Infamous Reservoir

Finally learned how to upload pictures from my camera to my computer - hip hip hooray!!! I am coming closer and closer to entering the 21st century all the time. My house is located in the area to the left end of the bridge depicted in the upper left corner - less than 1/2 a mile away - probably closer to .3 of a mile.

The reservoir is beautiful when it is full - as shown in these pics - but it can be very worrisome very early in the spring when the water levels are as much as 10 plus feet lower than what they need to be. This is one of the major water supplies for Baltimore City. Those of us that live close do get to "stick our toes in the water" so to speak. It is our source of water as well as we are on the city water system. This is something that was worked out many moons ago when the dam was put in and the town of Oakland was flooded.

If I were a scuba driver it might be fun to do an underwater tour of the area just to see how much of the original town was still there. There are reportedly some pretty good sized fish in "the pond" as well. It is a favorite boating site - that is as long as you have an electric motor - no gas motors allowed.

It is hard to believe that this only ten miles from Baltimore, MD. This is why I like my area so much. All of the comforts of city life close at hand, but the serenity of country living right here. It is quiet, we have wildlife in the front yard and neighbors at a respectable distance so that we know they are there, but not right in our living rooms.

The sun has finally decided to show itself. I can see the trees and bushes moving so the breezes are blowing as well, but I am not ready to open the window to let them in. It is supposed to be fairly warm out, but the humidity is what is through the roof. I get "soggy" just thinking about it. Not my "cup of tea"........

TGIF

TGIF everyone....it is early in the morning. I am not used to being up this early in the a.m., but I could not go back to sleep so here I sit writing away. It is gloomy outside - hot, but gloomy. I am waiting for another series of thunderstorms to roll through. It got a little loud overnight and the lights flickered a few times, but we made it through.

The week has flown by - I have been busy running errands and doing work on the computer (lots of googling, shopping and paying bills). I have re-established communications with some schoolmates. Several people have posted pictures from the last reunion (45th from high school) on the El Tigre page. All these pictures have brought back a lot of memories - both good and bad. High school was not my favorite time - not the highlight of my life so to speak, but memorable nonetheless. There were some good friends and some good times - very good times in fact - but my college days were far more fun. Maybe I will regale you with college days escapades some day.

I am going out to lunch with friends today. The one activity of my retirement that has brought me the most joy so far. It gets me out of the house and keeps me in touch with what is going on at work. All I will say about that is "I picked the right time to retire".

Hopefully the rain will hold off until I get home - I have to stop at the grocery store on the way home as well - my cat needs her creature comforts (food and litter), which also keeps me happy. A happy cat is a cat that is not attacking my feet every time she wants food put in her bowl. Don't ever tell me that animals are dumb or can't communicate - my Scooter is very good at letting me know what she wants and gets her "point" (or I should say points - nails) across very effectively.

Well, I have a couple of projects to get done before I get ready to leave for lunch. Have a good day everyone - blessings to all.

It's Sunday

It is Sunday morning. I have been up for awhile. The sun is shining and it looks like there might be a breeze blowing (I have my computer set up so that I can look out my window). May be worth the time to open the door and find out what the temp is outside. If nice enough will warrant opening windows to air things out.

I am hooked up to my MP3 player - listening to country music as I sit here writing, so if there are some mistakes that I do not catch you will know the reason. I finally figured out how to download music to my MP3 and I also discovered today that I could record music from the radio if I wanted. Will wonders never cease. Technology is amazing.

I have also spent some time on the "El Tigre" page on MyFamily.com. There were all sorts of pictures from the 45th reunion of the class of 64. Talk about making a person feel old - I looked at at those pics and did not recognize very many of the people. A couple of people have faces that I have not changed all that much, but others = WOW!!!!!! I would have passed most of those people on the street and never recognized them. By the same token they probably would not recognize me either. Like I told one classmate - the only thing that has not changed is the fact that I have blue eyes. Hair is now short and grey; I have to wear glasses all the time (a casualty of working with computers for 20 plus years) and there is now enough of me to make two of me in 1964. There were even a couple of people that had white hair, which is the opposite of the black hair they had in school.

My son just got up so it is time to move around and get things done. Besides, my tummy is telling me that it is time to eat something.

OOPS!!!!! the sun just went away, so I guess that the possibility of some sprinkles may just come to pass. Take care family......more later.........

Fourth of July, 2009 Two

The pyrotechnic people in the neighborhood came through last night. We had fireworks all around us. It was really nice. The people up the street must have had quite a crowd in their backyard. Lots of cheering and chants for more. The show in the back was not quite as spectacular but nice just the same. It is nice to have such accommodating neighbors - didn't have to leave home to see a nice show.

The lightening bugs enjoyed the show as well. All the sparkles in the sky really must have excited them because they provided a "fireworks" show of their own afterward. Did not realize that we had so many lightening bugs in our yard.

The bugs brought back many, many childhood memories of spending warm summer nights catching them - only to let them go later in the evening. The cousins would have contests about who could catch the most. It was always fun to play with the cousins.

Hope that your shows were as nice as ours........

Fourth of July, 2009

Here it is - Fourth of July, 2009. Where has the time gone? I am sitting here looking out my open window (sunshine off and on/cool breezes blowing - not very summer like for this area) and listening to music on my MP3 player. I added new music the other day. New in that it's new to my MP3, but old when it comes to when the music first came out. Freddy Mercury of Queen, Cass Elliot and five of Michael Jackson's older songs. Was never really a fan of these people way back when, but decided to broaden my horizons so to speak. All this as a result of watching the biography channel and the news, who would have known?

Anyway, it is going to be a very quiet holiday. Eddie has gone to the beach with friends, I am sitting here writing this, Terry is in the shower and Liz is still asleep. That is going to give you some idea as to how this day is going to go. Hopefully our neighborhood pyrotechnic guy will regale us with a fireworks display tonight - that would put a good ending on the day.

I have spent the morning reading blogs and face book entries. I have arrived in the 21st century and hope to keep improving my skills. My next project is take some pics and put the software on my laptop so that I can download them - I am getting there, please be patient. I am going to update my picture on Bip's World as well. I have cut my hair and I look a lot better than the pic there now (it was taken at my retirement party). People also tell me that I look younger and far more rested - but then what else could they think when I have spent the last two years since retirement "resting".

Time to go, I am getting hungry and when that happens my brain and fingers start to fight with each other. Brain works faster than the fingers can go and I get to use my favorite key - the backspace - to make corrections. HAVE A NICE HOLIDAY -ENJOY YOUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS