Scattered Thoughts . . .

I n order to catch our train for our departure from Ohio and back to Manhattan, we had to set an alarm for 1:30am so we could get up, check out of our hotel and meet our driver to get us to the train station.  After a very busy, hot, and humid day with a lot of walking, this allowed us only about three hours of sleep before waking up and heading to the train station but our sleeper car beds would be waiting for us on the train.   After shaking the cobwebs out from our short nighttime naps, we made our way down to the hotel lobby just before 2am... The hotel lobby at this hotel is quite memorable with a towering ceiling (see photo below) and its immense size.  I had been here a few times about 40 years ago while traveling with the Air Force and this towering, expansive lobby is something I have always remembered very vividly and very fondly.  Back then, however, this towering lobby had a grand piano in it and this lobby led into a towering bar in the next room....

I t has been about two and a half months since my table saw accident that resulted in a bit of an amputation of my thumb including part of the bone so it is probably time for an update.  I know that most people think that no news is good news so are also assuming this injury is probably long behind me at this point since I haven't mentioned anything in about two months, but...   it is not behind me.  My thumb is indeed healing well but it is not behind me just yet. It is still quite sensitive to the touch.  Trying to trim my nail is still very painful.  It's not that my nail is overly sensitive...  it is that area where the flesh meets the nail is still very sensitive and painful.   I'm still dropping things.  I'm still slamming it into things which, naturally, results in even more pain.  And, I'm still having great difficulty picking small things up with that hand.  I think I have difficulty picking things up because the ...

T his past Sunday, Sheila and I participated in the Cystic Fibrosis Great Strides Walk in Burlington on our granddaughter, Ellie's, CF team.  The weather was great and Ellie was totally pumped up for this event as you'll see in the photos below. Ellie was wound up and super excited...  she danced most of the time we were waiting for the walk to begin! Lining the beginning of the walk were posters of each of the local children struggling with cystic fibrosis... The walk was along the waterfront in Burlington so we had great views of the lake and the Adirondack Mountains on the other side of the lake... Taking a short break at the midway point... After we completed the walk, we visited the treehouse... We all went to The Longhorn for a much needed lunch afterward.  We were all starving!  I definitely did not eat enough for breakfast but everyone seemed to be ready for a good meal after the walk.   It was a really nice day and we had a lot of fun on our walk a...

I went on a couple of short bike rides the other day.  The weather was nice and I was feeling fairly well so I figured I better get out on the bike before it is too cold and the bike is stored away until April or May.   I'm still trying to figure out the best way to carry a little bit of photography gear while riding.   The problem is that I want to have easy access to this gear and, preferably, easy access to this gear without having to completely get off my bike.  I'll stop and stand, of course, while straddling the bike but I'd prefer to not have to get completely off the bike, take off a backpack, and dig into the backpack on the ground...  shoot a few photos...  then put everything away again, put the backpack on, and then get on the bike again.  Just typing that wears me out! I've tried a few different options over the past week but I'm not completely satisfied with anything I've tried so far.  Everything seems to be less than ide...