Leaving Brooklyn

New York City, a nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there. And by visit I mean get in, do what you gotta do and get out. The nice part about it is my old roommate lives in Yonkers and when we go to visit he does the tour-guiding and driving when we ride into town (by town I mean Manhattan). This picture was taken through the windshield of his van when we were heading over, from Squad 252's fire station in Brooklyn, to see the firefighters memorial at the 10 house across Liberty Street from Ground Zero. This picture also won a first place ribbon and $7 at the local fair. Yes, I think I did spend it all in one place.

Feliz Cinco de Mayo

America's Oldest Brewery (Painted Gentleman III)

Since 1829 the Yuengling family in Pottsville, PA has been brewing beer, good beer. Really. Good. Beer. Beer that looks like beer. Beer that tastes like beer should, not the watered down tasteless excuse for beer that the big national mega-brewers spend millions of dollars pushing on you. Sure, there is better, but for a non-micro it is very good. Unfortunatly for most of you, not on the east coast, you can't get it. But I can. If you are ever near Pottsville a tour is a must. The stale smell of beer, the narrow passages, the stained-glass window over the brewkettle and the free samples at the end of the tour let you know this is no corporate establishment. Don't drink? No problem, they also serve the best Draught Birch Beer you'll ever find. I think I can taste a road trip coming on.

Don't Bug Me

What makes a beautiful flower picture? Is it the lighting? Is it the best camera equipment? Is it the development or post-processing? No. What makes a beautiful flower picture? A beautiful flower. This fact has never bugged me.

Painted Gentlemen (I&II)

I've always liked taking pictures of old barns with painted advertisements, like Mail Pouch, they remind me of a simpler time before the eyesore billboards started popping up. I once met a man who was in the billboard business, he told me he got his start years ago painting Burma Shave signs and Merrimac Caverns advertisements on barns across the Midwest. Now it's all automated with computers and printers, another lost art. Anyways, these barns were seen along Route 522 between Orbisonia and Shade Gap, in central PA, last spring.

Purple Mountain Majesty

Besides home, and the 4 years I served in the military, I have spent more time in Colorado then anywhere else. I hope that time continues to grow. I love Colorado, whether in the fall hunting elk or the summer exploring with my family. Never has a place felt more like home other than home. This picture was taken on a Sunday morning last November while elk hunting. Sitting above a spring, 9500' above sea level, and watching the mountain wake up, I couldn't believe the colors. As nice as the picture is imagine it everywhere, 360 degrees, nothing else needs to be said.

Old Firefighters

As a life member of a volunteer fire department, with 27 years of service, I have been around long enough to remember the old days. Days when we would pile everyone on top of the tanker or squeeze one more guy on the tailboard and hold on tight. In these days of enclosed heated and air-conditioned cabs, my memories seem as distant as those of the old-guys who hung out at the station when I was a junior member. I have to wonder what is ahead for my son.