Category: Thoughts

December hasn’t been a good month for me. I had a few ‘life’ issues that has limited the amount of time to do things. I’ve not only have had to let some things “I want to do” not to be done, but also some of the things “I should do” and “I need to do”.

Things are starting to get better. I still have to take things easy, at least for a few more weeks, but am moving forward. One small step at a time.

It is the Monday Morning after the Thanksgiving weekend. I have been thinking about the things I am Thankful for.

For me it has been a fairly good year. Far from the best, but there has been many that have been much worst. While financially it could have been better, I am thankful for each opportunity I have had this year.

A friend of mine has had some major health issues this year. I’m sure to her it has been the worst year in her life. But for me I am thankful that she is still here to be a part of my life.

I am thankful for all of the Business Networking people I have meet this year. Those friendships I really value. It has been a very good year on that front, and I am looking forward to meeting new people in 2020.

I turned 61 this year and while I’m sure that I could be healthier, I am feeling good. As I have said before, I don’t feel at all how I imagine life in my 60s when I was younger.

Yes, it’s just the 2nd of December and the Holiday season is upon us,I am still already looking forward to 2020. I’m using these last days of 2019 to build toward the future. The past ‘0’ years have been good to me and I am feeling that it’s going to be another one.

Time! There is only 24 hours in a day. 1440 minutes. And usually there is way more things I want to do then there is time to do them.

Time Management and I aren’t really friends. You would think that I would at my age, 61, I would have a better handle on time management. Or maybe part of it is that I am 61 and it doesn’t matter.

Most days I have thoughts on what I want to do. And there is always things that I need to do. What I do is usually a combination of what I need to do and less of what I want to do.

One of the things I have wanted to do for several months is to work on this, My view of the MD Eastern Shore and the Delmarva Peninsula. But I haven’t been as active posting stuff here as one can see by looking at past posts, up until two days ago, actually a day ago, since I am writing this on Thanksgiving Day.

As 2019 begins to wind down, and 2020 is just beyond the horizon, I am moving this to what I Need to do. This will be a place where I post my reflection on what’s happening. What’s happening in my life, my photography, and what’s going on around me.

In 2006 I began a site called ‘6 Things to Consider’. Due to technical issues that site disappeared in January 2018. I will republish some of those pieces here on each Sunday Morning.

Will I accomplish this?

I am planning to have on my daily schedule an hour each day to devote to this.

I hope you will like and follow my View from the Shore.

I was born on the Delmarva Peninsula a little over 61 years ago. Nearly all of my Thanksgivings have been on the Peninsula and I have many Delmarva Thanksgiving memories.

My favorite memories, which could be said for most, are from my youth.

I was raised on a farm own by my grandparents and tilled by my father. During the 60s and 70s, the time when I was growing up, one of the things to happen on the farm when the weather started turning cooler was hunting.

My Grandfather, like many then as well as now, rented the farm for hunting. In his case these hunters became his friends. It was generally the same small group of hunters that came to the farm every Saturday morning to hit the goose blind. My father and grandfather was part of the team. I was able to join them when I wanted.

Thanksgiving weekend was the big hunting weekend. My grandfather ran a small produce/country market in Chestertown, Maryland. The only days he didn’t open the market was on Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Thanksgiving mornings started with a trip to the goose blinds. It wasn’t unusual for a trip later in the day into the cow pasture to do a bit of rabbit hunting. And of course the day ended with a large homemade country dinner of turkey and a table full of food.

The only time we had turkey was Thanksgiving and Christmas so it was a big treat. It was also one of the few times that we had Maryland Beaten Biscuits as well as an Apple/Carrot/Raisin salad that my grandmother made. This was a favorite and I ate a lot of it.

Friday was spent getting things ready for the big opening day. Deer hunting opening day was on the Saturday after Thanksgiving and has been a big deal as long as I remember. When I was a kid, it was a really big day. To the men of the area it was a bigger day than Black Friday is today for Christmas shoppers. I guess to hunters it is and always will be.

Early Saturday morning hunters from all over the State would arrive on the farm. It wasn’t unusual for 40 men to be standing in the pre-dawn hours, getting into their hunting gear and drinking a final cup of coffee.

The season began at 30 minutes before first light so an hour or more before dawn it was off to the tree stands in the woods for a day of hunting. This was usually after the leader brought everyone together to go over the ground rules and a short prayer for a safe and successful hunt.

Even though hunting wasn’t one of my favorite sports it’s still a fond memory. I haven’t hunted nor fired a gun in nearly 40 years. I still enjoyed the excitement of a hunter standing proudly over a large buck, or watching my aging grandfather at full run to help my brother after he bagged his first deer.

Note:
This was first published in 2009 at “6 Things to Consider” a blog I ran from 2006-2018.. It has been revised to and slightly edited.

It’s been awhile since I written a post. There are a couple of reasons, but when looking back the real reason is that I have not done a good job at time management.

It’s not that I haven’t had ideas on what to write. I’ve had quite a few over the past weeks. I just didn’t bring up the editor screen to start. Of course now that I am here I have no idea what those thoughts were.

I guess I just have to do it. Not to over think about it and then not come back to it.

Which brings me to today. It was morning when I began and I had a thought on what I was going to write. Five hours later, after close to an hour drive to go to a Business Networking Lunch, and then the drive back, I have no idea what I was thinking when I began.

So I’ll leave it as saying that I have to do a better job of time management.

This post is for the teachers of the world.

This time of the year is the time that many schools close for the summer.

Many think that the summer is a vacation for teachers. For many this is not the truth. Today teachers send the summer taking classes, continuing teaching in summer school or other jobs.

The thought that they are getting paid a huge salary for only having to work for 10 months is also not true. When one considers the cost of the education they are required to have to teach, the time that they spend each day they are teaching, living expenses, and the out of pocket expenses they provide for their classroom, many are struggling to make ends meet.

In the classroom they often have to be a councilor, nurse, nurturer, as well as teacher. All of this while being told by the administration on what and how they should teach.

I have a lot of respect for teachers. But often students and their parents do not. When Johnny or Jane are learning because they aren’t listening, being disruptive or even not attending the class, often the blame is put on the teacher, and not the student. Or the parent who allows their job to do what they wish without discipline or respect.

In my view the Education System is broken. And it won’t be fixed until we give our teachers the respect that they deserve. And the we I am talking about is all of us. From the highest administrator to the student, parent and the public.

For the past 8 weeks I have been working along side an incredible group to put on the latest Summer Musical at Church Hill Theatre.

When I heard that the Theatre was going to do Jesus Christ Superstar I knew I wanted to be part of the production. Since I’m not a singer nor can I dance very well, I knew to be part of the show I would have to be part of the Production Crew. Upon learning that Shelagh Grasso was going to be the Director wiggled myself into being the Assistant Stage Manager. Michelle Christopher has been Shelagh’s Stage Manager of choice and Michelle and I have wanted to work together for some time. I am the de-facto theatre photographer as well.

Early April was the time for auditions. I watched most of the audition process and helped Shelagh, Choreographer Kendall Davis and Musical Director Julie Lawrence by taking video of the auditions.

Shortly afterward the selected cast began rehearsals. Some of the 31 cast members I knew well, others not as well, and quite a few not at all.

This past weekend we had our first weekend of shows. Each of the three performances were sold-out. We are anticipating that all of the performances will be sell-outs. Two of the remanding 6 are already sold-out.

This has been a true community project of talented people. Shelagh, along with directing the show designed the set. Her husband Carmen along with a few others built the set. The youngest person in the cast is 13 with the oldest being 70. There are three married couples with one of them even having a daughter as part of the cast. A brother and sister. Some with a lot of time on the stage and a few that haven’t been in a production since High School, 30 to 40 years ago. One member of the cast had just recently had knee replacement surgery and another has an artificial leg.

Queen Anne’s County is where Church Hill Theatre is located and some of the cast live in the county. But there are members that live in Kent, myself include, Caroline and Talbot County. This makes for it being truly regional.

After the weekend of shows I have heard nothing but great reviews. I am looking forward to the next 2 weekend and once it ends. I will be slightly depressed that I won’t be seeing this group of folks three times a week. But I also know that I have made new friends.

For years my doctor has been telling me that I should walk a 10,000 steps in a day a few times a week. He even suggested that I should get a pedometer to keep track. I never got one, mainly because I thought that through my work as an event photographer there are many days that I already walked that far and for one particular event I didn’t really want to know how far I walked during that day.

That event is the Chestertown Tea Party. The Annual Chestertown Tea Party is during Memorial Day weekend and for the past several years I have been one of their principle photographers, as well as being part of the planning committee.

Recently I got a new phone. One that has a Health app that keeps track of my walking/running activities.

Since I have gotten it, I have covered and walked a couple of those events that I suspected I walked over 10,000 steps. To my amazement so far I have yet to reach it. The nearest I came was 9000 and that was with a combined photowalk and covering an event.

The few events I have covered since getting the new phone has been around 6,000 steps with a daily average of 2500.

Will Tea Party reach that 10,000 steps? A goal that once was considered easily reach, but now looks as it is much harder to reach than I thought. I’ll let you know.

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.