My Writing Room

My writing room is small and comfortable. I have two bookcases filled with writing books, and vinyl, magazines and tapes that I have collected. There are three CD holders standing with my CD collections. The wall in front of my computer, where I work, has framed pictures of my kids when they were little, I love looking at them because the photos making me happy, even though the times were hectic and crazy, they were still the best of times for me. I loved every bit of those times and wish I could click my New Balance work out shoes and go back to them. But if I could, I wouldn’t want to go through the awful times of 2001 to 2007. Those were the dark times in my life.

I have posters of Lynyrd Skynyrd, an enormous poster of the Bee Gees ‘One Night Only’ concert, a poster of General James Longstreet from the Civil War, and a Jerry Garcia poster. I also have two framed pictures…one of my oldest four children, Matthew, Christopher, Kevin, and Katie… in a crib mugging. The photo was taken in Columbia, Missouri. The other framed photo is of my three grandchildren at that same age…mugging for the camera are Brooke, Matthew, and Mika. Both, oddly, are a duplicate shot and it wasn’t planned. I love those two pictures. On the bookcases I have a wood cut of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame given to me by my good friend, Elaine; a goofy figure from Jeff, (my so-called 7^th son); a Jerry Garcia figure playing the guitar, but the guitar is now missing; a James Longstreet Mug, two lunch boxes of the Bee Gees; an old Bee Gees Record player; a Bernie Kosar framed photo and figure, and a Malkin bobble head! I also have a stand with rattan baskets and on that stand is a record player. There is another shelf filled with more computer paper, extra keyboards, books, and a plastic container of pens and pencils.

I have framed some of my stories that were published, a cactus sketch from Mickey for when I sold my first story, a movie poster from Come Away With Me, with the ‘hotty’ guy from Café Canole, the giraffe picture that my son, Chris, sketched when he was in the 5^th grade, and when we lived in Erie. There is also a framed poster of a woman looking over a railing entitled – Every Woman Should!

My computer desk is a mess! But as long as I can get to the keyboard, I am fine with this. The extra computer chair is stacked with writing as is the garbage can. I left a small opening to throw away crumpled paper and trash. My second desk, by the double windows is chuck filled of papers, markers, pencils, ink, a Browns cap and more CDs. There are some containers on the floor…two that are holding papers as well. It is a mess but I work best this way!

This is my domain where I rule! Or rather write, or attempt to do so.  And like a writer, I write!

New York Trip - Day 3

I was eager for my friend to see the beauty of Cooperstown. I had talked so much of the quaintness and beauty of the village and wanted my friend to see the magic of the town that I always talked about. It was a beautiful drive into the village and my friend was not disappointed. The day was perfect and the gorgeous color of the fall leaves added to the magic.

Our first stop was the James Fenimore Cooper Museum. Our trip was planned specifically to attend the special Dorthea Lange exhibit. Her black and white photographs were on display along with other photographers. All of their black and white photos were of the Depression Era. Lange is famous for her Migrant Mother photo which depicted the pain of the people living in the Dust Bowl during the depression years.

After touring the museum, we drove into the village of Cooperstown. If you stand in the center of the downtown area…you know the village is in a valley. Looking down both ends of the main street, you could see mountains and trees with their fall foliage colors greet you. That made for a spectacular photo shot.

I made my friend go into the Baseball Hall of Fame to see the 10 minute film about baseball. After that, I stayed in the Hall of Fame and slowly went through it again, soaking in all that baseball memorabilia of the past and present. My friend, a photography buff, spent her time walking around the village and taking pictures. We were both in our own individual worlds doing what we wanted to do.

When we were finished, we drove around the area, stopping at an old cemetery and taking photographs. Then we ended up going to see the Hyde House during daylight and taking more pictures.

That night we ate dinner at the Otesaga Resort Hotel. I always wanted to stay at the pricey hotel but eating at the Hawkeye Grill would do. And it did …we had the best service and the best meal. We ended our meal by sharing a delicious banana bread pudding. This meal and setting was the perfect ending to a perfect trip.

I have to say kudos to Suni for a well plotted Itinerary, and we kept to it, arriving back at my house at 4:00. Along the way, we passed signs that brought back memories from my 2002 trip.

Before I end, I have to say that Cooperstown is a magical village plopped down in a valley with the Glimmerglass Lake as a beautiful back drop. I still plan on going back there again…maybe for a long writer’s weekend.

New York Trip - Day 2

After breakfast at The Fine Thread B & B, we drove 40 minutes to corning, Hew York. Since this was on our Itinerary, we actually went into the Corning Glass Museum. My friend, the travel guide, already had Day 2 planned out. We had reservations to take part in a 30 minute glass making session, where we both chose to make sun catchers. The sun catchers would be heated, cooled, and shipped to us later. The glass making session was actually fun.

I did enjoy touring the museum and seeing all the different types of blown glass, glass ware, and objects on display. There was a special exhibit for Rene Lalique. His work was absolutely exquisite. I found a glass pane make by Dale Chihuly, which was different from his other works that I have seen, and even more beautiful. We also found a stained glass panel on display called Orphee aux Feuillages or Orpheus in Foliage designed by Jean Cocteau. This was totally breath-taking and we had to take a number of pictures of it. We ate lunch at the Museum Café and it was a perfect ending for our tour.

The drive to Cooperstown was another 3 hours. We found our motel, Lake-n-Pines next to Glimmerglass Lake (Otsega Lake). This lake was part of the setting for James Fenimore Cooper’s novels. Our motel rooms were great and overlooked the lake. I finally felt connected to the work because the motel had Wi-Fi, and that made the world a better place for me. That night, we had tickets for a Haunted House Tour at the Hyde House, a 50-room mansion. The house was recently featured on the TV series, Ghost Hunters. Most of the people actually said that they saw and heard things in the house, but I am a skeptic, and just chuckled when I heard them mention sounds and having orbs in their photos.

We ate a late dinner in Cooperstown, and the meal was worthy of another clean plate award. While we were eating, another group from our ghost tour was there and they showed us a picture that they took with an odd orb in it. I assumed it was supposed to be a ghost. It was an interesting shot and when I looked at my photos…everyone said that there were small dots in it, which were orbs. My thought was that the next time, I should make sure that I wiped off my camera lens of lint and dust.

All in all, it was another full day, strange sounds, orbs and all. I am definitely looking forward to Day 3.

New York Trip - 2014

I took another road trip to New York with a different friend. Before we even started, my friend sent me a 3-page itinerary of our trip! It started with our Friday, 9:30 departure from my house and our estimated arrival at Hammondsport, New York at 3:30. It was amazing because we actually left a bit later but did arrive at the exact time that was on the paper.

We had reservations at The Fine Thread B&B. We found it and stopped in our tracks when we looked at the door with its Halloween decorations and sign that said Do Not Enter. Besides that the house was run down and didn’t look like any B&B that I ever stayed at, the sign should have been a warning. We didn’t heed it and banged on the door and then called the owner. The 15 year old son, who appeared to not want the job as the tour guide brought us up the steps, pointed out the two separate rooms, and whipped out a note pad to take our breakfast order. OY!

We walked around Hammondsport which was a quaint and beautiful town, along the Keuka River. The houses were the old Victorian type, large and picturesque, and well cared for. The center of the town had an old, comfortable feel to it with a number of antique shops and restaurants.

We entered one restaurant and both of us ordered a yummy hamburger that was worth eating everything off of our plates. We walked around the town and took a few pictures and then went back to our B&B. The place did have cable but no Wi-Fi, which bummed me out. I tried watching TV but despite all the channels, I kept finding the same programs repeated over and over and pretty much couldn’t hear the TV, even with the volume up.

I have to say that the place was quiet and clean but I was happy when we left the next day after breakfast, and drove on to Corning, New York.

New YOrk Road Trip - 2002

In the summer of 2002, a friend and I took a marathon drive to New York. We used a guide book that plotted out a 2-3 day trip to New York and a few places to see along the way. We didn’t bother to check anything out by using the computer and we headed out early the day of our scheduled trip. We usually know where we are going and we have the directions to those places. And I might add we get to our destination without too many problems.

I can remember that the trip was during nice weather, the roads in New York State were perfect, and the scenery was gorgeous. And thus began our trip. Along the way, we stopped in Cuba, New York, and stumbled upon a delightful cheese shop. We bought a few cheeses, stopped at the grocery store for a drink, bread, fresh basil, tomatoes and a plastic knife. We ate our food at the Letchworth State Park, overlooking the falls. Letchworth is known as the little Grand Canyon of the East. Then we proceeded to drive past Watkins Glen, known for NASCAR races. We did stop and took in the sights of Sonnenberg Gardens and Mansion, in Canandaigua, New York. The mansion and gardens were beautiful!

We couldn’t find the B& B that we were supposed to be staying at. We drove back and forth and finally gave up. We were supposedly driving along a scenic tourist drive that was touted as one of the 15 most scenic routes in the world, according to British Airway Magazine. It was getting dark and I didn’t quite get what was breath-taking about not being able to see anything through the thick foliage. We did find our way to a motel and gratefully checked in for the night.

The next morning we stopped for breakfast, which we shouldn’t have because when we got to the Mackenzie-Child’s factory late, we missed the one and only tour. Instead, we did browse around the large store and it was like looking at a mini museum of hand crafted pottery items.

Then we got back into our car and headed to Corning, New York, to tour the glass factory. Somehow I wasn’t in the mood and we skipped it and drove to Ithaca, where my friend pointed out some nice sights as well and the bridge I was navigated across, and the water below it. Because I was driving, I missed that sight. We stopped in the town and found a ton of eclectic shops on Market Street, along with a few bookstores to check out.

The next day, on our return trip, we stopped in Salamanca, New York, to go to the Native American Museum which was high on my list. Since it happened to be Wednesday…we found a sign that said closed on Wednesday. We drove through the town which was a depressed place and every house needed to be painted. We did stop at the local library which kept the books in boxes. This only added to my depression. We skipped the casino…which was my fault because I was too busy complaining about the museum not being opened. Don’t know why I cared because the Museum was tiny and in a store front shop.

We did stop at a winery along Erie and sampled a few wines and brought some to take home. We should have bought the Foxy Lady, and drank the bottle as we drove but then I would have been stopped and arrested for a DUI! We drove some more and ended up paying $25 to park and enter the Chautauqua Institute…which was a very weird place, right down to the organ musical going on in the open shell area.

My friend made a book of our trip and this sums everything up – she left two pages blank and it pretty much represented what we missed because we were late, too early, wrong date or couldn’t find it!!! Our trip did end up being a big hit of misses, closed for the day, lots of miles on my car and a whole lot of laughter with my co-pilot. And at that time, God knew that I needed a whole lot of laughter!!!

Much Ado about Trees

Besides that Mondays are a pain after a nice weekend…mine turned out to be not just a pain, but a nightmare of a Monday. I started out having my new car inspected at the Ford Dealer. I thought since it was a 2014 model…my stay would be an in and out. After three hours of replacing things because of five recalls, I was out of there. They did do a free oil change and washed my car, and that would be the high point of my day!

I struggled with going to do my errands or going home to put on my gym clothes. Guilt won out and I drove home to change into my gym clothes. On my way home, I started to think about calling the tree service, which I had signed a contract with and sent in a hefty deposit, to find out when they would be coming out to cut down the trees.

As I pulled up to my house, the tree cutters were there, a few trucks were lined up and I had to park somewhere down the road. But I was happy to see them and not have to call. One of the workers pointed out what they had cut and ran over what else they planned to do. Then I looked at his hoody and saw the name of the tree service…J.R. Tree Service. As my stomach sank down into my knees, I looked at the guy and said…You are not Lumberjack’s Tree Service? I signed a contract with them and wrote out a check to them! We discussed the mix up because my daughter gave this tree service a verbal okay. They didn’t bother with a contact and now I was in a panic.

I ran in the house and took the steps, two at a time, sat at my desk and called Lumberjacks. After discussing my dilemma…the woman was okay with everything, and tore up the contract and would be sending me back my deposit.

I sat in front of my computer and felt the air go out of me. My head pounded and I just sat there for a while, wishing I was at a bar and could have ordered an alcoholic drink. I kept wondering why nothing ever runs smoothly for me? This screwy incident pretty much summed up my life.

I shook it off, stood up, went into my bedroom, changed my clothes and left my house. The sawing and noise of the machinery was hurting my head. I didn’t return until later that night. The next day my peace and quiet was spoiled as I had to listen to the loud grinding of the stumps and roots being grounded and cut away from the two trees that I had taken down.  And I would have two spots with soil and dirt in piles. For all the money I spent and the trauma, I would have thought the tree service could at least have run a rake and smoothed out the bombed out area.

Unfortunately, that is going to be my job over the weekend. Instead, I talked my son and grandson into helping me for a pizza and a pop!