February Travel

We're experimenting with embedding material in a post, so we'll backtrack a bit.  Ann and I flew to Florida in February for the last launch of the Space Shuttle Discovery.  Leaving a vicious beast at home to defend the castle,

we had a series of weather transitions along the way.

The picture above is about 8 miles from the launch pad.  The water and docks you see in the foreground are actually from a small marina located just north of Kennedy point (that's the trees on the right), but it was also the best location for a front row seat.  I've attached a short video of the launch taken from Kennedy Point.  It is absolutely amazing how fast 4.5 million pounds leaps off the pad.  Just a hair better than our Cessna.



We got a new camera for traveling - a Panasonic Lumix DMC FZ40, what is called a super-zoom.  It comes with a huge 24X optical zoom which was key to our purchase.  A photography smart nephew (well, technically a nephew - he's as old as we are) gave us the tip.  He said optical is much more powerful then digital zoom where you just get more pixels and basically crop in for a larger picture.  The problem with the latter is you just get bigger pixels and the picture gets progressively fuzzier as you enlarge.  Optical is better. 

The camera also came with auto-stabilization, auto focus, auto setting, and a video capability.  Pretty much the perfect camera for me; if its a good shot its superior skill, and bad shots are the software's fault.  Even though there was a little shake in the video, all these features made it a pretty smooth shot.

We also visited friends in Naples FL and Perry GA, and spent a few days at Ft Myer's Lani Kai Beachfront Resort.  We parked the rental car the day we got there and didn't touch it again until we left.  We had forgotten about spring break, however, so this was just a tad more entertaining than we had planned.  Still, the beach was excellent and the live music from early morning to late at night was not all that bad -- loud, but not bad.

Eventually we had to return home to feed the beast and when we did, we had some shoveling to do.  All in all, though, it was a pretty good trip all the way around, and the view at home was not without a certain appeal.

Well that seemed to work out pretty well as grand experiments go.  We won't always be posting travelogs, but as we find the occasional noteworthy image or video, we'll include it here.

ambling along

I coached baseball a few years back.  I won't say it was "just" little league and pony league.  That makes is sound like it wasn't much.  It was actually among the most enjoyable, memorable, instructive and constructive things I've ever done.  Like most things, though, it was part of a lot of other things.

We moved to Waynesboro PA as a military assignment.  Wife, son, two daughters (one of the four legged beagle persuasion) and the usual tonnage that comes with a move.  It was tough leaving Hickam AFB, Hawaii.  We all made friends there we remain in touch with to this day.  Waynesboro is a small but interesting town with great people and a sound feeling.  Someone once wrote of Columbus OH that it had an air of mental health about it.  Well, that is Waynesboro.  Occasionally, when things get a little out of round, quiet interventions take place and the thumping and vibrating recede.  It's nice to live among adults.

We were lucky to meet Larry Price shortly after arriving.  My son and daughter needed to make new friends.  On military bases this is as easy as walking outside with a ball.  Before long a few kids show up, shortly after that a game breaks out and friends are made.  Folks in Waynesboro tend to measure time in town in generations.  Although very friendly and sociable, they've had no particular reason to develop the habit of immediately engaging the new folks, a habit among military families that eases the strain of frequent moves.   

One of the centers of activity in Waynesboro is the YMCA where we inquired about sports.  Mike was (and is) a multi-sport athlete, and we were still sorting out Meredith's interests.  Before long we were referred to Larry who did two things.  First, he hooked us up with Bob Stum and his traveling soccer teams.  Bob had been coaching high school soccer for about 30 years at that point and used the traveling teams to develop talent for his high school team.  Second, he picked Mike for his Landis Machine little league team.  I helped Larry coach baseball and eventually became active coaching and organizing soccer.  From these two actions we met a lot of Waynesboro which has become our home town.

So, like many stories, this story comes full circle.  A lot happened before and after this period.  There were Ann and I and then us.  I have a hard time imagining a time when we were not together.  Larry passed a few years ago.  We still think fondly of he and his family who made our transition to Waynesboro enjoyable.  Bob has retired from coaching high school soccer but has a significant soccer legacy.

This blog will be somewhat like the story.  Activity leads to stories and there are stories linked to stories.  As we move about, we keep meeting interesting people, visiting new places, learning new things and sharing with others.  One of the lessons I passed to players on teams I coached, in sports and professional life, was that it mattered little what one had already done, or what mistakes were made.  The most important play is the next play. 

There is a saying that goes something like you don't have enough time to make and learn from all the mistakes in the world, so you should learn from those of others.  What we'll do here is chronicle what we're doing in a wide range of areas.  This is an invitation to share stories and comment on those of others.  I like chatting with adults, and I like mental health, so we'll try to use those notions as standards.  Hopefully we'll share a lot and be in a better position to apply it to the next play.   

               Cheers - Dan DeDona