"War in the U.S."

           

                      Lets face it. Its like we are in sort of a war…All of us go around gleefully ignoring what is happening around us pretending that we are in a bubble. We go out each day never really knowing if you are going to come home safe. 10 or 15 years ago you would leave in morning saying, “See you tonight Hun” and never really think about it because it felt like it was going to happen. Hey, it was a sure thing. Now, in 2011 the chances of coming home are less than were 10 years ago. The store you go into might be the last store you ever stop in. The cars that crash on the highway are going so fast they disintegrate into unrecognizable pieces. The office or shop you work in could be the last place you ever go. Do you trust the person in the next room, the customer that just walked in, the guy that sits next to you. Everywhere you go you see strangers speaking a foreign language. I don’t understand what they are saying. Today I feel suspicious of the people around me. That, it can’t happen to me attitude isn't there anymore. Are they talking about me or planning something? A Congress woman was shot in the head and a Federal judge killed, plus others were killed in the melee yesterday. I’ve been on Twitter for the past few weeks reading and reporting on the insanity in this country by way of links and I’ll tell you its really bad out there. Its just not safe anymore. The anger is a silent and deadly. Its contagious and dangerous. You can actually see it and feel it. Anywhere you go, you don’t know if someone has a gun or a bomb. Remember a few years ago when a post office worker shot and killed his fellow workers. The phrase, ‘Dude, don’t go postal on me” was born. Well, its not funny anymore and its happening everywhere now. It could be the person standing next to you on the bus or in a subway or in a plane. It could be in that coffee shop or Super Market you go to in the morning. It doesn’t matter what State you are in its happening everywhere. It could be your neighbor. Its just not safe anymore. If it happens to you, maybe you will never know and probably won’t hear the shots. Although its safe to say it will be recorded and shown on the news or U Tube at a later date… Keith Olbermann is right, its domestic terrorism and its got to stop. I think its too late. Some really tough changes have to be made...

 

 

"Working at Bradley Airport"

 

The picture is of my truck parked at my house after a snowstorm.. I just got home after working all night plowing the runways..

Being retired for a while now I feel bad for the folks that have to work or go to school… I remember very well days when the airport would call. The lights would go out on a runway because of the rain. It usually meant that an electrical vault was flooded and filled with water and shorted out the circuits. Fun, fun, fun…..It didn’t take long for me long to fix that. It was that phone call at the early hour that was the pain…Today, I sort of wish I could go to the airport and make a runway check. That was the fun part of the job especially when it was busy. Between flights I would get clearance from the tower and make a run down the main runway to check the runway lights and pick up debris…Yes debris…Pieces of rubber from blown tires and a few times the baggage door that wasn’t closed properly and blew off. Bird parts….Poor birds that the plane hit. One time I picked up a tail cone from a United 720 that fell off because the tail hit the pavement when he landed with the nose too high. At times I would be half way down the 2 mile main runway and a 707 or 747 would be landing right behind me…As I was turning off the end to the taxi way at about a 100 miles an hour, I could the see people looking at me out the windows…Talk about good timing….One morning the alarm radio woke me with the news that a plane almost hit a maintenance vehicle that was on the runway…..Its feels uncomfortable when the news is about you….I had a great job and loved what I did…Thank you for your love and guidance Dad…..I was one of the electricians that put in those 3 lights on the top of the mountain at the approach of runway 15 at Bradley International Airport in Connecticut……

 

 

"Bird Nest"

 While walking in the woods today, guess what I found? It always makes me wonder how creative these little guys are.. To pick up every piece of grass and twigs to make a livable nest.. Its Amazing..

"No Going Back"

 

                                   I am glad I am the age that I am. I have heard others say that.. I think I mean I was born years ago when things were sort of new. I remember the clean air and you could drink water out of a brook and smell the spearmint growing near the water.. The silence was unbelievable. You could "Hear a pin drop" as my Mom used to say. Laying in a field of clean grass at night was like being at a planetarium. The milky way and the trillions of stars I will never forget. I could walk to school without fear of being mugged or shot. The neighborhood bully was another thing but my Dad taught me me how to fight and I taught the bully a lesson and he never bothered me again. Its funny no one called the police. We duked it out and it was over. At night I huddled near the radio to listen to The Green Hornet and The Shadow. Life was easy going and lazy. Mom was there when I got home from school and she made me a peanut butter and jelly sandwich out of fresh bread delivered to the door by the Wonder Bread man who lived on a street in the same town we lived. After I went out to the woods to play Army or Cowboys and really believed I was those those things. If I wasn't home at five I would received a lecture from my Dad on how we need to eat all together because it was easier on Mom to do the dishes all at once. I think there were other reasons but I never questioned my Dad. Not out of fear but out of respect. I was always home before or at five on the dot. Flash forward to today..... A woman running for president. It was unthinkable years ago. (Not that there is anything wrong with that). Every other person on the street is a from another country. The anger is at level I have never seen before. There is blood in the streets in all the city's. The news at eleven is murder, rape and animals being mutilated. Its a slow news day when there isn't someone shot in a school or a husband killing his wife and kids and then killing himself. Today, can you take a walk in your neighborhood? When is the last time you walked into gas station or a store and wondered if the cashier could speak English? So, all you people from where ever you are or where ever you came from God bless you! You can have this tired, old worn out country with all the roads, stores, people, pollution and crime. You will never know how it was. I lived the best years here. The time moved slow and there was real happiness not purchased instant gratification. So you can have it to ruin like the ruined country's you all came from. Can I still say that? I don't know. there was a time you could......

 The picture is of the Coffin Factory in Enfield Conn. On Google Earth its still there not in very good condition.. Hasn't been a Coffin Factory for years..  

 

 

"Memories of Cape Cod"

    Years ago a friend of mine let me borrow his cottage at Cape Cod. I took my little dog Albert and we got in my pick up and drove from Vernon Connecticut to Hyannis Mass. I wouldn't recognize it now.. The top picture is where we stayed and the second is Albert running on the beach.. Those are memories I will never forget.. One more memory is taking a shower outside at the back of this cottage after swimming at the ocean which was only a block away. Have you ever taken a shower outside? There is nothing like it..I still remember what it was like..

 

 

 

 

 

 

"On This Day in American History"

 On Aug. 18, 1992, basketball legend Larry Bird retires at the age of 35. The three-time NBA champion from French Lick, Indiana, excelled in college basketball. In 1978, he was the top draft pick of the Boston Celtics, where he became a 12-time all star known for his shooting, passing, rebounding and defensive skills. Shortly before his retirement, Bird won the Gold Medal as a part of the “Dream Team” during the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. He is widely considered one of the greatest basketball players of all time.

"Antique Shop"

35 years ago I had an Antique shop in this building.. Went by there today and thought of all those wonderful memories..