They are Everywhere!

 Here is a short little story in honor of that creepy holiday, Halloween. Well, really, I just find it creepy!

    A geocache was recently released not far from my house, just a bit over a mile. Since it is a Saturday and I have no chores to do, (HA) I decided to take a short drive and find it.

    I was familiar with the area where it was hidden. I turned into a small pull-off and shut off the engine. The GPS still hadn’t found any satellites but my “geosense” was twitching. There were two obvious places where it could be hidden.

    The first one I tried was wrong. I should mention that it was the easier of the two spots, I was hoping. I easily located the cache in my second attempt, signed the log and replaced it as found. Back at the car, the GPS was still searching for its satellites. Bah, sometimes you don’t need them!

    Anyway, as I was driving down the road, I noticed a small bug crawling across my hand. I’m sure you can guess what kind of bug it was…Yup,  a tick!

I hate these bugs!

    I pulled over as quickly as I could, all the while keeping an eye on the little devil. I captured it and squished it between my fingernails. Yuk, kinda gross! Naturally, right afterwards, I started feeling things crawling all over me. I did a quick check and didn’t see any others. I still felt them though, thanks to my over-active imagination.

    One of the big things prodding my imagination was that the day before, I had visited the doctor to have two of them removed from my neck. They were far enough back that I could see them in the mirror but couldn’t remove them.

    A call to my doctors’ office got me an appointment, five hours later. So…just leave them there, sucking on my blood, holding onto my flesh with their hooks. No problem. A little creepy perhaps. The other times I’ve gotten bite by them I had always been able to remove them myself.

         

    Deer ticks are the smaller of the ticks found in Pennsylvania. The deer tick above was magnified 600 times to allow us to see the barbed mouth parts. The second photo gives an idea of how small the deer ticks are as compared to a dog tick.

    The doc spent about 15 minutes working on my neck, making sure that every bit of the bugs had been removed. She then gave me a script for some Doxycycline to tackle any bacteria that might have been left behind. (Gotta watch out for Lyme Disease)

    So it was a little bit of a shock to see another one strolling across my hand the next day. They are everywhere!

    The worst part is the psychological aspect to seeing them. I’ve picked them off my body many times, it is no big deal, part of going out in the woods. BUT, every time I’ve gotten one, I start to feel them crawling all over me. I get itches that I can’t easily scratch. I feel them under my clothes. Rarely is there anything there, but still, I just have to check!

    Now, if you’ll excuse me, I feel something on my back.

Less Than a Month to Go!

 With the start of October I realize that a very important day is less than a month away. On November 4^th we will all be celebrating National Fountain Pen Day! (We do all celebrate it don’t we?) This special day, annually observed on the first Friday of November, was first celebrated in 2012. Its purpose is to promote the use of fountain pens and writing in general.

    I am guessing that most of the population has never picked up a fountain pen let alone used one. We have all seen them in movies, but few people have actually enjoyed the act of writing or drawing with one. It takes us to a different place than where the pencil, the ball point pen or the keyboard takes us.

    The definition of a fountain pen is a writing instrument with a metal nib and a reservoir for holding ink. There are drawings of what appears to be a fountain pen in Leonardo di Vinci’s notebooks, whether he ever made one is unknown. They gained popularity in the mid 1800’s and then that slowly declined as ballpoint pens took over in the 1960’s. They seem to be having a resurgence in popularity with an abundance of on-line stores offering fountain pens, inks and papers.

    Picking up one of my pens, this one manufactured by a company called Monteverde, I enjoy the way it fits nicely into my hand. Simply snap off its lid, it's ready for use. I actually look forward to using this tool!

    It is a slender black pen. Its nib is thin, allowing only a skinny line of ink to reach the paper I’m scribbling across. The ink in it came from a small glass bottle with a label so faded, that I can only guess what company manufactured it. With this ink and pen I can put my thoughts down onto the paper without any problems other than refilling it occasionally.

    I find pleasure in using this tool; I enjoy the way it glides across the paper.  I know how to care for it and maintain it. I understand how its’ ink flows and how long it takes to dry. I know the proper ways to use the pen and how not to abuse it. I know the types of papers which work best with it and which ones to avoid. It is a tool I can use without raising my blood pressure; in fact I often find that I am more relaxed when I’m using it!

    I have other fountain pens which I often switch between. One is filled and sits near-by with green ink in it for when the mood strikes me. A couple others sit stored in a drawer, cleaned and ready for use. They are all enjoyable to use. Good old-fashioned writing, cursive, putting a pen to paper and leaving my thoughts behind.

    There are a couple of these pens in my collection that used to belong to my parents and may be even older than they were. I’d be willing to bet there is at least a couple more, up in the attic.

     I still use regular pens, they are perfect for shopping lists or writing notes. Pencils and markers sit in a coffee cup on my desk along with a couple scissors and a letter opener. Most of them haven’t been used in months if not years. They are there for a specific purpose and writing isn’t it!

    My fountain pens tend to stay in my office/library where I do most of my writing. I value them too much to chance dropping them or losing them in the “outside” world. When I use them, I get a feeling that what I am writing on the page is important. Of course, this is hardly ever the case, but I still enjoy the feeling. I tend to do my first drafts with a fountain pen on paper and later, copy it onto the computer where it gets further editing.

    To purchase a fountain pen you can go on-line or visit a store. There are still a couple places where you can test drive one before you buy, but you would have to look for them. Office stores carry a limited supply of fountain pens, for less than twenty dollars, you can pick one up. As you might expect, the costs of fountain pens can also be astronomical, with some special models exceeding a thousand dollars.

    Many of the fountain pens offered today have prefilled cartridges which can be quickly used to fill the pen. They also offer refillable cartridges for those who like to experiment with all the different types and colors of ink that is available. (Trust me, it can be a rabbit hole, be careful you don’t slip in!)

    There is a little less than a month before National Fountain Pen Day! I urge you to go and try one out, if you haven’t already. They give a certain touch of class, they give a nice look to your handwriting and everyone should strive for that! So, let your imagination run free and let it flow onto your paper. Take some time away from the keyboard or the tablet and pick up a pen, preferably a fountain pen and do some “REAL” writing!

Searchin’ for Sasquatch

The sun was trying its’ hardest to break through the clouds as Frank and I hit the road. Only two stars had been visible through the clouds as I gotten into my car, sadly the cover increased as the morning progressed. The sun made a brief appearance just after sunrise but for the rest of our trip, we only saw occasional evidence of it, a sunlit hilltop or the tips of the trees lit up. The morning was grey.

    The trip was to find some geocaches, some photos and who knows whatever else might cross our path. We were up for anything. We headed north on rt.28 and started out in the town of Slate Lick. This village got its name supposedly because deer used come to lick salt off of the rocks in the area. Founded in the late 1700’s, the first church in Armstrong County was started here.

    From there we went cross country, leaving the highway behind and using only the small two lane country roads. Occasionally these roads became gravel. We didn’t see many cars passing us.

    There were cattle in the fields and deer crossing the roads. We saw a Ringed Neck Pheasant at one of the caches! We passed more than a few abandoned houses, barns and farms during the drive.

    Just after leaving a cache situated alongside Buffalo Creek, we came across this pile of stones. I’m guessing it might have been a fireplace and chimney to an old house, but the underbrush was too thick to get close to them. There seemed to be a pile of rubble below all the jagger bushes. We didn't go in, we were content to look at them from the outside of the patch.

    We encountered more abandoned houses when we reached Yellow Dog. The Geocaching web page about the cache we were looking for, says that the village was built between the late 1910's and early 1920’s. It was built by Pittsburgh Limestone Mining Company for its workers, they could live there as long as they didn’t unionize. The last residents left in 2011, leaving it a ghost town. The town has been vandalized over the years and someone has bought it in hopes of restoring it and using it as a learning area. It has been a while since it was purchased. (2014) Now people can visit it for a fee. We snapped a few shots from the outskirts and then continued on.

    We visited the ghost town of West Winfield. All that remains are a few cement stairs that once sat alongside the road. The houses on this 1941 map are gone, all that remains is the stack of the old iron furnace.

    We walked through what used to be a rail yard to visit the remains of the furnace. It was built in 1847 and worked until 1864, a mere 17 years. It produced about 40 tons of iron a week during that period. The iron was carried by wagon to Freeport where it was put on boats for the trip to Pittsburgh.

    A town grew up around the furnace and then disappeared; a railroad was built beside it which also disappeared. All that is left in West Winfield is a cement company and this old stack of rocks. It is kind of sad!

    From there we did one more cache before heading back towards home. The sun was still trying to break through the clouds, maybe later in the day… We found all of the caches we had searched for, all eight of them. Frank found one more making his total nine. We also got some nice pictures while we were out.

    At one of the caches, we run across Sasquatch and made friends with him. (Not to be confused with a Yeti which resides in Asia) It turned out he was rather friendly, at least to us. So now we know, he does roam the hills of Pennsylvania! So beware, especially since we are only a month away from Halloween!

P.S. thanks to Frank for the shot of the furnace!

Lost in the Fog on a Tuesday Morning

 

Waking up early, I went and looked out the front door and saw fog hiding everything. After getting dressed and a quick cup of coffee, I loaded my camera gear in the car and went out for a ride. Just to see what I could find.

    In some places I could hardly see the road because of the fog and then there were spots where there was nothing at all. I headed downhill towards Etna. These are a couple of the shots I took.

Crossing the railroad tracks on Bridge Street, most of the fog was above me but it still added a nice touch to the scenery.

Underneath the bridges carrying rt.28 over Sharpsburg.

E&H Auto Body on Main Street. This scene called for color!

Back to B&W at the Fox Chapel Golf Club.

St. Mary’s Cemetery on Sharps Hill

The sky was starting to lighten up and some pastel colors were starting to appear as I left Sharps Hill, so I went back to color again.

    The fog had started to burn off on most of my drive home but when I arrived back in the neighborhood, it seemed even thicker than when I left. Breakfast and coffee lured me back into the house. It was a nice morning drive. An hour and a half wandering around in the dark and the fog, a great way to start the morning!

Let It Rain, Let It Rain, Let It Rain

 

The rain is falling heavily, creating patterns in the pools on the sidewalks. The grass has a fresh green look to it. Sitting inside the quiet cocoon of the library, I’m warm, dry and comfortable. A pile of “new” books sits in front of me.

    It’s Monday morning, the day of the Queens funeral. Up early to watch the solemn ceremony and then off to a doctor’s office for a routine check-up, the hours without sleep haven’t caught up with me yet. The rain had commenced right as I had arrived at the doctor’s office, of course! There are still damp spots on my pants.

    A short distance away is one of my favorite spots, The Cooper-Siegel Community Library. The lot is filled this morning but inside, other than a few laughs and giggles from the children’s room, all is quiet, as it always is. An empty table beside a window provided a home base for my visit.

    Though I check out the books on display as I come in, the used bookshelf is still my first stop. This library always has a splendid selection of books for sale, the majority of them for under a dollar.

    Carefully perusing the volumes, I select a few and start a pile on the librarian’s desk. A book of memoirs, The River Quickens, signed by its author starts the pile. This is soon followed by a barely read library book about Victorian England’s fight against filth titled, Dirty Old London. I’ll probably be the 3^rd or 4^th person to read it…if not the first!

    A hardback Readers Digest edition of Lost Horizon was added, replacing the paperback edition I had just picked up moments earlier. Fifty cents as compared to twenty-five, I can handle that. Once it is read, it will be re-donated back to the library to allow someone else to purchase it.

    An old book (1922) on the Elements of Plane Trigonometry joined the pile simply because it looked nice and it was in good shape. Not bad for a quarter. Lastly, my most expensive purchase, (75 cents) was a new, unread copy of The Writing of the Gods. A hardback, published last year, telling about the de-coding of the Rosetta stone.

    I purchased my books, adding a small amount to the library’s coffers and returned to my table. The rain was still falling; I’ll stay here, inside and dry until it lets up a bit. There is a cup of coffee sitting in the cup holder in the car, I can hear it calling to me! But until the rain slows down, I’ll be content to read a bit longer. I’m always happy here.

Looking at the World through a Viewfinder

 All too often, when taking a picture, I fail to put enough thought into it. The camera swings up, I do a quick composition and snap the shot, hoping that it will come out in the end. Many times, I don’t even hope, I know once the shutter has been clicked, it was a wasted shot. Something wasn’t right, it was doomed from the get-go.

    There are two types of photography broadly speaking, random and planned. For the most part, the vast majority of the shots I take are random. (I am not bragging about this!) Things I see which interest me, something which might be nice and things that I hope will be nice, I aim and shoot. 

    Pre-visualization is to imagine what you want your finished photo to look like. Imagining ahead of time, which areas will be dark, where the light will fall and where the general interest of the picture will lie. That and how all the various things will come together to make your picture what you want it to be. It is a skill that requires practice, thought and some time.

    We have all taken a shot of something that we imagine will be a FANTASTIC shot. When we finally look at it, it is overexposed, the subject may be blurred or maybe they blinked, the shot is nothing like what we had hoped for. Nothing like we had pre-visualized. I know I’ve taken thousands of them, (again, not bragging) they are the pictures that no one will ever see.  

Too slow, blurred

    All too often I find that I don’t take the time to ensure that the shot will be what I want it to be. Sometimes it is just a chance encounter and if I don’t shoot, I might miss a good shot. Whether it is because I’m doing something else, on my way to another spot or I’m just not that excited about the picture, I just snap and run. These are typical random shots. I take the shot and hope it’s good. It usually isn’t!

    Often, some of these “wasted” shots strike something in my brain and I think I can do better. I start to imagine how I can improve on that shot. Perhaps by coming at a different time of the day when the light is different or maybe shooting in black and white rather than color. Possibly by changing my ISO I will be able to change my depth of field or the speed of my shutter. I start to pre-visualize what I want and start thinking about how I can bring it all together.

    Just by doing this doesn’t necessarily guarantee a good picture. It may take a few times to get that final shot. Each time I try, I learn something and by trying again, it brings me that much closer to achieving the shot I desire.

    Many a time I’ve gone out chasing that picture in my head only to be foiled by weather, clouds, rain or over whelming sunshine. I love taking foggy pictures but many a time I have slept through the fog or else, the fog promised by the weather forecasters fails to appear. I just keep on trying, I keep that image in my head, and someday it will come out!

Too dim, too slow, blurred

    Playing around with film adds another set of hurdles for the photographer to overcome. You are set in what type of film you have in the camera. Color or black and white or slides, it’s one or the other, once it’s in the camera, you can’t change it. The speed of your film is set. Should the light be low, you can’t just up the ISO like you can on a digital camera. You can open up your aperture, slow down your exposure or just skip the shot.

    I think you’d agree that with film, you tend to analyze the shot a bit more than with a DSLR. There are only so many shots on the roll of film in your camera. With the digital cameras you can take thousands of shots, if not more and still have room on your memory to continue shooting. 35mm film usually comes in 24 and 36 exposures and my medium format camera will only get 15 shots on a roll. I take extra care not to waste them! (I find it all too easy to take that extra shot, hoping to capture what I didn’t in the first. It almost always is a wasted exposure.)

These shots were taken on two different days, approximately a month apart. Both were shot in the early morning on a rainy day. The first one was shot with 100 film and came out much too dark. The second one was shot with a DSLR. The ISO was increased, the exposure was corrected, the composition changed just a bit and the camera put on a tripod, resulting in a much better shot.

    I find it important to not look at these bad shots as failures, they are lessons and hopefully by analyzing them, I can figure out what went wrong and how to avoid it in the future. Every shot I take is a lesson, both the good and the bad, learning is possible through all of them. These lessons are filed away in my brain, some to be used and improved upon almost immediately and some to be sadly forgotten until a similar failure appears.

    Taking the same shot over and over, during different times of the day, under different lighting conditions, rain, clouds and sun, color and black and white, is a wonderful learning experience. Even after getting that “perfect” shot, I go back and keep shooting it. Each time I click the shutter, I am getting another lesson and perhaps, I might even end up with a better shot.

    The most important thing in photography to me is that it’s an enjoyable hobby. I enjoy taking pictures! Now if someone else enjoys the shots I take, that just makes it better! It's a win-win!

The Kindness of Others

 I have a couple geocaches hidden with-in a few miles of my house. Recently, I was driving down rt.8 and passed the location of one of them. There was a tractor cutting the grass and weeds near where the cache was located. Fearing the worst, I came back an hour or two later only to find the fallen tree that the cache was hidden under, was gone.

    I looked around and saw nothing. The hide was about 10 feet away from the normally mowed grass. The log stretched out to where the grass was cut. I looked under the debris the mower had left behind, the broken and cut sticks and leaves and also looked over the edge of the hillside behind the cache site. There was no sign of the container or any of the items inside it. I saw the log over the hillside and worked my way down to it and nothing was there either.

    These hides are only a game and when one disappears, it’s no big deal. Still, I was a bit saddened. I went home and temporarily disabled the cache.

    A day or two later, I received an e-mail from Geocaching.com saying that someone had my cache and to contact them to get it back. Soon I had the container and its contents in hand.

    The man driving the tractor saw the container when the blades hit it. The mower had cracked the container. Seeing that it was part of the game of geocaching, he contacted the web site and they contacted me. He works for the township and has taken his kids out geocaching a couple times. He could have just left it or thrown it away but being a good human being, he took that extra step and got the container back to me.

    It has since been re-hidden, in the same spot only under some rocks now instead of a log. Thanks to the kindness of Tom, the cache is back in business and ready to be found again. We can all use a little kindness, do your part in passing it around! Pay it forward, I know I will!

     Cache on!

The Powers Above

(Sunday morning, 8.21.22) A flash of lightning crosses the sky right above the church as I turn off my engine. A second later a loud crack of thunder follows. It rumbles on after the initial explosion, it seems to last forever. The rain is coming down hard.

    Inside the church, the lights are low, the few people there are quiet, the rain on the roof adds a soft background noise. Flashes of lightning illuminate the stained windows and the resulting thunder joins in to accompany the beat of the rain.

More people arrive, the lights are brightened, and the Mass begins. The organ adds to the music of the storm outside. The lightning and thunder make dramatic backdrops to the service. As the priest gives his sermon, he talks about families and how accepting they are. I look at the parishioners around me, I’ve always thought of them as family.

We are all here together to celebrate this sacrament. We are all accepted, no matter if we are wearing a suit and a tie or a t-shirt, shorts and flip-flops. It doesn’t matter what our political views are. We all have needs, desires and insecurities. We all carry burdens on our shoulders and here at the Mass, the weights are lessened.

The storm continues on through the Mass. Afterwards, people congregate in the gathering space, hesitant to step into the downpour. It smells good outside; it smells like summertime. I walk out to my car through the rain, feeling refreshed, my load lightened.

An Exercise in Futility?

I like taking pictures of the moon. I’ve always imagined taking a photograph which would include a group of shots of the moon as it rises up over the horizon, all on one photo. The near-by cemetery is a perfect spot for such an attempt. The view to the east is across a wide valley and the horizon is fairly close to being level. The next morning, the moon would be rising while the sky was still dark and it would be a nice sized crescent, perfect for an attempt!

    (Tuesday 8.23.22) I woke up around 1:40 and when I looked outside, there were numerous stars visible in the sky. I got dressed, put some day-old coffee in my travel mug and loaded my camera gear in the car. The cemetery is only about 3 minutes away, I only got one sip of coffee before I had arrived.

    I set my tripod up, made sure all the joints were tightened and the legs were solid. The camera was leveled and manually focused on infinity. I took a couple shots to determine what exposure I should use and then I got out my compass to determine where the moon would be rising. (54 degrees from north, give or take) I centered the camera there and then waited.

    A large cloud was gathering in the valley below, extending into the sky and obscuring the horizon towards the south-east. The area I was concerned with was still clear. I had about 10 minutes until moonrise.

    While waiting for the magic moment, the clouds started moving towards my target area. When the clock showed 2:38AM, moon-rise, my site was hidden by the mists. 

    I used my binoculars to scan the top of the hillside, going well past the place where I had guessed it would appear. I took a couple more test shots, being sure to check my lens for moisture. The cool air and the humidity had given it a slight coating and I carefully cleaned it off before each shot.  Still, no moon was visible.

    The moon simply wasn’t bright enough to be seen through the fog. Being only 15% illuminated, it was hidden by the clouds which were getting thicker. I could still see the lights of houses on the hill and I had my fingers crossed. I kept scanning the hilltop for any possible sign of the moon, with no luck. After 30 minutes had passed, I finally gave up my search. 

    I took one more shot before tearing down the set-up.  This morning was a wash but there was always tomorrow morning, the weather forecast looks a little better. The moon will be rising around 3:36, but it will be even smaller, only 9% illuminated, even tougher to see! We'll see what tomorrow will bring!

    I will get this shot...eventually!

    (Wednesday 8.24.22) The alarm went off a little before 3. With some fresh coffee in my travel mug I headed out to the car.  My camera gear was already there. Overhead there were lots of stars, I was feeling hopeful.

    There were some clouds visible in the west as I set up and wouldn’t you know it, they covered the sky 10 minutes before moonrise. Not even Jupiter was visible. Still, I kept my hopes up.

    At 3:36 most of the clouds had passed by and behind me the sky was once again covered with stars. I kept scanning back and forth, trying to catch that first view of the moon.

    When it showed up, the first thing visible was the orangish colored dark side. I re-centered the camera and started taking pictures. I took one shot every minute, counting off the seconds in my head. I checked for moisture on the lens before clicking the shutter and was extra careful not to bump the tripod as I did it. 26 minutes later, the moon left the cameras field of view.  I took a couple more shots and then packed up my gear.

    The sky looked great, Jupiter was high overhead, Mars was sitting below the Pleiades, Orion was hanging low near the horizon and Castor and Pollux were sitting above the moon. I spent a little time gazing through the binoculars and got lost in the multitudes of stars that opened up in front of me.

    The pictures all came together well, it was pretty much what I was envisioning. It didn’t come out the way I had planned on Tuesday but on the next day, it all came together.  No matter what you're attempting, keep on trying, it’s bound to work out eventually!

A Couple Sights Found While Crossing the State

 When Ann Marie and I head east to visit my daughter and her family, we take rt.22 rather than spending money on Turnpike tolls. We take our time, enjoy the scenery and often, find things we’ve never seen before. We don’t rush, we stop when we see something interesting. We also aren’t afraid to try new routes because we never know what we might find!

    Here are a few of the things we ran across on our latest trip across the state.

    Just outside of McVeytown, we stopped at an old log cabin. There are no signs on it; it is just sitting alongside the road. Someone keeps hanging wreaths on it so somebody cares for it. It is in pretty sad shape, I wonder how much longer it will remain standing.

    We stopped at a diner called Red’s in Lewistown. This has been here for quite awhile, not real fancy but it was just what we were looking for. As you walk in the door there is a griddle right in front of you with seats at the counter if you want to watch your meal get cooked.  The diner is completely Coke themed. Best of all, they served good food!!

    Sitting beside the Clark Creek in Stony Valley, north of Harrisburg, is the Victoria Furnace. Built back in 1836, one hundred and eighty-six years ago, it only operated 9 years before it went out of blast. Maybe that is why it is in such good shape. It is huge! The inside lining of the chimney is collapsing a bit but the outside is holding up well. There are some trees growing on it and they will eventually be its downfall. A high stone wall surrounds two sides of the furnace. It is amazingly graffiti free. It took a short 15-minute walk though fields and woods to get to it.

    Not far from Chelsey and Jaime’s house we came across this truck. Perhaps the Clampetts left it behind.

    Near the “town” of Geigertown, we rounded a bend only to see numerous railroad cars, cabooses and small railroad engines. There was also steam driven construction equipment in the field, just sitting beside the road. Of course, we pulled over to explore a bit.

    Five minutes down the road we came to the Joanna Furnace. This furnace had been used for over 107 years before it shut down. Originally built in 1791, it finally went out of blast in 1898. The place has been turned into a park and special events are often held there. Some of the buildings have been preserved and rebuilt. It is quite orderly and neat compared to the Victoria Furnace!

    Our next stop was a butcher shop located in Krumsburg. Dietrich’s Meats has been a regular stop on our visits out east. They have a lot of the meats my father used to bring home such as Scrapple! While we were there, we got a sales pitch from Verna Dietrich, now in her 90’s, a visit without it just wouldn’t seem right!

    In Lenhartsville, we happened across another iron furnace. We saw it as we were driving down Old Rt.22. I couldn’t find much information about it other than it was called The Maiden Creek Furnace and it was built in 1854. It was in blast for 27 years before shutting down in 1881. Not far from this stream is Furnace Creek, we will have to return and see what we can find along it!

    Rejoining the new rt.22 we continued west, passing the Rockville Bridge a bit north of Harrisburg. A train was crossing it but we didn’t stop for a picture…believe it or not. A few miles further and we sighted the Statue of Liberty, or at least a copy of it, sitting on an old bridge pier in the middle of the Susquehanna River.

    We pulled into Lewistown again, this time to take a short walk around the center of town. While we were there, we met a guy from Texas who had to tell us a story about a dramatic kitten rescue in a derelict building. “Right there in that window!” He would have gone on forever if we gave him the chance! The temperatures were once again near 90 so we got an iced beverage and Ann Marie took the wheel for the rest of the ride home.

     This was another fun trip, but of course, they all are. Our travel plans are 1) After you make your plans, feel free to deviate from them and, 2) Time is NOT of the essence! Look and see what you can see, you never know what might pop up! Keep on searchin’ cause the world is full of wonders! You just have to look for them!

The Making of a Family Story

 Every family has a collection of stories, you know the ones, they are told over and over again. Usually they are remembered at family gatherings and holidays. Here’s how another one came to be.

    After planning for weeks or even months for her son’s third birthday party, the grim reality that everything could be cancelled had just hit Chelsey. My daughter’s husband Jaime had told her that he tested positive for Covid. It was Friday night, the day before the big party.

    He tested, masked up and stepped away from the visitors already at the house. Besides Chelsey and Jaime, her mom, Barb and her husband Jim were there along with Barb’s mom, Carolyn. Ann Marie and I were minutes away; we received the news when we arrived. Being vaccinated and boosted we felt safe, as long as we kept our distance from Jaime. Besides that, my new grandson Nico was there, right in front of me. This was the first time I’d seen him, how could I leave now?

    A runner was sent to the store to purchase some tests and everyone participated in a “testing party”, just to ensure that we all were safe. The fifteen-minute waiting period seemed to last forever!

    Thankfully, we all passed with flying colors. Jaime sequestered himself for the rest of the weekend.

    Saturday arrived and the BIG party had been reduced to just six adults and the two children. The boys didn’t miss the party, they were kept busy, at least Mateo was. His younger brother was content to lay on the chest or shoulder of whoever was holding him.

    Presents were divvied out and were played with. Lots of food had been prepared so the adults were happy also, no one starved. The cake was decorated with candles and we all sang to Mateo and then we feasted on it. Even though Jaime wasn’t there we were definitely thinking about him and hoping he was OK!

    Sunday was the end of the visits from the Pittsburgh side of the state. Ann Marie and I stayed until the boys were put down for the night. Before bedtime, we ate dinner and played some more and cuddled the baby as much as we could.

    Chelsey’s mother-in-law, Helen would be coming over to help out on Monday morning; we would be leaving for home. Jaime would be returning and spending his days in the basement until he was sure that he was safe before returning to the family. (He is on his last day of isolation as I write this!)

    We sadly said our good-byes and hoped that the hugs and fun we had with the boys would last until our next visit. We both missed seeing Jaime. 

    We can plan all we want but there is no guarantee as to what we will get. Dates had been set, invitations sent out to family, friends and schoolmates. Food had been bought and prepared, cakes were ordered and the house cleaned. Then, reality stopped by. It didn’t matter what had been planned, it all had to change. When it comes to the family’s health, that takes precedence.

    Chelsey handled it very well. She made calls to cancel the party, worried about her missing husband and dealt with the stress that the kids could get sick. I’d like to think that her visitors helped her during this difficult time, thank heavens we had all been there.

    There is a wonderful feeling you get when you hold a baby. He took me back to those great days when his mother was the same age. Holding Nico in my arms I felt as if I was protecting him, everything would all be OK. Playing with his older brother, Mateo, I slipped back into my own childhood, playing with trains and not worrying about the dangers we all are exposed to in our modern world. (Or the difficulties of getting back up off the floor!)

     It is fun reliving those marvelous days of innocence, the joys of imagining, having people come to see and play with you, when there are no cares and no problems. Sadly, these times pass by so quickly. That is the reason we need to memorize them, soak it all in, the smells and the feelings, remembering all the good experiences. They will be what we live on until the next visit!

    I can say, without any doubt, that this will be a birthday party we all will remember, a story that will be told over and over again. It is the newest chapter in Chelsey’s and Jaime’s family history.

Searching For Satellites

The Amateur Astronomers Association of Pittsburgh, (AAAP) had scheduled a club event for the 29^th and 30^th of July. It wasn’t a star party; it was a club get-together to see how many satellites we could spot in the course of a night. There had been a previous record of 62 set by two club members many years ago, it was time to try and break the record.

    As so many of our clubs' events go, the weather on Friday was rather “iffy”. An e-mail was sent out cancelling that night's event. Four of us showed up anyway.

    A beautiful sunset appeared as I drove up to the observatory. It was that time of the day where the colors seem more intense. The tiny crescent moon was located a short while after the sun set, a mere 2% illuminated. I don’t believe I’ve ever seen a moon as thin as this before! That was the highpoint of my night, but the rest didn’t let me down either.

    We sat on the concrete pad beside the observatory and watched as the sky darkened. The brightest satellite we saw was the International Space Station, (ISS) making a 5-minute pass. It skimmed stars in Ursa Major (The Big Dipper) and Ursa Minor (The Little Dipper) before cruising through Cygnus and then disappearing in the earths’ shadow and the clouds.

    In the couple hours of darkness that I was there, I saw 8 satellites, 9 if you wanted to count the moon! I went home a happy sky gazer.

    Saturday delivered another nice night sky. The moon, a little bit larger than the night before was located around 8:30. As the sky darkened, (sunset was at 8:37) it became much easier to see.

    I took a walk over the hill to get some pictures of the moon and the observatory. While I was playing with my camera, I missed the first sighting, the ISS. I was watching for it but between the lower position on the hill and the bright sky, I missed it. (I know…excuses, excuses) I did see it on its second pass 90 minutes later.

    There was at least 14 people that showed up on Saturday. It is hard to say since it was dark when some arrived. By the time I returned to the top of the hill, they were well on their way accumulating their numbers.

    The rules are pretty simple. It has to be an artificial satellite; the moon doesn’t count. There also has to be at least two people that see it, it needs confirmed. That was it, nice and simple.

    Thank heavens for the members with good eyesight, that and laser pointers. They would see a satellite and then point to it with their pointers, enabling me to find the satellites with my binoculars. I was able to see the brighter ones by eye, but most of the ones I saw were seen with optical aid.

    We saw Saturn rise and we saw some falling stars. In-between sightings I browsed around the constellations, checking out things I normally only observed with telescopes.

    I left a little after 11, there were some clouds moving in and I had to get up early the next morning. I saw one final satellite as I was getting into my car bringing my total to 30. I had watched a couple satellites that appeared to be crossing each other’s paths, which was pretty cool. I saw three in the sky at the same time, though I’m sure there were probably more up there, I just didn’t see them. 

    The most satellites I’ve seen in the sky at one time was well over 15 or 20. It was right after a Starlink dump. They stretched across the sky, coming from behind a cloud and disappearing near the horizon. It was a morning I’ll always remember. There were over 30 satellites in the parade passing overhead.

    Sadly, the official grand total for Saturday as computed by our esteemed official, Eric Fischer, was 42. That is 20 less than the current club record. Cirrus clouds moved in and hid the fainter satellites from view as the night progressed. Since we are moving into August the angle of the sun isn’t favorable for long nights of satellite viewing. We will try again next year, maybe the Pittsburgh weather will co-operate with us for a change.

    I believe we all enjoyed ourselves though, we talked, we laughed, we visited with each other unlike at star parties where we tend to our telescopes and only talk with the public and the members parked beside us. We relaxed and had a good time, sitting under the stars and the satellites.

Playin' Hide-N-Seek with the Heron

The day was cooling off as the evening approached. A little bit of exercise and some fresh air seemed appropriate and so I headed over to one of my favorite spots, the stream in Hampton Township. The sun was getting lower and the sky had a nice shade of blue, the trees were bright green where the sun still lingered.

    Pulling into the road leading down to the creek, I had to slow to a crawl to allow a couple small fawns and their mother to cross the road. The two young deer took one look at my car and jumped into the woods while the doe stood her ground, staring at me, daring me to do anything. I slowly passed, not six feet away and wished her a good night before continuing on. 

    I parked the car and started my stroll down the road. In the distance I could hear someone cutting their grass but other than that, it was quiet. No cars were on the road and soon the lawnmower shut off, all was still.

    I crossed a small rise and saw the cars of a couple fishermen. One could be seen in the creek trying his luck with a fly rod. I moved over to the railroad tracks which parallel the stream, being careful not to kick any stones, attempting to be quiet. I was watching the stream, searching for the heron that frequents the area.

    Taking my time, slowly working my way past bushes, he was nowhere to be seen. I came to a path which leads down to a flat beach and as I started down it, I saw the heron take off, flying upstream. I went down to the creek and looked for him but he had flown out of sight.

    Returning to the tracks, I backtracked a bit and returned to the road. There is a small swamp which often acts as a hide for all sorts of birds, this would be the midpoint of my walk. I could hear bull frogs calling as I neared the overgrown path which leads to its edge. Walking quietly, I kept an eye on the trees growing in the area.

    A huge dead tree sits on the edge of the muddy land encompassing the swamp. There in its branches, I saw the heron. The dim light made his chest, legs and neck look the same as the dead wood of the tree. The camouflage was perfect, if I hadn’t been looking for him, I would have walked right underneath him.

    I raised my camera slowly and he took off, dropping into the tree covering with a few squawks, effectively hiding himself from my lens. He was on his game tonight, or maybe I was just too slow, either way, he had won again!

    The swamp was mostly dry, what was covered with water a few weeks ago was now a thick mud, the water laying further out, barely visible. I stood and listened to the frogs awhile and searched the trees for my feathered friend. No other birds could be seen or heard. I returned to the road and headed back towards the car.

    Nearing my car, I saw another deer. Thinking it might be the doe and her fawns, I prepared the camera to get a picture. When I had a clear shot, I saw that it was a young buck, standing in the shadows of the hillside. He was watching me. A picture wasn’t worth attempting, the best shot was the one I retained in my memory. The two of us stood still, staring at each other, about 30 feet apart. He decided he had enough and turned and leapt off into the darkness.

    I walked over to the car and returned home. It was a great walk. Fresh air, a nice cool time of the evening. I saw four deer, two of which were fairly new to the world. I was serenaded by frogs singing in the swamp. I had watched a fisherman enjoying the pleasures of a quiet stream and got a couple quick views of “my buddy”, the heron. He had bested me tonight...but there is always tomorrow! It was another wonderful summer night in Pennsylvania!

Sometimes You Win and Sometimes...

 I consider myself fairly lucky at getting most of the photographs I envision. It probably ranges a bit higher than 50%. When things go right, it’s wonderful, but when things go bad, it seems as if everything is going downhill.

    I’ve recently had a string of good shots, the “photography gods” were smiling down on me. But I knew it wouldn’t last for long. This is one of the "joys" of amateur photography, you try your best and sometimes it works. The longer you keep trying, the better your chances get!

    On the 2nd of July, I was looking forward to what would have been a great shot, well at least in my mind.  The Chinese space station, Tiangong, would be coming out of the west and would be passing directly across the face of the moon! The moon would be only a few days past new, only 11% illuminated. This would enable a longer exposure without overexposing the moon. The longer exposure would also enable the camera to record a longer pass of the bright satellite as it neared and passed over the moon.

    I checked my sources and then rechecked. I did a run through on Stellarium and they all showed that the space station would be going right across the moon as seen from my home. By moving just few miles away, the chances of a “moon hit” was decreased. This was only a prediction, there was always the chance of a miss! Still, how could I not be excited?

    During the day, things were looking good, the skies was mostly cloud free. I charged the battery to the camera, set the gear by the door and then laid down for a short nap.

    Waking up, I looked outside and saw that the blue skies had morphed into grey. It didn’t damper my enthusiasm though, I still had hopes.

    Disappointing would be a good word to describe what I saw at the appointed time. The sky was grey except for a bright patch to the southwest, the reflection of the city’s lights on the clouds. Some fireworks were being shot off, but that wasn’t what I wanted to see! The moon couldn’t be seen at all and neither would the space station. I watched a few aerial displays and then headed back into the house. "Ya gotta remember, you don’t always get what you want!"

    This was my second failure in two days. The day before I had set up to catch the same satellite as it passed close to the bright star Vega. I had the camera set up with a nice composition with some trees in the foreground, a couple test shots had been taken, all was ready. All that was needed now was the space station. I watched the western sky, waiting for it to come up out of the trees. Then, there it was! I moved over to the camera and watched as it crossed the sky, nearing the target.

   Just as I touched the shutter release a neighbor started up his truck and its lights flooded the camera. I attempted to shield the lens but it was futile; the lights had destroyed the chance to catch the pairing. As I watched the satellite drift into the trees in the east, my neighbor put his truck into gear and drove away, leaving me in darkness once again, never knowing what he had done. Well, that’s life, there was no sense getting upset because that wouldn’t solve anything. I’ll catch it again in the future. 

Jupiter and the road to Wagman

    I know that there will be lots of other successful shots to come, I can’t let one or two destroy my will power. These future shots are the ones I’m looking forward to!

     You have to remember; mistakes and problems can sometimes turn out for the better! Ann Marie and I made a wrong turn the other day while on a short road trip. As we navigated the back roads returning to our route, Ann Marie spotted a red fox running through a field. She would’ve never seen it if we had taken the correct turn! It all worked out in the end.

    In the meanwhile, I’ve been thinking. These types of things tend to happen in threes, I guess I have another one coming. Sometimes you win and sometimes… ya don’t!