Katama Airport

It's got to be one of the smallest airports in the country! Grass landing strip and can't beat the local weather forecaster - as good as any fancy dopplar radar if you ask me!

And you can get a ride in an open cockpit biplane. They are restored and are in pristined condition!

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to all the dad's out there in bloggersphere. I am very fortunate to be able to spent the day with my dad. My dad is hands down the coolest, best dad ever! He's my mentor and basically my hero! Here he is this morning showing off his new watch!

We enjoyed an Irish Soda bread with him which he loves filled with raisins and cranberries. His first bite comment was "mmmm, just like we used to have back in Killarney!"

Mother Osprey and her babies

It's that time of the year and with all the Osprey nests around the Vineyard it was no surprise to find this one in Aquinnah with 2 babies. The Osprey are fish eating birds so assume she is bringing her little ones some small bait fish.

Wild Turkey

During a visit to my Aunt's house today, she was not home but one of her wild turkeys was there to greet me! For years she has had between 6 and 12 wild turkeys living in her neighborhood and they always arrive at her house at dusk and fly up into her trees by her brook to sleep. Not sure I've ever seen one there mid-day without her pals but sure enough!

Stumps

Living in the woods does have it's challenges and one of them is for every tree that falls down or is taken down there remains a stump. With 24 stumps in the yard, it was becoming an obstacle course so it was time to have them all taken out! Here is the magic machine that did the work in about 3 hours! A before and after:

67th Anniversary of D-Day

June 6, 1944, the day the Allied powers crossed the English Channel and landed on the beaches of Normandy, France, beginning the liberation of Western Europe from Nazi control during World War II.

I first visited Omaha beach in the late 60s when we lived in France and I remember thinking how beautiful it was not really understanding what had happened here. I had the chance to return in the mid 80s with my Dad, the history professor. Standing there looking out while he described the events on that day and standing among the 9,387 crosses for all the young men who died during this operation is something I will never forget.

The year of the Rhododendron

This is truly a good year for this woody plant that seems to love it on Martha's Vineyard! Here are a few in bloom at the moment in our yard:

Happy 55th Anniversary!

My dear parents are celebrating 55 years of marriage. How cool is that!

Here they are June 2nd, 1956

And here they are June 2nd, 2011

A glorious sunset in their honor!

Softball season

My niece has turned out to be an awesome softball player! Here she is with her lucky red glove which by the way was my glove when I played softball as a teenager! What fun!