The Proving Ground by G. Bruce Knecht
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Excellent tale about the disaster in the 1998 Sydney-Hobart ocean race. The text in the new part of the book about the sailors from the original tale and their lives during and after the legal and personal shakedown from the race drags.
January Sail
In keeping with our decision to get off our duffs and actually sail our boat this year, Mary and I took advantage of a beautiful January day for our first sail of the year.
Conditions were mild at about 49 degrees and the winds were light and variable at 1-5 knots from WNW.
If you aren’t familiar with Tellico Lake, it runs basically SW to NE so that placed the wind almost directly on our beam as we headed NE from the marina. Continue reading
Wow, an absolutely spectacular day for golf. 57, clear and sunny. Karl Heye and I played – poor scores on a soggy wet course but great fun. Played Tanasi – 18 holes.
Jose's is a great place.
On our recent trip to the Gatlinburg / Pigeon Forge area, we discovered a great Mexican restaurant called “No Way Jose’s Cantina”.
Jose’s place is at traffic light #5 on the Parkway in Gatlinburg (that’s how they tell you how to find a place up there). It is tucked between the Little Pigeon River and the Greystone Lodge near the Ripley’s Aquarium. Continue reading
This past Wednesday found us in chilly sunny Gatlinburg, Tennessee for a little semi-local tourism – our Cruise Club was going to Pigeon Forge for an outing on Thursday and we decided to go a day early and see some of the sights without the Summer gridlock.
We had heard that the Ripley’s Aquarium was well worth visiting so we opted to get inside out of the cold and enjoy the warm climate and get up close with some fish.
Mary and I both love aquariums and we had heard that this one was as good as (some said better than) the Tennessee State Aquariums in Chattanooga so we were anxious to make out own comparisons. Continue reading
23rd Anniversary
Saturday January 14th, 2012 marked Our 23rd wedding anniversary.
The world didn’t shudder nor did my heart stop although both did on the day we met.
We have traveled the world together, shared many wonderful experiences (and a few tough ones) and throughout them all, we have loved and supported one another.
If I could give the world a gift, it would be for every person to experience what we have experienced.
Happy anniversary Mary
Happy New Year
It is customary on New Years Day to look at the events of the past year. As in most years, there were good times and not so good times but overall, 2011 was a pretty good year for Mary and me.
Our Todd apartment was showing its age and Mary and I spent about 6 weeks up there cleaning, painting and visiting.
We watched our first grandson Zackary graduate from High School and re-connected with our granddaughter Elizabeth who has become a remarkable young lady. Continue reading
Sea Bitch: Four Tales of Nautical Noir by Christine Kling
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Don’t mess with these women, they won’t tolerate it. I have just discovered Christine Kling and decided to start reading her works at the beginning with this collection of short stories about strong women in nautical situations. I intend to read all her books and, most particularly, wanted to read the introduction to Seychelle Sullivan the main character in her newer works. I was certainly not disappointed here. Plenty of action, reef strewn twists and turns and believable, well constructed tales. I’m looking forward to my next ride.
Rich & Jerry with Santa (Paul)
Though I was a very grown up 11 years old, I still considered Santa Claus to be an annual visitor and attributed global travel via sleigh and travel down chimneys to be just further proof of Santa’s magical powers.
In 1958, I had decided I wanted to become a photographer and make my fortune taking pictures in exotic places like my father’s cousin, Walter Dean. So, much of my birthday and Christmas centered around a Brownie Starflash Camera and numerous darkroom gadgets and supplies. Continue reading
The banjo player himself.
Wednesday the 7th was the last 2011 gathering of the Tellico Bluegrass Band.
This is really getting to be a fun jam session and as we become more familiar with one another and our individual styles and limitations, our music is beginning to take on a life of its own.
Before each session Andy, our lead banjo player emails us a “Topic” for new songs at the next jam. This week, the topic was drinking and jail – bluegrass has a lot of songs on these topics. Continue reading
