Scattered Thoughts . . .

A rare photo of a photographer without a camera pressed up to his face. I capture quite a few photos of Sheila but it is very rare when someone captures a photo of both Sheila and me together!  Since I usually have a camera covering my face, it is a rare occasion when someone grabs my camera and snaps a photo of me... and, although Sheila and I are together more often than not, even rarer is capturing the two of us together in the same photo.   While we were at The Munich Haus restaurant in Massachusetts this past weekend with family and friends, Jen asked if we would like a photo of the two of us... I could probably count on one hand how many times people have asked this question over the past eight years so it was a very nice surprise. I truly wish people would ask more often. I handed Jen my camera and gave a few quick instructions on how my camera operates. In hindsight, I should have simply switched my camera to one of the 'auto' modes to make things signific

Every year, when we attend the annual Amherst Railway Society's Railroad Hobby Show, we always set aside Saturday evening for a group night out on the town for dinner. The past few years, the place we have chosen for this group night has been a rather unique and lively little restaurant called The Munich Haus ... fashioned after a German festhaus albeit smaller and a bit more personal. We have chosen this restaurant consistently over the past few years for a number of reasons including it is unique, it is cultural, it is something we cannot experience near home, the food is quite good, the desserts are outstanding and it has that happy German festhaus atmosphere and vibe with live music, singing, clapping and, of course, tasty beers! This little yet always crowded restaurant has a large selection of draft beers from Germany... a vast selection of schnitzels... a long list of different types of sausages... chicken dishes... beef dishes... fish and seafood dishes... vegetaria

Miss Mackenzie at the head of our table at The Munich Haus. While we were all out to dinner on Saturday night of our long train show weekend, our little Mackenzie created a new identity for herself... an alter ego... and, in the process, she invited us in for a more intimate glimpse of her own developing personality... During our more formal dinner out at a German Festhaus (I will write more about this dinner and Festhaus later), the 33 month old Kenzie asked to be taken to the potty. This polite and responsible request alone deserves some positive reinforcement but this is not the subject of this blog entry. The subject of this blog entry is about a little girl's imagination while in a land far from home and while in a rather noisy and unfamiliar cultural restaurant with her family... Liza quickly ushered Kenzie to the ladies room. While in the ladies room, a woman was taken with Miss Mackenzie's presence, behavior and personality and asked Kenzie for her name. Kenzie