Vacation

Taking off a few days for vacation.

Experimenting with Blog Add On

So far, so good . . . got the site meter installed and running.

How To Defeat Summer's Heat

Corona with a lime - perfect combination of citrus and essential adult carbohydrates - best served ice cracklin' cold and in large numbers. ;)~

The Dog Days of Summer 03 JULY through 11 AUGUST

Sirius, the "dog star" will soon be in the night skies, ushering in "the dog days of Summer" through mid-August. While I profess to hate "the 3 H's" (heat, haze, and humidity) associated with this part of the Summer, I'll take warm and muggy weather conditions over sleet, slush, and snow any time of the year! The smells of fresh mowed grass, barbeque grill smoke, and sun screen can be out done only by the sounds of carbonated malts escaping from an opened bottle, the splash of pool water, and the chirp of late night crickets.

Summer Sunset

Summer Sunset

If Dad's Were Left To Raise Kids By Themselves

Needs no caption . . .

It's a nice puppy tee shirt, right?!?

On the subject of dark beer

This may come as a surprize, there is a decent dark beer that is a product of Mexico. It's Negra Modelo. I first experienced this brew two years ago while dining at Don Pablos in Manassas, Va. It's priced about the same as Corona. If you like dark beer, especially if you like smooth dark beer, this brew is the ticket. There are few dark beers that will stay with you without producing a full or bloated feeling . . . this is one of them! The last beer of the round is as great as the first . . . kind of like Corona, if it's a long party night . . . NM Dark will hang with you without losing its interest or taste. Good stuff . . . about $30.00 a case.

It's been said: "You never forget your first girl" I don't if that's a universal truth, but I can attest to the fact that St. Pauli Girl Dark Beer does leave a long lasting impression. This is one righteous dark beer. I first experienced this brew in the early 1970's and it remains a perennial favorite. On a scale of 1 to 10, I'd give it an honest 8. It's very smooth, has a distinct "German taste", and finishes well. SPG Dark is much better than its "blonde sister", a fact which I've discovered to be true of most beers offered in light and dark themes. Good stuff!

Camping Buddies . . .

"Ah come on Mom, just give me one more chance at that little kid with the knife, please . . ."

Camping Photo 5 - "The Chipmunk's Turf"

(I plan to print a copy of this a tape it inside Mr Matt's box - should be a nice memory for him!)

Camping Photo 4 - "The Campfire"

Camping Photo 3 - "Poddle Hunter"

(look at the knife this kid's holding in his right hand)

Camping Weekend - Photo 2

(Mr. Matt, exhausted after a day of chasing chipmunks and small children)

Camping Weekend - Photo 1

Campsite

Camping Weekend

We just returned from another excellent camping weekend at Drummer Boy Campground in Gettysburg. Perfect weather conditions and weekend of rest and relaxation! Mr. Madison(aka Mr. Matt), "the wilderness Poodle" discovered the thrills of chipmunk chasing. In spite of his lack of skill or success with the venture, walking him along the trails was a spirited adventure every morning. He did manage to tree two small children at a nearby campsite, I guess they're not as quick as the chipmunks. Hope to download and post some photos later.

Confessions of a Closet Tabloid Reader

This may come as a shock to some folks, but I am a closet tabloid junkie. Gawd, it took guts to admit it, but I am. This revelation comes from a person who has been a devote AM radio conservative talk show listener since the early days of Rush Limbaugh. Well, like Rush says, sometimes "you can best illustrate absurdity by being a bit absurd" . . . and maybe this is the case with me, I don't know.

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Tabloid magazines like In Touch, People, etc., are the ones I'm talking about . . . you know, the ones that make a great deal of fuss about Tori Spelling, Oprah, Paris Hilton, the Oslons, and a zillion other stars, starlets, silver spoons, and Hollywood types. What I find particularly amazing about this genre of magazine is the great lengths to which the contributing staffs will go to manufacture "news" in order to fill the pages between the covers of their magazines. I hit me the other day . . . who really reads these things!?! I suppose the answer to this question is wide open. I don't buy them, mind you, but I read them and carefully examine the contents of most articles . . . looking for something other than self promotion, gossip mongering, or mindless dribble.

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Here's a perfect example . . . In Touch, 20 June 2005, article - "Is Britney Gaining Too Fast?" As you may have guessed, an article devoted to Britney Spears who is developing quite the tummy as she carries her first child. Correct me if I'm wrong, maybe I missed something along the way, but I thought pregnant women not only developed a tummy bulge but also experienced a weight gain during the term. What Britney eats, and how much she chooses to eat is her business, don't you agree? Personally, I think the whole article falls into the category of "who gives a rat's ass" . . . but obviously this information is important to someone out there . . . and so another page is filled, another magazine is published, and I can't wait to read the next issues.

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More to follow . . . impressions of Tori Spelling and Paris Hilton . . . I promise they'll be a hoot to read!

In Loving Memory

Colonel Jacob Melchoir Sheads

1910-2002

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Dad would have been 95 today . . . we miss him, as he rests in eternal peace. The photo depicts him, with two grandchildren (Lisa and David Melchoir), at one of our family grave markers in the Sheads family plot of the Gettysburg's Evergreen Cemetery,1988.

America's #1 Snack Food Under Assault By The Food Police

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Public health attorneys in California have potato chip makers in their sights for not listing a cancer-causing chemical present in many brands.That chemical is acrylamide. It is an industrial chemical used in plastics, pesticides and sewage treatment that also can occur when starchy foods, such as chips, are processed at high temperatures. The World Health Organization has said acrylamide may be responsible for up to one-third of all cancers caused by diet, as demonstrated by laboratory animal studies. Acrylamide is already on California's list of chemicals known to cause cancer, but some chipmakers haven't listed it on their product packaging as required by Proposition 65 statute.The attorneys have filed Proposition 65 notices with the manufacturers of Lays, Pringles, Kettle Chips and Cape Cod chips. Research has shown those brands have unsafe levels of acrylamide in some of their chip varieties. The study looked at one ounce servings, which ranged from 11 to 20 chips depending on the brand, and determined the acrylamide content was substantially more than the 0.2 micrograms per day amount which prompts the Proposition 65 warning. The brands tested and cited for high levels of acrylamide are: Lays Baked!, Lays Stax BBQ, Lays KC Masterpiece. Lays Natural Country Barbecue, Lays Light KC Barbecue Masterpiece, Pringles Snack Stacks (Pizzalicious Flavor), Pringles Sweet Mesquite BBQ, Kettle Chips Lightly Salted, Kettle Chips Honey Dijon, Cape Cod Robust Russet and Cape Cod Classic Chips.Processed food manufacturers have reportedly asked Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger for a exemption to Proposition 65 labeling for foods with carcinogens caused by heat processing. The governor's office is expected to announce its decision by August.

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I don't know how it is in your little niche on our planet, but around the greater-Hanover, PA metro area (LOL) them are fightin' words! Hanover, PA is home to Utz Potato Chip Company, as East Coast icon in a nation of snack food junkies! Actually, Adams, York, and Lancaster Counties might possibly be considered "the cradle of the chip industry". Nothing, and I mean NOTHING, beats a brown paper bag full of still-hot potato chips from any of the vendors selling them at local farm markets. I have very fond memories of my Grandma Rosensteel, and her cousin (an Utz), making homemade kettle chips on their back porches when I was a kid (50 years ago) growing up in Gettysburg (not far from Hanover). I seriously doubt if Grandma used acrylamine as an ingedient when she made them.

Favorite Wildflower -Bluettes

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One of the few things I miss not living in my former hometown of Gettysburg is the abundance of these tiny wildflowers that populate many areas of the Battlefield early each Spring. They have no fragrance and only bloom for about a 3 week period or so . . . but they grow in large clusters and are a beautiful sight to behold.

Army National Guard Service Ribbons

(Years of Service 1972-1999)

I retired from the National Guard in 1999 after 27 years of service. During my tenure with the Guard, I served in the 104th Armored Cavalry Squadron (armor crewman), the 166th Field Artillery (cannoneer and gunner), the 108th Field Artillery (section chief), Pennsylvania Army National Guard Military Academy (cadre, instructor, assistant operations sergeant, sergeant, and chief instructor/writer), and the 4th BN, 166th Training Regiment (operations sergeant, chief instructor/writer). I earned the NCO of the Year Award in 1986 and was recognized as the #1 NCO in the Commonwealth.

I used to tease my Dad, a retired Lt. Colonel, that I had earned 2 more rows of ribbons that he did and was promoted one more time than him.

My service ribbons:

Row 1 Meritorious Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal

Row 2 ARCAM Medal, National Defense Ribbon, Humanitarian Service Medal

Row 3 Army Service Ribbon, Armed Forces Reserve Medal, NCO Professional Development Ribbon

Row 4 Overseas Training Ribbon, PA Distinguished Service Medal, PA Service Medal

Row 5 20 Year Service Award, General Stewart Medal, General White Medal

PA National Guard - 4th Battalion, 166th Regiment (Combat Arms), M109 (155mm Self Propelled)

Row 1 (L-R) Order of Saint Barbara (my most-prized military decoration), M109 crew loading main gun, Chapel Window, Ft Sill, OK

Row 2 (L-R) Business end of a 155mm, M109 side profile, M109 side profile

Row 3 (L-R) M109 crew, PA National Guard "Lion", HQ STARC patch

I was awarded the Order of St. Barbara medallion upon my retirement from the PAARNG. During my final tour of duty, I served on the Adjutant General's Staff (Lion Medallion).

Seems like a new lease on life . . .

In the days leading up to the completion of medical tests screening for cancer, I was consumed by thoughts of how best to deal with the potential of bad news from the test results. It's amazing how clearly focused you become - reviewing your life and making plans for whatever the future may hold. I hope this clarity lasts for a long, long time. The good news came yesterday - all test results were negative - prayers answered and the blissful security of knowing that my dreams won't run out of time prematurely. Thanks Lord for your grace, and gift of life.

Around the house and some favorite collections.

Collecting Victorian antiques is a life long passion. IMHO, the Victorian period is the last "era of antiques" for many reasons. Earliest examples reflect artistian craftmanship while late-Victorian examples (post-Industrial Revolution) still maintain the look and charm of earlier designs. I suppose the best part of collecting Victorian antiques is that they are still available and reasonably affordable. After a few years of collecting, rooms begin to take on the character of living spaces in the mid-to-late 1800's. I can attest to the notion that it is very easy to get hooked on collecting "in depth" - or special in collecting a particular pattern, style, or manufacturer. Over the years, amber glass, milk glass, condensed milk servers, children's tea sets, pigeon blood bridal baskets, and fruit and nut carved furniture became collection niches.

Another aspect of collecting Victorian antiques is the ability to add pre-Victorian items into rooms and decor without compromising the overall Victorian theme. The reverse is not necessarily true. In colonial period theme for example, an Eastlake sofa would stand out as odd and out of place. Conversely, a Victorian kitchen will easily absorb colonial or primitive wood, copper, or tin wares - and look perfectly natural because these items would have been inherited and passed on to a new generation.

Lotus Super 7 . . . dream car, sweet dream car

Cars of My Youth & Cars of My Dreams - 1969 Lotus Super 7

(a dream car, SWEET dream car)

Cars of My Youth & Cars of My Dreams 1970 BMW 2002tii (Mine was yellow, what a car!) 

My fascination with old mansions started when I was

in college during the 1960's.

The Clairvaux Mansion was located on US 15, bypass intersection with Motter Station Rd, one-half mile south of Mt. Saint Mary's College. After a fire [early 1970s] the only thing left standing was the stately brick walls. When the firemen arrived on the scene they found the house to be completely engulfed with flames they decided to let it burn itself out. It is believed the fire was started in the kitchen area on the west side of the house. The fire was discovered by persons residing near the dwelling. This was the third fire at the estate. One of the fires destroyed a summer house, the other a barn.

For several years Clairvaux was owned by Daniel F. Roddy family who sold it to the Rial family. Mrs. Rial owned the property from 1941 until she entered a nursing home. At this time she sold the property to her son-in-law, Col. G. E. Borst of Washington, D.C. Sometime after the fire, Col. Borst sold the remaining property back to Mt. St. Mary's College.

During the early years of Clairvaux House, it served as a refined boarding house, later as an Inn. Due to the home's historic importance Fire Chief Guy McLauglin said when questioned that he would not venture an estimate as to a monetary extent of loss prior to contacting the owner of the property. The home at the time of the fire was one hundred years old. It was built by Dr. James A. Shorb who named the estate "Clairvaux."

The fire was said to be of a suspicious origin. It was also thought that vandals may have set it. Just prior to the one hundred seventy-eighth celebration of the College's anniversary of existence they felt that the walls of Clairvaux should be demolished. At the present time the land is being cultivated and has raised soy beans as well at wheat thereon. One historian of that area I met on the grounds stated he did not understand why the college had not left the gardens at Clairvaux in tact as it was a wonderful tourist attraction.

William Elder was the original owner of the Clairvaux property, however, it was not known as Clairvaux at that time nor did William at any time build on this property. In his will he deeded this piece of ground to his son Aloysius. At a later date Aloysius gave the property to the College reserving the burial ground which was near his father's home, Pleasant Level, for his family and himself to be buried there. When Aloysius made his will he gave the cemetery to the College and at present time they are still the owner of the cemetery. The college sold the property to Dr. James A. Shorb the builder and owner of Clairvaux. The house and land passed through many hands before the College was able to buy it back.

Information and history of this property came from deeds, wills, and from an article that appeared in the Emmitsburg Chronicle, from the Maryland Hall of Records, and from a book "We Discover the Old Dominion."

The happy ending is, the College now has the land in its possession.

I have fond memories of exploring the many rooms of this main structure when it was still standing. I was stuck by not only the size of this home, but the lavish elements in the interior that had survived the ravage of time and neglect. On any given visit, you could see evidence in many of the rooms that the structure was being used/abused by homeless folks and a party site for teenagers. It was not uncommon to see the areas on the floor where small fires had burned to warm a room. Sadly, as the above article mentions, the grand old mansion was destroyed by fire not long after I graduated from MSM.

Quick . . . count all the black dots!