Sunday Scenery

I shot this picture while Amanda and I were down in the Mystic, Connecticut area yesterday in search of what I had been told was "the best cheeseburger ever". We found it and it was!  Details will be forthcoming on that later but for now, everyone have a great Sunday and do something nice for yourself - you deserve it! 

Sunday Scenery

Back around Memorial Day I took a walk through the Yantic Cemetery and while there took a few pictures of some the local flowers that were blooming. I'm not real good at macro stuff but I kind of like the way they turned out.



Lastly, in honor of Flag Day which marks the anniversary of the adoption by Congress in 1777 of the Stars and Stripes as the emblem of our nation is a picture I took of the new flags that had been put out for Memorial Day weekend on the graves of several veterans of the Spanish American War -

Today is also my Aunt Eleanor's birthday so a very happy birthday to her! Speaking of birthdays, I'm going to take a nice leisurely drive over to Rhode Island to my son's house for a belated birthday celebration for my grandson who turned four this past Friday. I promise to take it easy, okay? Everyone have a great Sunday!

Sunday Scenery

Only time for a quick post so I thought I'd grab one of the pictures from my trip to California and drive through the Sierra Nevada mountains. Just in case I haven't mentioned it a time or two in the past, I just love the Sierras and am quite certain that I crossed them via wagon train in a previous life hence my affinity for the place! Well, either that or it's just so breathtakingly beautiful there that it's impossible not to love the place!

Beautiful, yes?

Sunday Scenery

I'm not sure if Lee is still doing his Sunday Scenery meme or not over at Tarheel Ramblings but I thought it might be kind of fun to post a picture of what the scenery looked like in Stockton, California last Sunday ...

No, that isn't my camera crying - though it well good have been considering the situation! - that is rain; lots and lots of rain that was coming down on the windshield and on my head when I ran into grab a coffee at one of the local Starbucks (don't try to find a Dunkin Donuts in California - they do not exist much to my chagrin!).

A little over 100 miles and several hours later, my Sunday Scenery changed to something more like this ...

... Surfer Boyz enjoying the waves in Santa Cruz in spite of the chill, the fog, and the very unCalifornia-like conditions! Or maybe it just seemed unCalifornia-like to me as it certainly wasn't bothering these guys any nor did it really bother me all that much as Katherine and I toured her lovely town.

Speaking of lovely here's another great bit of scenery from Santa Cruz ...

... a lovely Bird of Paradise flower for all of you ladies out there who are celebrating this day dedicated to all of us who claim the title of Mother in this life. A very Happy Mother's Day to all of you and may it be all that you wish/hope for it to be. If by some chance you aren't a Mom, you definitely have one even if she's no longer residing on this earthly plane so don't forget to wish her a happy day and thank her for all she did/is doing for you!

And finally ... one more scene for my friend and dispatch partner Kevin who is celebrating a birthday today - something I know that will make him happy ...

... Happy Birthday, Kevin, and may this year be right on track for you (corny, I know, but that's what birthday sentiments are supposed to be!).

Now all you folks get out there and enjoy your Sunday, I'll be at 9-1-1 if you need me!

Sunday Scenery

I've missed a couple weeks of Lee's Sunday Scenery meme for one reason or another but thought this Sunday I'd jump back into things with this shot of the historic Cargill Falls in Putnam, Connecticut. Putnam is located in the "Quiet Corner" of the state and is also home to Day Kimball Hospital where I was born almost 51 years ago.

About three years prior to the September day of my birth, the look of Cargill Falls changed drastically when the Quinebaug River overflowed its banks and flooded Putnam. The Quinebaug was hit with a one-two punch from both Hurricane Connie and Hurricane Diane when both passed through Connecticut within days of each other during the third week of August. On August 19th, 1955 the flood waters ripped through Putnam causing a factory fire and nearly $6 million in damages while changing not just the look of Cargill Falls but of Putnam itself.

As a kid these falls always fascinated me but I had no idea of the history behind them or of the changes that were brought about in 1955 due to the fury of Mother Nature but if I had, I think I would have been even more fascinated.

Hey, Boukie, you're a Putnam boy now, got anything to add to this??

Sunday Scenery

Just enough time for a quick post today sandwiched in between yesterday's work shift, a nice evening out with Ralph and Patti - Blogging Royalty who came in from The Uplands for chowdah and conversation - and today's 16-hour dispatch bonanza.


For Lee's Sunday Scenery meme I chose this photo that I took a couple of Saturdays ago down by the Long Island Sound in New London. I was using a friend's borrowed telephoto lens to see how I liked it and even though I did, finances are such right now that buying one of my own is not really an option. I'm thinking that when I fly west next month, I may just rent a lens from one of the many places online that have them available. It's something I'm kicking around at any rate.

In the meantime, everyone have a great Sunday! It's going to be a chilly, drizzly, sorry-excuse-for-Spring day here in Connecticut but at least I'll be nice and dry watching chick flicks in between 911 calls and dreaming of warmer days to come. Soon, I hope!

Sunday Scenery

This week for Lee's Sunday Scenery meme, I am posting more pictures of the Yantic Falls from my archives as I thought they might be nice to have something to compare to in a couple of weeks when Spring has finally popped here in my part of Connecticut and leaves once again hide the bare branches and birdsong fills the air. For now, Spring seems like it's just a name as it's been darned chilly the past few days no matter what the calendar says. Ah well, I just need to learn some patience!

Give me a few weeks and I'll go back and see if I can take these same shots. I bet you notice a major difference!

Everyone have a great Sunday and may all of your scenery be beautiful!

Sunday Scenery

Today's Sunday Scenery choices were easy as I was inspired to use a couple of pictures from my trip to Yantic Falls the other day based on some comments in my post from yesterday. The very last picture I posted was a black & white shot of the falls and several people commented that they thought they might like it better in color. I had converted the picture to black & white as it had been a pretty colorless day (i.e., a lot more clouds than sun) and I thought they were kind of drab but in going back over them I think I may have been wrong.

So, for those of you who thought the waterfall picture would be better in color, I give you several views of the Upper Yantic Falls located on the Yantic River in Norwich, Connecticut. What's really nice about these falls now is that they are in walking distance of my house so expect even more pictures in the future!

This picture shows the falls in their entirety if you are standing near the railroad trestle that I had pictures of yesterday. See the side of the old dam to the right in the picture? That's where I was standing when I took the last shot in this series of pictures. I've not decided yet whether I was being incredibly brave or incredibly stupid!

A close-up shot of the water going over the falls - and yes, the water was kinda brown!


As you can see from this shot, on the far side of the falls, the water goes around and tumbles down a face of rocks. There's a memorial cross just to the left of where this shot ends which I think was put there for the last drowning victim. The area is posted with no swimming signs but apparently some people think that doesn't apply to them. Trust me, it does.


This is the picture that I originally posted in black & white yesterday. I think I may have to agree with everyone that color adds more definition to the picture and the more I look at it in this version, the more I like it!

Finally, this is the shot I took while standing on the edge of the old dam that is very close to the falls. And yeah, I was a little nervous as falling into the water would not have been a good idea on many levels - especially the level of using a borrowed zoom lens from a friend and if I hadn't drowned, he might very well have killed me and I'm doubtful he would have erected a cross in my honor either!

I hope you've enjoyed my version of Sunday Scenery this week. Don't forget to swing by Lee's Tarheel Ramblings and see who else participated in his great Sunday Scenery meme! Also, if I haven't been around to visit your blog lately, I will get there soon - honest! It's been a busy couple of days and I spent most of yesterday finally getting my living room to look like a living room and not just a storage area. Thanks to my mom and the help of a friend's husband and son I finally have a sofa and loveseat again! Now if I could just figure out what I'm doing with the rest of the junk in the dining room ...

Sunday Scenery

Finally and at long last, Saturday was an absolutely gorgeous day here in Connecticut plus I had no more painting to do in Amanda's room so I decided to let the rest of the house sit and drove down to New London with my camera to see what I could find for a potential post for Lee's Sunday Scenery meme.

My original intention was to go to the train station and take some pictures there but then I decided to see if I could find the lighthouse that I knew was on the New London side of the Thames River. I'd seen it many times from the Groton side of the river but had never gone looking for it but yesterday was the perfect day to go for a ride.

Luckily, the lighthouse turned out to be quite easy to find (I just followed the road by the river!) and as there appeared to be nobody home I parked down the road a ways and then walked back to get a closer look. The lighthouse is on private property but I kind of trespassed a little on the rental property next door to the lighthouse (sshh, don't tell anyone!).


Replacing the original 64-foot stone tower with a wooden lantern that was erected at the west side of the harbor entrance in 1761, the New London Harbor Light was built in 1801. Standing at 89-feet tall, the octagonal stone lighthouse with a cast-iron lantern is the oldest and tallest existing lighthouse in Connecticut and was one of the earliest American lighthouses with a flashing light. The present keeper's house was built in 1863 and was enlarged in 1900.

The keeper's house seemed pretty much abandoned and it looks like it's need of a little TLC - at the very least someone could remove the wreath from the front door! I'm not sure if someone currently resides there or not (maybe one of my readers knows?) but I do know that the lighthouse is not open to the public at all which is too bad - gimpy back and all I'd love to climb to the top and check out the view!


Speaking of views, this picture is just a slightly different view, taken from the front of the driveway rather than from the side of the house next door (which looks to be a lovely rental if one had the cash for such a thing!).

Once you're done oohing and aahing over the beautiful blue skies in these pictures, don't forget to pop by Lee's Tarheel Ramblings and check out the rest of the Sunday Scenery!

Sunday Scenery

For this week's Sunday Scenery post, I ventured into my photo archives and pulled out a picture from Sunday, May 4th, 2008 which was taken while I was on vacation in California. My good friend, MizCyn, and I had decided to take a drive over towards the Bay Area that particular day and we ended up in San Francisco - home of little cable cars, big hills, and the infamous Alcratraz Island ...

During the entire time I lived in California I only went out to The Rock once and that was in 1985 when my parents came out for a visit. It was a fascinating place, to say the least, but certainly not anywhere that I would have wanted to spend a lot of time at even though I wish I had gone back a time or two as a tourist. The history behind Alcatraz, which started out as an Army Defense Post long before it was a federal prison, is most interesting and if you're ever in the Bay Area, I would highly recommend taking the ferry over and doing the tour. A word to the wise would be to make reservations in advance, though, as it's quite the popular tourist destination.

Be sure to stop by Lee's Tarheel Ramblings and check out the other participants in Sunday Scenery - it's the best way to take in some lovely scenery without leaving the comfort of your computer chair!

Sunday Scenery

No, no ... I've not been transported away to some warm paradise where palm trees sway in the breezes and fruity drinks come with tiny umbrellas ... I'm just wishing that I had been as I am heartily sick of this cold New England weather that we've had this winter. I know it's only February but enough already!!!

Anyhow, all carping about the weather aside, for Lee's Sunday Scenery meme I chose the above picture that I took while I was on vacation out in California last May. I came across it the other day while looking for some other pictures and it reminded me of what a good time I had out in Stockton even if it is the most miserable city in America!

Part of the good time was because of another picture I came across ...

So now I'm not only missing some warmer weather but hankering a big ole' plate of Mexican food, too! Sadly, I don't think I'm going to get either anytime soon ...

Sunday Scenery with Lee

I really want to thank Lee of Tar Heel Ramblings for inspiring me to start posting scenery pictures on Sunday and then for turning it into his very first meme as it really makes it easy for me to figure out what to post on Sundays now. Working 16-hour shifts makes it a little tricky for Sunday blogging but being able to do Sunday Scenery, the Photo Meme solves the problem nicely for me! Feel free to join us and make your Sundays easier, too!

For this week's scene I take you to the icy waters of the Thames River which flow from Norwich down to the Long Island Sound.

If it looks cold, that's because it IS cold and yet there were some die-hard fishermen standing along the banks in an area that was a bit more open casting their lines. Seems to me if you want to get frozen fish, it's easier just to head to the frozen food section at the local grocery store but I guess that takes a bit of the sport out of it!

Everyone have a great Sunday and don't forget to swing by Lee's and check out the rest of this week's Sunday Scenery entries!

Sunday Scenery

My friend Lee at Tarheel Ramblings has come up with a new Sunday photo meme for folks to participate in with some very simple rules or - even simpler! - perhaps no rules? As Lee puts it ...

"There are no real rules for participation. All you have to post a favorite photograph and come back here on Sunday morning to link your post to mine. I do ask that you post only photographs you can claim the copyright to (in other words, you clicked the shutter). That’s all there is to it! Have fun and be sure to get out there and enjoy the Sunday Scenery!"

If you decide to play along there's even a couple of cool buttons from which to choose from over at Lee's place (like the one I have above) so click here, grab yourself one, and join in! This meme is a great way to keep it simple on Sunday and considering I usually work 16 hour shifts on Sunday - simple is good!

For my Sunday Scenery today I thought I'd post a picture of a building that I've taken pictures of before - the Slater Building at Norwich Free Academy where Amanda attends high school. I took this picture this past Monday when we had some beautiful clear blue skies.

As an added bonus, I thought I'd also post pictures of the archways and doors that lead into the Slater Building as I just thought they were kind of cool and I love the architecture. They just don't build things like they used to!

Whatever you do and wherever you go today, may your Sunday and your scenery both be beautiful!

Sunday Scenery

I honestly have no clue why I like this picture but I do; there's just something appealing about the intricate woodwork around the roof-line of this building and I especially like it when seen against the blue sky. The black bird just adds a little something extra!

I get the feeling that this building is probably pretty old though I'm not exactly sure when it dates back to. It's the Cummings-Gagne Funeral Home located on Cliff Street here in Norwich and even though I did some searching, it's apparently downright hard to find any sort of historical information on funeral homes! I do know that the funeral home is located across from a house that is of similar structure that was built in 1850 so perhaps it's of the same vintage? With the buildings being so similar, I have to wonder if they're related somehow. Hmm, perhaps this could be a research project for sometime in the future should I find myself with a little spare time.

Don't forget to swing by Lee's Tarheel Ramblings and see what he's got for you to look at this Sunday,too. If you want to join us for Sunday Scenery, jump on in but just be sure to let us know so we can come visit! Have a great Sunday and may all your scenery be beautiful!

Sunday Scenery

I was going through some of my older pictures yesterday in an attempt to organize them a little bit when I came across this one that I took while on vacation this past September. There's just something about it that's very peaceful and serene.

I took this picture from the deck of the ferry I was on while returning from Block Island, a small island about 12 miles off the coast of Rhode Island that has somehow become my ideal of a great place to live even though it's far-removed from almost everything. As a matter of fact,I have told Amanda that if I ever win the lottery that I'm buying a house out there and we're moving. She's good with that as long as we have internet and can get to the mainland for drawing supplies on a regular basis!

Maybe one of the big attractions is the fact that Block Island is far-removed (except when tourists descend like locusts in the summer) and that it's like taking a step back in time to when life was simpler. I could go for life being simpler and more serene.

This post is based on Lee's Sunday Scenery posts at Tarheel Ramblings. If you'd like to join us, just live Lee a comment and me, too, and we'll be over to check out the scenery in your part of the world!

Sunday Scenery

I snitched lifted copied borrowed the title of this post from my favorite Tarheel Rambler, Lee, who has been doing Sunday Scenery posts for quite some time now and has some of the most gorgeous pictures one could ever hope to see. I hope he doesn't mind but after giving some thought to what would work well for me on Sundays with my 16-hour shift and not wanting to be tied to the computer all day on Saturday, a Sunday photo post just seemed like the best way to go. Besides, it gives me a good excuse to take more pictures!

The pictures for this post come courtesy of a quick stop by Misquamicut State Beach in Westerly, Rhode Island that Jamie and I made before I dropped her off to spend the night at her brother's house on Saturday. It was pretty overcast and gray but I wanted to take a peek at the ocean while I was over that way and of course I had taken my camera with me just in case there was the opportunity for a picture or two. Apparently there was!

Hope you enjoyed this Sunday's trip to the beach - I'll have to see if I can find some interesting scenery to share with you for next Sunday! I'm pretty sure none of the pictures will have anything to do with auto insurance but you never know!