The "Caribbean Town with Color" Story

It was an ordinary day. We are walking the streets of Philipsburg. Philipsburg is the capital of Dutch Sint Maarten in the Caribbean. St. Martin/Sint Maarten is the only sea island divided between two nations; France and the Netherland Antilles. Seems years ago a Frenchman and a Dutchman set out in opposite directions from the same point to see how far they could walk around the edge of the island. When they met, they would draw a line across the island to where they both reached and that would be how the island would be divided. Well, the Frenchman was drinking wine while the Dutchman was drinking beer, a much heavier beverage, so the French side of the island is larger. The Dutch accused the Frenchman of running, but the whole story is just folklore anyway. We cross over the border without any trouble since it is only marked in two places with a monument. Philipsburg is located near the cruise terminal and therefore is much busier on a day when cruise ships dock. Today is not one of them and the streets seem deserted. Great for us, but bad for the store owners. The town is located between a large salt pond which has large crystals of salt around the edges, and the ocean. It has two main streets, Front St. along the water and Back St. along the salt pond. A few years ago I filled a bag with the salt crystals to bring home. Carol was worried that going through security at the airport we would be stopped because they would think it was drugs. Hey, let them try the crystals and they'll know what they are. We park at the one end of Front St. and follow their new boardwalk along the water. Really made of concrete,
since a wooden boardwalk probably wouldn't withstand a hurricane. Beautiful white beach call Great Bay Beach lines the water. When we reach the end of the town we head back one block to Front St. and walk toward our car. Store after store of jewelry and t-shirts. A few casinos are spread along the way to help get rid of your money. Actually have a Subway and a McDonalds on the street. The street is line with concrete pavers of different colors and is really neat. We pass the Guavaberry Emporium where they sell flavored rum and was featured on an episode of Three Sheets. We pass the courthouse which for the first time, since we have been visiting, has the front door open. Naturally I have to walk in. Big sign inside the door proclaims, "This is not the postoffice", so we leave. We also pass a fantastic restaurant, painted with bright colors called l'escargot. Part way back we head back to the water to eat at The Barefoot Terrace. The smoothies really cooled us off. Had a Strawberry / Raspberry while Carol had the Coconut / Mango. We finally made our way back to the car and headed back for a cool, welcome dip in the pool at the villa. Great day in a truly Caribbean town. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. PS - Photos from the top are: beach chairs on Great Bay in Philipsburg, umbrellas on Great Bay beach, Guavaberry store on Front Street, Courthouse on Front Street, restaurant l'escargot and Barefoot Terrace restaurant on the boardwalk.

The "Red makes it look like you're going faasssster" Story

It was an ordinary day. We were out for a ride in the Vette. Didn't have the top off because it is a little cool today, but not that cold that we can't have the windows open to feel the wind in our hair, ..... or at least Carol's hair. Decided to head toward Millersville where Millersville University is located. Haven't been there for a while so we'll see if anything has changed. Millersville is a very small town which has the University as the center of the town. But, today we also plan to visit Funk's Farm Market. They have some of the best pastries. Their cinnamon rolls with huge amounts of vanilla cream frosting on top with raisins on top of that are great. Can make a meal of one of those. We stop and visit Funks and put our purchases in the back of the Vette and head south towards the Susquehanna River. Take a nice tour of the country side and stop at Safe Harbor Dam for a walk to the far end of the dam. Check out the fishermen and their catch and head back towards the car. Time to head back and we decide to take the same scenic route home that we just traveled. As we approach Millersville from the south we get in a line of traffic which is about 4 or 5 cars long. Everyone going the 35-40 MPH. Speed limit in the area is 35, or so I thought. Ahead about 2 miles is Funks and we are still traveling in the same line of traffic. We pass a property which houses a body shop and car repair and notice a police cruiser sitting in the driveway. As we continue he pulls in line behind me and after following the line of traffic for a mile he puts on his flashing lights. The line of cars all see him and we start to pull to the right as far as we can. He starts past me and then ....... looking over at me, motions me to pull over. Geeze, what did I do? I wait as he sits in his cruiser, admiring the back of my vette. Then he opens his door and comes up beside my window. I greet him and he tells me he timed me at 41 MPH. I responded that I was just following everyone else and I guess we were all going the same speed. He then assured me that I was the one going the 41 MPH and the speed limit is 25 MPH. "Where is the sign that says 25?" I asked him. Now I'm starting to get annoyed. He said I must have missed it. Carol taps me on the leg and tells me to keep my mouth shut at this point. Which I do! He then walks back to sit in his cruiser and write a ticket while the smoke is coming out my ears. I then have a pretty neat idea. I ask Carol if she thinks he could catch us if I take off. She only stares at me! Then I say, "How about taking the camera we brought along and when he comes back with the ticket, get out and take a photo of him next to the car giving me the ticket." Great for the scrapbook. She still only stares at me. Oh, well! I do check to see if there is a 25 MPH sign and there is. I then think maybe I should protest the ticket because he was singling me out because I was driving a Corvette. I eventually got over it and paid the ticket. Was telling my friend Wayne, who is a MT policeman, about the experience and he said, "Millersville cops are famous for doing that, and besides, I told you when you bought that red car that everyone will be out to get you!!" It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. PS - top photo shows me driving way fassssster than 41MPH and bottom is what the cop saw when he stopped us. Pretty neat view, huh.

The "Arrivals are more fun than departures" Story

It was an ordinary day. 6:30 AM and I'm sitting by the pool at Villa Jeluca on the French side. Another great choice for our yearly vacation to St. Martin in the Caribbean. Arrived two days ago in mid-afternoon and made our way through customs. Barely! Seems like I talked Carol into getting into the shortest line so we would get our luggage faster. Worked well until we got to the front of the line and the sign over the customs girl Transfers Only! Our turn. She looked at the form we filled out on the plane and told us we were in the wrong line. Then, my wife went to work. She said that the sign is so hard to see from the back and we just got in the wrong line. Can't she just stamp our passports? I kept my mouth shut, since I picked the line. Smash, down the stamp and we were on our way. Way to go dear! Bugs are bad at 6:30 AM by the pool. Seems I'm sharing the keyboard with quite a few mosquitos and many more are trying to read this on the screen as I type. Have no idea where the bug spray is and since my wife is sleeping in this morning I will just have to swat 'em. We made our way to the realtor and followed Stephane up the hill to our villa. Fantastic view!! Can see Orient Bay and the island of Pinel with the colorful umbrellas is right off shore. In the distance is the island of Anguilla which we plan to visit for a day this year. Stephane helped get us set up. TV, BBQ grill, AC, wireless connection, and all the other essentials for a great vacation. Even left a basket of food for us. Yesterday we had to call Stephane. Help! AC isn't very cold, TV won't come on again and the wireless connection isn't working and I already missed one day of stories on my blog. He was there in 10 minutes. Pushed the wrong button on the remote. You must turn it on by pushing the button on the TV and not the remote. Seems someone took the remote home with them that is used to turn on the TV. OK. AC was actually working, but we figured out that some of the small windows were open and the cold air was escaping. And the internet ........... he had to go get a new router to correct that problem. Now we're set. Ready for some more stories. And, the sun is starting to cook me. Have to hop in the pool and then find the sunscreen. I'm letting the Toshiba for the bugs. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The "Four Generations" Story

It was an ordinary day. We were on the back porch at mom and dad's house for a picnic and decided it was time for some family photos. We had everyone together for dinner and it was time to document history. Four generations were here today. First we lined up the girls. Mom wanted to take the photo in front of the baby carriage that she used to push me from the 6oo block of South Prince Street to Central Market in the center of Lancaster. Lined everyone up and I took the photo. Picture included my mom Dottie, my wife Carol, our daughter Brynn and our granddaughter and Brynn's daughter, Courtney. Next it was time for

the guys. I stood to the left and next to me was our son Derek who was holding our grandson and Derek's son Caden and then my dad Paul. These pictures feature four generations on my side of the family. My wife's parents died when they were in their 50s. We have, and so have our children and grandchildren, missed them so much for many years. Two years ago my dad died so I thought it was time to publish the photos now so all can see them. They have all been part of the extraordinary stories of an ordinary guy that I have told over the past 8 months. Story in memory of my dad Paul.

The "Guillotine Debacle" Story

It was an ordinary day. I had just returned from school with a carton of paper that needed to be trimmed. I have a big, no make that a REALLY BIG, guillotine papercutter in my garage. Use it all the time for jobs I do at school. The papercutter used to be in room 308, the graphic arts room, at the high school. It was in the high school when I was a student there and then for the 32 years that I taught at the building and then for 6 more after I retired from teaching, but still did the in-house printing. Then, when the high school was renovated, it was moved to a single family house next to the campus which the school district owned and was planning on some day demolishing for more parking. The entire printing shop was moved along with the paper cutter. And then ........ one day during the summer I went to work at the building and noticed something different about the room when I walked in the door. There was no papercutter! OK, no one can steal something that takes a tow motor to move. I called the maintenance garage which was right next to the house and asked if they knew anything about the papercutter. Yep, they knew. The school district sold it for scrap!! Made as much sense to me as it probably does to you right now. Called the head of maintenance and asked what's up with my papercutter and he told me he was told to get rid of it because the insurance carrier said it was too dangerous for students to operate. "But, they used it for 32 years when I taught school and never had one accident," I told him. "Not only that, I'm hired as an independent contractor now to do the school printing and I need the papercutter!" He said he would check and get right back to me. Five minutes later he told me it was sold by mistake. "Yeah, right," I said. "Well go get it back." A few minutes later I got another call and was told it was not destroyed yet, but the only way I was getting it back was to pay for it and I had to have it on my property. I had to pay $250 for something I had used for years without any problems, and I now have it in my garage, and every job I trim on it I charge an extra fee to the school district for it's use. That was over three years ago I bought it and many, many jobs trimmed on it. Guess who's getting the better end of that deal now? It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The "View from the Top of the World" Story

It was an ordinary day. We are heading up the volcano! Yep, Haleakala in Maui, Hawaii. We wanted to see the sunrise so we checked the charts for the time of sunrise today and found out it was 5:38 AM. We set the alarm for 2:30 AM, struggled to get out of bed and met Jerry and Just Sue in the parking lot. Jerry is driving today so he doesn't get car sick on the way up the volcano. From the bottom to the top of the volcano is 27 miles. The volcano is located in the eastern part of Maui in Haleakala National Park which is a 30,183 acre park that includes the summit and the Kipahula Valley area. We pay a $10 fee when we enter the park and head up the hill. Extremely winding roads which are two lanes , but seem to be made for extremely skinny cars. It is still dark out when we started and not getting any lighter. A mist is falling, but we hope when we reach the top, which is above the clouds, it will be clear. There are many blind curves and areas where the outside lane is very close to the steep dropoffs, but being it is still dark and cloudy, we don't see that. If the clouds had lifted we probably would be more scared then we are now. At times the clouds and fog make it hard to see the lines on the road. It would be nice if the line of traffic was in front of us instead of behind us. We could just follow the lights. But, Jerry likes to drive very slow. Then, all of a sudden we rose above the clouds and the sky is brighter, but still misting. As we reach an observation area, we see all the trailers that carry the bicycles to the top for people to ride them to the bottom. Can't imagine how much that must hurt to ride 27 miles on a skinny bike seat. I know that it is all downhill, but you don't stand the whole way!! Then the sky starts to really brighten, but we can't see any sun. What a disappointment. We park and walk to a view area. Great time for a shot showing the sign saying we have reached an elevation of 10,023 feet. And ...... it's freezing! 40 degrees. The gloves and hats we packed in our suitcase for our June vacation really come in handy today. We stayed for an hour or so and finally the sun came through. Warmed us up! The Hawaiians call the summit the "House of the sun." Fantastic views of the massive depression which is the 7 miles across and 2 miles wide. 800 feet deep abyss which is primarily barren terrain. It was thought that the last time the volcano erupted was in 1790, but tests have shown that is was really in the 1600s. Close to the summit the US Government has constructed a neat
telescope. Great place to have one since there is very little interference from city lights up on the summit. Time for the ride down. We continue to the east as we descend and stop at the Sunrise Market and Protea Farm. Proteas are huge flowers that are very colorful. We end our day trip with a stop in Paia for breakfast at Charlie's. Biggest pancakes I ever saw. All I needed was one! Covered the entire plate and was darn near an inch thick. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. PS - Pixs from top are: Carol and LDub high on life, massive amounts of bicycles to ride 27 miles down the volcano, beautiful view showing roadway, flower at Protea Farm and Ldub eating a HUGE pancake for breakfast.

The "Crushed Itsy Bitsy Teeney Wenney Car" Story

It was an ordinary day. I had just picked up my wife. Seems she was in an auto accident on Route 501 near the high school where I teach and the retirement community where she works. She was driving our silver 1987 Chevy Sprint which is a 3 cylinder, 48 horsepower, 5 speed manual tranmission, subcompact 3 door hatchback. We'd loved the car since we bought it a couple of years ago. Used regular gas and we got a little over 50 miles to a gallon of gas. Ran great in the snow because of it's weight and front wheel drive. Made in Japan and the engine was the same one used in the Suzuki Swift. Well she had just exited from her job. She usually turns left and crosses traffic, but since traffic was so heavy today, she turned right and was going to come home a different way. She drove about 100 yards, turned on her left turn signal and slowed to make a left hand turn. At the time there was no one behind her. As she was waiting to make her left hand turn, she glanced in her rear view mirror and saw a car approaching and knew it wasn't going to stop. She saw the lady finally look up and see our car. Carol said her eyes had the "deer in the headlight look" when she finally hit her from behind. 83 year old woman who had been to the hospital to visit her husband. My friend Wayne, who is a policeman, told us when we got the car that there are more accidents with gray and silver cars than any other color, since they blend into the background more than any other colors. And boy, she didn't see the car until it was too late. The back of the driver's seat in our car broke, throwing Carol into a lying position. When the car finally came to a halt, the back of the car was right against her headrest. Crushed the car pretty good. The 83 year old was trapped in her car. Carol was able to get out of the car and a neighbor helped her to the side of the road and called 911. This is pre-cellphone era. Carol asked if she would also call the high school to let me know what had happened. Seems I had left school a few minutes before the accident and was home when the school called and told me about the accident. They said our principal, Dave H. was going to the scene to help Carol. I headed right back up and got there in about 15 minutes. The police arrived and told Carol to move our car off the highway!! She handed them the keys and said they can try. Car wasn't going anywhere fast. Ambulance arrived and took the woman to the hospital and both cars were finally towed to a garage. Next day Carol made a visit to our family doctor because of neck pains. After seeing both of the cars, it was a miracle that both drivers survived. Car was totaled and we finally got an insurance check for the book value of the car. We went car shopping and Carol's only request was A REALLY BIG CAR with lots of metal behind her. We settled for a van. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. PS - Picture is of the same style of car we had, but not in the silver color we had.

The "It's All In The View" Story

It was an ordinary day. We finally made it! It's May, 2009, and we are in St. Martin again after arriving at the airport, going through customs, picking up our bags and waiting for the rental car pick-up. Now we have to wait for our escort to Villa Sea Haven. This is a newly renovated 3 bedroom 3 1/2 bath villa located in the prestigious Oyster Pond hillside with stunning views of Dawn Beach, the Atlantic Ocean and Isle of St Barts. Now that last sentence I copied from the website for the villa. We are only renting one bedroom so the price is considerably less that the 3 bedroom price. Also, if we only use 1 1/2 baths, the price is even cheaper. Since we are renting in May, the price is about 1/2 what it would be from December to April 15. We learned all these things after a few years of travel to St. Martin. Well, the escort is finally here, so we leave the car rental place with our rental chairs and umbrella in our trunk and follow him to the villa. We saw this place last year when we searched for a spot that had a better view that the villa last year. We arrive at the foot of the hill we must climb in our car to reach the villa. Pretty steep and part of the road is just gravel. "Close you eyes, dear," I tell Carol. As we enter the villa, it is just as we had remembered from last year. Even better, since we will get to stay two weeks this year in the villa instead of an hour like we did last year. We weren't sure we were going to make it this year. The swine flu was causing problems all around the world. We both got flu shots, called the doctor and got a prescription for Tamaflu and bought masks to wear in case we noticed a lot of coughing in the airport and on the plane. Took forever to locate the masks. Everyone was out of them at the pharmacies and drug stores. Finally found them at Walmart in the hardware department. They sell them to protect you if you are sanding, removing insulation, etc. The villa is gorgeous. Gonna spoil us when we have to go home. Our house is just as nice, but we don't have that view. We have an unobstructed view of the ocean from our porch off the living room, the porch off the master bedroom and the the pool area. From our porch we can see the massive Westin Resort complex. Not a pretty sight from above. The first thing we notice is how windy it is. Must be on the windward side of the island. If you leave the doors open, it blows everything off the tables close to the door. In the evening you need to bundle up because of the wind. When we go to bed we close the hurricane shutters for security. But, they rattle soooooo much that we have to open them slightly to stop some of the noise. Oh well, can't have everything. Breakfast on the porch in the morning is fantastic. It's all in the view. "Just hold onto your food so it doesn't blow away", I tell Carol. This year we have USA Cable TV, since we are staying on the Dutch side of the island. Also have 110v electricity instead of the 220v on the French side, so we didn't need to bring the converter this year. Living room, dining room and kitchen are beautiful. It looks just like the Beach! And, the master bedroom, even with the shutters that rattle at night, is really neat. Get up in the morning, sit on the porch and watch the sun rise since we face east. You know, there were many days when we decided to just stay at the villa for the day. We had gone to the store and had the supplies we needed for our meals, so why not enjoy the great weather by our own private pool. And ...... the view!!! It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. PS - Pixs from the top are: Carol and LDub preparing for the worst on vacation, entrance to gated community where Sea Haven is located, nighttime view of Sea Haven from the beach, panoramic view from our pool deck, view of the Westin Resort below us, our beautiful pool, enjoying the pool, master bedroom on second floor and interior of Sea Haven showing living, dining and part of the kitchen.

The "Entrepreneurial Spirit" Story

It was an ordinary day. I was getting ready to play Mike Z. in a four game series of APBA. APBA, which stands for American Professional Baseball Association, is a board game that I got hooked on a few years ago when my wife bought it for me as a gift. It is dice activated and is based on the previous baseball season's statistics for each player. In 1974 I formed a league of players in Lancaster and we met and drafted our teams. The league is called the Lancaster Red Rose League and has dues that are used to buy a new set of cards each year. There are 8 members and we play four game series throughout the summer months, visiting each others houses for the games. A year later I built a miniature stadium that I could play all my games on. It was made of wood with a silkscreened playing field, scoreboard that reminds you of Fenway Park in Boston, outfield fence with advertisements, bases that light to indicate players that have reached base and lights so I can play at night. Pretty neat! The scoreboard has a light behind it that illuminates Lite Brite pegs that I use to indicate the inning and the score. I called it PADEBRY STADIUM after my three kids, Paul, Derek and Brynn. I even started a dice collection to use when I play the games. Well, everyone really liked it and told me I ought to sell them. So I did! In 1976 I decided I was going to make the boards and sell them. I put a full page advertisement in the national APBAJournal and offered them for sale. Cost was $125.00 for a game board. I was talking to a friend who is a lawyer about the game board and he suggested I form a corporation that sells the game. If someone would be playing the game on the board and happen to get injured or maybe let the game on and it would catch fire and burn their house down, they would have to sue the corporation and not me. They also suggested I buy liability insurance which I did. Anything that had both my name and my wife's name on it would be protected, since the game company was just in my name. I assumed he knew what he was talking about so I formedWBBB Corporation and bought the insurance. Stood for Woods Base Ball Board. I also had to go to a patent attorney to made sure that no one else had ever made something like it and I would be infringing on his patent. He checked the patent files in Washington and I was good to go. It cost me about $500 to form the corporation and have the patent researched and for that I got a certificate and a stamp I could use to make papers official. Never used it once! Now I was in business. Printed thesilkscreened felt fields at school in my shop as well as cut out all the wood pieces in the wood shop at school. Bought the electrical components at Radio Shack and I was in production. I did make a disclaimer sticker that said WBBB wasn't responsible for electrical shock is game was used near water. I figured that some APBA nut might try to play it while bathing. One of my first sales was to the President of the APBA Game Co., Mr. J. RichardSeitz. He gave me a very nice recommendation that I used in one of my full page ads. Eventually the APBA Journal called and asked me to be a contributor to the journal and asked to if I would write a story about the stadiums that people had made that play in our league. OK, I can do that. Naturally, I included photos of my kids playing on the board. I sold about a dozen stadiums. After two years I had sold about a dozen boards. Sounds pretty good except withthe cost of supplies, shipping and packaging and the liability insurance I had to buy, I made probably $200 total. I finally thought it wasn't worth it so I went out of business. Still had my original board and had made one similar for my son Derek who also enjoyed playing APBA. In 2005, over 25 years since I had made the boards, I got a call from someone in California who was an APBA addict and who had found a few copies of the APBA Journal from the 70s and 80s. He saw my game advertisement in the journal and was calling to see if he could buy one. Wow!! I explained that I went out of business and only had my original board I made for myself. "Does it still work?" he asked me over the phone. "It did a few years ago when I moved and tried it out to see if I should keep it or discard it," I told him. "I'll buy it!" he exclaimed. "Just name your price." Now, this was something I was maybe going to throw out and still had the original light bulbs in it and the lines on the base paths were almost worn off from constant play, but he insisted. Didn't even want to see a photo of it. He just wanted a piece of APBA memorabilia for his collection. I told him he can have it for $125 plus the price to ship it. Price I sold them for in the late 70s. "That's a bargain! I'll send you a check today," he told me. "OK, give me your address and I'll mail it as soon as I get the check," I replied. A few days later I sent my original board to California to be used again for the game I once loved to play. I still think of it every now and then and wonder if he is enjoying it as much as I did. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. PS - Photos from top are: Copy of ad I placed in the APBA Journal, pix of daughter Brynn playing on my personal game board and Derek playing on similar version I made him for his birthday.

The "Discovering the Streets of Pompeii" Story

It was an ordinary day. We boarded the bus about 3 hours ago and are almost at Pompeii now. Yep, that Pompeii. The one in Italy. It is one of or final days in Italy and our guide, Mary Lou B. had made arrangements for us to travel from Rome to see the historical city of Pompeii. Pompeii is a ruined and partially buried Roman city near Naples. It was destroyed and completely buried during a long catastrophic eruption of the volcano Mount Vesuvius spanning two days in 79 AD. The city was buried under about 70 feet of ash and pumice, and it was lost for nearly 1,600 years before its accidental rediscovery in 1592. Since then, its excavation has provided an extraordinarily detailed insight into the life of a city at the height of the Roman Empire. Today, over 2,500,000 tourists visit it annually and the street vendors try to sell to every one of them. We have a guide for the tour, but since there are about 30 of us, it is hard at time to hear all the details about the destruction and discovery of Pompeii. We start with a walk that displays Mt. Vesuvius in the background. A constant reminder of what caused all the damage. Naturally, everyone has to have a souvenir photo from that Kodak location. As we follow our guide we see that this city, even though it is still in ruins, still has a population of feral cats and homeless dogs. I stop to feed one of the dogs part of a snack I brought along. We stop to see the sizes of the old houses which display brass house numbers as they did before the destruction. The Streets of Pompeii were paved during Roman times with large polygonal blocks of stone. They are bordered by curbs and pedestrian walkways. On most streets there are raised stones at regular intervals that pedestrians used to cross the streets when water flooded them. The sculptures and frescoes that have been restored are beautiful with soft tones and colors. Quite a few erotic frescoes have been uncovered and many houses had stone carvings in the walk in from the house of the male phallus. We were told that signified that the house was blessed with children. As you stand and take in the entire city, it is truly amazing that the country was able to excavate this city to the way it used to be. Our trip ended with a three course meal outside the city walls. I don't remember much about the meal except that it included large quantities of local wine and big plates of spaghetti. Hey, now I can hardly wait to get home to Lancaster and carve three big penises in my driveway. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. PS - pixs from top are: Carol and LDub in Pompeii with the volcano in the background, stone street with LDub feeding a stray, restored theatre, frescoes on the wall with restored sculpture, stone carving indicating a fertile home and Carol with her waiter getting ready for course #2, the pasta.

The "CONTEST" Story

It was an ordinary day. I just got my latest Caribbean Travel and Life magazine. My favorite magazine, but you know, I can read the entire thing from cover to cover in a night. Then I'm ready for the next one. Sad part is they only publish 10 times a year. As soon as I got it I opened to the "Postcards" section. Something like the letters to the editor section. For the past two years or so they have had a contest where you can send them a photo of yourself or of you and others reading CT&L while on vacation, and if they publish it, you win a prize. You have to make sure you include a note about when and where the photo was taken. Well, I have been trying forever it seems to win a prize. I know it is probably only a T-shirt or hat, or maybe an extension on your subscription, but it's still fun to try and see your photo in the magazine. The last one I sent was from the vendor's market in Marigot, St. Martin. Guess they didn't like it because the one that is published is some scuba diver and his wife holding the magazine under water in Shark Alley in Freeport, the Bahamas. Naturally there is a shark in the photo swimming towards them!! I guess that was better than my boring photo. Matter of fact, I liked it better than mine. In the past I have sent a photo of Carol and me with our snorkel gear on the beach in Barbados pointing while holding the magazine and a photo of Carol and me sitting in Mullins Restaurant in Barbados with the magazine. I am going to give it one more try. Carol recently took a photo of me on Happy Bay beach in St. Martin, a clothing optional beach, sitting on a lounge chair reading the magazine with just my hat on my head. See what they think of that pix. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. PS - Pix from the top are: Me in vendor's market in Marigot, Carol and I on the beach in Barbados, Carol and I at Mullins Restaurant in Barbados and the latest entry, me on the Happy Bay beach in St. Martin.

The "Team that should have been Champs! Story

It was an ordinary day. We had just finished our 1969 season in the Red Rose Junior Midget League. I started coaching little league youth baseball last year during my first year of teaching at Manheim Township. I had been married a year and asked Carol if she would mind if I would coach little league baseball. I just love the game and wasn't happy not playing baseball anymore so I decided to coach it. Found a sponsor in Hamilton Watch Company in Lancaster and started to plan for the season. Made a few phone calls and had a team in the Red Rose League. There were no geographical boundaries that I had to choose from, so I thought about where I would find some of the best athletes and decided to hold tryouts in the southeast section of Lancaster City. This is predominately a minority section of the city and knew they would enjoy a chance to play baseball. Had over 50 people try out and kept the 15 best kids. Tough to tell some they didn't make the team, but I told them to try out again next year. Well, we did OK for our first year and ended with an even record. The star of the team was pitcher-1st baseman Brent Hawkins whose father was my coach when I played 1st base for Schick in 1956. I was real excited about our chances for this year. At the beginning of the season I asked my cousin's husband, Lance, to help me again and I also asked my wife's cousin Bobby Nonnemacher. to help. Bobby had pitched for the Cleveland Indians for two years before his career ended with an injury. He was a big left-hander and the kids would love to have him help with the team. Well, we had a great summer of baseball. Ted Groff led the team in wins on the mound. He was a lefty and Bobby took him under his wing and spend hours teaching him the fundamentals of pitching. Bobby tutored him throughout his career in high school and Ted eventually was drafted by the Minnesota Twins organization. He also had to quite baseball because of an arm injury. We had a centerfielder in Keith Gordon who later became a star athlete for Lancaster McCaskey High School. We also had a player who was almost as tall as me and I believe weighed more than me who I would have pitch when we wanted to intimidate the opponent. He could throw the ball harder than anyone in the league, but you weren't quite sure where it was going. Scary at times. Eddie H. eventually spent time in jail for intimidating too many people. We ended the regular season with a record of 11 wins and 2 losses. Won the Division title of the Red Rose League and made it into the New Era Tournament which is a year-end tournament of teams that excel in their league seasons. The tournament is sponsored by the Lancaster New Era newspaper and is every boy's dream to play in this tournament. We progressed through the first two rounds and had to play Lancaster Township in the semi-finals. Lancaster Township featured a right-hander by the name of Kip K. We had beaten LT earlier in the year, but Kip hadn't pitched. I knew he would be ready for us. We took an early one run lead on them and then Ted Groff came to bat for us with two guys on and two outs. I just knew we were going to add to our lead, but Kip threw a fastball that hit Ted in the helmet and knocked him to the ground. He was extremely groggy so I suggested that his dad take him right to the hospital. Bobby went with them and we continued the game. LT managed to get our next batter to get out of the inning. To this day I believe that the LT coach told his pitcher to throw at Ted to get him out of the game! And ....... I told him that right in front of the large crowd!! My kids and parents cheered me the whole time. Never denied it either. My team was disheartened after losing their leader. I put Eddie in to pitch, but LT scored two runs on us and won the game. They eventually won the Jr. Midget title in the New Era Tournament. The '69 Team ended the season 13-3, but knew they were the best team in Lancaster County. Later I found that during the season Bobby managed to get some great results from the players by offering them incentives for good production. A dollar here for so many strikeouts or fifty cents there for a homerun. Wondered why they liked him so much. All I ever offered them was ice cream cones after every win that year. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

PS - Team photo featuring front (l-r): Parke, Raver, Schreiner, Wiker, Koller, Overly, Keller, center: Tim Groff, Wiker, Kling, Eshelman, Ulmer, Ted Groff, rear: Fulkerson, Gordon, Hollman, Brown, Lentz, Gabel, coaches: LDub, Nonnemacher, Smith

The "Stingray City" Story

It was an ordinary day. We are headed to world famous Stingray City in Grand Caymen. Jerry, Just Sue, Carol and I are on a 7 day Western Caribbean Cruise with Royal Caribbean. We are on Explorer of the Seas and will have stops in Belize City, Costa Maya, Cozumel and Grand Caymen. Did some really neat things at the other ports and now will try our luck with stingrays. Five months ago Australian celebrity Steve Irwin, known as the Crocodile Hunter, died from an encounter with a stingray. Seems he swam too close to one and when going over top of it the barb from the tail pierced his chest. It's toxin caused him to have a seizure resulting in cardiac arrest. And ..... today we are going to swim with and hold stingrays. It's listed on our brochure as a "once in a lifetime" experience. I hope not! We debark on Grand Caymen and travel in a snorkeling boat to the area where the stingrays gather. Air and water temperature are 82 degrees today. As we approach we can see shadows in the water ahead. The clue to the location would be the six or seven other snorkeling boats that are already there. No wonder the stingrays frequent this area. Daily free food will draw almost anything including humans. We put our snorkel gear on and are given safety tips to follow with the stingrays. OK, let's go! The water is only waist level so it is easy to maneuver around. The rays are beautiful and so graceful as they swim by and around us. Hey, where is the food I'm sure they are saying. We are told to take the squid we are given and hold them on our open hand. The rays will swim over your arm and take the fish with their mouth which is on the underside of the ray. They do have two shell crushing plates in their mouths for crustaceans so we are told not to reach in their mouths. Who we be so stupid? I'm sure someone got fingers crushed at one time or another. Their skin is velvet-like to the touch. Kind of scary when all these rays are around you and hit you with the barb on their tails. I managed to do some snorkeling and take some photos. Then, when the food was gone, they seemed to sense that and headed to another boat. Well, we survived and lived to tell the tale. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. PS - Pixs from top are: Explorer of the Seas is intimidating, our snorkeling boat, Stingray City site, underwater ray and Carol enjoying touching the underside of a ray.

The "Jaws of New Jersey" Story

It was an ordinary day. Carol and I and the three kids are at the beach for a week. Staying at Sea Isle City, NJ this year in a second floor apartment right on the beach. Neat place. Rented it from the mother of one of the teachers that I work with at MTHS. Derek is 10 years old, Brynn is 7 years old and Tad is 5 years old. Great fun for the family to spend time together. Directly in front of us is the Atlantic Ocean. The beach is about 40 yards wide at this point and the house sits behind a 10 to 12 foot high sand dune. Our view is unobstructed and it is an easy walk over the dune to the beach. At one point on the beach the water has erroded the sand enough that it has created a small pool of water that, during low tide still remains and is a great place for the kids to play. Water in the pool is about a foot deep and the pool reaches about 30 feet long and 10 feet across. During high tide all sorts of creatures and small fish find their way into the pool, and as the tide recedes, they stay trapped in the pool until the following high tide. Great for the kids to learn about the things that live in the sea. Almost our own private salt water aquarium. High tide has been running about 4:00 AM so by 8:00 AM the water in the pool has been shut off from the ocean's flow and by the time we head to the beach at 9:30 AM we can enjoy the creatures that have been trapped. Yesterday a horseshoe crab was the catch of the day for the tidewater pool. The kids enjoyed watching it try to bury itself in the wet sand and got to feel the shell of the crab. There are always plenty of sand hard shell crabs and small fish that we find in the water. But ...... today we have new found excitement. We are some of the first on the beach and while Carol and I set up the chairs and umbrella, the kids run to the pool to see what they can find. Just as fast as they went over to the pool of water, they return. Extremely excited!! "Dad, there's a shark in the water over there," Derek yells to me. "How do you know that?" I ask him. "Because it has a big fin that sticks up out of the water. And, he's about this long," he says as he opens his arms as wide as he can. Now he has my attention! We hurry, no run, over to the two foot deep water and sure enough there is a two foot shark gliding along on the bottom of the water, his top fin sticking out of the water. Now others have gathered around the pool and are looking at the shark. Close by is the life guard stand and they have just set up for the day. I tell Derek to go get a lifeguard while I make sure no one jumps in the water with the shark. Soon the lifeguard comes and stands with us and examines our find. That's either a small nurse shark or a brown shark. The only way you can tell the difference is the size of the dorsal fin, and he wasn't sure which it was. Both feed on small fish, mollusks, rays and crustaceans. That's why they are swimming along the bottom of the water, looking for food. Naturally I ask, "Will they bite the kids?" "I don't think so, but I'll get someone to come and take it back out into the water so we don't have any trouble." About a half hour later a jeep rolls to a stop by the pool and two guys with heavy gloves walk into the water and pick up the shark and carry it out to the ocean. Looks like a parade behind them as the kids and a few adults (including me) follow to see it swim off into the safety of the sea. I'll tell you, it took a while for the kids, and me, to decide to get into the water that day. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The "Alamanda" Story

It was an ordinary day. We were having breakfast in our room at the Alamanda. This is our third year to stay at the Alamanda in St. Martin. Great place with friendly people. Over the years we have made become good friends with Vincent, the manager and Geraldine, the desk clerk. We arrived yesterday and after we checked in, we found our way to our room. There on the table was a large bottle of Ma Doudou rum. How'd they know I love the stuff? The Alamanda is on one of the prettiest beaches in the world. Orient Beach is on the Orient Bay on the north-east corner of St. Martin. St. Martin is the French side of the island while Sint Maarten is the Dutch side of the island. Both sides have so much to offer, but we prefer the laid back atmosphere of the French side. So easy for sand gravity to take over at the Alamanda. The Alamanda shares the name of the flower that has year-round production of large, bright flowers that have made it a popular ornamental. It is also known as the Yellow Bell, Golden Trumpet and Butterfly Flower. The resort is a two story property in the center of Orient Village and is constructed in a "U" shape with a pool in the center that faces Orient Beach. They have a small outdoor restaurant near the pool where they serve primarily breakfast and lunch. But, today we are having our breakfast in our room. I went to the nearby Tap 5 store for French pastries. I bought the apple and the chocolate filled variety. The pastry dough just melts in you mouth. Fruit juice is all we need to compliment out breakfast. While visitors at the resort, we have use of very nice cushioned beach chairs at the Kakao Restaurant, a short walk from the resort. The beach is beautiful with white, powder soft sand and 85 degree water which has all the shades of the color cyan. At night we sometimes walk to the Alamanda's rooftop deck to see the stars over Orient Bay. Just a beautiful sight. We have rented a car because we like to explore, but you would be able to spend your entire vacation based at the Alamanda. Orient Village has many restaurants and stores. About the only thing we do not care for at the Alamanda is saying "Good-bye" at the end of our stay. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. PS - Pixs from top are: The Allamanda flower, entrance to the Alamanda Resort, panoramic photo of the Alamanda from the beach, our breakfast table, pastries from Tap 5 and Kakoa beach on Orient Bay

The "Dump Truck Driver" Story

It was an ordinary day. I was returning from my part-time job as a mulch driver. I retired from teaching last year and decided to try a few new things to help pay for our vacations. On my way to my part-time job at the art gallery and frame shop in Neffsville, PA where I work a few days each week for a former student, Keith, I saw this sign at Brooklawn Farm asking for drivers to deliver mulch. Hey, I can do that. So, on my way home from the gallery that day I stopped at Brooklawn and talked to Jim E. Jim was also a former student who I had in my shop classes and who then became an Industrial Arts teacher after graduating from Millersville Univ. Jim taught school with me for a few years at MT, then decided to take over the family farming business when his father could no longer handle the work. Jim did get something from his years of teaching though. His wife! Was a language teacher at good old MTHS. Well, I stopped and saw Jim as I entered. "Hi, Mr. LDub," Jim said. "What can I do for you?" I responded with, "I saw your sign out front and want to drive that big dump truck sitting out front next to my car!" We talked about what is expected and I told him I only wanted a day or two a week and we agreed on times and wages. Wasn't the best paying job in the world, but looked like fun. In a few days I was behind the wheel of the big monster. Jim used a front end loader and filled the truck with the amount of mulch the customer had ordered and I was supposed to drive it to the customer's house. Today I am delivering a load of 5 scoops to Ken L. My first ever delivery. Ken was my shop teacher when I went to MT as a student and then taught with Jim and I for a few years. Therefore, he is old! He lives only about a mile from Brooklawn so I was there in a few minutes. He greeted me when I arrived and we talked for a while about the good old days. Then he showed me where he wanted the mulch. Right at the end of his driveway. That's easy so I backed up the truck and raised the bed. Bet you think something happened next. That's the way my stories usually go. Well it didn't. Everything went smooth and I started back to pick up my next load. But, as I was pulling in, there stood Jim with an angry look on his face. I got out of the truck and said, "What's the matter Jim?" Jim responded, "Ken just called and said he just pulled up to his house and saw you leaving. You dropped the mulch at the wrong house!" I just stared at him. I wondered why Ken said he had to go make a phone call as soon as I left. Jim's standing there holding 2 shovels. "Get back in the truck. We have to go shovel the mulch and take it to the right house," he says. Now, he never got to know Ken as well as I did over the years. Ken was the high school's practical joker. I stand there looking at Jim and start to laugh. "What are you laughing at? It's not funny," he says. "I'll bet you the dump truck and a load of mulch that I dropped it at the right house," I said. He started to mellow a little and realized he had been duped. I said, "Call Ken and tell him you don't guarantee that your delivery man will drop it at the right house!" It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.