Shout it from the rooftop...

THANK YOU to our service men and women...past, present and future.

"Thank You"
Philadelphia, PA

Dear Soldier,

1.  Your sacrifices and willingness to serve make me proud

2.  You might be miles away, but you are home in the hearts of many

3.   I admire your strength in the face of fear

4.  You are missed, honored and remembered

5.  Stay safe and....Thank you.


Take a moment and thank a soldier this Memorial Day weekend.

Distracted...

dis - tract- ed (adj.)

1.  unable to concentrate because one's mind is preoccupied

2.  common side effect when carrying a camera

"View from Restaurant Table"

Ambler, PA

IPhone

3.  lament of person who's companion is carrying a camera.  "WHAT are you looking at NOW?"

4.  incurable

Challenge Nation...

One of my dream list items is to participate in The Amazing Race.  Ever seen it?  Racing around the world with a partner and clues.  Sort of a "Where's Waldo" for the world traveller.  My chances are slim to accomplish that.  For many reasons.  One being the back stories on the contestants are getting more "unique" by the season.  At this point I think I'd have to be a mom (who use to be a dad), trying to mend a broken relationship with racing partner daughter, who as a baby was misplaced in a shopping cart while shopping in Target for Spanx, only to re-discover each other when they found themselves competing against each other playing Bejeweled Blitz on Facebook.  Not happening.  I don't play Facebook games.

The next best thing?

"I'm a Contender Contenda"

Challenge Nation

Philadelphia, PA
IPhone

Challenge Nation.  Perhaps coming to a city near you!  Part 5K.  Part scavenger hunt.  Part urban exploration.  Totally fun.  

"Morgan's Pier - Start"
Philadelphia, PA
IPhone

I want to thank my cutie pie (and always up for a challenge) niece #2 for discovering and corralling our team of four.  Which included my sister #1, niece #1, niece #2, and moi.  Our team name?  "Gramps' Gals".  Kinda apropos since Pops was a police officer and private eye...we SHOULD have those clue solving talents in our genes.  165 teams.  And we placed 42.  I call that WINNING, considering we had no freakin' idea what we were doing.  Thanks for the talents Pops.  Totally came in handy enabling us to read the clues, devise a strategy to quickly solve the clues in the best order, race thru the streets of Philly, and make it to the finish (a skill set probably reminiscent of what he employed in dealing with three daughters).  Start and finish?  Morgan's Pier along the Delaware River.

"Morgan's Pier - Finish"
Where's Waldo?

Philadelphia, PA

IPhone

Between start and finish we met a lovely couple from Texas who helped us complete one of our challenges.  We re-enacted a wedding on the steps of the Arden Theater...complete with a planter of flowers as a bouquet ("borrowed" from the shop across the street).  Took part in a Guinness World Record endeavor conducted by the Coast Guard.  And more than once....made fools of ourselves.  

"That's All Ya Get Folks"

Ben Franklin Bridge

Philadelphia, PA

IPhone

And because it was a race, and us "Gramps' Gals" come by our competitive gene honestly...I didn't take James Dean who only would have been urging me to stop and take some shots thereby diverting me from my mission.  So all ya get are a few IPhone photos at the starting point...and the finish line.  Which happen to be the same place.  So very little variety here.  But better believe I took mental note of where to go back with James on a more leisurely pace.  

Challenge Nation.  Totally an "Amazing Race"... without having to play Bejeweled Blitz on Facebook.  

17 pounds of old potatoes...

The week that was...

"Family Recipe"

May 13 - 20, 2013

Project 52 (20/52)

Twas a week of family happenings and gatherings.  Twas a week of fun.  Twas a week of surprises.  Like the unearthing of Great Grandmom Hagenmeyer's Potato Salad recipe in her daughter's (my Granny's) handwriting.  Truly a treasure.  Growing up, a McIntyre family gathering was not complete unless Grandmom Hagenmeyer's potato salad was on the dining room table.  All  twenty pounds of it, according to the size of the recipe.  And this is apparently why Germans are often referred to as "big-boned" I assume.

A few things happen the older one gets.  The older generation of family members begin to dwindle, and  family traditions, history and stories are left to the younger generations to carry forth.  Such is my family.  Such was Saturday night's gathering of my McIntyre cousins...which never left my kitchen table until 2 a.m. when we finally hit the sack.  We sprang forth from the five children of Eleanor and Joseph McIntyre.  We grew up getting together a few times a year.  But as often happens, life gets in the way and we all went our separate paths.  As we've gotten older (and yes, thru our conversation the other night we indeed realized that we ARE getting older) we've realized it's up to us to keep our families connected.  And we also realized a couple of other things thru our evening of gabbing:

1.  We each knew things about our family that the others didn't.  And WOW...did we learn alot when we started to share the stories.

and..

2.  We are all pretty darn hilarious...especially the blonde one from Jersey.  There most definitely must be a German "funny" gene.

I want to thank my cousin Carol for unearthing the potato salad recipe in my Granny's handwriting and sharing it with us.  It might look only like ink on an old and yellowing piece of paper but...it's priceless to us McIntyre's.  Don't let the name McIntyre fool ya.  Despite the Irish origin, we are mostly German...as is the recipe.  Which made me wonder where I was going to find 17 pounds of OLD potatoes?  Ironically, the defining characteristics of OLD potatoes are those that are:  larger, starchier and thicker skinned.  Eerily similar to all those old German women in our old family photos, including Grandmom Hagenmeyer.  Coincidence?  Doubt it.

Kick your shoes off...

...and stay awhile.

"Kick Your Shoes Off"
Manarola, Italy

How do you say "relax" in Italian?  Rilassari.

Wandering...

"Wandering"
Rittenhouse Square
Philadelphia, PA

Wandering is a talent. To free yourself from destination or objective. To keep yourself open to the possibility of "accidentally" finding something good or useful while not specifically searching for it.  Yep, it's an art to carry out a plan where your only plan is not to have one,  except for the possibility of a happy surprise.  Wandering.  Not everyone can do it.

Field of dreams...

The week that was...

"Field of Dreams"

Ambler, PA

May 6 - 13, 2013

Project 52 (19/52)

Sometime between childhood and adulthood, my perspective changed.  Not sure when that exactly happened.  But this is the time of year when dandelions magically morphed from suns to moons.  From an ocean of weeds, to a field of dreams and wishes.  Pluck a dandelion.  Make a wish. Cast it to the winds.  Keep a dream alive.  Somewhere along my journey, my morphing abilities disappeared.  Poof.  Gone with the wind.  All I saw were weeds that meant someone wasn't being a very good neighbor.

But last week I saw things a bit differently.  I dropped Thing #3 off at her voice lessons and was driving home when a sea of cotton balls caught my eye.  These were definitely NOT weeds.  It may have been the way the sunlight was hitting the multitude of moons.  It may have been I was living dangerously by not keeping my eyes ON the road instead of wandering.  It may have been my perspective on a few things kinda changed last week so I was open to possibilities.  It may have just been dumb luck.  

Regardless, the dandelions called to me.  It had been a LONG time but...I listened.  This was a field of dreams where wishes are made.  And you betcha I put one, or a few, out into the universe courtesy of the wind.  And when I was finally done, of course I took a few photos.  There are just SOME things I can't morph out of.