Beginning in the Spring, running through the Summer and into Fall, it seems as if everyone wants sunny days with low humidity so they can have fun on the water. Obviously that doesn’t always happen.
Many Springs days are like today. Overcast with change of rain. As a photographer who mostly work outdoors unless you are looking for a rainy day to shoot, it’s not a good day. But one does need time inside to edit and days like this are good for that.
Then again Fridays for me are nearly always one of those days that I catch up for what has gone on during the week and to look ahead to the upcoming weekend.
They say that every picture tells a story. And some of the best photographs are the ones that make the viewer come up with the story. That is what was my mission when I shot this photograph.
In case you are wondering, it was not a shot that I staged just something that happen during a photoshoot.
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Note: I have been photographing events and other happenings near me, mostly in Kent County, MD, since 2012. On Thursday’s I will be posting one of my photographs, some fairly recent and others not so much recent. My photography page is at SGAtkinson.com
Hotel California is considered the best song by the Eagles by many even though it only reached the top of the American Top 100 Chart for one week, May 7, 1977.
The song was written by Don Felder, Don Henley, and Glenn Frey with Don Henley doing the vocal and ends with a guitar interplay between Felder and Joe Walsh.
It was the second single from the Album of the same name, even though it was the first song written for the album and became the album’s theme. That album is their second greatest selling album, Eagles Greatest Hits (1971-1977) and was nominated for the Best Album Grammy, losing to Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours.
Originally and during most of its history, the title tsar which is derived from Caesar, meant Emperor in the European medieval sense of the term. In other words, a ruler who has the same rank as a Roman or Byzantine emperor.
Ivan IV (Ivan the Terrible) – Ivan was the first to assume the title of Tsar. He was born on August 25, 1530. From 1533-1547 he was the Grand prince of Moscow assuming the title of Tsar of Russia in 1547 holding it until his death on March 18, 1584. It is most probable that he was murdered.
Peter I (Peter the Great) – He was born on June 9, 1672 and ruled Russia from May 7, 1682 until his death on February 8, 1725. It was a jointly rule until 1696 with his weak and sickly half-brother, Ivan V. While Peter ruled he carried out a policy of “Westernization” an expansion that transformed the Tsardom of Russia into the Russian Empire.
Catherine II (Catherine the Great) – She is sometimes referred to as an epitome of the “enlightened despot” and reigned as Empress of Russia for 34 years, from June 28, 1762 until her death on November 17, 1796. Born on May 2, 1729 she was the wife of Peter III, who ruled as Emperor for six months before his assassination. Some believe that Catherine may have been the leader of the rebellion that made her Empress. She was Empress during the American Revolution, but refused to side with either party.
Alexander I – Emperor of Russia from March 23, 1801 to December 1, 1825. He was born on December 23, 1777 the son of Paul I. He succeeded to the throne after his father was murdered, and ruled Russia during the Napoleonic Wars. During a trip to Southern Russia, he caught a cold, which developed into typhus. He died in the southern city of Taganrog on December 1, 1825. Since he was childless at his death his younger brother Nicholas I became emperor when the middle brother declined the title. He was the godfather of Alexandrina Victoria, who ruled as Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom.
Nicholas II – The last Emperor of Russia. Born on May 18, 1868 the eldest son of Alexander III. He ruled from November 1, 1894 until his forced abdication in 1917. After his abdication he was excelled with his family to Tobolsk, Siberia in the Urals. It was there at 2:33 on morning July 17, 1918 that he and the royal family was executed.
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“6 Things to Consider” was published by from 2007 until 2017. In January of 2018 the Web site was discontinued due to a technical issue. However the posts, over 1000, were saved and one will be republished each Tuesday here at my “View from the Shore”
I have to admit that I have a guilty pleasure. Even though I am a middle-age man, I turned 60 last year, I also like to read romance novels. This week K.L. Montgomery, who lives in the Rehoboth Beach area will be releasing her fifth book in her Romance in Rehoboth series, Wedding Wars. I have the book on pre-order and will review it as soon as I can.
The following is my review “The Light at Dawn” that I published on the ChesaDel Crier.
Romance Author K.L. Montgomery, who lives in the Rehoboth Beach area released The Light at Dawn, on February 7, 2019.
It’s not part of a series, nor does it take place on the Delmarva Peninsula. I found it to be a story of heartbreak as well as one of survival. Ms Montgomery does “warn you that this book is emotional or would make you cry”. And that it is.
In the opening pages Angelia White receives the worst news that a mother can receive, the death of a child. And then things gets worst, her husband leaves her.
Five years later and hundreds of miles from her home in the Adirondacks she meets Mark Lyon. A man so much different than herself and beliefs. Soon afterward Lyon experiences the death of his daughter in the same way she lost her son.
K.L. Montgomery at a Romance Author event in Queen Anne’s County June 2018 – Photo by SG AtkinsonThey develop a unique long distant friendship that only two with this same experience can have. An encounter a few weeks later brings them even closer together in a twist that brings their lives even more together.
The Light at Dawn is in ways your typical romance book, as those who read romances are well aware, but there are enough twists and unexpected elements that make this a unique and entertaining story.
Be warned, the book does contains sensitive subject matter that may be upsetting to some readers.
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Biography from Amazon:
K.L. Montgomery grew up in Greencastle, Indiana, and studied psychology and library science at Indiana University. After a career as a librarian, she now writes novels and wrangles three sons and four cats at her home in rural Delaware, which she shares with her husband and the aforementioned creatures. She has an undying love of Broadway musicals, the beach, the color teal, IU basketball, paisleys, and dark chocolate.
Visit K.L.’s website at www.klmontgomery.com and sign up for her newsletter. You can follow her on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/GreenCastles, Twitter (@KLMontgomery8) or Instagram (k.l.montgomery)
Today, April 22, 2019 is he 49th Earth Day. The first Earth Day in 1970 came about after Gaylord Nelson, then a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin, saw the aftermaths of the 1069 oil spill in Santa Barbara, California. His idea was to “national teach-in on the environment”. The date April 22nd was selected since it was a date between College Spring Break and Exams.
Now nearly 50 years later we are still seeing how we have hurt the earth. While I am a believer that the climate has changed, all one has to do is look at weather patterns that are so much different than it was when I was you. Fifty years ago I was 10 and I remember many cold winters in the 60’s and early 70’s with plenty of large snowstorms on the Eastern Shore of Maryland where I live. Many weird weather patterns in all seasons. And sights that I regularly that were seldom seen as recent as 20 years ago.
This past Saturday Chestertown, my hometown, held their annual Earth Day Celebration. While it was happening I decided to stroll down to the Chester River, just a couple of blocks away. It was a few hours after High Tide and this is what I saw at the dock at the foot of High Street.
This has become a common sight. And as I mentioned well past high tide and you can just imagine how high the water may have been by debris on the road.
Even with seeing this and admitting that there is a change in the climate, I am not convinced that what we are doing to the Earth today is all to blame. I’m sure others will greatly disagree. It is my feeling that what we are seeing today that we are still seeing the aftereffects of the Industrial Revolution and into the first half of the 20th Century. It takes time for the Earth to react and what we are doing today is making strides, strides that began in the 1960’s, to protect our home for our children and their children.
Let’s continue what we are doing and encourage more to do the same.
Note:
More Photos from Chestertown’s Earth Day, from my trip to the River and other activities in Chestertown on April 20, 2019 can me seen on my ShoreToBeFun Photographs page on Facebook
Today is April 20th or 4-20. 420 is now often seen as a code signify illegal drug use or more specifically Marijuana. Although with Marijuana now legal in some places it’s become a counterculture holiday. One where people gather to celebrate and consume marijuana.
But where did the term come from?
According to snopes.com it started to be used by a group of students at San Rafael High School in California as the time, 4:20 in the afternoon, that they would get together to smoke some weed. This was way back in the early 1970s.
Also on snopes it is said not to have any relationship to police codes for marijuana use in progress.
The California Bill that legalized the use of medical marijuana is Senate Bill 420, but it was signed in 2004, long after the term was in use. Although I suppose some may have started using the bill number without realizing that the term was already being used by others.
There are a few things that share April 20th as a special date. It is the birthday of one of the most despised man in History. Adolf Hitler, the most despised man in history was born on April 20, 1889. Boston’s Fenway Park opened on April 20, 1912. At New York’s Union Square, Major Robert Anderson with the flag that had flown at Fort Sumter was greeted with a rally of more than 100,000 people on April 20, 1861
Sometimes I will sit back and wonder just that. Who am I?
I am a man who is about to turn 61. A man with 6 decades of experiences. But also one that wonders at times that simple question of Who am I?
I’m a son. Although both of my parents have died. So I suppose being that me being a son is now past.
I am a brother. A brother and a sister.
I am a husband. A father.
But who am I?
There are folks that have an interest in one thing and that is their life’s passion. I am not one of those type of people. I have many vary interests. Although I suppose one could say that most of them deal with Art and Entertainment. I am a fairly good photographer. But it’s not something I do everyday. I know many will go out and just take photos. It’s not me. I usually have a plan when I go out. Either to photograph a certain event or part of a project.
I would really like to photograph people, but I’m not one to ask someone to pose for me. I’m somewhat creative, but often can’t think of anything creative to shoot.
I like to find out what’s happening in the area and telling others about it. That’s how my Website (blogs) were started. I suppose in a way it’s also the reason for this one. Although generally it’s for my thoughts as much as anything.
I like to read, watch TV and movies. Although there are plenty of times that I just can’t seem to want to do much of that. But there are times I’ll start watching a series on TV and hours later I’ll find that I spent most of the day doing that.
I guess when looking at the question Who am I? I really have no real answer other than I am me.
March 16, 2018 was the worst day in the history of Men’s Basketball at the University of Virginia. The Cavaliers had been seeded first in the South regional bracket and first overall in the NCAA Tournament. They faced the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, the 16th seed, and became the first Number 1 seed to lose in the first round of the tournament. And unlike other upsets of a higher seeded team, the UMBC Receivers, didn’t win with a last chance desperation shot. The game final was 74–54, a 20 point upset.
The 2019 NCAA Tournament began with the Virgina Cavaliers as a Number 1 seed. This team had a mission. To win the tournament. On April 8, 2019 they did exactly that with a 85-77 win against Texas Tech. It did take overtime with Virgina scoring 17 to Texas Tech’s 9 in the 5 minute overtime period.
St. Patrick is considered the Patron Saint of Ireland, but he was born in Britain. He was born near the end of the 4th Century to wealthy parents and was abducted by Irish Raiders and held in captivity in Ireland for 6 years. During this captivity he became a devote Christian.
He is believed to have died on March 17, 460 AD and it is on this day that the Irish and those once a year Irish celebrate St. Patrick Day.
St. Patrick is credited as banishing all snakes from the Ireland. However there weren’t any snakes on the island so he couldn’t have banished any. He was a converted Christian and helped transform the island from their pagan beliefs to Christianity.
St. Patrick Day has a celebrated history of parades. The first St. Patrick Day parade was not in Ireland, but in New York City. On March 17, 1762 Irish soldiers serving in the English military marched through the city.
Leprechauns and St. Patrick are classic symbols of Ireland. Now a natural combination. Leprechauns have their origins from old Celtic folklore and were cranky souls known for their trickery to protect their much-fabled treasure. It wasn’t until Walt Disney and the film Darby O’Gill & the Little People which introduced a cheerful, friendly leprechaun, that they became a part of the Irish celebration.
Many of us will have Corn Beef and Cabbage on St. Patrick day, but this too is a fairly recent invention. Cabbage has long been a Irish food, it was usually served with bacon. That was until around the beginning of the 20th century when immigrants in New York City substituted corned beef to save money. This idea came from their Jewish neighbors.
