Soccer Time

The first day of soccer of Caylee and her 11 teammates on the 'Purple Dragons'.

The Hebron playground after practice.
Caylee and her friends at play.
Caylee ala Pele.

Graveyard Shift

My mid-day wanderings around downtown Hartford brought me into the Ancient Burying Grounds off Main Street.

Ancient Burying Ground with City Place in the background.
Things have become a little uneven over the centuries.
The Hooker Family plot.
Modern monument dedicated to the settlers of Hartford.
Modern gravesite marker dedicated to African Americans buried in unmarked graves.
For those who like to sit and rest in a burial ground.
A heartfelt memory.

Two Odd Items

Two shots that require a little explanation. The first picture was taken with a Lomo camera. It has four shutters that each take a picture in rapid succession. The resulting photo is something like a short filmstrip as it captures some movement. The second picture is actually a scan of my 1988 Los Angeles Marathon results. My goal was for under 3 hours but I had to settle for a 12 minute improvement over the year before.

Caylee's Birthday 2001.
Proud of 778th place (out of 12,215 finishers).

First Day of First Grade

Not much of a smile on the first picture. This is because Caylee is asking me, "Are you taking a picture of me or the flowers?". Okay. The second photo is looking left down Indian Field Road from the end of the driveway. Our extended yard on the left and wetlands on the right.

Caylee before her first day as a first-grader.
Looking left down Indian Field Road.

Wedding Photos From Rick

A couple more photos from Gerry and Whitney's wedding taken by our friend Rick.

Father/Daughter dance with a good shot of Caylee the photographer in the background.
Stephanie Garfield passes in front of the male portion of the wedding party.

A Wonderful Late Summer Day

One of the year's best day. Warm and dry air on a sun-filled day with a slight breeze and light blue skies. Just perfect for fighting the underground yellow jacket nests in the front and back yard.

Black-eyed Susan's are in full bloom.
Flowers in the back yard.
A view of 58 Indian Field Road from Indian Field Road.
Due to the rain and humidity, the lawn is unusually plush for late summer.

Charlestown Beach - September 2000

Two photos from 2000. Cherry just back from her U.S. citizenship ceremony. The guest speaker at the event, former Waterbury Mayor Philip Giordano, is now a convict. The second photo is of me in more fit times.

The new citizen.
Back from the gym.

Flashback to 2001

A couple photos of Caylee enjoying the water back in 2001. Seems funny to use the phrase 'back in 2001'. The first photo is from the last day of a vacation to Florida. The second is from September 11, 2001. I had taken Caylee out onto the beach to get her (and maybe myself as well) away from the horrible images on the TV screen. It was a very different world on that beach than across the water in NYC.

Disney World - March 3, 2001.
Charlestown Beach - September 11, 2001.

Ben Visits the Vet

My buddy was gimpy and not eating well. Although his test was negative, the vet has put him on antibiotics suspecting Lyme Disease. He also recommended that he lose 10 pounds or so. No more pig ears for a while.

Ben when he's feeling a bit better than today.

More Wedding Pictures

Saturday's wedding revisited with a few more photos.

The banquet hall before the crowd arrived.
Joe and Leslie.
The bride and her mother.
Caylee and her proud father.

Whitney & Gerry's Wedding Day

The threat of thunderstorms forced the wedding indoors but the event went without a hitch. Well, that is, expect for the hitching of Gerry and Whitney. You'll notice that many of these photos were shot from a low angle. That's because Caylee took most of the pictures. You'll also notice that she got a much better reaction from the subjects than I could expect.

Caylee the flower girl shows off her dress.
Caylee shows off her dress with a spin on the dance flower.
The first dance for the newly wedded couple.
The mother and father of the bride, Pat and Bill.
Gerry's best man and son: Jeremy (with his father-in-law in the background).
Caylee dances with her godfather, John.
Caylee's godfather, John, and his wife V.
Kris, Caylee and Leslie.
Mike, Irene and Mike.
Papa Whitaker.
Papa (Bill) Whitaker and Brenda, Caylee's godmother.
The bride's maid of honor and sister, Penny.
Family friends, Pete and Rudy.
Daughter of the groom, Stephanie, and sister-in-law of the bride, Cherry.
The wedding cake.
Brother of the bride, Trey, and son of the groom, Jamie.
Whitaker clan members.
Whitney and Gerry at the head table.

Wedding Rehearsal

Photos from Friday's wedding rehearsal at Glastonbury Country Club.

Caylee greets Papa Whitaker.
Caylee standing at the location of the wedding.
Gerry Garfield and Whitney Whitaker - the day before. The bride's parents are in the background looking on.

Thunder Storm

Just avoided a mid-day thunderstorm today. Scampered back to the office in just the nick of time. Below is a photo a general who led troops at the Revolutionary War's Battle of Bunker Hill. Interestingly, there is no statue of the 'father' of Bushnell Park, Dr. Horace Bushnell. The second photo is a flashback to April of 2002 when Ben was not yet 3 months old and Caylee a few months away from 5 years old.

General Israel Putnam.
Caylee and Ben on the back porch in Hebron.

Will It Go Round In Circles

Pulaski Circle near Bushnell Park is one of the few remaining rotaries in the Hartford area. This welcoming monument in the center of the circle is in just fair shape. Sad considering its purpose of welcoming people to the city. The Jaycees might want to look into this potential eyesore.

Monument at Pulaski Circle. City Place (where I work) in the background.
Count Pulaski was a hero of the Revolutionary War. He died very young.
And now for something completely different, Caylee catches some rays.

The Arch and Pizza Night

The first photo is from today's lunchtime walk in the park. The Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch in Bushnell Park is a Civil War Memorial dedicated in 1886. That makes it 117 years old. The second picture is of Caylee chomping on pizza dinner. She's 111 years younger than the Arch.

The Arch in Bushnell at midday.
Caylee biting into some pepperoni pizza.

Old Shirts = Big Smiles

I seem to have found a winning solution for the pile of slightly odd and smaller than comfortable shirts in my closet.

Caylee models her new sleepwear.

Ben and His Partner

My sister recently gave me this picture of my dog Ben and I. I can think of about ten pictures of myself from the past decade that I don't cringe while looking at. This one makes eleven.

Ben and I sitting in our back yard on a Sunday afternoon.

Interior Decorating

Finally carted my boxes up to my new workplace. It's much easier on the eyes than on Monday.

Before...
After...

A Walk in the Park

Took a brief walk in the park today and came back with these photos. It was around 1:30 so there was only the late lunch crowd and the folks who thought better about spending another summer day in a climate-controlled office.

A bit of everything. A person sleeping by the tree. A gentlemen walking by. A statue. And folks sitting around the pond.
A view of the state capitol from the east side of the park.
The water fountains in the Bushnell Park pond.

Into the Archives

No new photos today so I'm digging into the archives. The photos below are from a recent visit to my good friend Drew's house to catch a swim in his newly constructed pool. I remember the old days when we had to scrape together money for a six-pack. Of course, we had a 'six-pack' in those days but these days we can enjoy the pool, our daughter's company and a few more beers to pad our ample bellies.

Taylor and Caylee jump into the pool.
Lauren's toothy smile.
The girls pose for a photo.
Drew's dog, Zeeba, has a tough look and a gentle soul.

A Couple to Make You Smile

I hope that the following will cause you to grin or maybe even chuckle. Caylee is now a newly-minted six-year old and wants to do everything herself. I love this attempt at wrapping her wet hair in a towel after her bath. The second photo is from my good friend Judy. A couple weeks ago, she wasn't feeling well and decided to stay home to recooperate. Her husband snapped a picture of Judy napping on the couch and the crowd of pets that gathered to closely monitor her recovery.

Caylee insists on doing her own towel wrap.
Judy and her get well crowd.

First Day On the (New) Job

Orientation and the like to start things off at the new company. Everything went fairly smoothly with an office, PC and phone all set by the end of the first day.

The new digs. It needs photos and knick knacks but it has promise.
The mini-meeting area. Again, it needs a picture or two.
The view isn't exactly panoramic or awe inspiring but I can see blue sky, hills in the distance and the activities at the intersection of Trumbull and Asylum near the Civic Center.

Caylee's Gymnastic Sixth Birthday Party

About 20 friends and their kind parents gathered today for Caylee's sixth birthday party at Patti Dunne's School of Gymnastics in Hebron, CT. The kids had a wonderful time. The pictures that follow are just a small sampling of the tumbling, jumping and cake eating.

Amber navigates the trampoline.
Caylee gets tossed into the foam block pit.
After the exercise, the kids gather to wish Caylee a happy birthday.
The kids get ready for some sweets.
A winning smile from Caylee's friend, Lexi.
Caylee, the birthday princess, doesn't miss out on the cake.

Kayaking at Charlestown Beach, RI

Last Monday, Caylee and I visited Charlestown Beach for her first kayaking experience. Wanting to consider safety first, we have no photos from the boat but the following are a few pictures from our time on the beach.

A close-up on an ocean water-drenched Caylee.
Caylee in the surf with the huge beach crowd in the background.
Caylee coming to splash the photographer.

An Excursion to Amherst, MA

Friday was something of a rainy mess but we made a short day trip up north to the The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, MA and the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, MA. Here are some of the highlights:

Caylee's water color painting from the museum.
Papa's water color painting from the museum.
Grammy, Papa and Caylee outside the Hall of Fame.
Caylee posing with Larry Bird.
Caylee playing a little hoops on the Hall of Fame court.