Thanksgiving 2011

Things that I am thankful for. When I think about all that I have in my life it is hard to put them down to paper. But I will try to do so here.

First thing that I am thankful for is to be surrounded by friends and family that at a moments notice and in time of crisis are no more then a phone call away. This alone is more then most people have.

To the men and women who bravely serve this country as a profession, and on a volunteer basis. My hat goes off to you and with the deepest of respect and admiration for all that you do, and for that you sacrifice. THANK YOU.

For the roof over my head, the bed that I sleep in, and the comforts of my daily life. I have food on my table, clean water to drink, and a secure place to reside. Some people the world over are no so lucky.

As much as we are in a time of turmoil here in this country, we have the ability to over come and correct the problems that we are faced with today. Again as much as we complain for the things that we do not have, we have more then most others do around the world. For we all have the chance to change our world for a better tomorrow. Some people again are not so lucky. Were the oppression they live under today, is the oppression they will die under tomorrow.

For my friends, old and new. The ones that I have not spoken to in years that I have recently reconnected with. When years pass like minutes and a 10 minute phone conversation can close the gap as if you had just spoken the day before. For this I am blessed and feel like the luckiest person in the world. The internet has allowed me to close the gap of both time and distance, in some cases in an instant.

For the people that I talk to on a regular daily basis, that help me carry the load of my daily life, for friendships at times can be a burden to carry, and at other times to be celebrated at the highest of highs. The best of times, the worst of times. You have helped me build my foundation of what my life has become today. A daily struggle called life that is made easier with you here. For this I say a heart felt THANK YOU.....

And last but not least is to my father. The last several years have been some of the hardest lessons that I have had to learn. And my father is trying to teach them to me in the time that he has left. That this life, is not always ours. That when we are dealt with setbacks, and adversity we must keep moving forward. Having to sacrifice certain things to be able to take care of my father now when he needs it the most is what is most important to me. For every day that he is here it is a gift. I am thankful for every day he has been with me since being sick. I know some of my friends have not have been so lucky. With loved ones passing away suddenly. Time is not something that we can ever get back. Once it has passed. It is truly gone.

I look forward to spending more quality time with my friends and family in the future.

Today was about a good of a day as I could have asked for. Family, good food. and Apple Pie...

Doesn't get much better then this... =)

yasuko,
a gray dawn breaks.
a breeze from the south blows
sea gulls cry as they fly overhead
the bell buoy moans
i taste and smell the salty air

waves crash on a shore of broken hearts.
a ray of light peeks from the clouds.
the sky darkens.
tears fall from the sky

your laughter now silenced.
your smile vanished.
all that are left are memories of you.
you are now in my past.
where i never wanted you to be.

so many questions.
so few answers.
only that you are gone.

i sit on a stone watching the sea.
i feel the cool breeze.
when it stops, a warming hug can be felt.
then the cool breeze returns.

do you know that i am here?
watching and waiting for you.
why did this happen?

there is so much more to this story.
that we will all never know.
only to left to guess at what happened.

may you be on an calm sea.
resting in eternal peace.
please now watch over us all.

i shall carry a part of you with me always.

till we all see you again.

mike.

08/04/2010

as the earth turns!

well not really the earth. as much as the garden soil.

so with another week down and this much closer to summer. the garden is making some nice headway. with the initial set backs from a late lingering frost and cold damn weather past us... or so i hope. i have just about finished planting everything in the garden. with the warmer weather now apon us, and the longer available day light, the plants seem to be responding very well.

the newest additions to the garden this year have been working out very well indeed. the rain catch is just about empty from todays planting and watering of the raised beds. good thing they are calling for rain after midnight. its much needed around here. since the rain catch was installed. i have not used the city water at the house once! i estimate i am saving somewhere between 25 to 30 gallons a week on water just for the plants. the second addition is the composter. making new soil for the coming months as well as next year is a bonus. we have grass clippings, as well as leaves from the many trees to add in and make compost. i can already see soil starting to form on the bottom of the tray and its been only a month. it works even when you don't!

with 14 raised beds. and several in ground areas planted i will be trying to save and store a lot of produce this season. last year lots of it got wasted and thrown on the ground. not this year. between a food saver ( vacuum sealer ) and getting a pickling kit. i should be able to not only freeze food but also jar it and save it for up to 2 years! this should really help stretch the value of the home garden. between the rain catch, composting and the food storage. i really hope to minimize the impact on the environment as well as my pocket. with the ability to now make my own high grade soil for the garden, store water, and store the food i am growing. i am no longer dependent on the local grocer. well not just yet anyway.

the garden has a nice mix of things in it as well.

blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, and we also have mulberry tree in the yard.

the veggie garden has the following: spinach, roma tomato, beefsteak tomato, cherry tomato, corn, cucumbers, garden beans (string beans) , snap peas, white potatoes, red potatoes, jalepeno peppers, sweet peppers, pumpkins, and watermelons.

the flower garden will have a nice mix of annual and perennial plants. sunflowers are some of my favorites as well as a mix of some wild flowers to help attract the attention of bee's to help pollinate both the flowers and the veggie plants.

i am really looking forward to this season. with the amount of preparations and that this is now the third year i am working on this project. lessons learned or so i hope. i just need to remember no to start anything next year before the month of april. march is still to cold at night to keep things alive and kicking. i had some setbacks early this year. but we have more then recovered from them. lots of happy plants are growing now. it makes me feel good, and keeps my dad somewhat busy too.

well stop on over one day and take a tour. i now also have something like 26 trees that i have saved from the lawnmower and will be looking for homes in the next year or so. again trying to reduce my footprint on the plant!

Garden 2010

So its been a while since my last post. I'll be sure to start posting more here now that I have the password as well as the time to write. So much has changed in the last few months. With winter coming to a halt and spring having sprung it's time to garden once again.

With the raised beds still sitting dormant from last year. It's now time again to get them in shape for this coming growing season. First to go, was the remains from last season that made it through the long cold winter. Several hours later and lots of lawn bags filled with old leaves and plants. With lots of root base left in the beds this too would also have to be removed. Easier said then done. I had to head to the local home improvement store and get some new tools for the tasks at hand. I picked up two new tools, one a tiller the other a circular cultivator.

Spending my weekends as of late to remove roots and rocks and grubs from the soil. Adding new healthy soil to the old and working it into the raised beds, as well as all the clean up work was a tough day. But it had to be done.

Tomato plants, pepper plants, potato plants, and cucumbers are all what are in the works for now. With more to come as the weather gets a bit nicer. Some of the plants are now in the ground with some small covers over them to protect them from the cold. I have lost some of the smaller plants. But with the amount of seeds that I started with, the loss should be minimal.

On deck for this season will be storage of the veggies and canning of them as well to preserve them for the winter time. A small garden should produce enough produce to last an entire year if stored properly. So I will be collecting veggies, cooking them, and then freezing them in food saver bags.

The water catch that I installed is working fantastic as well. I filled not only the main 57 gallon bucket. But also with the rain tonight I was able to fill up an additional 20 gallons of storage as well. Which is huge. We haven't been getting all that much rain as of late. So the additional water storage should be fantastic. It will help to cut down on the city water that I have used in the past. As well as cut down on added chemicals in the city water as well as costs of the water to the garden project. Watering has been an added cost to this project every year. So an investment of 100 bucks on the rain catch. I am sure it will make up for it in no time.

In addition to the veggies, I will be growing several variates of flowers both perennials as well as annuals. The perennials will grow back from year to year. Where as the annuals are one year and then done. But my favorite flowers I have to say are Sunflowers. I will again this year have a massive sunflower garden with various sizes. Some as little as just about a foot to some as tall as 12 feet tall if they should indeed grow to full size.

The last but far from least of the growing items. My tree garden. I know have over 50 seedling trees. The long term project that this is turning into, I now am going to need find a home for these trees at sometime. My yard is not that big to have this many trees in it. So in the event that anyone out there is in need of some small trees contact me. I ll be sure to get you one or two. I now have a few different kinds. Cherry, Maple, and Oak. I have a feeling its going to be an interesting growing season. Only time will tell.

Till next time.

Mike

How cold is too cold ?

so after spending all day in yesterday, i took it apon myself to head out for some fresh air and photos.
i walked out to start my car, and load the camera gear, when i noticed that it was really cold, much colder then i thought. So back into the house i went to layer myslef, in hopes of keeping the chil off of me.
jeans, polar tech fleece, two pairs of gloves, a hat, and a polar tech hood, these should all do the trick, or so i thought. i bundled up when i got to sandy hook for what was left of the afternoon. about 1 hour before the sun was to set. as i put on the final touches, hat then polar tech hood, then one set of thin gloves, followed by the thicker outer set. bundled up i headed to the lighthouse to start to shoot.

as the moon was rising from the east and the sun setting in the west, i used the building in the area to block me from the heavy wind that was coming from the west. it was cold but not too terrible. i was switching between my old Nikon N90 film camera, and two of my Nikon digital cameras, D100 & D70s. So i was hoping that i had all of my photographic bases covered.

the moon still low in the afternoon sky allowed me to get some nice shots of the lighthouse tower, and the the moon. i was switching from camera to camera because they all had different lenses on them. giving me a different perspective with each camera i grabbed. the first problem i encountered was that with thick gloves i have issues with changing any settings on the camera. i couldnt manipulate the small buttons or command dials. so off would come one glove at a time for each task as needed. with frozen fingers and the ambient light starting to fade, i headed to around the lighthouse to get what shots i could. as i walked back to the car, i turned to look at the lighthouse before heading to the other side of fort hancock to catch the setting sun. as i looked at the lighthouse, i noticed that the moon had moved a great deal, so i wanted to take several shots with the top of the tower, and the moon just about next to the lights own beacon. this is when i discovered something very interesting. my high priced digital cameras had become disabled by the extreme cold of this winter afternoon. with the windchill the temps were in the single digits. according to one of the weather sites it was 9 degress with the wind chill. and man let me tell you something, it felt every bit that cold.........

So with two cameras down, and the only one still working being my old trusty film camera i snapped away. the next problem i encountered was that its really a pain in the ass to have to chage rolls of film after just 24 exposures...... another reason digital is so damn user friendly. just take out another memory card and install it after taking some 600 exposures. so again off came the gloves to load another roll of film, but atleast i still had the ability to shoot.
in the teeth of the blowing wind, i lasted only a few minutes again before calling it quits. i had enough. frozen hands, two cameras down, and the only good thing to shoot was the area where the wind was the worst. i retreated back to the car and warmth for the ride home.

its now hours later. and my hands are still not feeling right. a bit numb on the edges and finger tips. and i cant help but feel better about being outside, then sitting in and to waste an afternoon, after all i got nothing from yesterday. it was overcast and cold. atleast today the sun was out !

well thats all for now. im going to wrap my hands around a nice hot beverage and get the rest of the chill out of my body.

until the next photo adventure comes........

mike
=)
01/20/2008

Not what I was expecting.

01/13/08

so i went to sleep early lastnight, and as a result of that,
i was awake this morning by 5am.
with that being said, i had a few options, go back to sleep or atleast try,
play video games, edit some more photos, or grab my camera gear and head out for a sunrise.

walking out of the house i found a thin layer of frost over everything. a sign that the chance of snow for later today, is going to be more then a chance. sounds like a safe bet at this point. i start my truck to let it warm before i head out, i walk back into the house to get on some layers of cloths to help fight the chill in the air. it appears to be not a cloud in site. meaning two things, its going to be a cold morning, and not a very colorful sunrise.

after a quick stop for a morning cup of coffee, its headed east again to the beach. im watching the clock, and as the minutes pass, its getting brighter. still no clouds in sight, just the black sky giving way to the light blue of the morning. as i clear the hills of the highlands, im greeted by a wall of clouds on the horizon that move up about a 1/4 of the far horizon. it a let down. its a thick cloud bank with no sign of light coming threw it. the only sign of the sun that is about to rise is a small sliver of gold that is at the very top of the cloud bank, like someone under the covers, peeking out before stepping out onto the cold floor.

i drive to the beach and make the quick walk to the waters edge, met by seagulls, small waves, a cloud coverd horizon, and a north east wind hitting me in the face.
old shells and garbage litter the beach. it makes me think what slobs we are as poeple. plastic, glass, and trash of all sorts including an old and broken plastic chair have washed onto the beach. its a mess we have made.
small waves beach the sand and rocks to no avail. there is no malice in the waves, just going through the motions of thousands of cycles.
one after the other, no one paying attention. just the crash of the wave, and then the rolling out of the water to start the process all over again.

as the sun is now up beyond the horizon, its still hidden behind the clouds, i am bumbed. here i am awake early and freezing on the beach, and nothing new and or exciting is happening.

i turn to check to see if i might be missing something. and there is nothing. just empty beach. sand, rocks, broken shells, seagulls and.......
a red tailed fox........ WAIT WHAT WAS THAT? A RED TAILED FOX !!!!!!!!

my whole attitude changed, it was no longer just another day at the beach. this was a chance encounter with an elusive creature. not often seen, and here this one is. 10 feet away. paying me really no mind, just going about his daily routine. looing for food, marking his territory. and looking for more food. he jumps into and out of gaps in the rocks, looking for a meal. in over and around he goes. i watch and snap photos for about 15 minutes before he has had enough of me. and off he goes onto the tall dune grass and out of sight. gone for the moment, but sure to be back.

this little encounter, just a passing glimps and a few short minutes of his daily routine, was all i needed to make my weekend. from a feeling of i wasted my time coming out this morning, to wow that was really cool. sometimes it beats sitting in bed, or in front of the computer, just to get out and smell the roses. today it paid off. i didnt get a great photo of the fox, but just watching him was well worth it.

thats all for now. until the next great adventure happens.

mike
=)

01/05/2008

beep........beep........beep.



I awake to the sounds of my phone, not an alarm that was set, but the alarm that my cell battery was going dead. I fugured it was the middle of the night, and that i would just turn off the phone and get back to sleep, for some much needed rest.



When i checked the phone to see what time it was, i was shocked that it was 6:30am. This meant two things, one it was not the middle of the night, and two i could make a dash for the beach, and the rising sun. So i throw the phone on charge while i dress and load the truck.

camera bag, gloves, hood, and layers of clothing to help insulate me from the pre dawn chill in the air.



I get back inside to collect the last few things i would need, including my cell phone with a minimum charge to get the beeping to stop. I hit the local coffee stop for the mornings first cup of coffee, and im off headed east to catch the rising sun......or so i hoped to get to the beach before the sun broke the horizon.



driving in the morning can be fun, no traffic so the travel is quicker then normal. the only real issues are not getting stopped for speeding, the local cops would be sure to be watching as not to much happens just before the dawn. so watching my speed and to be sure not to be in too much of a rush, i watch as the sky changes from blackish blue to a more transparent reddish yellow. i think that iam missing it, and the sun will be up before i get to the beach, but it is still to early and i know i have about 20 minutes before the sun is over the eastern horizon. the few clouds that i can see are changing colors and every moment brings new shades to the early morning sky and me closer to the beach.



as i get to the highlands bridge i stop to check and see what if anything would be a change of landscape for the mornings events. a quick look around and im back on my way to the beach just over the bridge. i make my way to the third beach, where i decided to park and walk out to meet the new day. as i exit the truck, i put on my hood and gloves and turn to face the water and the wind. its cold, not as bad as the last few days but still cold. the fist thing i notice is that i cant work the cameras settings with thick and warm gloves on my fingers, so off come the gloves, and now i am bare handed, in the cold and wind on the beach in january to catch the sunrise. its cold, very cold. my fingers go numb almost instantly, back on go the gloves, i ll have to make do with gloved fingers.



seagulls, fishermen, and a couple walking down the beach are what greet me. i was shocked to see anyone else on the beach for some reason. i wasnt thinking that i would see anyone. the gulls flew away as soon as i set a foot in thier direction, and the sand, rocks, and broken and discared seashells paid me no mind.



shooting at the beach into a setting or rising sun can bring up some problems on a nice and warm summer day, let alone the bitterness of a cold winter day. my finger dexteritity was shot by this point, i could hardly make any adjustments to the camera at all, i was going to pull the plug and head for the truck, but then i said, i m not awake this early not to get the photos, stop bitching and just shoot. so mind over matter, and i began to shoot.



the sky started to change to a brighter shade of yellow to blue, meaning the sun was really close to making its entrance. just then i noticed the pink on the very distant clouds, to mark the spot where the sun would peak over the edge of the once flat world. framing the shot i started to shoot, the beach, a tidal pool, and seagull that hadnt flow the coop, atleast not yet. the pink turned into a briliant yellow then white................ it has come, the sun, bringing with it the warmth and bright day light, as it chased the cold and the night, to the western horizon and beyond.



200 some photos later, it was time to retreat to the truck to warm myself for a bit, and look to a new location for some more shooting. as i was leaving the beach area, i made one of my cardnial mistakes, always go the way you came, being on an empty beach, and at low tide can hide some interesting traps that we dont always see coming............. taking a short cut across the area that i was so careful to walk around getting out to the waters edge, i now crossed the very wet and much shorter route back to the truck. only to find myself sinking in quicksand, up to my knees and thighs before i could lean back enough to stop from sinking into the sink hole i had just found myself in. so now with camera gear in hand, and sinking in very wet, and cold sand, and thinking oh great now what am i going to do, i was able to get my legs free and head back in the safe direction, the one i took out to the sand bar in the first place.................



so with being wet and cold, and escaping being stuck in a sink hole up to my hips i now headed for the truck, and the warmth and comfort it would provide. with little else going on this early in the day, i headed home after a quick stop to snap off a few more shots, but not many, the cold in my hands was getting worse not better, and with wet feet and legs, it would be wise to head for the barn.



so not bad only 5 days into the new year, and i already have a nice sunrise under my belt. with more to come in the new year, i wait for tomorrow to do it all over again, and to not make the same mistake again......... leave just a bit earlier then today, and not get stuck in the sand trap !

oh and dress warmer !



mike

=)