The New York Memorial and National Cemetery, Gettysburg, Pa. 2011

THE NEW YORK MEMORIAL

IN NATIONAL CEMETERY, GETTYSBURG, PA.

The known dead in the National Cemetery are buried in eighteen different groups, each state having its own individual section. New York State has erected this memorial to her group, which constitutes 867 graves, the largest state group in the Cemetery.

Marken & Bielfeld, Inc. Frederick, Md.

4A-H761

This is the third in my series of redone postcards of Gettysburg. This one was fairly straight forward to get. Obviously the road, or walking path, the circles the memorial has been moved. The brick building shown in the old card actually sits further around the the left (unless this is a second building) The water tower is new also. As for the addition stones? Only Mr. Marken and Mr. Bielfeld could explain that one.

Sunday Night Barn Fire

Last Sunday night I pretended I was young again and ran out the door at 10 PM when the alarms rang out for a barn fire. Cool, I can get some fire pictures, that's not something I can get everyday. I caught the second engine out of the Vigilant's house and as we approached the scene you could see a smoke column lit up by all the apparatus already fighting the blaze. Then I hear our orders; establish a tanker fill site. Hey!, there's no fire there! But there was still pictures to be had. Soon our tanker showed up to be refilled. I jumped on board and hitched a ride to the scene. I walked around and took a bunch of pictures and on the tankers next time back to empty I again jumped aboard for a ride back to Engine 1 and the fill site. We finally got released and back to the station. Then home and a shower. And to bed at 2:30 AM. I'm sorry, but this body no longer does 2:30 AM. I think I'm still paying for it.

Shippensburg Fair, The Results Show

Well it's been a few years now that I entered a picture in the Shippensburg Fair. I think it was 2007 and it was the picture of us driving through the Brooklyn Bridge. It took first place that year. I also enter a flower picture with a butterfly that I probably should have thrown away instead. But we won't talk about that. This year I entered the maximum of five. In order as shown; Skyscape - this was on Assateague Island last summer matted and framed at 14x18. Landscape - Harrisburg skyline from the west shore with the reflection in the Susquehanna River. Framed and matted to 10x20. Other - that's Engine 252 pumping water last summer during some water supply training framed and matted to 11x14. Floral - columbine in my backyard this spring. Framed and matted to 12x12. B&W Landscape - snowy creek in the Flat Tops Wilderness Area last fall. Framed and matted to 10x13. Drum roll please... Sunrise, Friday the 13th took first place in the Adult Color Skyscape category. That would be a Blue Ribbon and a check for $5.oo. And that's it. I couldn't even drag a stinking third place white ribbon out of any of the others. Wait 'til next year.

Coca Cola Park, Allentown, Pa.

Last Friday I was able to attend my first baseball game of the year. We drove to Allentown, Pa. to see some friends and spent the evening in 100 degree heat at Coca-Cola Park, home of the Lehigh Valley Ironpigs. The Ironpigs are the AAA team of the Phillies. So, with Philly just an hour away you would expect to stadium to be full. It was. Paid attendance was just over 9500 but by looking at the empty seats I would say it was closer to 7000. Nice park. A near cookie cutter of all the other new ball parks out there. We bought General Admission - Lawn tickets which are just as they sound; just above centerfield in the grassy hillside. The girls found a picnic table just outside the picnic area and laid claim there for the evening. Junior and I wandered around the park and sat for a while in the grass lawn. The game (I'll cover later) was followed by fireworks (I'll cover later). At firework time the thermometer still was reading at the century mark. No relief with sunset. No hot dog here that night, we split an order of nachos with pulled pork on top. Not too bad. The 'Pigs lost eventually to the Columbus Clippers (AAA Cleveland Indians) 3-6.

Sorry for the missing posts, still have computer issues and hope to resolve them soon.

Free Water

Christ United Methodist Church on East King Street, Just a half block from the square has had these coolers of water out on their front steps all summer. I think they did the same thing last year. Along with the free water comes a message. I see this message every day and think, "I need to stop and capture that. Finally, yesterday morning, the words were bright and new even if the skies were dull and overcast.

Major General Winfield Scott Hancock Monument, Gettysburg, Pa. 2011

MAJOR GENERAL WINFIELD SCOTT HANCOCK

MONUMENT, GETTYSBURG, PA.

This memorial is surrounded by territory which staged stubborn fighting during the second day of the battle. Major Hancock and his men, after a most celebrated struggle, was successful in repulsing the Confederate troops. Many leading officers on both sides were killed or wounded during the second day's battle.

Marken & Bielfeld, Inc., Frederick Md.

4A-H767

This is the second of my Gettysburg postcard reenactments. Kind of a where are they now retrospective, if you will. Not sure what I did wrong with this one. The near monument is smaller than it should be and the monument on the left is farther left of where it was. I don't know if backing up would have solved this or not. Still, pretty darn close to the original.

Danger Live Wire

'cause Elmo says so.

Still dealing with computer issues, bear with me.

Waiting at the Station

Engine 944 sits waiting at the station in Harrisburg.

Sorry this is so late, major crash with the computer last night. Hopefully I can get something figured out this weekend. It's been a slow but good computer for the past 7 years. maybe it's time to upgrade.

Tamaqua, Back in Time

This picture was just begging for an antiquey finish. This is the old Tamaqua National Bank (now M+T Bank) on the square (Pentagon? There are 5 streets coming together here) in downtown Tamaqua, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania. I found an old postcard of this building. I could've made a postcard re-do of it!

NYC, Year of the Rabbit

It's been almost 6 months since the Lunar New Year parade in NYC which means just 6 months until the next one. Next year is mine. The Year of the Dragon. These are some of the costumed rabbits that were part of the parade. Some were cute and almost cuddly. Some were just plain creepy. I know last year we saw some tigers but not near as many as we saw of the rabbits. I guess everyone broke out their Easter Bunny costumes. There where even people wearing clip on bunny ears.

The Old Barn on the Hill

Barn Charm 8. I'm posting for Barn Charm two weeks in a row. That has never happened. I was out and about yesterday morning. I picked some red raspberries, mmmmmm. (not recommended to do in shorts, though) Then I found a patch of wildflowers that held my interest for a while. And on the way back to town I swung by this barn. I posted this barn before, but only as a header, I think. And that was years ago. There is another one nearby across the creek I'll post it sometime it had a little surprise attached to it. Imagine what this barn would have looked like if it got a coat of paint once in a while.

Minnesota Monument, Gettysburg, Pa. 2011

MINNESOTA MONUMENT

GETTYSBURG, PA.

When the Northern forces were divided during Pickett's charge, General Hancock sent the First Minnesota Regiment to fill the gap. This regiment suffered an 82% loss in the battle and the largest of any loss of any regiment accounted for in any battle in the history of the world. Nearby is the Pennsylvania Memorial to her sons who fought at Gettysburg.

Marken & Bielfeld, Inc., Frederick Md.

7A-H1542

I said last summer I would do this and here is the first one. Last weekend I spent just a few hours in Gettysburg. I followed the sun and found the postcard images that were well lit. My initial outing provides postings for the next 5 Sunday's. I'm not sure if the lean on the Minnesota Monument is lens distortion or if it is settling over the 70 years since the original postcard image was taken.

The LZ at JLG

Last Sunday the guys from Vigilant Hose were dispatched to set up a landing zone for an incoming medical helicopter. Life Lion (out of Penn State Hershey Medical Center) was coming from the Carlisle Airport to pick up a patient. An LZ was established in a local manufacturing parking lot. After the prep work in the ambulance by the nurses from the helicopter the firefighters wheeled the stretcher out and loaded patient for flight.

Not Your Average Pyrotechics

I'm bored and playing with some firework pictures. A little twist. A lot of twist. A bubble. Not saying firework pictures aren't cool all by themselves. It's just that sometimes you got to change it up a little. I really like the first one. It's the same one that's down as the footer.

& Bro Furniture, Lansford, Pa. (PG 171)

Good luck reading through all the ivy. "& BRO FURNITURE CARPET", that's it. I was standing on West Patterson Street near Spring Garden Street in Lansford, Carbon County, Pa. when I took this. Which, by the way, put me at the intersection of Route 209 and Route 902. The building, which had no distinguishing marks on the front, sits on the first block of West Ridge Street.

I Went to a Fight and a Hockey Game Broke Out

No, seriously, there was no fight, just a hockey game. My brother-in-law is goalie for the pale-yellow/yellow/white jersey team with the black and/or red pants. This is an adult league made up of kids who recently graduated high school and guys who's kids will soon graduate high school, so there was definitely no fighting. Most of these guys had to go to work the next day. It was a good game. A high scoring game, the Wild won 6-5. And some of the players were actually really good. With no more than a dozen spectators I had free run of the bleachers to move around. Ultimately I took some really good action shots. Post processing involved cropping and lightening to make the ice whiter (the lighting at the rink was better than I anticipated). But I met my match trying to get the color of those drab yellow jerseys to pop.