H

H

A few thoughts and memories and things:

• Helen Dougherty- my childhood friend since 1970.
• Hemingway's Home- 2013-Key West, FL
• Henley Regatta- 1982- London- what elegance
• Howard Watrous- my great uncle.
• Hermitage Museum- Russia- 2013- I only spend an afternoon here but I could have spent days here.
• High School Principal-  I was a principal at Stroudsburg High School and Springfield High School
• Heather- my niece and goddaughter.
• High Tea- I had High Tea in Hong Kong and London.
• Hill Tribes- Thailand.  I hiked through the hill  tribe region for five difficult days in 1992.
• Hindu temples- India, Sri Lanka, Nepal
• Hofbrau House- 1979- Munich, Germany- I got kicked out of this place for standing on the table and singing the Canadian national anthem.
• Holocaust Museum- I went here once in 1993, shortly after the museum opened and I only went to exhibits that focused on healing and the day was so damn draining.
• Havana- on my bucket list.  I want to spend 4 days here and just take photos.
• Hoover Dam- 2015- what a work of genius.
• Horseback Riding- I HATE this activity.
• Hot Air Balloon- I took a ride fro my 50th birthday in Steamboat, CO- 2005.
• Hot Spring State Park- WY- I soaked in thermal water all afternoon in the middle of the winter.
• Hitler- how did he come in to power? Just watch Trump.
• Hot Sauce- nope,  I don't like a hot taste on my food.
• Hoagies- I like maybe one a year but I couldn't eat them every day as some people do.
• Harper Valley PTA- a strange song.
• Hubert Humphrey- he was unknown as a vice president and so it was no surprise that he didn't win the presidential election against Nixon, the nut.
• Halloween- as a kid, I loved this holiday.  As an adult, I didn't care about it.
• Hotel Hersey- PA- a great place to indulge in chocolate.
• Hot tubs- I've owned three and each time I buy one, it is larger than the last one.
• Hillary Clinton- 2016- I was her campaign coordinator for Cecil County.
• Hospice care- My two friends, Charlene and Darcy both received very good care in hospice.
• High School- 1969-1973- these days were a challenge for me, academically and socially.
• Haiti- 2013- I spent six weeks there this summer, running a summer program.
• Honduras- 2011- I went snorkeling here.
• Hawaii- on my bucket list.
• Haiti Family Initiative- 2013, 2014- a summer program in Jacmel.
• Hook- my favorite Peter Pan movie.
• Honey Whisky- this is the only whisky I can drink and even then, I cant drink a lot of it.
• Hanging With Friends- I like to spend the afternoon in a bar, drinking beer and hanging with friends.
• Hot dogs- If someone else makes them, then I love hot dogs but I would never make one for me.
• Hogan's Heroes- I thought this TV show was so damn funny and showed our intellectual superiority to the Nazis.
• Holland- 1979- I remember lots of colorful flowers.
• Happy Together- Turtles-  one of my favorite songs of the 1960s.
• Hale Brewery- WA- 2017-YES
• Happa Brewery- CA- 2015- YES
• Happy Valley Brewery- PA- NOPE
• Heavy Seas Brewery- MD- 2012- one of my favorites
• High Altitude Brewery- WY- 2016- yea
• Hacker Pschor Brewery- Germany- 2016- I went to Oktoberfest at this brewery.
• Hollow Earth Brewery- PA- it's OK.
• Hong Kong- 1994, 2005- I am not particularly fond of this city.
• Hank- a TV show in the early 1960s where a young man snuck in to college to get ahead in life.  I cheered for his success.
• Hamburgers- some days, there is nothing better than a rare hamburger with provolone cheese, mushrooms, onions, bacon and blue cheese dressing.
• Halloween Parades- NYC- 2013
• Hartman's Amusement Park- 1973- summer job and it was degrading to work here.  The owners made one sexual comment after another.
• Hamburg, Germany- 2013
• Hollywood- it doesn't hold my interest.
• Hell- my final destination.
• Howard's Seafood Restaurant- 1976- long Beach Island, NJ- my summer job- we sold deep fried lobster and it was so damn good.
• Hal Ketchum- he's sort of country; he's sort of rock and his voice is beautiful.
• Honduras- 2011- the women weave beautiful fabrics.
• Hungry- 2007- I went here with my brother.
• Harvard Square- MA- 1995- I took a group of students here for a Model UN Conference.  There were some sharp minds there that weekend.
• Howling At The Moon- Carpenter's Point, MD- January 2015 This particular night was  a perfect night to howl with the moon. So I did.  My neighbors told me to stop howling. I hate them.
• Hello vs Hi: I think I use hello more.
• Hawaii- I have to get there some time soon.
• Horse Shoe Crabs- They arrived every Memorial Weekend, hundreds of them lined the bulkhead along our house that overlooked Barnaget Bay, NJ. We would go down in to the water at low tide and try to find the longest string of entwined crabs.  They linked together by their tails, five or six or more locked together.  We would pick up the cluster of them and show off these pre-historic creatures.  Then we would fling them back in the water.

Bleeding Hearts

Bleeding Hearts

Carpenters' Point, MD

I get this one twig of bleeding hearts every year in my garden. I look forward to its arrival but it does not appear to be on a consistent schedule as my other perennials are.  It shows up, unannounced and in full bloom.  It stays for a week or two and then one morning, it appears to have vanished sometime in the middle of the night, not to be seen again for another long year.

Please Just Take This Money

Please Just Take This Money
October 6, 2016
Montana

"Please just take this money from a dying girl." Darcy wants to pay for dinner and Betsy won't take her money. So, Darcy, who has Stage 4 cancer, stoops to this comment which stops Betsy in her tracks.  There is brief silence and then Betsy bends down and kisses Darcy on the head and takes the money. I stand along the sidelines and pretend I didn't hear this exchange. The moment shakes all three of us.

This Camera

This Camera

My Canon Point and Shoot

2012-2017

I am in Nepal and my camera has died on me.  I am devastated.  I know I have my DSL, my Phone and my iPad camera as well.  But I love my point and shoot camera the best.  There is no effort to start it up and set it up and snap photo after photo as there is with he other cameras.  I love this camera.  I take it everywhere.  When I leave my house, I double check to make sure I have my keys, my phone and my camera.  I slip it in to my back pocket and snap all day long.

This camera has been to India and China and Nepal and Tanzania and Norway, Denmark, Russia, England, Jamaica, Honduras, Belize, Panama, Canada, Germany, Spain, Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Costa Rico, NY, NJ, DE, OR, AZ, CA, NM, WA, UT, CO, SD, VA, FL, GA, ID, MT, DC, CT and many other places.

It has photographed Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Jimmy Carter, Congressman Joe Lewis, the Pope, Madeline Albright and lions and tigers and zebras and giraffes.

It has captured moments in my garden as flowers burst from the ground and wilt back in to the dirt.  It has captured birds and bugs and butterflies. Snowstorms, rainstorms and hailstorms have all been documented.

It has seen the rise of the next generation as my nieces gave birth. It's been to family weddings and holiday celebrations.  It's been to political demonstrations and concerts and farm shows.

It's been my faithful companion and now I see that I should have made greater efforts not to drop it so many damn times.  Now I know.

Favorite Places In Maryland

Favorite Places in Maryland

These places are mostly in Cecil County.  I bought a house there in 2006 and used this place as a weekend get-away.  But in 2012, I moved there permanently and very quickly, the place seemed so small and isolated tome.  So, in June 2017, I just moved to West Chester in to an apartment.  My house sits empty but I will probable sell it soon.  As I work to distance myself form this place, I find that certain spots are growing fonder and fonder for me. There are some of my favorite spots/events from this area:

•       Fels Point- this is a fun, hip place to visit.
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•      American Visual Arts Museum- I love this museum. I go here once or twice a year.
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•      Havre d’Grace- there are some nice bars and restaurants in this quaint town.
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•      Woody’s- I eat here a lot and I order the same thing every time: A Loose Cannon beer and snow crab legs.
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•      Johnnie Sushi House- Joann and I go here from time to time and we love what we order and vow to remember what we ordered so we can order it again but we never remember.
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•     Carpenter’s Point- that’s where I live.
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•     Perryville Library- this library system won a well-deserved national award in 2015.
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•     North East- This is a sweet, little town.
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•     Red Point Cove- this is a bizarre, little community tucked away between mansions and gentlemen’s farms.
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•      Wellwood’s Annual Seafood Buffet- It’s all you can eat in a two-hour period.
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•      Chesapeake Coffee Shop- I like to spend afternoons here.
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•      Baker’s Chicken Pot Pie night- you bring your own pot and they fill it up for you.
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•      North East River- I kayak here and this river owns a piece of my soul.
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•      Pit Beef Sandwich Shop- they offer ham, turkey or beef sandwiches that are four inches thick.
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•         Joann’s house- I go there on Friday nights and we sit around and drink and argue about politics and watch movies.
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•      My back yard and garden- I get tons of birds, bugs, butterflies and small animals back there. I also have a hot tub back there that I just love.
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•          Steak and Main’s front bar- I only like to sit at the bar.  That way, I can watch the sushi chef and get quick, good service.
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•      China Star- I order large quantities of food when I go here and then come home and break everything up in to single serving sizes and freeze them for a future meal.
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•       Port Deposit riverfront- I like to have a drink on the deck at Land’s End.
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•      The Crab Crawl- a fun fundraiser for the library.

1962

1962

Woodbine Avenue

Overbrook

Philadelphia, PA

My age: 6-7

School- Our Lady of Lourdes Grade School.  Miss Taylor was my 2^nd grade teacher. School work was a struggle for me. I felt a lot of failure.

Music

•            I Cant Stop Loving You by Ray Charles
•         Roses Are Red (My Love) by  Bobby Vinton
•      Johnny Angel  by  Shelley Fabares
•      The Loco-Motion by Little Eva
•      The Twist by Chubby Checker
•      Soldier Boy  by The Shirelles
•       Duke of Earl by  Gene Chandler
•      Palisades Park by Freddy Cannon
•      Breaking Up Is Hard to Do by Neil Sedaka

Televison- I watched television only in the evenings.

•  o The Beverly Hillbillies- this stupid theme songs still plagues my mind.
•  o   Candid Camera- I loved the pranks.
•  o   The Red Skelton Show- this was a wholesome show of comedy and silliness.
•  o   Bonanza- Hoss was my favorite.
•  o   The Lucy Show- she was so damn funny.
•  o   The Andy Griffith Show- I thought Opey was adorable.
•  o   The Dick Van Dyke Show- I liked mary Tyler Moore more than Dick Van Dyke.
•  o   Gunsmoke
•  o   What's My Line?- I never was able to guess the person's job.
•  o   The Ed Sullivan Show- we got to stay up for this show if a special guess was on.
•  o   Hazel- The maid seemed to be the only person who knew what was going on in there small world.
•  o   I've Got a Secret- I never figured out the secret.
•  o   To Tell the Truth- I couldn't pick out the liars if my life depended on it.
•  o   Lassie-I thought this dog was so damn smart.
•  o   Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color- we watched this show every single Sunday night.
•  o   Wagon Train- There were lots of shows at this time about the wild west.
•  o   The Virginian- While Virginia was not the West, this show was the same genre as westerns.
•  o   My Three Sons- I felt sorry for the dad because he was a widower.
•  o   The Flintstones- Yaba, Daba, Doo. 

Movies- we just reached the age around this time that we started going to movies.

• o   The Music Man- this was probably the first movie I saw and I loved the fun of it.  I loved the story and the happy ending and all that was right and wholesome at the moment.
• o   How The West Was Won- I remember being overwhelmed at the hardships of these people.  I saw these people as heroes and this thought was reinforced by my dad who spoke of the patriotism of these men and women.

Books- I had great troubles with reading and read very little at this time. I hated reading.

Travels- my parents took us to museums, movies, fireworks, events at the large venues to see Skating on Ice, the circus, Valley Forge Music tent.  We ventured in to the city.

News events- Marilyn Monroe died.  I remember the newspaper men standing in the street, selling the Sunday paper and announcing her death.  I wasn’t sure who she was but my parents were stunned so I knew she had to be someone important.

Family Events-  

• o   We moved to Overbrook in West Philly.  We, the 8 of us, left our 3-bedroom rowhome in West Oak Lane, in North Philly and moved in to an old, 7-bedroom house.  It felt like we moved in to a mansion. Shortly after we moved, my grandparents who lived two miles away from our old home, moved in to an apartment, two miles away from our new home. So, again, we got to see them almost every day.
• o   I met Kathy Flately and she has been my friend ever since.
• o   The Bartons, Flatleys and the Hunts became our family friends. Together, there were 37 children amongst these four families.

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