Back from Vacation

We just got back from our first family vacation to Cape Cod since, I think, 2012. This trip was made possible thanks the 'kids' (plus Lauren), after what turned out to be a particularly long year (one that's not over yet).

In the weeks leading up to the trip, I asked Sam to make a list of the places he hoped to visit - just so we wouldn't forget anything (nothing would be worse than getting back and remembering everything we forgot to do).

Amazingly, we somehow managed to cover all the bases - plus one or two additional stops, as well.

I hope to post a few pictures (interesting only to me) in the coming days/weeks/months ahead - but if I stay true to form, don't hold your breath.

Never Ending Dry Spell

Due to the over two month long drought, we've been on water restrictions in town. As if not being able to take my usual forty-five minute/once a week shower isn't bad enough, now I see the pond at the college is so low, Sam and I can count most of the normally hidden frogs sitting along the banks. (Currently about 18, FYI.)

It's hard to tell from the photo above but the water level should be about a foot to a foot-and-a-half deeper. 

This is what it "should" look like (minus the ugly white fence and the stripping of anything nature-like along the banks)...

Notice how the water level is well below the pipe in the drought-stricken upper photo yet overlapping the bottom of the pipe in the used-to-be-almost-normal lower photo.

I don't know when we'll be getting any significant rain but I hope it's soon. I'm already getting bothered by those frogs looking up at me with those 'WTF' expressions.

Relic

I bought this old postcard online, outbidding someone who is apparently even cheaper than I am. I think I paid the outrageous sum of about $3.75 - which is about $3.50 more than my usual price range (though I've been known to spend as much as a dollar - if for some strange reason I'm feeling particularly sentimental).

I bought it because this is a place Sam and I will drive past, maybe half a dozen times a year. 

I think the place has been closed for most, if not all of Sam's life. But years ago, it was still in pretty good shape and every time we would drive past, Sam or I (mostly me) would comment on what a shame it was to see it sitting empty. 

Now, the last several years when we drive past, we comment on how sad it is to see it unattended and falling into disrepair. 

Seeing empty places like this makes me sad (like here, for example) - not only because, as in this case, the architecture was so unique (I'm a sucker for Art Deco), but I find myself thinking about the nameless former owners; people who likely invested their time and their hopes and their dreams in a place like this. 

And I think about the long-ago customers who may have found this place to be special. Maybe it held fond memories of family get-togethers or other special occasions. Maybe someone shared a date with someone that was special to them. Or maybe it just held memories of an earlier time in their life.

At least it had a good run. The postcard is marked 'September 30th, 1940' and the note on the back says, 'Had a special luncheon. So far a very good trip'. 

I'm glad they enjoyed it.

Walking Companions - Number One in a (Possibly) Ongoing Series

Taken earlier this summer, at the formally lush, pre-drought fields behind the college...

Songs I'm Listening To

I came across this the other day, another song from my long-ago long mis-spent youth. I don't remember this being a big hit, but I always liked it. There's a certain wistfulness that appeals to me...

Touching Base

Sam climbing the endless stairs on one of our walks through the town forest, back on April 11th, 2019. Posted here today for no particular reason.

 

In honor of the one month anniversary since I last posted, I figured I should at least post something - if for no other reason than to let people know that I'm not dead (yet).

I have things to say, it's just that a) I've either said them multiple times before or b) it can take me a considerable amount of time to mentally sort though something and fashion it in a way that's at least semi-coherent. 

Maybe it'll just be photos and video clips for a while - and if something fashions in the meantime (or not), so be it.