked. (So I thought to myself, if I didn’t wear glasses I wouldn’t need an eye test? And wouldn’t that actually be worse?)

I took two pictures. I didn’t like how the first one came out and the 2nd one wasn’t too swift either but everyone knows that nobody looks good in these ID photos. Why is that?

Getting Ready for the Real

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Boston Seaport, 1900 – present

Well, tomorrow’s the big day when I try to get my Real ID again. This time I think I’m better prepared so I’m not expecting any issues.

Remember when this blog used to be full of interesting stuff? Feel like I’ve become “tres boring” lately. Truth to tell there just isn’t that much to tell (about myself these days anyway – there’s lots of things happening in the world for sure).

I’ll try to up my game moving forward.

Castle in the Sky of Blue

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An image of a castle looking building with a blue sky behind it.
Castles in the sky

The story behind the photo: This is a picture of the corner of the Wellesley Town Hall. Pretty nice for a municipal building, eh? Well, there’s a bit of a story to it. This Romanesque stone building was designed by Shaw & Hunnewell (a railroad financier and interestingly enough, perhaps the first person to cultivate and popularize rhododendrons in the United States) and built between 1881 and 1886. Its construction was funded by, and it was built on land donated by him. The east end of the building, which was finished first, was opened as the public library in 1883, whose initial collection was also funded by Hunnewell. The building is a striking example of the then-fashionable Richardsonian Romanesque, although it also exhibits French Chateau features seen by the architects during travels in Europe. The Trinity Church in Boston is another example of Richardson Romanesque architecture.

Anyways I happened to walking around the building one day and liked this angle with the blue sky in the background. Also, it so reminds me of a castle with the turret and all. Reminds me almost of a fairy tale.

Egret Love

Posted on by Markman
https://www.instagram.com/p/CEUCxdwA1tc/

Thanks local news network for featuring another one of my shots!

Spent the day in the ‘Ville. Had to help my mom bring her two cats to the vet to get their nails cut. These cats have extra digits so it’s a little tricky to cut them plus they are beasts (though lovable and kind – scroll down a ways to see my Insta post of them last week) so it’s easier to have them do it. Worked out cause while there the cell phone provider we use turned us off but it was their mistake so we had to go straighten that out too. Also got a bunch of little things done too so it was a good visit.

Sunken Ship

Posted on by Markman
A rowboat with the word "sunken Ship" painted on it's back.
Sunken Ship

This picture I took encapsulates how I’ve been feeling lately. Anyone else? I mean, I think I’m a pretty positive person but things just keep beating me down and the times feel depressing. I’m always looking for the silver lining but the world feels like shit to me right now. I feel like the ship is sunk (or sinking) but maybe this little rowboat can save me? Save us? Holding out hope…kinda. The tide always rises, right?

Thoughts?

Oil on Canvas

Posted on by Markman
A painting of boats in a harbor.

I kind of like this one. This is a closeup of a painting I saw as I was getting ready to leave the island of Nantucket a few years back. It caught my eye just the way the strokes and dabs made the boats and I love the reflections.

Remember Me in 200 Years?

Posted on by Markman
Pemaquid Point

Playing around with some black and white photography. What do you think?

Saw the hummingbird again this morning flitting around on the back deck. Such a cool little bird – wild to watch it just hover. I’m hoping maybe someday I could photograph him. He stayed for a while this time too but never long enough.

I had an interesting thought yesterday as we strolled around a local cemetery (always looking for different places to walk and get a change of scenery). It occurred to me that unless you did something noteworthy and had some renown, most of us would be forgotten within a generation or two. The newer graves had flowers and other things left behind by loved ones, but the older graves had nothing. People who remembered them are probably gone now as well. I mean, I know nothing of my grandparent parents, who they were, what they were like, and same of their parents and so on up the line. I know, what an uplifting thought! But then I thought, well, as long as you made a difference, no matter how small, to the people around you now, perhaps that’s all that is needed and that’s enough for me.

Tonight’s movie watch was Patch Adams. Interesting role for Robin to play, in hindsight.

Laurel & Hardy

Posted on by Markman
https://www.instagram.com/p/CECowWhA7L_/

Visited my mom’s today and these are her two cats. They are brothers and seem to be bonded seeing as they’ve been together since their birth. And if one is at the vet the other one wonders where he is and is glad to see him when he returns. They do everything together and have their whole lives.

Monday Marigolds, So Good to Me

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Reddish Marigolds

My own little take on the Mamas and the Papas hit. These marigolds just keep on blooming over on the side of the house towards to entrance-way. Today was kind of a blah day, maybe cause it’s Monday, maybe because things are sort of crap at the moment, I don’t know – just wasn’t feeling it today. It wasn’t all a waste though, did get a new printer set up, and got a couple of errands done. Grilled some plant based burgers and corn…that’s about it. Nothing earth shattering today.

Egret Duo and Little Library

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Two Egrets

Here’s a picture of two egrets from the other day. I took a lot of shots but here’s one for now.

Here I am visiting a little library on the Lexington/Lincoln line. We happened to be in the area this afternoon to visit an acquaintance for a quick socially distant get together and decided to check this out on the way back. What’s neat about this one is the cat is supposedly animated when you open and close the doors. It didn’t happen for me but maybe it needs to be dark out or something. Anyways, this place was cool because it looked like they also had this killer tree house and erecting another building on the property to match the current house. You have to see it in person to really appreciate it.

Hero Worship

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Got a fun TBT for you all tonight. Here is an article of my grandfather when he was young and the star of the East Cambridge Lucy Recs (Lusitania club). A “popular idol!” I miss you Grandpa!

He was quite the star back in day I’m told. If he was playing nowadays he’d be making big money as a professional, but back in those days there wasn’t any money in it and they just played for the sport of it and for their heritage. They didn’t have pads in those days either – I remember looking at his legs and they were all banged up from years of playing and getting kicked in the shins. This game must have been from the mid-1930s sometime. I wonder if they won the championship that year (probably not). I tried googling it but haven’t found it thus far. I just love the writing in this article – it has a certain kind of flair to me.

Cool Day to Float

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A group pf chairs surround a firepit situated next to the ocean.
Cool day by the ocean.

Spent the afternoon down at the beach house, partly to get the other chair to match the other one we have and left down there and partly to get some swim time and good conversation in. It was a little chilly but we persevered. LD swam a little bit, our host kayaked, and I brought my inner tube floatie and just floated around in the water. Some pics may be forthcoming but I also might just keep them in my private library of shots. We did get to see some White Egrets and Little Egrets that I may put up. Got to love living close to the ocean – I couldn’t live anyplace not near it.

Standing with American Gothic

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Hanging with American Gothic inspired statues.

The story behind the photo: Back in 2014 took a trip to a place just out of Princeton, NJ called Grounds for Sculpture which has all these various famous artworks recreated as giant statues around the grounds. This one of American Gothic is right outside of the place. I’ll post more from the trip over the coming weeks, such as a famous WWII photo, Marilyn Monroe’s Seven Year Itch, the Mona Lisa, and a bunch of other ones. This was right in my wheelhouse, so to speak. Quite the roadside attraction.

Love to Whaleback Light

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Sailing off to Whaleback Light

Off to go renew my driver’s license today. I believe I have all the documents required to get my Real ID. I could’ve waited but I figure, eh, why not just get it out of the way. I’m a AAA member so I’m going to a AAA branch to get it done, way way better then waiting at the RMV. This time around you had to make an appointment and the wait is 2 weeks out or so. Well, my time is now arriving so here goes! I’ll let you know how I did when I get back and the whole process and stuff.

I’ve been closely following the Tufts reopening plan developments in my hometown, the campus itself is not far from my family’s home. Lots of residents in the area have serious concerns about their plans on how they would contain the students and their possible behaviors. Personally I don’t see how it’ll last more than a couple weeks maximum before changes happen, if it even gets that far. We’ll see.

Update! I’m back from the AAA but I didn’t get a chance to renew. I had everything but the bills I decided to bring with my info were not within 60 days. It would have been nice to know that ahead of time! It’s my own fault I suppose, when I got all my docs together I just chose the ones I had on hand at the time. So, basically I have to make another appointment. No big deal. I already made an appointment online – you have to keep clicking to try to get in and get a time but I just got one. Two more weeks and I get to this all over again – hopefully next time everything will be in order! What a pain in the ass.

In my down time I’ve taken to re-reading a book I purchased ten or so years ago entitles The Pyramids: The Mystery, Culture, and Science of Egypt’s Great Monuments, I forgot how good this book actually is! The author describes not just the big 3 pyramids, but all of them, along with their significance in religion, science and culture of the time they were built. Really fascinating stuff, but I’m into that. I’ve chosen to reread it mostly because I’m out of new stuff to read at the moment.

The story behind the photo: You may see this picture up top of sailing to Whaleback Light on NECN. I’m honored that they choose to highlight so many of my shots! Well, anything to get the word out helps I suppose! This particular shot was actually taken by me from land zoomed in. I saw this sailboat in the water and in the distance Whaleback Light so I tried to juxtapose the two and this is what I came up with. I also lightened it up considerably from the original snap. I find I prefer ship or boat scenes surrounded by white – just a preference of mine. I wished that the boat would have its blue sails unfurled as that would have looked great, but it was just not to be. Also, I love lighthouses and learning about their history and their keepers and Whaleback Light has a great one.

Puffin Love

Posted on by Markman
A puffin soars over the water.
Puffin fly!

“The greater the obstacle, the more glory in overcoming it.”

The Puffin is by far my favorite bird. I just find them fascinating. They are so small and they live in such a harsh environment for most of their lives up in the cold arctic waters. Little fighters.

Just updated the site to the latest version of the software. Most of the changes won’t be noticeable to viewers except one. Images will now wait to load until they’re just about to scroll into view. The technical term is ‘lazy loading.’ Seems legit so far, if anything seems wonky please let me know.

Airplanes Soar Overhead While We Splash in the Surf

Posted on by Markman
A shot of Revere Beach with the sand and water in the foreground and an airplane flying overhead into the clouds.
Can you spot LD and Diane?

Spent the afternoon at Revere Beach today and met one of LD’s colleague/friend Diane. Went down toward one of the ends and it wasn’t all that busy at all. It was really quite enjoyable. Maybe it’s me, and I don’t think you would think this either, but having airplanes fly over your head and you play and splash in the water is actually pretty damn cool!

In the evening I grilled up some chicken and more shrimp and some zucchini that we had growing. Doing a ton load of grilling this summer. We’ve been getting boxes from Imperfect Foods, which is basically just overstock or possibly some food that doesn’t look perfect but I got to be honest – I can’t tell the difference and most of the stuff looks and tastes fine, pretty good actually. The veggies are huge too.