Yesterday was Greg’s birthday. Mark and I chipped in and bought him an ATV. I don’t know who was more excited, Greg or Mark. Mark enjoyed the process of searching Craig’s list and looking at machines. They looked at several before making their purchase. I also think Mark is looking forward to doing the trails in Maine with Greg.
John came over to check out the new equipment and enjoyed taking a spin. Mark and Derek cut a trail through our woods so we have a tiny slice of Maine right here.
We have lived in Massachusetts now longer than where we grew up. I’m sure everyone is aware that Senator Ted Kennedy died this past week. His passing here is significant as the Kennedy’s were born and grew up in this area. They have been this countries answer to the Royal Family.
The Kennedy’s have lived a lavish life and have been no stranger to pain and loss. They devoted themselves to public service and have left their marked etched in history. I know they were not saints. There were plenty of scandals associated with them but I think and hope that history will show the good in what they have accomplished.
Senator Edward M. Kennedy represented the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the U.S. Senate since 1962, when he was elected to complete the final two years of his brother John F. Kennedy's Senate term. He was re-elected to the Senate for seven full terms. He battled to pass legislation making quality health care accessible to all Americans and also worked on education and immigration reform laws, minimum wage issues, and legislation concerning civil rights and help for Americans with disabilities. He was the youngest of the nine children of Joseph P. Kennedy and Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy and is the father of Kara, Edward Jr., and Patrick Kennedy. (taken from http://www.thebostonchannel.com/senator-kennedy/index.html) There are lots of links if you want to read further.
Last Sunday was another concert. This was a jazz band. They were very good. There’s only one left and that will be it. The summer was like a puff of smoke for me, it went by so quickly. I recently got a new camera. This photo was taken sitting inside from the window. I’m partial to the simple point and shoot kind. I like something I can slip in a pocket and don’t have to give much thought to. I got a Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS3. It’s a 10 mega pixel with a 12x zoom. So far I’ve been very pleased. It also is a digicam.
Derek came home today with his marching band uniform. He’ll be playing the marimbas in the pit. He has a full performance schedule with this and will be busy until the Saturday after Thanksgiving. They do many performances around the area. This counts as a 3 credit course and will be very valuable as he pursues his degree in music education.
Yesterday Mark happened to look out the deck door and saw a humming bird buzzing around the hibiscus plants. What an amazing site. I was lucky enough to snatch these photos. Emily went to Long Island with 2 girlfriends on Monday. One of the girl’s father drove them. They were on a college touring mission. The first stop was Quinnipiac in CT. They took a tour there then went on to Long Island to visit Hofstra University. Emily loved it and would like to attend the university. She wants to take a trip with us to Hofstra to get our opinion. She was very impressed with the dorms and the food. I suspect Greg and I will be looking at it from a slightly different angle. I’m afraid I’ll be driving my old Caravan for many years to come based on the costs of either of those schools. I have tried unsuccessfully to steer her to a state school in MA. She wants to go to NY for college. She has worked very hard and has an excellent GPA so hopefully all the pieces of the puzzle will fall into place in the next 6 months.
We’re in the midst of a heat wave. I’m not surprised that August would turn out to be so hot seeing that June was so cold and rainy. Yesterday one of the bands Derek performs in played in the Concert on the Common series. The band is made up of Mr. Goodhue on autoharp, his son Geoff on mandolin, son Ryan on keyboard, a friend of Geoff’s, Nick on base and Derek on drums. They typically play Blue Grass music. Geoff and Mr. Goodhue are the primary vocalists and sing very well. The temperature was soaring near 90 but you’d never know it by how hard the group worked.
Derek performed in New Hampshire the night before in the other band he is a member of. He certainly is not one to sit around.
Mark stayed home this past weekend to give his beloved wheel, wheel a much needed bath. He’s spent the last 2 weekends in Maine “breaking her in.” Click on the photos for a closer look.
It’s been a long wait but I finally got to have some summer squash. They certainly were worth the wait. A big thank you to Mom and Dad for bringing me their plants to give me a good start. There are more on the vine just waiting to be picked.
My big problem this summer was slugs. It was so rainy early in the season that they were out of control. Mark put out some containers of beer for a few days and that did the trick. Apparently they’re attracted to the yeast in the beer. The first few mornings was pretty gross. I suppose they at least died happy.
My tomatoes have not fared as well. They’re pretty pathetic, skinny, sparse… I remain hopeful that I will enjoy the few that are there before the first frost. Every year my indoor plants vacation on the deck. My hibiscus have been loving this weather.
Today is our 30th wedding anniversary. I can’t believe that 30 years have gone by so quickly. Greg thought it might be nice to try to recreate a pose from our wedding album. I think you can tell which is the before. Those hands have seen a lot of work over thirty years.
We followed the walkway to Stage Fort Park. This was the site of the cities first settlement in 1623, it celebrates Gloucester’s maritime heritage. The beautiful gazebo is most likely used for concerts and events during the summer. Along the edges there are cannons most likely used to defend the settlement from invaders, perhaps pirates.
We continued along the coast to Rockport. I can never make a trip there without taking a shot of the red building. It’s touted as the most painted and photographed building in America. We wrapped up our time around mid day. By then the traffic heading to the beaches was incredible. We’ve had a cool, very rainy summer. This was one of the few beautiful weekends and everyone wanted to be outside.
