Scattered Thoughts . . .

Quite by coincidence, Sheila and I each received gifts for our home from Monticello this Christmas! Monticello is a home I studied in high school and college as an architecture/engineering student. It has always been one of my favorites. As luck would have it, I also highly respect our founding father who designed and built this spectacular home, Thomas Jefferson. He was a wise man who has shared many of my own beliefs and who understood and has written extensively about the growing pains our country would face in the coming centuries. He is often pushed aside and minimized in history but someone whom I admire, respect and try to emulate. Having gifts in our home from Monticello is a nice reminder of an honorable man. Accompanying these gifts, we received a letter written in the hand of Thomas Jefferson. Here is an excerpt from this letter... "...Although more than two hundred years have passed since I've written this letter to you, through the magic of Christmas and t

Batcheller Mansion, built in 1873, Saratoga Springs As Sheila and I were walking around downtown Saratoga, for some reason, I had decided to take a short circuitous route around a back way to access Congress Park. I don't know why I chose this route. This is something I experience often... just a "gut feeling" I suppose... like someone nudging me to go a very specific direction.  So, we ventured around the back way off of Broadway. Within about half a block, a large Victorian home with a towering minaret began to come into view... I slowed my walk and quickly pulled my camera out from the protection of under my jacket... I keep my camera on an over-the-shoulder harness for quick access which also allows me to hide the dangling camera under my coat...  We continued walking closer to this strikingly beautiful structure as I fumbled with settings on my camera. As I was staring up at this towering home, I muttered, "For some reason, I know this building... i

A little over a year ago, we brought Adam to New York City for his last visit to Manhattan before he graduated high school and left for the Air Force. As always, we had a busy schedule during our visit to New York and I shot a lot of photographs. Upon arriving back home, my health needed some time to recover and I somehow lost track of most of those photos from that trip. On this particular visit to New York, we spent a very busy day sightseeing in Manhattan. The goal was to show Adam some new sights we had not shown him already in previous visits to New York. Of course, some sights are visible no matter where you go in Manhattan... such as the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building. We did a lot of walking and even encountered some long detours and delays due to a parade that day. In the end, I believe I shot almost three hundred photos... many of which are quite impressive yet have never been seen by anyone other than myself. This past weekend, while we were shopping