Saturday, July 07, 2007
Connecticut
Mystic Seaport~home of Seamen's Inne~some of the worst expensive food I've ever had~but what a super fun name! ;)
The Mystic Aquarium and Institute for Exploration. My favorites? The fruit bat cave during feeding time (watermelon) and of course, the blowfish! :) Check out more at the Mystic Aquarium website. I particularly enjoyed their PT109 display and artifacts. Maybe it is because my Grandfather was in the Navy during WWII or because both of my brothers are currently in the Navy; perhaps it was the experience of standing next to an elderly gentleman and overhearing him whisper to his wife that JFK "was truly a hero," as he wiped tears from his eyes and knowing that he likely lived through the war himself; maybe it was just the fact that I hate that my brother is out on the ship right now and I just want him to come home... whatever the reason, I found it to be a very emotional display as well.
And of course, I didn't have a cemetery from Connecticut yet and we happened upon this beautiful one in Mystic and had to grab a few shots. There were A LOT of photos, so I created a separate album for Nikki's photos (but don't worry, there are not as many photos as there were from the aquarium).
Massachusetts
We did the trip to Plymouth and visited "the rock." This year's National Day of Mourning will be celebrated on November 22, 2007, at noon. I am toying with the idea of making the trip if anyone is interested in joining me. Click here for links regarding the history of the first Thanksgiving and Plymouth Rock.
As we overlooked Plymouth from Massasoit's statue on Cole's Hill, we were serenaded by the lovely sound of Scarecrow Hill. As we gravitated toward the music, we discovered that not only are they an awesome band, but they were putting on the show to support our troops and also had a food drive under way. Check out their official MySpace or for the Scarecrow Hill fan site, click here.
And since I did all of the really cool MA cemeteries in 2005, I decided to post another type of memorial. For those of you that are still convinced that MySpace is just for kiddos or believe all of the Oprah "MySpace is Evil" hype~you may not be aware of the numerous MySpace memorials that exist. As you know, I am fascinated by how people chose to immortalize their loved ones. From the stones and inscriptions that are chosen, the gifts and offerings that are given, to the poems posted in the newspapers on anniversaries.
They say that grieving is a private process, but I believe that part of what moves us beyond the grieving stage is sharing our grief with others and knowing that we are not alone in our loss. The Internet and MySpace have opened so many new doors for the grieving process and I wanted to share this with those of you that are not aware of these sites.
I often recommend that my clients write letters to their deceased loved ones and MySpace makes this an acceptable practice and creates a wonderful tribute. It allows family and friends to connect and share their stories in new ways that were never possible before. Please don't believe that I am macabre in choosing to view these sites (or because of my love for cemeteries, for that matter)~it is simply an understanding of grief and the healing process. So anyhoo, enough said, please meet Brittany of Scarecrow Hill fame.
Rhode Island
A glimpse into Nikki's apartment in Cumberland, Rhode Island. 500 miles/8 hour drive from my door to hers...
The Monastery in Cumberland. Beautiful place; home to a tree that perhaps grew into the metal fencing surrounding it (reminded me of the gate/tree in Richardsville, PA) and a tree that has grown a unique bond with the rock next to it. Also home to numerous "haunted spots," including the gravesite of nine monks killed by Native Americans. It was pretty cool because Nikki only knew that it was in the woods~yeah, the place is surrounded by woods, with paths in all directions! Yet somehow, we walked directly to the tomb. Check out this site for more information about the Monastery hauntings.
We drove all over Charlestown, Exeter, and other parts of Rhode Island searching for the Narragansett Indian Longhouse; the Narragansett Indian Meeting House/Church (I REALLY wanted to see that); the Tomaqauq Indian Memorial Museum (we found it shortly after it closed for the day); and the Narragansett Royal Indian Burial Ground. We finally found the Royal Indian Burial Ground after pulling off on a goat trail (yay for Jeeps!) and hiking to the top of the hill with hopes that it might be up there (and it was~again, our inner GPS was serving us well). Apparently, the meeting house/church once stood nearby the burial grounds; however, it seems to have been destroyed while stripping the area. The longhouse has since been replaced by a community center. I'm not sure that I understand why a rock would be caged and protected in Plymouth; yet, sacred grounds get destroyed or aren't deemed worthy of marking at all...
Charlestown Beach (Swimming in the ocean on my birthday~oh yeah!)
Fireworks in East Providence (I love fireworks over water~the reflections are so cool!) Thanks to Ms. Stein for requesting that we get pictures~normally I wouldn't; but some of these turned out hella cool! Be sure to check them out!
Next trip, I'll get photos of Little Compton and Sakonnet (still the most beautiful part of Rhode Island, in my opinion) and hopefully some from Bristol, too. Anyhoo, I'll be posting photos from MA and CT over the next couple of days and eventually, my house photos and a whole slew of other albums will be appearing~so keep checking back! :)
The Monastery in Cumberland. Beautiful place; home to a tree that perhaps grew into the metal fencing surrounding it (reminded me of the gate/tree in Richardsville, PA) and a tree that has grown a unique bond with the rock next to it. Also home to numerous "haunted spots," including the gravesite of nine monks killed by Native Americans. It was pretty cool because Nikki only knew that it was in the woods~yeah, the place is surrounded by woods, with paths in all directions! Yet somehow, we walked directly to the tomb. Check out this site for more information about the Monastery hauntings.
We drove all over Charlestown, Exeter, and other parts of Rhode Island searching for the Narragansett Indian Longhouse; the Narragansett Indian Meeting House/Church (I REALLY wanted to see that); the Tomaqauq Indian Memorial Museum (we found it shortly after it closed for the day); and the Narragansett Royal Indian Burial Ground. We finally found the Royal Indian Burial Ground after pulling off on a goat trail (yay for Jeeps!) and hiking to the top of the hill with hopes that it might be up there (and it was~again, our inner GPS was serving us well). Apparently, the meeting house/church once stood nearby the burial grounds; however, it seems to have been destroyed while stripping the area. The longhouse has since been replaced by a community center. I'm not sure that I understand why a rock would be caged and protected in Plymouth; yet, sacred grounds get destroyed or aren't deemed worthy of marking at all...
Charlestown Beach (Swimming in the ocean on my birthday~oh yeah!)
Fireworks in East Providence (I love fireworks over water~the reflections are so cool!) Thanks to Ms. Stein for requesting that we get pictures~normally I wouldn't; but some of these turned out hella cool! Be sure to check them out!
Next trip, I'll get photos of Little Compton and Sakonnet (still the most beautiful part of Rhode Island, in my opinion) and hopefully some from Bristol, too. Anyhoo, I'll be posting photos from MA and CT over the next couple of days and eventually, my house photos and a whole slew of other albums will be appearing~so keep checking back! :)
Thursday, July 05, 2007
The Mist
These pictures are just strange. This happened sometime toward the end of April because it was close to the "multiple birthday" (April 22nd--Lela, Kama, Nancy, Don and Earth Day). I remember that because Don was killed in December of 1999 and I was trying to figure out if there was a significance regarding the date this happened.
I had recently finished painting the family room and was taking pictures with my cell phone. I noticed that there was an annoying bright blue thing that was popping up in the lower left hand corner of the photos. I'm still guessing that it was a string or something since it appears in essentially the same spot each time. I'm chalking the orb-like spots up to being reflections from my flash.
However, had it not been for the bright blue light and my irritation, I would never have noticed the "blue mist" that my cell phone was picking up. Once I noticed that and started following it with my camera and catching shots, the bright blue light went away. I kept these photos in the original order, they are completely untouched, and I took photos in other spots to show the difference and to show that it wasn't my camera.
I first noticed the mist by the closet and then it moved to the right hand side of my sofa and finally to the middle of the sofa. The whole experience played out over about half an hour's span of time. Perhaps this is nothing big. But there is also the factor that a water globe in the game room began playing extremely slowly, by itself, as I was photographing the mist. It's a Beatles Yellow Submarine wind-up globe (so it can't be blamed on batteries and it hasn't been wound since long before I moved here) and it played so slowly that it would play a fraction of a note, pause for 20-30 seconds and then play another fraction.
Maybe you can explain everything; but I can't. I would chalk it up to crappy cell phone pictures and any number of things, had it not been for the globe playing at the same time~which would have been slightly weird even without these visuals occurring. I always have logical explanations for everything~but this one baffles me. I'd love to hear a good theory that makes sense...
Sunday, July 01, 2007
I apologize...
I haven't been able to upload my photos for quite some time and I apologize for the delay. However, we are up and running again and have TONS of photos that have been waiting to make an appearance. So keep watching over the weeks to come! :)
