A Tree 50 years Later

Fifty years ago, Grandma Shaw gave my Dad a small skinny sapling of a tree to plant in the front yard of my parent's home in Simsbury, Connecticut. As Bobby Goldsboro sang in the song "Honey"

 "See the tree, how big it's grown
But friend it hasn't been too long, it wasn't big."

Read more: Bobby Goldsboro - Honey Lyrics | MetroLyrics

My Dad shaped this tree over the years and now 50 years later this tree has surely grown!    

This tree with its yellow Fall leaves which fall in the Fall matches the color almost of my parent's house. I don't know if Grandma Shaw knew this when she presented this tree to us. 

Everything has a cycle and this mature tree is now in its prime glory and splendor. With a firm foundation and established roots tempered by weathering hot Summers,Winter blizzards and Spring rains,  this tree has survived and prospered and developed a thick bark skin.  Surviving adversities can make one stronger over time whether a tree or a human lifetime.

"VOODOO CHILE" BABY

Full Lunar eclipse now in progress tonight (10:00 pm Sunday September 27, 2015. From what I understand, the next total eclipse of the Moon or maybe the next 4 Lunar Eclipse sequence will be 33 years from now as this is the final "Blood Moon" of 4 Lunar Eclipses which have occurred approximately a half year apart for each of the 4 most recent Lunar Eclipses. It will be interesting to see the effect of these Lunar Eclipses on Earth life (if any) in the near future.

The "Red Moon" caused by the earth shadow covering the full moon from the shadow caused by the Sun reminds me of the Jimi Hendrix Experience song "Voodoo Chile (or Voodo Child) which are copied right HERE:

Play Music

"Voodoo Chile"

Well, I'm a voodoo chile
Lord I'm a voodoo chile

Well, the night I was born
Lord I swear the moon turned a fire red
The night I was born
I swear the moon turned a fire red
Well my poor mother cried out "lord, the gypsy was right!"
And I seen her, fell down right dead
(Have mercy)

Well, mountain lions found me there waitin'
And set me on a eagles back
Well, mountain lions found me there,
And set me on a eagles wing
(Its' the eagles wing, baby, what did I say)
He took me past to the outskirts of infinity,
And when he brought me back,
He gave me a venus witch's ring
Hey!
And he said "Fly on, fly on"
Because I'm a voodoo chile, yeah, voodoo chile
Hey!

Well, I make love to you,
And lord knows you'll feel no pain
Say, I make love to you in your sleep,
And lord knows you felt no pain
(Have mercy)
'Cause I'm a million miles away
And at the same time I'm right here in your picture frame
(Yeah! What did I say now)
'Cause I'm a voodoo chile
Lord knows, I'm a voodoo chile
(yeah!)

Well my arrows are made of desire
From far away as Jupiter's sulphur mines
Say my arrows are made of desire, desire
From far away as Jupiter's sulphur mines
(Way down by the Methane Sea, yeah)
I have a humming bird and it hums so loud,
You think you were losing your mind, hmmm...

Well I float in liquid gardens
And Arizona new red sand
(Yeah)
I float in liquid gardens
Way down in Arizona red sand

Well, I taste the honey from a flower named Blue,
Way down in California
And the in New York drowns as we hold hands

'Cause I'm a voodoo chile
Lord knows I'm a voodoo chile       

As we see, the "Voodoo Chile" was born on the night the "Moon turned a fire red".   Me, I always thought the lyric was "I swear the moon turned Hell fire red". Which to me would be just as good of a phrase for the "Red Moon."  Well, sometimes I guess song lyrics are hard to exactly determine; "Louie Louie" by "The Kingsmen" originally by Richard Berry  and the song "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by "Nirvana" come to mind as songs that are hard to know the correct lyrics. 

It was somewhat hard to photograph the Moon I found with my hand held camera as I used the "zoom" feature and also the "flash option" on some photos; But of course the Moon is over a couple hundred thousand miles away so I'm not sure how much the "flash feature helps" when photographing something that far away.

Life of a Famous Beer Can

Here is a photo of a "Schlitz" beer can which they say is "The Beer That Made Milwaukee Famous". This can was found inside the wall of a room of the Soundings Resort on Cape Cod in 2011 when the rooms were stripped down to the "studs" in the "Pavilion wing" of the resort before the rooms were totally rebuilt. The original rooms were built around the mid-1950's so this poor can was trapped in darkness over 55 years!. Several other beer cans were liberated from the walls as well. Perhaps, in the 1950's it was  traditional to place an empty beer can in each room wall or perhaps all the carpenters liked to drink the famous Schlitz beer so that if by mistake they hit their thumb while pounding nails the alcohol from the beer would slightly numb the pain of a swollen thumb. I don't know.

What I do know, is probably without hearing about Schlitz beer I would never have heard of Milwaukee. In fact, I'm not even sure exactly which state Milwaukee is located in because it doesn't list the name of the state on the Schlitz beer can. Is it Minnesota?, or North Dakota?, or it is Idaho? I don't really remember !!.  Oh, Well, back to watching the Green Bay Packers play the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday Night Football. I wonder if the Green Bay Packers know which state Milwaukee is located?

"Soap Box"

The Soundings Resort and the Breakers Resort  (managed by Bluegreen) both located in Dennisport on Cape Cod  are both participating  in recycling used bars of soap. Recycling soap bars from the hotel rooms helps keep these products out of the local landfills and waste transfer stations but also helps promote hygiene in lesser developed countries in an attempt to stem the annual deaths of approximately 1.8 million children under five each year from diarrheal diseases.

According to the "Clean the World Website"; Here is a list of the approximate number of infant diarrheal deaths from the most prevalent countries:annual deaths due to Diarrheal diseases):

1. India — 386,600
2. Nigeria — 151,700
3. DRC — 89,900
4. Afghanistan — 82,100
5. Ethiopia — 73,700
6. Pakistan — 53,300
7. Bangladesh — 50,800
8. China — 40,000
9. Uganda — 29,300
10. Kenya — 26,400

So, not to get on my "soap box" too much (as I didn't want to stand on this box for example and possibly crack the plastic) if you know any local hotels, motels near where you live you too can help clean up the planet through recycling used soap bars as well as contributing to world hygiene and helping to reduce the incidence of childhood deaths. 

"Lettuce Spray"

Recently my neighbor "Jerry" offered me some fresh home grown lettuce as pictured above. There is nothing like fresh organic produce without the chemicals and sprays often found with commercially grown foods. Jerry assured me that he didn't use any chemicals and advised me just to wash the lettuce before eating to remove any traces of dirt. Yes, the lettuce is spray free and definitely not a "GMO" (genetically modified" food. OMG (Oh my God) I don't want to eat too much GMO! Let us pray that your lettuce you eat as well doesn't have a "lettuce spray".

Dawn of A May Day

Last night of worked "night security' at "The Soundings Resort" and took a couple photos a little after 5:00 am of the new day's dawn near "The Belmont Jetty"and the Herring River  with a buoy (Oh boy!). The night started with the sounds of a fox a little way down the road screeching a sound which to me sounds like a goose under attack. Right before dawn I am always amused and amazed at all the birds tweeting, squawking, and chirping away as the pre-dawn stillness with the absence of car traffic and human activity really makes their presence felt in all directions. Yes, it looks like Winter is finally over for a while and soon the "snow birds" will be back in full force on Cape Cod once again.

Signs of Spring

I awoke this morning to see from my window across the street the familiar welcomed sight of the return of the "Pink Flamencos" to my neighborhood here on Cape Cod. I always do enjoy the sight of these majestic birds as they herald a welcoming sign of the Spring season.  Here is a shot of the "new born" baby flamencos while the adult flamencos (out of the picture) are standing watch. These baby birds haven't learned yet how to march all in one direction  then turn around and march again in unison the other direction; but I'm sure they will learn. I always put out a bunch of "pink lemonade"  for them during the Summer months which they seem to enjoy. I also have fun each year naming the new birds and greeting the returning birds by name as believe it or not they all have their own individual personalities. Some of the names I have come up with are a follows: "Pink, Pinky, Little Pink, Flam, Inco, The Notorious P.I.N. K, Skinny Legs, Big Beak, Dirty Bird, and Smitty, to name a few: AND those are just a few of the names of the returning birds. I don't know yet what I'll give for names for this new batch, I'll just have to wait and see by observing them what name seems appropriate.

Big Shoes To Fill

I recently attended the American Athletic Conference Basketball Tournament in Hartford Connecticut on Friday March 13th. at the XL Center. On the lower level of the XL Center in the Exhibition Hall there  was an exhibit from the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass. Here is a picture of a shoe from Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal  aka "Shaq". The people at the exhibit said this "Shaq shoe" is a "size 23" which certainly are "Big Shoes to Fill". I guess though if you are 7'1'' and weigh approximately 324 pounds it is good to have big enough feet to support yourself.

Jerod Mayo Mayo

Sometimes while shopping at the local "Shaw's" supermarket in addition to daydreaming about what it would be like to own this supermarket chain (same last name as me); I go over to the "discounted clearance section" and look over the "reduced groceries" they have in a small area near the back of the store. I recently spied this bottle of "Jerod's All Pro Bruisin' Bacon Mayo" and thought I would give it a try as it would maybe give the New England Patriot's National  Football League football team some good luck as I did purchase this mayo prior to the big game. Now, I'm not saying that the Patriots won only because I purchased this mayo but it probably didn't hurt their victory chances in their 28-24 win over the Seattle Seahawks. Notice the number "51" on Jerod Mayo's jersey on his mayo bottle. If you add up the total score of the super bowl game you get "52" which is just one number higher than his "51" jersey.

Jerod Mayo is a linebacker with the New England Patriots who was injured on October 16,2014 while playing against the Buffalo Bills. This All-Pro linebacker so far has 756 tackles throughout his career. I don't know how many times Mr Mayo has been held by the offensive opponents over the years but I always enjoy when the NFL official announces the the penalty when they announce "Holding offence, Holding Mayo" ten yard penalty".

As far as the mayo itself, I like it. Anything with bacon flavor is usually good in my book. I'm not sure though if Jerod Mayo makes all this mayo himself or if he has his wife and family help him. It is good though that he has found something to do with his time while recovering from his injury and I hope he doesn't slip on any of the mayo and further hurt himself.

I'm Just Wild about Saffron

I'm cookin' up some Saffron rice tonight along with  some Perdue brand chicken wings for dinner. I'm just wild about Saffron rice with its beautiful yellow color kind of a mellow yellow. This rice has saffron powder along with turmeric  and paprika. I really love it. Just don't call me "mellow yellow" for liking this rice as that would be"quite wrongly" as that is not one of my "nicknames" that I want to be associated with.

Soundings Seaside Snow Storm Snowmageddon January 28, 2015

Here are a few  photos during and after the "Snowmageddon Snow Storm " of January 28th, 2015 where we received in Dennis Port on Cape Cod almost three feet of snow with up to 6 foot snow drifts from the howling winds that gusted almost up to hurricane strength.Prior to the start of the storm I saw three foxes in the middle of  road near the ocean beaches. I imagine they sensed a big storm coming even though they probably didn't see the "Weather Channel" on television. I said hello to them and they were smart enough to get out of the way of my car not like the stupid deer that ran in front of my car a short while ago.

I stayed overnight at the Soundings resort during the blizzard along with Jake, Jenn, Lynne, Karl and Charles.. Karl got up early the next morning a little after 5:00 am and tackled the snow drifts with the snow blower. Later, a "Bobcat" was used to clear the snow from the Soundings parking lot.

Jake and Jenn made us a "hearty"breakfast of pancakes, eggs, and bacon.

After a relatively mild Winter without not much snow this storm sure was a "wake-up call".

Deflate-Gate

I find it interesting that the Indianapolis  Colts are accusing the New England Patriots football team of "deflating their balls" during their conference championship game held yesterday (1/19/15) at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough Massachusetts where they were "shellacked" by an embarrassing score of 45 to 7 under rainy windy conditions. Now, I'm not sure if I understand this "ball controversy" completely as I would think that both teams would use the same game ball football while playing. I know for example in basketball both teams use the same ball, same with in volleyball, soccer, and in hockey both teams use the same hockey puck. The allegation by the "crybaby Colts" is that a deflated football is easier to grip, throw, and catch than a properly inflate football in rainy, windy weather and the allegation supposedly started when the Colts intercepted a Tom Brady pass. Now, to me this photos taken from the Internet yesterday shows Tom Brady throwing what looks to me to be an inflated football. Granted, you can't tell the pounds per square inch of the football from the photograph. Maybe the colder air of a January night reduced the football air pressure slightly. Maybe the football had a slow leak in it that was further damaged by all the "spiking" of the football after all of the Patriot touchdowns. I hear Patriot tight end Rob Gronkowski speculated that his vicious after touchdown spike may have hurt the ball. Colt's quarterback Andrew Luck had no luck yesterday with two interceptions which the Patriots had no trouble catching. Patriots running back LeGarrette Blount had 3 touchdowns and 148 yards rushing by himself which was three times the amount of touchdowns by the Colts. So, even if one took away all the other Patriot points the Patriots still would have won comfortably.Are the Colts implying that a deflated football if true assisted Blount because he was carrying a football that may have been a fraction of an ounce lighter?

Now, don't the referees handle the balls between each play as they position and "spot" the ball? Wouldn't you think a referee would notice an improper ball as they handle the balls all game?

The Patriots thoroughly deflated the Colts's Superbowl chances. Instead of taking the thrashing with class they resort to a "cry baby" attitude and a lame excuse that the football was tampered with and that is why they lost. The Colts were lucky to beat the Denver Broncos but even with Luck as their quarterback their luck didn't hold up against the Patriots. To me, IF there is a video somewhere that shows a Patriot personnel deflating a football then I would be convinced of the baseless allegation. Otherwise the "deflate-gate" controversy  is full of "hot air".