Hurricane Sandy : Odd Gifts From The Sea

Before orders to evacuate I walked the turbulent beaches of Atlantic Beach. During these times it can be fascinating to view what stuff roles up on shore the more distant parts of the ocean. Old children's pales and shovels , a ripped up banner that reads Cape Hatteris. A half deflated inner tube ,old wine bottles  lots of plastic bags and oh by the way several condoms. Nice to know people are practicing safe sex on the high seas. Refuse left behind generally.  So much junk , so little planet. Some say this could be a truly a horrible storm once the full consequences are felt and added up. They may be right , right now the sea looks like I have not seen before.....dark , all  encompassing. Going to higher ground.

My Hometown of Schodack NY My Fortress of Solitude

This past weekend I stopped by my hometown after a trip to Albany on family business. I went to a spot in a wooded area I know well. near my old high school. I needed to slow down and think. I set on a boulder and zoned out. No history research or archeology dig this time. I believe everyone needs to stop every so often and just think and sort through things. I am facing surgery on my throat and it also appears being mildly struck by lightening this past summer may have given me mild heart damage. The term Fortress of Solitude comes from The Superman Comic series. It was his hidden place in the ice of the north  where he sometimes went for solitude and solace. My occasional trips back home where I am now little known or remembered  is my place. It is where I remember where I came from. The land I tread upon when younger. The people now mostly gone who took time to give me advice or council. Sometimes it is a good thing to remember where ones roots are.....it can help keep humility in ones life. I needed the roots of my past this recent weekend  and I needed the quiet. It was time to take a deep , long breath of cool fresh air. It was time to step from the shadows that one may sometimes place ones self in. I found it at my old home area. I have found that many people in life need to take that time. You might say it is essential time for ones soul. So on the heights above the Hudson I found some quiet time and hope you all do as well.

International James Bond Day....007

I was 11 yrs old when the first James Bond movie  premiered  50 yrs ago today. Dr. No was the title. I was later that spring to see it  at a drive in movie in the nearby town of East Greenbush New York. Later in my life I would start to read all of Ian Fleming's novels. There has been tons of items written about Bond in the last few days concerning this celebration day. I doubt I can add much. This now icon of the secret agent genre has been much studied , sifted through , items sold at auction  talked about. This fictional character starting in the declining yrs of The British Empire going through the cold war and the sixties to the fall of the Berlin wall to our age of terrorist fears he has been with us. All my life. I suspect he will out live me. I guess to me he has become that mysterious uncle or whispered about relative we know from a distance. Someone who seems to spend time in the shadows. There are in reality people like this ,, like the seal teams etc. So my compliments to his creator and movie producers for the fantasy of the glamorous shadows. It's been a great run these 50 yrs.