Best of Intentions

With the laundry done on Saturday I had no excuse not to get out on Sunday and do something interesting to tell you about. But when I woke up it was dark and it was raining…hard.  It was a perfect day for sleeping in and my bed felt so warm and comfy. As I’ve gotten older comfy has become very important to me. Even so, Rocky wasn’t going to be patient forever. He wanted his breakfast so began poking me in the face with his paw and walking all over me. Might as well get up.

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I was thinking about making the drive to Vermont today. It’s quite a long haul from where I live but the news was going on about the beautiful colors this year. I’m not much of a leaf peeper but still I thought a dreary day might be good for photographing the foliage and maybe the rain would keep the fair weather tourists away.

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I wasn’t thrilled with my plan but I was determined to have something interesting to write about so off I went, camera and rain gear in hand. By the time I had topped off the gas tank and made it to the highway it was almost 9 am. I should be in Stow Vt around 1 pm. The most direct route was to take Rt 93 which goes through Boston. Since it was a Sunday and raining I gambled that the expressway would be clear and not its normal bumper to bumper nightmare.

I lucked out. The traffic was moving at about 40-45 MPH. Pretty good for that stretch of highway but the rain was getting worse the farther north I traveled. By 10:30 I was just getting to the Rt 95 Split just north of Stoneham and already my shoulders were tight. It had taken me 90 minutes to go 60 miles. At this rate I wouldn’t get to Stowe until closer to 3 pm, not 1 pm and I’d be looking a a return drive in the rain and dark. As the Rt 95 split approached my car seemed to develop a mind of its own and I was off 93 heading south on 95.

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It took another hour plus to get back to Taunton. The rain had settled in for an all day drizzle and we need it but I was done running around in it. I made a quick grocery run and headed inside for the rest of the day. Still no big stories to share.

Time to put on the Pat’s game and welcome Tom Brady back to the field.

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Better luck next weekend!

 

 

 

I’ve Been Missing You

The last couple of weeks have been nuts. Work was crazy, had to take time off for a medical procedure. I’m not sure about this getting old stuff. The doctors don’t leave any part of your body alone. They need to probe every nook and cranny. Those space aliens have nothing on our earthbound doctors!

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7  consecutive days of rain so far and if it isn’t raining it’s cloudy and dreary and raw and cold. Not really weather for May.

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Rain predicted tomorrow morning and evening but we might get a break and see some blue sky in the afternoon. Mother Nature’s way of saying Happy Mother’s Day!

My poor neglected kitties forgave me when their monthly “Kit Nip” box arrived. Although they find the contents interesting I think the box is still their favorite part.

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Rocky is doing his imitation of the post office’s slogan “If it fits it ships”.

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Have a wonderful Mother’s Day!

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I am a Wimp

I am a wimp. There I admit it. Last weekend the cold in the northeast smashed all records. With wind chills we were being warned about frost bite in 10 minutes!

With this dire prediction I got up at 4:30 am to drive to Scituate Ma to take pictures of the “sea smoke”. I wanted to get there around dawn.

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Sea smoke is a phenomenon where fog wisps up off the water like smoke tendrils. The bitter cold and the warmer ocean were perfect conditions. But I am a wimp.

I got as far as sticking my nose out from the warm, toasty covers before I pulled the covers back over my head and went back to sleep.

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I was really ashamed when I saw the absolutely beautiful photos my friend Sean took. I wish I could share them with you but I don’t have his permission . Search him out on Face Book. You’ll see some great pictures.

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Its A Blizzard Out There

Yesterday an unprecedented storm struck much of the east coast reaching blizzard conditions in many areas. Washington DC, Pennsylvania and NYC reported record snow fall. As the storm progressed northward it wound it’s way through Connecticut into Southeastern Massachusetts. Falmouth, Cape Cod, Plymouth were some of the communities most hard hit but I’m happy to report that in my little corner of the world the storm was just a snow storm.

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And I’m also happy to say that my condo folks were right on top of the clean up.

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Not everyone was upset about the snow.

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Enjoy your day everyone!

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Hurricane Patricia

Well all that threatening weather finally came to a head. It took the remnants of Hurricane Patricia  to push it over the edge. As hurricanes go there wasn’t much left after getting ripped up on the mountains in Mexico but it was enough. It was like a nor’easter in New England but not a Hurricane. There was a lot of rain and some pretty good wind gusts.

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There were reports of a tornado out by the airport but we weren’t anywhere near that and there ween’t any reports of damage.

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We were on the way to take a boat tour of the bayou when we got the call. They were canceling all tours because of the wind gusts. I was disappointed but better safe than sorry. We were in the cab heading there when we got the call so we had the driver drop us off at the Aquarium instead.

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I know people who say once you’ve seen one aquarium you’ve seen them all but I disagree. I like fish, the ocean and seeing different exhibits.

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Every aquarium shows off their collections differently and can even have different animals. A perfect example is the New Orleans Aquarium that has a mermaid exhibit.

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I’ve only seen that in one other place, Weeki Wachee Springs, a Florida State Park.

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They also had an Omni Theater. They only had one movie playing that day and it’s a good thing. If they had choices I might have picked something different but this movie turned out to be excellent.

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It was Hurricane on The Bayou about Hurricane Katrina and I thought I’d seen hundreds of hours of footage but this was outstanding. This amazing film tells the story of Hurricane Katrina and the impact that Louisiana’s disappearing wetlands has on hurricane protection. It also shows the survival of a region, the rebirth of nature and the spirit of humanity. Winner of 4 Giant Screen Cinema Association Achievement Awards

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If you can get to see it, I highly recommend it.

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After spending the morning at the Aquarium we finally headed back to the Hotel. The afternoon was spent watching a movie in our room. That’s something we don’t do every vacation!

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