Category: Memories

Preparing a List for Spring Break

Posted on by Markman
The man. The mystique.
The man. The mystique.

After work, I did a bunch of things today that I wanted to complete today and over the next few days, just in case you’ve been wondering what I’ve been up to.

  1. Cleared off the back deck in preparation for us pressure washing it clean. I’ve been doing some research on how best to tackle the job on the composite.
  2. I did some research on how I’m going to implement some of the things on LD’s website.
  3. Because the previous flowers had faded, I purchased an Easter bunch of flowers for the vase. There are some stunning blue hydrangeas in the mix that attracted my eye. Perhaps a photo will be forthcoming.
  4. The lavender seedlings on the windowsill are starting to sprout. Pretty exciting!
  5. Played around a bit with my social media accounts and made this “drawing” of myself.
  6. Disassembled an old dehumidifier for ease of disposal. Also preparing to replace the glass panes with screens on the house doors and to bring out the grill from storage. I have a feeling we’ll be doing a lot of grilling this year, as we did last year.
  7. Cleaned up some leaf/yard waste for the town pick up tomorrow.
  8. As I was cleaning up some stuff out front, I noticed a tiny bunny scurrying about. When it heard me poking around, it raced to safety, but I left it alone and am delighted that they seem to be doing fine. We were so distraught last week when we disturbed their nest unknowingly but they’ve all left now to live their lives.
  9. The town is starting to dig up all the streets in the neighborhood around here to reline all the sewers I believe. It makes getting around pretty annoying and I have to plan my route accordingly every morning so I’m not late. Going to be wonderful I’m sure once they start working on the entire street in front of the house. Not.
  10. I’ve been trying out a new knee brace for my right knee. So far I’m liking the way this one feels. It’s more or less to stop me from overextending the tendons that hurt when I bend it too far. Ah, the joys of aging. Like they say, “I really don’t mind getting older, but my body is taking it badly.”

An Exciting Draft

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It was kinda cool last night watching the WNBA Draft of all things as LD’s trainer was there to support her daughter being drafted into the WNBA. The kid is amazing too as she was ranked 5th in the draft. She ultimately dropped to 7 but still that’s pretty freaking good. And it was cool seeing them all on television as the team picked her. Plus we can all say, “We know those people!” Cool!

Industrious for a Sunday

Posted on by Markman

Before Noon:

Today I’m feeling quite accomplished! I finished assembling the hose box we got yesterday before noon (I didn’t realize it needed to be partially assembled, but I figured it out). Instead of laying strewn around all over the place, the hose is now neatly wrapped and placed inside a fashionable looking box. I trimmed and disposed of some weeds that had been growing under the patio. I dumped the ash from the firepit that had accumulated over the course of the previous couple of social outings. I took down the outside lights from the back deck so that I could power wash it clean later and trash any lights that were no longer functional. I’ll rehang the working lights once everything is done to that section. Finally I air blew some leaf detritus off the decks and patio for a cleaner look. Like I said, feeling pretty accomplished! I also learned how Square works a little bit!

Afternoon:

We went out to Home Depot to pick up a pressure washer, which we’ll use to clean the decks early to mid-week. Then it was over to Staples to get a three-hole punch so we could punch holes in all the recipe cards we’d gathered and placed into a binder. Also started putting away some of the winter things that were outside live the shovels and the reflective poles in the ground.

Evening:

Winding down with some television and to begin reading an old book that was laying around, You Just Don’t Understand: Woman and Men in Conversation. Looks a little outdated but still could be interesting and enlightening. I’ll give it a shot.

Bouquets and Bustle for a Spring Saturday

Posted on by Markman
Spring bouquets

Today was spent getting things ready for spring and taking advantage of the opportunity to get things organized.

Vacuumed and assisted with the better arrangement, cleaning, and organization of the sun room – getting there – measured the top of the old toy chest we bought at a yard sale years ago to see if we could purchase some sort of pillow/cushion for the top to turn it into a seat with storage underneath.

The Big Pencil

I then planted the tubers I dug up last year into one of the raised beds – got them in there before it started drizzling rain outside. Also planted some lily tubers and some other seedlings in a new area out back which is going to be something of a “prairie” type area. LD planted some pansies and hyacinths out front.

Loaded up the car with some crap I hope to dispose of over at Earth-1 next week. Also returning the Big Pencil back to my “Hall of Trophy’s” over there.

Later in the afternoon, we drove to the hardware store and purchased a wrap for the outdoor hose, which I intend to install tomorrow. I’ll be working on LD’s website as well, getting it ready for prime time, over the next week.

It was a wild weather day as today had a little bit of everything, sun, wind, rain, clouds, even a rainbow.

Happy Anniversary to Us!

Posted on by Markman
On a shooting location

Our relationship might not be perfect, and certainly has its ups and downs, but our love for each other is still strong and is wonderful all the same, and that’s all anyone could ever ask or hope for. I am truly blessed to have found you. I just want you to know, that when I picture myself happy, it’s with you.

In a world where so many things can be uncertain, you are the one thing that I will always be sure of. Better than I was, more than I am. And all this happened by taking ourselves hand in hand. Happy Anniversary Ladydoc! I’m so glad to be able to spend this day with you, and all the days with you. Seriously, you’re amazing! This lowly kid from Somerville hit it big when he met this Jersey Girl.

Sunset is My Therapy

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Sunset Love

Sunset is the only therapy I need. There is something magical about it, it makes you feel things. And with every new sunset that feeling is always different. And the beautiful thing is that no matter what you feel, as long as you feel, you are living and that is all that matters.

-Tadas Petrovas

Cluck You

Posted on by Markman
Just some roosters hanging out

The highlight of the day was a brief visit to the Sanctuary. Despite the fact that it was closed to the public today, the owner let us in because we’d been regulars for a long time and were dropping off some produce for the animals that LD had kindly procured. While wandering about, I came across a flock of roosters who were just hanging out and thought it would make a good photo. So there you have it. We sowed lavender seeds in a lot of seed trays earlier in the day, which I later placed on a ledge in the house to germinate. We’re hoping to be able to transplant them into the garden in a few weeks. We also have some butterfly mix, stargazer lily bulbs, and some gaillardia to plant. I’ve also been hydroponically growing some garlic bulbs in a big glass jar contraption I had set up as an experiment of mine. The green tendrils of leaves are starting to sprout up out of the jar, pretty fast growing.

Because the dianthus pot outside appears to be empty, it appears that the surviving baby rabbit must have fled sometime last night. After all, they were almost ready to depart, so I don’t feel as horrible as I did yesterday. I couldn’t really tell if any of the lettuce we left had been eaten, but maybe since the pot I laid in in seemed to be moved this afternoon. I guess we’re going to have to leave it as I’ve now designated it as a bunny nursery since this is at least the third time that a rabbit has placed it’s babies in it to develop and grow. Who knows how many others we may have had in there without knowing!

The Push and the Pull

Posted on by Markman
Be water.

Half of me is filled with bursting words and half of me is painfully shy. I crave solitude yet also crave people. I want to pour life and love into everything yet also nurture my self-care and go gently. I want to live within the rush of primal, intuitive decision, yet also wish to sit and contemplate. This is the messiness of life – that we all carry multitudes, so must sit with the shifts. We are complicated creatures, and ultimately, the balance comes from this understanding. Be water. Flowing, flexible and soft. Subtly powerful and open. Wild and serene. Able to accept all changes, yet still led by the pull of steady tides. It is enough.

Saturday Scents Smells and Stimuli

Posted on by Markman
Flower power

As I began to clean out some of the pots from various detritus and dead plants from last season, a tiny rabbit leapt out of one of the pots and onto the deck! LD attempted to pick him up with the intention of returning him to the pot, but it leaped off the deck, into another pot below, and then scurried out and under the deck. We felt terrible for disturbing it; what if the baby isn’t ready to go out in the wild just yet? On a side note, I believe there was a second bunny in the pot, but it remained concealed. We ran out and got some lettuce just in case they or the mama gets hungry and maybe she can find him and put him back, although I’m not sure if that will happen. The Plight of the baby bunny! I feel horrible for disrupting the nest, but on the bright side, the bunny was well-developed and would have departed on its own in a day or two if I hadn’t intervened I’m thinking.

The photo above is from some flowers I picked up for LD a little while ago. I like having flowers around every now and again, I feel it brightens the place up. I can’t always get the kind of flowers I’d really like to get because they can be poisonous to the pet, but that’s the breaks.

Did a lot of stuff around the house today, even made trips out to some stores to get things to assist in these endeavors. Spring cleaning and all.

This Doesn’t Happen Everyday

Posted on by Markman

This morning, I awoke to find out that I had been featured on the local CBS affiliate news station! Hurrah! On a side note, I used to watch Channel 7 news but became bored with it. Have you ever noticed that they have to use alliteration in every news report they do? You’ll notice it the next time you watch it — it’ll be introducing news articles with names like Dog Dangers, Pesky Problem, or Crumbling Concerns.

What a day thus far!

Early this morning was Carson’s vet appointment. I failed miserably in trying to get him into the carrier. I tried grabbing him but he wiggled out of my grasp and looked like he would bite me. He had been suspicious of me to begin with – they always seem to know when something’s up. All the coaxing in the world doesn’t seem to help because once they are on to you it’s game over. LD was the true hero though, she eventually got him up into her arms and even though he contorted his body crazily and even scratched her hand a bit, she held on to him, like a cowboy riding a bucking bronco and got him into the pet cage. Once he was there he checked out okay and was just probably glad to be out of there. Once he got home I was pleasantly surprised to see that he was actually pretty chill and didn’t go run and hide, which is something he would do in the past. This little traumatized kitty has come a long way, no doubt due to the affection and strength through love that we have both given him. After that LD has another appointment and I had to head down to the tactical store.

The tactical store was a little scary. With all the guns, and magazine clips and handcuffs and body armor. I found it a little bit daunting, guess that’s where all the law enforcement and SWAT guys go. There was one person in there, I guess an officer, looking at a gun that looked like an assault rifle – serious stuff! While I was waiting to be served, I was listening to what was going on with him. Before they even allowed him handle and aim the gun around, he had to present his badge and justify all of this, which I assume makes sense. It wouldn’t be wise to entrust these matters to just anyone coming in off the street. I had no idea this establishment existed in town! Anyway, I never understood how much effort they put into all of this – there are literally thousands of different uniform styles, and it’s a big deal.

On the way back I decided to hit for some lunch by going to the Burger King Drive thru. Thankfully all the hoopla from this morning about Ernie Boch Jr. giving out free gas at the station literally right next to place had all been finished by then. Seemed to be a little antithetical to me that people would wait in these long lines burning gas just to get gas. I heard some folks were waiting there since last night. Seems a bit drastic to me, it’s obviously no doubt some kind of self promotion but hey, I guess it made some folks happy.

I’m Getting Lost in Cotton Candy Colored Skies

Posted on by Markman
Cotton Candy Skies above

“Sometimes the clouds in the sky are mistaken. They didn’t come to block the sunlight. They came to embrace it.”

I thought the clouds were pretty wild looking in this shot. What are your thoughts? This was taken with an older camera when I was initially getting into photography, thus the quality isn’t as high as some of my more recent images. Still, I believe it’s a fantastic shot, and as I previously stated, I’m a big fan of the clouds.

L’artiste

I’ve been working on some special posts coming up so stay tuned for that – all the feels! I saw that NECN shared the photo of the boat “coming in hot” that I took from the Cape so I would expect to see that on the television screen soon. Which reminds me if you’d like to have some of my work (shameless plug) adorn your own surroundings you can always just check out my store for what I consider to have been some of my best photographs which are available on a number of items ranging from small magnets and stickers to large metal prints. Scroll through and see if anything catches your eye – I tend to update it with new images every now and again as I receive some interest. I would appreciate any support – help keep me going!

Gosh darn this was one long month – I thought April would never get here! It had some great moments but also some not so great. Perhaps every month is like that but this month seemed to have some pretty big swings for me. I feel like I’m getting back into equilibrium though and that’s a good thing.

Tomorrow I have a handful of appointments I need to attend to. One is bringing our boy to the vet in the morning, which is generally an adventure in and of itself, and the other is getting fitted for some tactical equipment I need for my job. Onward and upward – that should be fun!

Don’t Tread on Me

Posted on by Markman
Downward

Woke up to a flat tire. Well, it wasn’t totally flat but I could see as the car sat there that it was getting flatter and flatter. After my shift, I took it to the shop. It was suggested that all four tires be replaced because they were all worn out. I was aware that it was a bit of a sales pitch, but I consented. It was time for a new set of tires. However, it was a bit pricey. Another bill to add to the pile. On the plus side, she rides like a dream.

It made me think that we are all like tires a little bit through our experiences. Some of us are new while others are threadbare. I guess I’m somewhere in the middle, and every now and again I need a burst of air to pump me up. Life can be so deflating at times, but in my case it’s a slow leak. I need to force myself to get to the air pump.

Orleans Sunrise and the Burned Hand

Posted on by Markman
The sun rises over the cliffs off the coast of Nauset Beach, Orleans, Ma.

The story behind the photo: This was taken in June, I believe, while we were staying at the Nauset Lighthouse cottage. It’s actually across the dirt road, and the fence here is to keep you from going too far over the cliff’s edge, which you can’t see in this photo. I believe I got up at 5 a.m. and walked out to this spot in the hopes of capturing these sunrise images.

The burned hand teaches best. After that, advice about fire goes to the heart.

J. R. R. Tolkien

In other news, I burned my hand last night, in addition to everything else. I removed an oven-safe pan from the oven while I was cooking dinner and set it on the cooktop to do something else, but when I returned to it, I had forgotten it had been in the oven and grabbed the handle, scorching myself. For a while, it hurt like a motherfucker. I would apply ice to it and the pain would go away, but as soon as I removed the ice for a second or two, the pain would return. On my skin, it felt like a continual scrape. I eventually went to bed with my hand on the ice pack and was relieved to see that everything had improved by morning. I knew it couldn’t have been that bad because my skin wasn’t bubbling or blistered. Just red. That was a close call. It made me feel incredibly stupid and angry with myself.

As for other walking hospital news, I finally got a knee brace for my right knee. I’ve been wearing it for most of today to try it out and it seems to be helping I think. Time will tell if I stick with it or not.

Gametime: Another version of Mahjong.

My Melancholy Monday

Posted on by Markman
blah.

“My melancholy is the most faithful mistress I have known; what wonder, then, that I love her in return.”

― Søren Kierkegaard

Feeling a little out of sorts today. I don’t know if the unseasonably cold weather today, the fact that I probably have a case of the Mondays, or whatever else. Hopefully I’ll feel better and more like my chipper self tomorrow but for now I just want to shut down for the day. I’m allowed to have that, aren’t I?

Sunday Plays The Thing

Posted on by Markman
A quiet day on Acorn Street

We traveled to Boston to see a performance put on by some students, and it was fantastic! So creative! The theatre was small, but not too small, which was a bonus because it meant the stage would be intimate to the audience, which it was. Because you had to be masked and show your vax card to go in, it felt completely safe. Anyway, the show was excellent, and it was motivating to see these young people, from the writer to the actors and crew members, enhance their skills. It’s just wonderful. We then went out and bought a couple of pizza slices to take home with us for the ride back.

Pink Houses For You and Me

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The Pink House

The house’s notoriety is in part due to a popular local urban legend about its creation. The story suggests the house’s location was a result of a divorce in which the wife demanded an exact replica of their Newburyport house, but failed to specify the location, resulting in the spiteful husband building it on the edge of town, in the Great Marsh with saltwater plumbing. For this reason, the building is often listed as an example of a spite house.

Arranging the Angles

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Angles

How many angles can you count in this shot?

I signed up for Tut: The Immersive Experience, which will be held at SOWA in Boston this summer. It’s similar to the Van Gogh event that happened earlier this year, but this time it’s about the Boy King. That’s right up my alley, especially since Covid canceled my visit to see the real treasures last spring. I did get to see many of them in New York a few years ago thankfully. I found out about this through a couple friend of ours who are probably going to go as well.

LD’s out on an overnight with her girlfriends so it’s just me and the cat tonight. Boys night in. We’ll be getting drunk on pizza, soda and catnip!

They Don’t Want to Gaslight Us Anymore?

Posted on by Markman
A gaslight shines in a Beacon Hill alleyway.

I’ve been using the above image to experiment with different Instagram publishing timings, but I can’t seem to get it perfect. Even though the dashboard suggests 3 p.m. is a good time, it appears that morning is the greatest time for me. They also keep altering the algorithm, which is quite annoying. I’ve gotten to the point where I just post whatever I want whenever I feel like it. It takes too much time and effort to find out how everything works. I simply want people to see what I upload and perhaps spread the word about my photographs.

Anyways the reason behind the repost is that the city wants to replace gas lights with LED lights in areas like as Beacon Hill and Charlestown, claiming that the new lights are more environmentally friendly and cost-effective. Some residents who live near these historical streets argue that this will not happen.

What do you think. Personally I feel the gas lights give real character. I understand the reasoning behind the thought but I don’t think the LED light would give the same glow. Sure seems different in the light fixtures around the house. (I know they have various temperature color options these days). I’d be interested in knowing what are your thoughts?

Currently Listening to: Santana covering Van Halen’s “Dance the Night Away”. This is freaking awesome! This song was on the album Van Halen II which was released 43 years ago today hence why I’m including this.

The Coming of the First Day of Spring

Posted on by Markman
Sunrise on the shore

We spent the first half of the day at Revere Beach, the second half in Boston wrapping up some business, and the third half of the day trying to recover from said business, which has left all of our bodies in pain. But at the very least, the job is done. Maybe I’ll go into more detail about this later.

The last of the numerous lettuce species from the hydroponic garden was finally pulled out. We gave the remainder to our friend whom we met at Revere yesterday to feed to her guinea pigs. I think they’ll enjoy them. Anyways next into the hydroponics we’re going to try a bunch of flower species and see how that goes. It is spring time after all.

Love and Kindness Spring Flings

Posted on by Markman
Mystical sights
Sitting in the sun

We opted to get a variety of stuff done outside yesterday because it was such a wonderful spring-like day, like cleaning out some dead vegetation and seeing plants like tulips and daffodils start to spring up. Toward evening we even constructed a fire pit. I burnt some wood, as well as some old paperwork, which was really a cleansing experience. Picked up a few things and the supermarket. Ordered a pizza for take out last night. Trying to rest my knee at times.

Now for today’s exciting events. I was searching through my photo archives and came upon this lighthouse photo that I had forgotten about from Mystic Seaport. So I figured I’d share it with you today. I like the tones in this one, but I think it could have been a little better.

Our stickers from Random Acts of Kindness Foundation finally arrived. If you remember, you had to color in an image in order to get them. It’s now simply an issue of deciding where they’ll go! Whatever the case may be, it’s still a good sentiment.

Good day for a cat nap

I waited for the sump pump people to come over and finish up some work this afternoon. Had they arrived by 2 pm? The answer is No, despite the fact that I wasn’t certain they were meant to show up today in the first place. They need to come back at some point though, some of their stuff is still here. In the meantime Carson and I had decided to kind of lay low for a while and rest, especially me to take some pressure off my knee. I think Charles Shultz said it best: “Learn from yesterday, live for today, look to tomorrow, rest this afternoon.”

For lunch I decided to air fry some hot dogs. I haven’t done that in quite a while. It’s so easy too, just pop them in for a few minutes and it’s done – no muss, no fuss. We also prepared some pasta bake that we’re going to delivering to a dear friend tomorrow who hasn’t been feeling too well as of late – sort of like a care package you might say. The house was filled with the aromas of cooking!

Leprechauns and Ligaments

Posted on by Markman
Motif No.1 once again.

Everyone have a wonderful St. Patrick’s Day. To make our own corned beef and cabbage, we got takeout from a nearby restaurant.

I appeared to have strained some of the ligaments in my right knee; perhaps it’s patilla tendinitis. I’ll just have to be a little more patient with that for a while. Things take longer to mend these days than they did in the past.