I remember on one of the "Discussion Forums" a while ago that someone wanted to see a picture of a 1953 Studebaker. Well it just so happens that this was my very first "NEW CAR" and although I was not into photography then, I found this old snap of it. Being younger then ... of course I had to get a fairly bright color. It was a "Coral Red" with a "Creamy yellow Two-tone!" Classy!! It's unfortunate that it is not a better picture as it doesn't really do the car the justice it deserves. If that car was on the road today it would "turn heads" as one of the prettiest cars ever designed. They were way ahead of their time! Of course one never forgets their very first new car and they smell soooo good too!! Not unlike a student pilot .... they never forget their first solo flight either.
The picture on the right is my son, Harry and his cousin, Lonnie. It was taken at Owen Godwin's "Gatorland" near Kissimmee, Florida. That is a giant tortoise they are sitting with and it was roughly 150 years old! It was the most gentle creature you could imagine. The kids could sit on its back, pet it, feed it and even rub its snout and it seemed to just love it. I believe they originally came from Africa or Madagascar and are almost extinct. The natives and sailors of oldentimes killed them for their meat, which apparently is delicious. They also used their shells for many things as well. A damn shame! The picture on the left was taken at Tarpon Springs, Florida which has been famous for its sponge fishing for many years. This is a picture of one of the "sponge auctions" that were held there regularly. Sponges are not as popular today as they used to be and pollution is taking its toll with them. Tarpon Springs is also where they made the movie, "Beyond The Twelve Mile Reef" which starred Gilbert Roland, Walter Brennen and introduced a young man named "Robert Wagner!" It also gave one of the local girls a part in it and her name is "Irene Pappas" who later became famous in Hollywood. Her father opened the now famous Greek style restaurant there called .... quite naturally .... "Pappas Restaurant" and I imagine is still on the go to this day. The cuisine there was "top notch" but the prices were too!
Now this character on the left I could write volumes and volumes about! He is the husband of my niece Terry, shown on the right with my wife, Joyce. His name is Stan and he was born and raised here and farmed all his life. These past many years he has been a very successful "potato grower" but recently sold his potato farms and now only farms a few hundred acres of "cash crop." What is "cash crop" you ask? Well unlke potatoes which take pretty well all year working at, in that you have to till the soil, plant and then nurture those plants, then harvest the crop. From the harvest they are sorted carefully and stored in very large storage barns in which they are kept dry and at a fairly constant temperature. Then throughout the year they are constantly being sorted again and again and shipped to market during the winter months, right into late spring. All in all a very hard and time-consuming occupation with all kinds of challenges to overcome.
Cash cropping is simply tilling the soil and then seeding thatever crop you decide to grow, like wheat, barley, canola, etc. and except for the odd spraying, etc., it is generally contracted out to an expert in the field of "combining" that takes the crop off the fields and they are trucked straight to whatever storage plant the buyers have. Much less personal work involved but still not a job for the "faint-at-heart" to be sure. This "character", my nephew is the type of person that would do anything for anybody ... and has been that way all his life. However he does have one trait that is unique to himself only and that is ... he delights in "playing tricks" on anyone he can at any time he can! That's ALL THE TIME by the way :-) No doubt I shall later make more reference to him and some of his "antics" as I go along and share these many laughs with you as it is a constant, "ongoing saga" and some of his antics are real classics. You might have seen his picture in my "family section" of his daughter, Shannon's wedding in 1998.
I know that I'm wandering literally all over the world and with a great disparity in time sequence but I cannot help it. I find a picture that I've not seen for a long time ... if ever and after cleaning it up on my PhotoShop, I just HAVE to put it in somewhere ... anywhere it seems. That's what you would call not being organized and I certainly plead guilty to the charge! The pictures left and right are of my oldest brother Andrew. The one on the left is a snap of him when he was obviously a "raw recruit" in the Royal Canadian Air Force during WW 2. He is obviously in his "fatigues" here and has been "stuck" with guard duty ... rifle, bayonet and all. (Wonder what "hellry he got into to pull that assignment?:-) He joined as soon as he was 18 years old and got shipped out to Sea Island off the coast of British Columbia. He fell in love with the country out there and never moved back east .... not that I blame him. We haven't seen too much of him since then ... just the odd visit. He and his wife, Linda live in the Okanagan Valley. He has been retired from the B. C. government now for several years and he and his wife, Linda are very active in their community and their church there.
The picture on the left is one I recently found in my Mom's boxes of pictures that we kept after she passed away. This is Andrew in his Royal Candian Air Force dress blues. There wasn't much I had to do to enhance this one with PhotoShop. It's a nice picture of him. The picture above right was taken quite a few years later at an obviously more relaxed time in his life. He was an avid skiier and especially adept at high jumping. He travelled all over to ski competitions to places like Sun Valley in Idaho and wherever there was good skiing. As a matter of fact, he skiied so much and took such high jumps for years that he is now suffering with knee problems I believe. All those high jumps took their toll on his knees. At one time, I believe, due to the fact that he worked for the B.C. Government he was the only person ever allowed to have a cabin on Whistler Mountain. He and his friends had to carry everything way up that mountain by hand and on foot as there were then and still to my knowledge, have no roads except up to a certain point where there is a scenic overlook about halfway up. We have been there and I must say that the view from it alone is outstanding! I can imagine what it looked like from his cabin ... which by the way is now long gone!
Well I named this page "Anything - Everything" and that's exactly what I named it that for. You see, being as disorganized as I am, it gave me the excuse I needed to just drop anything I found anywhere without having to really worry about sequence. Of course I do my best to keep everything in some semblance of order but when you have as many pictures as I have it's difficult to keep track of them. Oh I know ... you are saying to yourself that I should have them all properly filed in order ... dates and all. Sorry but my picture files are like my life has always been ... complete and utter chaos ... so there!Naturally by now you must be aware of the fact that I am completely fascinated with the west with its mountains, deserts, cactus, mesquite, etc.. Above left is a picture of Joyce standing in front of a giant Sequoia Cactus so it should give you an idea how big they can get. To the right of that she is standing at another of the same species but it is not quite as large.
The one below the Sequoia is a sort of "tree" of cactus and the picture to the right of that just goes to prove what I said earlier about everything growing in the desert having spines or thorns. That's Joyce's hand there to show you just how large and formidable they can be! One thing you may not have been aware of and that is the fact that a cactus in desert conditions grows only an average of one half inch PER YEAR! Can you imagine how old that sucker must be? Notice the inevitable mountains in the background. I did notice in my travels that the larger cactii seem to be more prolific near the base of mountains as opposed to getting that large on the open desert. I have never really took the time to find a possible reason for this though.
Okay now go ahead and say it! You know ... why he "gambles!" Yup ... you got that right and have for the past ten years. Here is a picture of one of forty five Royal Flushes I have had in that time, to say nothing of the Slot and Card wins I also got. Keno is my biggest "long haul" money-maker though. Made well over a million dollars in that ten years but of course ... spent it by travelling all over the country sightseeing and playing more Casinos! We had our fun though. So what? As a matter of fact on the right you will find my wife, Joyce teaching the "art of Black-Jack" and my daughter Bonney ... you know ... the "shutter-bug" .... took the picture of her Mom and all her "regalia." Of course she had to ink in the name on the picture ... "The Honeywood Casino!" Smart-alec kids :-)
By the way this is my wife, Joyce. I think she was having her breakfast at the time I took this picture and as you can tell she is not really that thrilled about having it taken. I put this picture in here because I wanted to share what I call "That Special Look" she has when you have almost "reached the edge of the precipice." I always figured I had gone just about as far as I dare when she either "raised her left eyebrow or looked down her glasses" at me with that special look .... or else! Even after almost 53 years being married to her, I never exceeded that point to find out what actually may have been "beyond That Look and she weighs 125 pounds soaken wet against my 250 plus! Call me "chicken" ... I don't care :-)
Now ... back to the "gambling thing." There are few Casinos in North America that Joyce and I have not been at with the exception of Quebec. You see I do not recognize Quebec as part of Canada any more. They asked for that attitude with their goddam nonsense about separating so they can live with it! I will also have you know that I was educated in Quebec too! The older generation there want no truck with separation but the "nazi-type" politicians have seen to it that the children of the last 20 to 30 years have been taught it in the schools there (unknown to the parents) and once the parents die off they will get the vote they so badly want! Hope they pay the rather large bill they owe to the rest of Canada before they leave for us keeping them all these years! Sheeeeesh, we've bottle fed these people since we "licked the tar out of them" on the Plains of Abraham and like the "spoiled brats" they are ... they want it all and are getting it too!! Go figure and good riddance to them! When they do separate I expect that the French language will be illegal in the rest of Canada though. What's good for the goose you know ... At least we'll have an English Prime Minister for a change. Yeah! As a matter of fact after so many years of crooked, scheming people running Ottawa who are supposed to be doing what's best for Canada and the people, I am finding it harder and harder to like this country any more. Those scheming bastards have literally ruined our beautiful country with all their "hair-brained" over-legislation and over-taxation. That's to say nothing about the "Orwellian" methods they have been getting away with all these years. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out why they want to take all the guns from the people .... they just HAVE to know that we, the people don't trust them any more and if they "hammer us down" much more ... they know we will get mad enough to turn those guns on them! Not a bad idea if I do say so myself but why should we be so merciful to them by "ending their nonsense" quickly when they have oppressed the Canadian slowly, progressively by degrees ... yes and by "decree" for many years now? Free country? Land of opportunity? Not any more ... unless of course you are a federal "Fiberal" at Ottawa where you can dip into the public coffers at will and do what you want with the money!! So Ottawa ... watch your bloody step. Your day IS COMING of that there is no doubt in my mind. I sure hope I live long enough to see you bastards get what is coming to you!!
I remember on one of the "Discussion Forums" a while ago that someone wanted to see a picture of a 1953 Studebaker. Well it just so happens that this was my very first "NEW CAR" and although I was not into photography then, I found this old snap of it. Being younger then ... of course I had to get a fairly bright color. It was a "Coral Red" with a "Creamy yellow Two-tone!" Classy!! It's unfortunate that it is not a better picture as it doesn't really do the car the justice it deserves. If that car was on the road today it would "turn heads" as one of the prettiest cars ever designed. They were way ahead of their time! Of course one never forgets their very first new car and they smell soooo good too!! Not unlike a student pilot .... they never forget their first solo flight either.
The picture on the right is my son, Harry and his cousin, Lonnie. It was taken at Owen Godwin's "Gatorland" near Kissimmee, Florida. That is a giant tortoise they are sitting with and it was roughly 150 years old! It was the most gentle creature you could imagine. The kids could sit on its back, pet it, feed it and even rub its snout and it seemed to just love it. I believe they originally came from Africa or Madagascar and are almost extinct. The natives and sailors of oldentimes killed them for their meat, which apparently is delicious. They also used their shells for many things as well. A damn shame! The picture on the left was taken at Tarpon Springs, Florida which has been famous for its sponge fishing for many years. This is a picture of one of the "sponge auctions" that were held there regularly. Sponges are not as popular today as they used to be and pollution is taking its toll with them. Tarpon Springs is also where they made the movie, "Beyond The Twelve Mile Reef" which starred Gilbert Roland, Walter Brennen and introduced a young man named "Robert Wagner!" It also gave one of the local girls a part in it and her name is "Irene Pappas" who later became famous in Hollywood. Her father opened the now famous Greek style restaurant there called .... quite naturally .... "Pappas Restaurant" and I imagine is still on the go to this day. The cuisine there was "top notch" but the prices were too!
Now this character on the left I could write volumes and volumes about! He is the husband of my niece Terry, shown on the right with my wife, Joyce. His name is Stan and he was born and raised here and farmed all his life. These past many years he has been a very successful "potato grower" but recently sold his potato farms and now only farms a few hundred acres of "cash crop." What is "cash crop" you ask? Well unlke potatoes which take pretty well all year working at, in that you have to till the soil, plant and then nurture those plants, then harvest the crop. From the harvest they are sorted carefully and stored in very large storage barns in which they are kept dry and at a fairly constant temperature. Then throughout the year they are constantly being sorted again and again and shipped to market during the winter months, right into late spring. All in all a very hard and time-consuming occupation with all kinds of challenges to overcome.
I know that I'm wandering literally all over the world and with a great disparity in time sequence but I cannot help it. I find a picture that I've not seen for a long time ... if ever and after cleaning it up on my PhotoShop, I just HAVE to put it in somewhere ... anywhere it seems. That's what you would call not being organized and I certainly plead guilty to the charge! The pictures left and right are of my oldest brother Andrew. The one on the left is a snap of him when he was obviously a "raw recruit" in the Royal Canadian Air Force during WW 2. He is obviously in his "fatigues" here and has been "stuck" with guard duty ... rifle, bayonet and all. (Wonder what "hellry he got into to pull that assignment?:-) He joined as soon as he was 18 years old and got shipped out to Sea Island off the coast of British Columbia. He fell in love with the country out there and never moved back east .... not that I blame him. We haven't seen too much of him since then ... just the odd visit. He and his wife, Linda live in the Okanagan Valley. He has been retired from the B. C. government now for several years and he and his wife, Linda are very active in their community and their church there.
The picture on the left is one I recently found in my Mom's boxes of pictures that we kept after she passed away. This is Andrew in his Royal Candian Air Force dress blues. There wasn't much I had to do to enhance this one with PhotoShop. It's a nice picture of him. The picture above right was taken quite a few years later at an obviously more relaxed time in his life. He was an avid skiier and especially adept at high jumping. He travelled all over to ski competitions to places like Sun Valley in Idaho and wherever there was good skiing. As a matter of fact, he skiied so much and took such high jumps for years that he is now suffering with knee problems I believe. All those high jumps took their toll on his knees. At one time, I believe, due to the fact that he worked for the B.C. Government he was the only person ever allowed to have a cabin on Whistler Mountain. He and his friends had to carry everything way up that mountain by hand and on foot as there were then and still to my knowledge, have no roads except up to a certain point where there is a scenic overlook about halfway up. We have been there and I must say that the view from it alone is outstanding! I can imagine what it looked like from his cabin ... which by the way is now long gone!
Well I named this page "Anything - Everything" and that's exactly what I named it that for. You see, being as disorganized as I am, it gave me the excuse I needed to just drop anything I found anywhere without having to really worry about sequence. Of course I do my best to keep everything in some semblance of order but when you have as many pictures as I have it's difficult to keep track of them. Oh I know ... you are saying to yourself that I should have them all properly filed in order ... dates and all. Sorry but my picture files are like my life has always been ... complete and utter chaos ... so there!Naturally by now you must be aware of the fact that I am completely fascinated with the west with its mountains, deserts, cactus, mesquite, etc.. Above left is a picture of Joyce standing in front of a giant Sequoia Cactus so it should give you an idea how big they can get. To the right of that she is standing at another of the same species but it is not quite as large.
The one below the Sequoia is a sort of "tree" of cactus and the picture to the right of that just goes to prove what I said earlier about everything growing in the desert having spines or thorns. That's Joyce's hand there to show you just how large and formidable they can be! One thing you may not have been aware of and that is the fact that a cactus in desert conditions grows only an average of one half inch PER YEAR! Can you imagine how old that sucker must be? Notice the inevitable mountains in the background. I did notice in my travels that the larger cactii seem to be more prolific near the base of mountains as opposed to getting that large on the open desert. I have never really took the time to find a possible reason for this though.
Okay now go ahead and say it! You know ... why he "gambles!" Yup ... you got that right and have for the past ten years. Here is a picture of one of forty five Royal Flushes I have had in that time, to say nothing of the Slot and Card wins I also got. Keno is my biggest "long haul" money-maker though. Made well over a million dollars in that ten years but of course ... spent it by travelling all over the country sightseeing and playing more Casinos! We had our fun though. So what? As a matter of fact on the right you will find my wife, Joyce teaching the "art of Black-Jack" and my daughter Bonney ... you know ... the "shutter-bug" .... took the picture of her Mom and all her "regalia." Of course she had to ink in the name on the picture ... "The Honeywood Casino!" Smart-alec kids :-)
By the way this is my wife, Joyce. I think she was having her breakfast at the time I took this picture and as you can tell she is not really that thrilled about having it taken. I put this picture in here because I wanted to share what I call "That Special Look" she has when you have almost "reached the edge of the precipice." I always figured I had gone just about as far as I dare when she either "raised her left eyebrow or looked down her glasses" at me with that special look .... or else! Even after almost 53 years being married to her, I never exceeded that point to find out what actually may have been "beyond That Look and she weighs 125 pounds soaken wet against my 250 plus! Call me "chicken" ... I don't care :-)