I've Been Missing in Action

I've been either busy with lots of overtime at work (60+ hrs/week) combined with a lot of "catching up" because I've missed a bunch of days due to being sick - or being totally "out of commission" being sick.

I did get out some these past couple weekends. I got to the Howell Living History Farm near my Mom's place and enjoyed a hayride. I posted some photos and videos in Flickr if you want to see them. Since my dad died, the Howell Farm has become a refuge - and a place to step back in time. When I enter the property - it is like stepping back 100 years - and time slows... and things ... feel relaxed and ... safe (no flying missiles - nobody blowing themselves up - no tweets - no inanity)

The sense of calmness is much needed.

Seeing a 1907 Case Steam powered tractor takes one back in time too! This one was bringing Santa Claus and his wife to the farmhouse.


After the farm visit, I went to another farm, Paxson Hill Farm, where I could visit the Peacocks...

I finally got around to sending out some Christmas cards this past week. Maybe I'm catching up after all?

The team of oxen carted wood used by the steam tractor.

Memorial Day 2017

My Dad served as a Captain in the US Army. He was never under enemy fire, something for which his family is very grateful.

I heard these words today. They resonate today, like they did on Veteran's Day, 1985.

"{W}hen a serviceman dies, it's a tear in the fabric, a break in the whole, and all we can do is remember.

It is, in a way, an odd thing to honor those who died in defense of our country, in defense of us, in wars far away. The imagination plays a trick. We see these soldiers in our mind as old and wise. We see them as something like the Founding Fathers, grave and gray haired. But most of them were boys when they died, and they gave up two lives -- the one they were living and the one they would have lived. When they died, they gave up their chance to be husbands and fathers and grandfathers. They gave up their chance to be revered old men. They gave up everything for our country, for us. And all we can do is remember.

And the living have a responsibility to remember the conditions that led to the wars in which our heroes died. Perhaps we can start by remembering this: that all of those who died for us and our country were, in one way or another, victims of a peace process that failed...

We're surrounded today by the dead of our wars. We owe them a debt we can never repay. All we can do is remember them and what they did and why they had to be brave for us...

In memory of those who gave the last full measure of devotion, may our efforts to achieve lasting peace gain strength...

God bless America." - Remembering those who paid for our freedom.

Unfinished Business

Zoey with her special human - April 4, 2010.

My Dad with Zoey on the beach, Autumn 2014.

Just before my father passed away, he asked me to do a few things for him. One of the things he felt most strongly about was taking Zoey, his German Shepard to the beach once the summer season was over, and letting her run in the surf. Zoey really, really enjoys doing this!

So on two warm Saturdays, I've taken her down to the white sandy beach of New Jersey and let her romp. She was so pleased!

Arf! Arf! She wants to bite the curl on the incoming waves. The piling with the flag is the sole remnant of a boardwalk that washed way in the 1940s.

Any dog whisperer will tell you she is smiling cheek to cheek!

"Come on Mom! Get wet with me! Surf's up!"

Saying Goodbye to Dad

On August 9th, around 2:30 AM, my father passed away in his sleep, comfortably and peacefully. The link is to my Dad's Obituary. I still find it very difficult to write or talk about this. I have so many memories of him that they swirl around in my head like a kaleidoscope. Everything I have, I owe to my father.

Here he is in Florida, holding up a nice size Snook. It took us a dozen fishing trips to catch one of these elusive fish. His smile says it all.

I've have been overwhelmed by the caring support of my friends and neighbors. I cannot begin to say how much I appreciate all of you. I received beautiful cards from Chicago Lady, my older brother's in-laws, my mom's niece that lives in Maine, Far Side, Soul Comfort, my dad's first cousin's wife, A Bench With a View, Alice Kay, and Lady Styx and her husband. So many texts and emails I can only hope to answer them all eventually; visits from neighbors, some bearing plates with food, and some marvelous flowers - including one from a client that sits on my office desk beside my keyboard.

On his last day with us, I wheeled my dad out to the porch where we watched the birds at the feeders. We had dozens of visits from Hummingbirds. At the other feeder were Cardinals, Woodpeckers, Goldfinches, Purple Finches, Tuffed Titmouse's, Sparrows, Blue Jays, Catbirds, Mockingbirds, Orioles, and even a Squirrel that the feeder spun off to the ground three times before he or she gave up. It was a calming time for both of us.

I still can't believe he is gone.