Your Today in Pictures...

[Steve Klare]

Thanks Ed,

I've been tempted to try to write something for publication, but I'm sure there are much better Alaska Travelogues than these!

Funny thing: I'd never written fiction, but my German Teacher asked us to write a fable last year. (We did a unit on the Brothers Grimm.)

I STILL haven't written fiction...in English!

[Ed Gordon]

Thanks Ed,

I've been tempted to try to write something for publication, but I'm sure there are much better Alaska Travelogues than these!

Funny thing: I'd never written fiction, but my German Teacher asked us to write a fable last year. (We did a unit on the Brothers Grimm.)

I STILL haven't written fiction...in English!

Your writing style would be appreciated by anyone thinking of making a similar trip. Too many writers approach all subjects like they are reporting the news. Their articles lack personal perspective and are mostly devoid of humor. When you do your last post on Alaska, gather all you have written along with your pictures and forward it to publishers. As the old saying goes, "If you don't ask, the answer in no!".

[Steve Klare]

Christmas in July?

Today is the 25th of July

It's raining today and we are grateful for that: the 90+ degree temperatures put a wicked hurt on our front lawn while we were away!

It's about as un-Christmassy as you can possibly get right now: If you went outside in a sweater this week you just might burst into flames.

Where is all the other Christmas stuff this time of the year? Is there any mistletoe growing anywhere? (-or is it really all plastic anyway?). You can't find eggnog in the supermarket, which is a shame because a dash is really good in a cup of coffee! There are these really weird looking forests growing around here: conical pine trees growing separated in rows. It a few months the seniors among them will be somebody's Christmas trees.

This on the other hand is what a poinsettia looks like around the peak of Beach Season. It lost the foil wrapper around its pot before February, it's become a lot less red-leafed than it once was and it's gone from a Holiday Symbol to basically just another houseplant. We adopted it when its days on the altar at Church came to an end at the beginning of January. It does prove that such things DO exist after December!

Five months from now it will come back into its Season once again: I'll bring it inside before the first frost. Since it's the first we've ever had, I'm not sure how hardy it will be in freezing weather! (-ironically enough!)
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So from our house to yours, we wish you a Merry Christmas.5833!

(-try to stay hydrated!)

[Graham Ritchie]

Just got back from Muffin Break so thought I would take a couple of photos of feeding the birds out front. The temp is about 7C at the moment with a bit of rain thrown in. No rugby games today across at the park .

[Steve Klare]

Our days looked much the same, Graham!

-of course, you're headed for Spring and we're headed for Autumn.

[Graham Ritchie]

I took this one yesterday I liked the reflection of the seat in the water .

[Steve Klare]

Jones Beach Bikeway! (-at last!)

My son and I love to ride bikes, and have for a long time. One of my really cool Dad's Days was fifteen years ago when I was finally able to take off his training wheels and he was finally able to two wheel it! If it wasn't miraculous, then it was at least magical!

To this day, when we get a chance to ride bikes we take it. We have local rides we often do, and when we go on vacation we often have racks and bikes mounted to the car. My wife and I visited him at college in Indiana last Easter: I mounted his bike and one of mine on the car for the two day trip out and back and while we were there we rode all over campus!

Off our South Shore, there is Jones Beach, a very famous summer hangout on a long barrier island. For years there has been a five mile bike trail TO Jones Beach, what's new is they talked for years about extending it another fourteen miles ALONG Jones Beach to Captree State Park, a fishing port where party boats take weekend fisherman out for flounder, cod and fluke. Just like lot of things, Covid delayed completion for two extra seasons, but early this year it was finally done!

Steven is headed back to Indiana in about three weeks: heat of Summer or not, the opportunity was yesterday or maybe never so we went for it. A painful part of the coming of Fall is listing all the plans we had that never came off: we wanted to be sure this one wasn't on that list!

We had sunscreen, we had bug-spray, we had tire tools, tubes and a compact tire pump (just in case!). Above all, we had water: at least a liter for each of us and they were almost half ice cubes when we left the house.

-Chains cleaned and oiled, tire pressure: nominal.
-as Admiral Kirk said "May Fortune favor the foolish!".
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Everything went in one day-pack. We traded off carrying it every time we stopped for water. Since it was just under 90 degrees, this trade happened quite a few times!
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Jones Beach Water Tower: built in the 1920s
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We were headed East. To our left was Great South Bay and people out for the day on their boats. Immediately to the right was Ocean Parkway, Jones Beach and the Atlantic Ocean.
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"Let's stop at that shelter up ahead and drink some water!"

-turns out it was a portable traffic sign: Close Enough!

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Some nice summer homes

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Almost There!

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Captree State Park at mile 19!

We had finally done it! I won't speak for Steven: he's going to be 20 soon, so he's still pretty adventure-proof. For myself, I feel fine today! Let's just say I enjoyed dinner last night and slept just fine!

[Lee Mannering]

As promised you will be seeing a new Super 8 film release on British steam railways from Dorun Films.

We are just wrapping up filming in Wales also featuring railway enthusiast Mr Portillo, it's been some project and undertaking but really enjoyable.

The finished film will make a good 10 minutes or so and expect it on sale in 2023 with more to follow.

A quick snap.

[Steve Klare]

Welsh Highland Railway, Lee?

-sounds good to me!

I'm a big fan of the Maine Two-Foot Gauge lines which were directly inspired by the Ffestiniog and Welsh Highland Railways. (I was mightily pleased when Derann had Ffestiniog Holiday on their used list one day!)
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Wiscasset, Waterville and Farmington #10 (2-Foot Gauge)
Alna Center, Maine, December 2009

[Douglas Meltzer]

Cape May, New Jersey often shows movies on the beach during the summer. Last week they finished this season's lineup with Bruce Brown's 1966 surfing documentary The Endless Summer. With sand underfoot and the sound of waves all around, this was a perfect location to watch this enjoyable film.



What's nice about inflatable screens is that you can avoid the crowd and watch the movie from behind the screen!

[Steve Klare]

Right up the street from Uncle Bill's Pancake House!

[Lincoln Thorn]

Preparing for Halloween holiday by starting to decorate my table! Not finished yet, but it's starting to come together.

[Greg Perry]

Lincoln,

That is a very nice start for celebrating Halloween...one of the best holidays! I hope you have some films lined up as well!

[Douglas Meltzer]

A pre-CineSea get together....



Me, Shorty Caruso & Michael Lattavo at breakfast. The one person with hair is Michael's daughter Aida!

Of course there are films on the table.

[Douglas Meltzer]

Not quite Daleks, but there's something threatening about these portable air conditioners that have settled in the lobby.