The "Mean Mrs. Hoover" Story

It was an ordinary day. I was still making spitballs. Here's why I'm doing that. Miss Hoover is my third grade teacher and she is mean. Really mean. Ask anyone in my class. Now, I'm sure the parent's will disagree, but they don't have to sit in her room everyday. I always didn't think she was mean. Early in the school year I was playing on the jungle gym in the school yard when I fell and hit my head on one of the bars. Cracked it open real bad. Miss Hoover helped me and called my mom to come and get me and take me to the doctor. Mom took me to Doctor M. and he had to put six staples in my head. Pretty neat scar I got and you can really see it now that I'm bald. Hurt more to have the staples taken out than it did to put them in. Of course, he used Novocaine when he put them in. That's when I thought she was nice. But, in the middle of the school year a few of us in Miss Hoover's class were throwing spit balls. Dave K., Jack B., John H. and I were caught red-handed with spitballs on our desks. All we were doing was throwing them at the girls. She didn't seem to understand that. Well, Miss Hoover wanted to know who started it and questioned each of us individually. Seems everyone pointed the finger at John H. and he then was paddled in the back closet. We all heard it and wow, she can swing pretty hard. John H. tried not to cry, but I'm sure it hurt. But, that was his punishment and now it was over for him. The rest of us had to stay in at recess until we made enough of spitballs to fill her BIG trashcan in the corner of the room. Must have taken over two weeks and a few reams of paper. Halfway through filling up the can I wished I had told her I was the one who started it. Could have been outside playing kickball now. Isn't it funny the things you remember from your childhood. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The "I Need Your Help" Story

It was an ordinary day. I have just voted for myself. I'm allowed to do that, since I have the best photos. I entered a photo contest a few weeks ago on Enjoylifetraveling.proboard.com and was part of an elimination contest since so many people had entered. A few of of my photos have survived and are in the "Shootout" for the champion. I am writing this to ask you to vote for me. Deadline for voting is Sunday, April 11 at 9:00 PM. I need you to help me win. You must go to the website shown above then pick a name and password. Not hard to do. No one is going to give out your email address if you sign in. You'll see right away where you click for the photo contest voting. You can vote for 5 pictures. My name on the board is "biglar" which is for Big Lar

which is what my brother calls me. I have added photos here so you can identify which photos to vote for when you reach the board. The photo with the lime colored umbrella and beach is called Happy Bay Envy. The photo with the little girl is called Miniature Orient Village Vendor. The photo with the

fellow walking on the beach is called Dreadlock Walk. The photo with the dog and my wife in the water is called Both Ways Covered. The photo with the beach scene is called Dreamy Pinel. Hope you enjoy looking at the photos and thanks for taking the time to vote for me. I'll let you know what happens. Below this story is my story about Easter. Hope you enjoy that, also.

The "Happy Easter" Story

It was an ordinary day. As ordinary as Easter can be. Church and then start to prepare for the family. Daughter Brynn and husband Dave and granddaughters Courtney and Camille are heading up from Maryland. Bringing their dog Rocco with them. Didn't tell our cat until the last minute. Just enough time for him to hide all his play mice. Our oldest son Derek called at the last minute and said he needed to work a 12 hour shift on Saturday and Sunday and wasn't going to be here, but wife Barb and grandson Caden as well as Barb's sister Joy would be there. Other son Tad and my mom would also be here. We used to have a dining room table that would seat 10 with extensions, but it was Early American style and didn't look right in our house, so we gave it to our daughter. The one we replaced it with only seats 4. So, a few years ago I bought a 4'x8' piece of plywood and made a new top for it. Now it can seat 10 and with a card table at the one end, we're in business. Only takes about an hour to drag it down from the second floor, screw the legs to it and set it up. We do this every Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day. Gets old doing this every year. And the cost of the meal seems to get larger all the time. Easter morning and mom calls. Doesn't feel good and isn't coming. I told her to eat some toast and tea and I'll call later. My daughter calls her in an hour and tells her she is coming for her. She'll feel better with the kids running around. And she did! Easter baskets and egg hunt are always a big thing with the family. We had to hide 122 plastic eggs outside for the egg hunt. I'm not sure if they found all of them, but I will when I mow the next time. The making of the dinner is always a big job, but my wife has it down to a science after years and years and years of doing it. Ham, scalloped potatoes, candied sweet potatoes, baked vegetables, pineapple filling, applesauce, rolls and pumpkin bread is the usual menu. Banana split dessert tops off the meal. Then the hard part ...... cleaning up and doing the dishes. Good silver has to be hand washed. Good glassware has to be hand washed. Endless pots and pans have to be washed. Thank God for aluminium pans that we use to make some of the dishes. Throw them in the trash after the meal. Good place-settings can go in the dishwasher, but as soon as the dishwasher has finishing washing them, it must be opened to allow them to air dry. My daughter-in-law helps me with most of the chores. Then the egg hunt starts. Grand kids running in all directions, screaming. Then ...... we all sit by the TV and talk about the good old days. Doesn't everyone do the same thing? Everyone has left now. We have collapsed on the sofa. The cat has come out of hiding and we will do the same thing again in a few months for Thanksgiving. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The "Tempest Reigns" Story

It was an ordinary day. I was on my way to US Route 30 Drag-O-Way in York, PA to race my car. The story started in 1965 when I saw a guy at a local McDonald's with a really neat blue suede jacket with white leather sleeves. On the back of the jacket in big letters read "U.S. Route 30 Drag-O-Way." I told my friend Terry D. that I have to get one of those jackets. Seems that in York, PA the year before someone opened a drag strip for car racing on the York airport runway. I was some what of a piston-head, but only because I loved really neat, shiny, fast cars. I had a 1958 Chevy Impala convertible at the time and had just customized it for a class at Millersville State Teacher's College. I told Terry that I'll have to take my Chevy to the drag strip and see if I can win a jacket. "Yeah, right!" was his answer. Well, a few months passed and I continued to read about the drag strip in York and all the big names that were showing up there to race. Don "Big Daddy" Garlits raced there on occasion. Crowds of 10,000 people were common. The airport had a 5,000 foot strip so the big horsepower cars could race there. The "Funny Cars" would compete there occasionally. The racing was between two cars that would accelerate for 1/4 mile in a hopefully straight line to see who would reach the finish line with the best time. Many "Muscle Cars" or high performance cars with big cubic inch engines were being produced and in Detroit at the time, so everyone wanted to see who was the best. I fell into that craze!! More time passed and I sold my Chevy to a friend I worked with at the Acme Supermarket. How dumb was that? Gas was getting costly and I wanted a more economical car. So I bought a 1961 Pontiac Tempest. Yeah, you're reading that right. Certainly not a car for those with speed in their blood. Burgundy in color with a four cylinder, 195 horsepower and automatic transmission. Certainly not cool, but I was getting over the "being cool" stage of my life. No, that's not right, because I never got over that yet. Terry saw me one day at work and said, "Now you could probably win at the drags." "With that car?" I replied. "You race against cars with the same horsepower and cubic inch engine so you should have a chance," he said. In the meantime I had added really neat chrome wheels to add some "class" to the car. My uncle said If I take the exhaust off at the engine, it would add a few extra horsepower to the engine. "OK, let's go," I told Terry. We're on our way to U.S. Route 30 Drag-O-Way to win a jacket. Didn't tell my parents. Thought I'd surprise them when I walked in with the jacket on that night. Took about 45 minutes to reach the race track and it was packed. Paid the fee and followed the signs to the pit area and had them inspect the car and write a classification on the driver's side of the windshield. Terry and I disconnected the exhaust from the manifold and I pulled in line to race. Close to the front of the line an official came by the car to check it and told me to put on my helmet. Uh, Oh! "Don't have one," I told the guy. "Can't race then," he told me. Just then here comes Terry with a helmet he borrowed from someone. Strapped it on and I was ready. Finally, it was my turn! I pulled to Lane 1 and a big Ford with a scoop on the hood pulled next to me in Lane 2. The noise was deafening! No way can I beat that guy!! The "Christmas tree" or starting lights began. These are a series of about 6 lights with 5 red running vertically top to bottom with a green light at the very bottom. I pushed the gas pedal halfway down and pushed hard on the brake. The red lights started and when the green light came on I released the brake pedal and pushed the gas pedal to the floor. Then I realized that the car next to me hadn't started. I later found out he was in a different classification and I had a time difference based on our horsepower. I had a 100 foot lead when he finally started. I was halfway down the 1/4 mile when he went flying past me. I'm not sure of my time anymore, but I remember that I almost reached 80 MPH. What a feeling! Half exhilarating, half scared! I pulled into the pit area and Terry said that he found out that I am the only car in my category for the night and I automatically win. A jacket! No way. Then I found out there has to be a minimum of a dozen cars in a class before they award a jacket. For my winning effort I got a certificate. Can't even locate it anymore. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. PS - Don't have a photo of me at the drags, but do have a photo of the Tempest that was decorated for my wedding. Check us out in the back seat.

The "Really Big Pizza" Story

It was an ordinary day. The pizza is here! Tad, our youngest son, was treating for supper. The family travels to Ocean City, NJ every year for a week at the shore. Everyone usually either brings along a meal or two or treats for a meal. Tad decided to buy pizza for supper. Now, this isn't any pizza, but the GIGANTIC pizza from Three Bros. from Italy shop on the boardwalk. They have a sign hanging in the shop that says "Eat the Whole Pizza in an hour and you get it free plus free pizzas for a year." You know they can't afford to do that too many times, so they make it so big that no one can possibly eat it in an hour. And, Tad bought three of them. They must be at least three feet in diameter. There are 10 of us who will be eating supper and there is no way we can finish all three. Or is there? One is just a regular cheese pizza. One is half barbecue chicken and half sausage. The last one is half broccoli and half extra cheese. Drinks for everyone and we start eating. Add some chips and you have a great UNHEALTHY meal. A piece of this is almost like eating a personal pizza at other shops. Well, it wasn't long before we had the three pizzas polished off. Can't believe we ate all that. Then Tad said, "Hey, anybody ready for some Rita's?" It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. Photos from top are: LDub holding supper, Camille looking at the intimidating pizza, Tad preparing for supper and the grand kids chowing down.

The "Street Slug" Story

It was an ordinary day. I was heading home from a day of teaching school. Since I teach graphic arts and photography, the school also hires me to do most of the in-house printing that needs to be done during the year and in the summer. Items such as hall passes, tickets, programs and anything that can be handled on our school letterpress. Yep, a letterpress. The kind that you pushed to get it started and a belt would keep the press running as you hand-feed paper into the press. You needed to set type by hand and lock it in a chase which fit in the bed of the press so you could run multiple copies of what you needed. Now you're talking ancient times here. Late 60s to late-70s I taught the kids how to use these presses. If I had a larger job I would visit Beitzel Composition Co. on Ross St. in Lancaster and Bob would set the type on a linotype machine for me. This machine had a typewriter keyboard and you would type a document and small letters would fall into place. Molten lead would fall into this mold and would form a line of type (linotype), also known as a slug. This is how newspapers were printed for years and Edison referred to the machine as the 8th wonder of the world. Bob was my baseball coach when I played Midget ball and I always went to him if I needed a job set in type for my press at school. I usually stopped at home after school to see who wanted to go see Bob with me. Always someone went because Bob had a big box with candy in it for the kids in the neighborhood. Today my daughter Brynn is going with me to pick up some type that Bob set for graduation announcements. She's only 6 years old, but enjoys going anywhere with me. Out of the car and in Bob's door before I close my car door. Bob saw us coming and greets her with the candy box. She picks a piece, Bob hands me the package of type and out the door we go. I have to help Brynn into the back seat and put her seat belt on her so I place the type on the top of the car while I do that. Same routine I always do. Well, by now you guessed what I forgot to do today. Yep, I buckled her in her seat, closed the door, went around to my side and hopped in the car. Started the car, backed out of my parking space and headed home. We were home for a while when all of a sudden something struck me and I started to sweat. Where is my type? Holy crap, or something like that, I yelled. Out the door to the car. Not in the car or on the car. I got my keys and off I went, tracing my way back to Bob's place. There in the middle of the street at Beitzel Composition Company was my job, scattered all over the street. Cars had smashed most of the lead lines of type flat. Gathered up what I could and took them inside to show Bob. I walked in the door and placed them on his counter and said, "Do you give a 30 return on this stuff?" It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. PS - Letterpress at top and linotype machine at bottom.

The "Stretching an Almost Lie" Story

It was an ordinary day. I'm off to Cub Scouts with my neighbor Dave G. Dave is not one of my parent's favorite people for me to play with, but I guess they figure we are only going to a Cub Scout meeting. Dave is a few years older than me and tends to get into trouble. We have to walk about a mile to get to the house where the meeting is held. Neat place on Duke St. in the city of Lancaster. The scout mother is Mrs. W. and her husband has his Doctor's Office in part of the old city mansion. The cellar where we meet has a pool table in it and we are allowed to play pool and throw darts when our meeting is over. There are 10 boys in the den and we meet every other week on a Monday. Have to hurry home from school to get to the meeting. Usually my dad will stop and pick us up on his way home from work. Dave and I leave about 3:30 PM for our 4:00 meeting. Head from my house over Liberty Street to Duke, then South on Duke to the mansion. Today we are taking our time and throwing pine cones as we go. We both filled our pockets with the pine cones as we passed the Catholic Church on the street. Aiming at almost anything we can throw them at. I'm 8 years old, but can throw better than my 10 year old friend. We see a stop sign and stop to throw a few pine cones at it. On the opposite corner is a group of about half a dozen junior high school boys who probably lived in the neighborhood and were up to no-good. Seems that Dave threw at the stop sign and threw a little too hard. Just as his pine cone headed across the street towards the boys, I was releasing one also. The boys looked across at us and saw me throwing my missile just as Dave's hit one of them. They weren't very happy. They started across the street and Dave took off. I knew I couldn't outrun them so I kept walking as if nothing had happened. They confronted me and started to ask where I was from and what I was doing in THEIR NEIGHBORHOOD! Just then, a city police patrol car pulled up and the boys took off. The officer asked what I was doing and where I was going. Lucky for me I had my scout uniform on that day. I'm sure I looked terrified, probably because I was. He asked what was in my pockets so I showed him the pine cones and told him they were for a project we were doing that day. I didn't say a scout project, just a project, like in a throwing project. Hey, I'm a scout and couldn't lie! He told me to get in and he drove me the four blocks to my destination. Dave G. never showed up at scouts that day. My dad picked me up after the meeting and on the way home I convinced him that I really didn't want to be a Cub Scout anymore. Especially if I had to walk in Duke Street again. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. PS - the good looking dude is me in my scout uniform.

The "Virtual Coffee Shop" Story

It was an ordinary day. I had just checked my facebook page for activity. I now have 35 friends. Not many I know, but I don't try to accumulate hundreds as some people do. No need to add people I see every day or family members, since I talk to them on the phone regularly. People who I have stored on my cell phone don't need to be my facebook friends either. So why do I have a facebook page? Sometimes, I'm not sure. Seems my childhood friend, Bill H., thought I should have a page when he visited me at Christmas in '08. Helped me set it up. Then when he came for a visit the following year he asked about it and I told him I didn't do anything with it. Well, we pulled it up again and I had forgotten the password. Had to redo the password and now I am in business again. Thanks, Bill. I have added trip photos and photos of my stained glass window panels in case anyone may want to buy one, but I haven't "talked" with facebook friends all that much. One day I typed in my name on the "Find Friends" link and viola! I instantly had over 180 new friends named Larry Woods. Started searching and picked out some who looked my age and wrote a note to them and requested they be my friend. Now we're getting somewhere. Friends started to pour in. LW#1 was from Stockton MO and enjoyed gospel music and reading the Bible. Is 69 and tells me that getting older isn't what it's cracked up to be! LW#2 is from Arlington , VA and is 30 and a member of the University of Virginia Black Alumni. Really guessed wrong on his age! LW3# doesn't list where he's from, but lists 58 as his age. LW#4 is from Tennessee and is 70 and a member of the Saudis Baptist Church.LW#5 is from Sydney, Australia and invited me to come visit. How about that! Says we should have a reunion of all the LWs in the world. He says he's a crisis catholic? Only goes to church if there is a crisis. Also tells me that Aussies shorten many names and words like: Lazza orLaz. Hey.! "$%.^&*. What the h**l is that? LW#6 was 70 on March 29thand lives in Arizona. Keeps telling me how nice the weather is out there. He does web site development. LW#7 is from Glens Falls, NY and is 51 and enjoys sports and Bruce Springsteen. Coaches Little League baseball and HS sports. LW#8 is from Wakemani, OH and enjoys reality shows and country music. Is 53 years old. LW#9 is 71 and a born again Christian who lives in State College, PA. Retired from: Univ. of Iowa as the Information Systems Director, Univ. of ND as the Library Director,Purdue Univ. as the Head of Research and Development and Dartmouth as Chief Librarian of Automation. I should add some of this kind of stuff in my write-up. LW#10 is from Edmon, OK and worked for the Panhandle Eastern Pipe Line Co. He is 71 and told me his mother was born in Lancaster in 1918. LW#11 is 65 and from San Luis Obispo, CA. He is President/Owner of Westcoast Broadcasting, Inc. Big time Republican who likes Rush and Sean. LW#12 is from Loomis, CA and is 62. Big basketball fan and says that "We must be a great bunch of guys, right?" And ..... the list goes on. At some point on my blog I must tell you about the TWO other LWs from Lancaster my hometown. Story that is both entertaining and tragic, and I must find the right way to tell the story. Until then, I'll keep in touch with my couple of friends on facebook and enjoy what they are doing. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. PS - Pixs from top are: My friend Bill from AZ, LW#5 from Australia with wife and son, LW#9 from State College, and LW#10 with wife.

The "I'm Not Catholic, But..." Story

It was an ordinary day. Today we are traveling to the Vatican. Yep, THAT Vatican. The one where the Pope lives. Vatican City is a walled enclave within the City of Rome. An enclave is a sovereign city within the boundaries of another sovereign city. Vatican City has an area of 110 acres and a population of approximately 800. The Pope is the head of the Government. Vatican City only came into existence in 1929 and is distinct from the Holy See which dates back to early Christianity. The Holy See is the body of 1.1 billion Catholics around the globe. Hey so much for the history of Vatican City. I'll tell you I was impressed when I walked through the gate and I'm not even Catholic, but close since I'm Episcopalian. Paolo is our guide and he's a handsome Italian dude. He leads us and 10,000 of our closest friends through the Raphael Rooms, Sistine Chapel, St. Peter's Basilica and a viewing of Michelangelo's Pieta. The Raphael Rooms are located in the Palace of the Vatican. They house the frescoes painted by the artist Raphael. The fresco of Adam and Eve is one of the most impressive. As we walk from building to building you start to feel "religious," if you know what I mean. Hard to imagine how long it took to build these structures and paint all the frescoes and make all the statues that grace the halls. We enter a long hall leading to the Sistine Chapel. The amount of gold leaf on the ceilings and walls is unbelievable. Guards keep close watch. You are allowed to take photographs until we enter the door to the Chapel. Small room!! I guess I was expecting to see some humongous area, but it is very small. And ... don't you dare touch your camera. Guy in front of me did and he didn't have it in about 5 seconds. Didn't even have it to his eye. The camera police grabbed it and told him where he could get it upon exit from the room. They say the flashes will damage the paintings. The floor of the Chapel is mosaictiles while most of the paintings are by Michelangelo with a theme of the history of mankind before the coming of Christ. And .... I'm standing there, looking up at the ceiling and wondering how anyone can paint using a small brush while laying on their back. I have enough trouble standing up and painting the house with a roller. Building was constructed from 1477 to 1483. Can't believe they did that in only 6 years. We headed next to St. Peter's Basilica which is a late Renaissance church which has the largest interior of any Christian church in the world, holding 60,000 people. Wow, I should have gotten married in there so I could of had a few more friends and relatives show up. While in the church we solemnly walked past Michelangelo's sculpture, La Pieta. This famous work of art depicts the body of Jesus on the lap of his mother Mary after the Crucifixion. Truly moving!! We walked into St. Peter's Square which is in front of the church. Paolo points out the window where the Pope greets the people standing in the square. Seems he won't be greeting us today. Something better has come up for him. You know, it's funny how all the girls and women seem to hang around Paolo and ask him questions. Dumb things that really don't have anything to do with Italy. You can't be anything but impressed with our journey today. History is neat, even though I hated it in high school and college. Ended the tour in the gift shop, naturally, and bought a "Christian stamp" from Vatican City. I was half afraid to lick it when I was putting it in my scrapbook. Also bought a Rosary for my sister-in-law Kathy. Really neat and she loved it. Well the day is over and I don't think I would have done anything different. Oh yeah! Now when I get home, I've got to have my named changed to Paolo. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. PS - Pixs from top: Sculpted Sphere in courtyard inside Vatican City, Raphael's Adam and Eve fresco, hallway leading to Sistine Chapel, inside Sistine Chapel, St. Peter's Basilica, St. Peter's Square panorama, front of St. Peter's Basilica and tower view of St. Peter's Square.

The "Who's got the Poison Pooh?" Story

It was an ordinary day. The kids were in the water having a good time. They always have a good time when we go on vacation with the Howrys. Have been doing it for a few years now. The Howrys live up the street from us and we go to the same church. We have 3 kids, they have 3 kids. Mostly the same ages. This year we have traveled to the Elk River which is close to Locust Point. The Elk is one of the rivers that empties into the Chesapeake Bay. Just around the corner is the Bay. The water is cloudy. Can see maybe, on a good day, six inches under water. The bottom is sandy with a few pebbles from the shore to maybe 15 feet from shore. After that it is muck. Really slimy muck. Probably made that way from all the fish taking dumps in the water. Well, the kids have made up a game called "Who's got the poison pooh?" Once they reach the end of the sandy area they reach down, or dive down if the tide is in, and scoop up a handful of the the muck. Pretty gross. After they surface with the stuff, they proceed to rub it on someone else or they throw it at the closest person. They play this every day until some one cries. Usually is Tad, our youngest. He doesn't enjoy having the poison pooh all over him. You know, some places we travel to in the Caribbean charge you big bucks to have your body covered in poison pooh. They call it a mud bath. Probably isn't the exact same stuff, but sure looks like it. The game goes on sometimes for hours. You get the poison pooh on you and you either wipe it off or get more from the bottom and sling it at someone else. Every now and then my wife will get in the game. Count me out, though. Then there is the other game where they pick out a person and see how much they can stack on their head. Tad usually gets the worst of that also. And then he cries. It's been years now since we have been to the bay with the Howrys. Gary H. died on April 9 quite a few years ago. Trips haven't been the same since. But, the kids STILL talk about "Who's got the poison pooh?" every summer when we head to the shore. Tad's older now and doesn't cry anymore when they joke about it with him! It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. PS - Top pix shows the kids having fun on the "dock of the bay" while the bottom has from left oldest Derek, Brynn in the middle and Tad on the right playing "Who's got the poison pooh?" In memory of Gary H.

The "GG Tour" Story

It was an ordinary day. We are getting in GG's white taxi for a tour of Antigua. Antigua lies in the Lesser Antilles, 17 degrees north of the equator, between the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. Antigua declared their independence from England in 1981. The island has about 108 square miles of land and 85,632 residents with a democratic government. And ..... GG knows every inch of every square mile every resident on the island!! I met GG the first day at our resort. I went looking for a rental place to get a car for a week and came upon a group of guys playing "Warri", an island board game. GG saw me and responded first with, "What can I do for you?" I said, "Who's in charge?" He looked at me and with a smile said, "We all look the same to you, don't we?" Wow, how do you respond to that? Then he started to laugh, came over to me and put his hand on my shoulder. He looked to be close to my age and the most outspoken of the group. "Didn't mean to offend you," he said. "No offense taken," I said as I returned the smile. Then I asked him about the rental. "You don't want a car. I can take you anywhere you want for less money." And after seeing the rates for rentals on the side of the building next to us, he was right. "How about a tour of your island tomorrow? Four people," I asked. "I'll meet you in front of the resort at 8:00 AM. Make a list of what you want to see and I'll add it to what I'm going to show you. It'll cost you $120 for the four of you. Bring a towel and your swim suit and money for lunch. I'll have you back in time for supper." We shook hands and I headed back to our room. Now we're getting in the taxi for the trip. The trip was probably the best island tour we have ever had. We started with a visit to a lot where they build portable houses for residents. Saw houses in all stages of construction. All wood, bright Caribbean colors and VERY SMALL! From there we traveled to Jolly Harbor which is a premier sailing harbor in the Caribbean. Million dollar ships anchored and docked all around the harbor. Off to the beaches. Passed a few old sugar mills on our way to Ffryes Beach which is a favorite of the locals. Beautiful fine white sand. We walked the beach for a short time then headed to a resort on Coco beach. Made our resort look like a dump. As we drove I noticed new street lights going up along the road. I questioned GG and he told us that the Chinese are installing them for the island at no charge. Yeah, right! They also built a monstrous cricket stadium for the island. GG explained that China wants the Antigua's vote in the UN so they can whale hunt. Whale hunting must be profitable if they are willing to do all this for a vote. It has the island divided politically and morally on this issue. On our way to Darkwood beach we passed the black pineapple farm. Not really black, but darker than regular pineapples. Darkwood beach was beautiful so we stopped for a photo shoot. Next was Carlisle Bay resort. $1,500 a night!!! Gorgeous place. GG knew someone that worked there and he took us for a tour. Would love to stay there, but... From the beach you could see the island Montserrat in the distance which has an active volcano. Big ash cloud over the island. Time to eat. We stopped at a "local stand" for take out. Carol had the fish with rice and salad while Jerry and I had to try the goat water, baked potato and salad. Sue was brave enough to try the beef hoof stew. We headed to Shirley Heights lookout to eat our meal. Shirley Heights is located about Falmouth Harbor and has the best view of any place on the island. But, we weren't able to eat there, since we didn't buy our meal there. GG was annoyed. So we headed to Nelson's Dockyard below Shirley Heights. The dockyard was used for the British ships during operations in the 18th and 19th centuries and was named for Adm. Horatio Nelson,who was said to have hated the island. Great place for lunch and GG got a free tour for all of us. We then conitnued to Half Moon Bay which is said to be one of the best beaches in the Caribbean. Maybe years ago, but not now! On to Devil's Bridge which is known as the location where local slaves, years ago, would go to end their life. Next, on to Long Bay Beach for a relaxing swim while GG napped for half an hour in his taxi. Calmest waters on the island. Trip continued with a tour of one of the oldest churches on the island, St. Peters, and then to Betty's Hope which was a restored sugar mill. We got to watch the sunset as we headed home. It was a tremendous day with a very gracious host and driver. We look forward to using GG for our driver for the rest of vacation. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. PS - Tour pixs from top: GG with his taxi, visiting portable housing site, Ffryes beach, black pineapple plantation, Carlisle Bay resort with Montserrat erupting in background, dishing out the goat soup, Shirley Heights lookout, Nelson's Dockyard, Halfmoon Bay beach, GG posing with us at Devil's Bridge and Betty's Hope sugar plantation.

The "Dancing With My Star" Story

It was an ordinary day. 10:00 PM. "Dancing with the Stars" had just ended. First show of the season. One of my favorite shows. If I have to watch a reality show, this is going to be the one. Hey, you guys reading this who have never watched it, you should start. The girls on this show try to see who can wear the least amount of clothing. And the guys throw them around while grabbing almost every part of their body. All in the name of dance! The professional dancers are assigned to a "Star" who may or may not be someone you have heard of. Usually are a few athletes, an actor or actress or two, sportscasters, an astronaut, an ex-senator, reality show stars and musical performers. The hosts of the show this year are comedian Tom Bergeron and Brooke Burke. There are also three judges: Carrie Ann, Len and Bruno who are professional dancers who assign a score after the contestants complete their dance. And ...... the viewers vote for their favorites. I actually did this one time!! The votes are tallied weekly and they eliminate a "Star" every week. She was a professional wrestler and came in second in an earlier competition. The set, lighting and band are really great. After watching it about 5 years ago, I was hooked. I would constantly go in to the framing gallery where I work the next morning after the show had aired and talk to Keith, my boss and former student, about who did what. Keith doesn't have cable TV so he never watched it. I always told him I wish I could dance like that. My mom and dad were great dancers and every wedding we would attend with them, they always won the competition for best dancers at the wedding reception. They could do the foxtrot, waltz, jitterbug and anything else that they did on the show. Not fair though, since they belonged to a dance club. My mom watches it all the time. I have two left feet it seems and Carol doesn't know which one to follow when we dance. We slow dance by rocking back and forth in the same spot. Well, two years ago at Christmas I gave Kieth and his wife Cindy a big basket from Hickory Farms and they gave me a ....... (ready for this?) ..... a gift certificate for dance lessons!! Two hour long lessons and two half hour lessons with the professionals at the Arthur Murray Dance Studio. I'm in my sixties and I'm going to take dance lessons. I put it off and off and finally we had to go or the expiration date on the gift certificate would pass. I called and made arrangements for Monday of the next week at 7:00 PM. Time arrived and we entered the door. Uh, oh! More couples. And they were dressed for dancing with dancing shoes. Didn't know you needed special clothing and shoes. Turns out they were in a special group class and Carol and I were by ourselves. Whew!! Our instructor asked us what type of dance we wanted to learn and we told her something slow. After an hour of practicing one ... two ... three ... four, she wanted us to make our next appointment. And .... sign up for a few more months of lessons, since she could see we weren't going to be pros after a couple. We told her we had to check our date book and would call soon. Luckily, I couldn't locate the date book. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The "Italian Big 50th" Story

It was an ordinary day. It's Friday, and after breakfast in Florence, we're off to San Gimignano (jim*in*yano). There are 32 of us on a bus tour of this small walled medieval town in the province of Siena, Tuscany, Italy. The town is known for the white wine grown in the area, the 13 magnificent towers that grace the skyline, for being featured in John Grisham's "The Broker" and for being depicted in the video game "Assassin's Creed 2." San Gimignano was founded in the 3rd century BC. In the Middle Ages and Renaissance era, it was a stopping point for Catholic pilgrims on their way to Rome and the Vatican. The city flourished until 1348 when the plague compelled it to submit to Florence. Today it is a

touristic and artistic resort. It has a total area of 53 square miles, an elevation of 1,063 feet and a population of 7,105. As we walk through the main entrance you feel like you are stepping back in time. No motorized vehicles are allowed within the walls of the city. Pathways are stone from eras past and the architecture is amazing. The frescoes which cover the walls depict the renaissance lifestyle. I find it hard to believe that I am walking on the same stones that saints walked on thousands of years before. We walk to the heart of the town that contains four squares, Piazza della Cisterna, Piazza Pecori, Piazza delle Erbe and Piazza Duomo where the Collegiata is located. We tour The Collegiata which is a church that was once a cathedral. Boy, is this Italian!! The view from inside the city of the surrounding countryside with the olive trees and vineyards is breathtaking. After our tour we leave the walled city and head to the Fattoria San Donato, a nearby winery, where we will have lunch and celebrate the "Big 50th" birthday of one of our fellow travelers, Rob Broucht, with a song, a toast and a roast. Wild boar, to be exact.

The wine flows freely in this area of the world. The songs and the toasting gets louder as the wine tasting continued. Rob had been a friend for many years and his mother, Mary Lou is our tour guide and former minister of our church, St. James Episcopal. It seems the barrel dried up so we head back to Florence for a rest, th

en supper. Oh yeah, can't forget the late night trip for gelato!! It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. PS - Pixs from the top: Carol and I at the entrance to the city San Gimignano, frescoes on the walls of the city, two of the remaining towers of the city, a view of the olive trees and vineyards and a birthday photo

The "Teacher's Helper" Story

It was an ordinary day. My final student teacher had just finished his term with me. Freedom at last I thought. This is not always the case with my student teachers. I have had many that did a fantastic job and are now teaching across the state and also in neighboring states. But, I had a few duds. Really bad! During my 33 years of teaching high school Industrial Arts, I had 36 student teachers. All came from Millersville University, formerly Millersville State Teachers College. You may not have a student teacher, until you have taught for several years. After 5 years of teaching, I was approached by Millersville about taking a student teacher for a semester. Fun experience. It is quite a bit of work and a tremendous responsibility. But, you are paid for your efforts and expertise. $300. Comes to about $1 an hour for all the time you must spend with the student teacher and the forms you must fill out. I did enjoy it and felt I owed Millersville for putting up with me for over 4 years. Some years I was asked to take a student teacher for both semesters and two years I had four, each staying with me for 9 weeks. Eventually Manheim Township School District put a limit on having a student teacher of one per year. OK by me. Now I had an excuse if I didn't want one. Some student teachers I had knew very little about the subject. How they reached this point in their career was a mystery to me. So, they became an extra student in my room. I had one named John who was balding and had a hair transplant. Neat rows of a few strands of hair in each hole. Students didn't take too well to him. He also, after finding out my father was a jeweler, leaned on me to help him in his love life and get a cheap engagement ring. Nice enough guy, but didn't get a high rating from me. Then there was Ryan who did a fantastic job. He was very tech savvy and taught not only the students, but me, how to design and construct a web page. I'm not sure he stayed in education with the knowledge he had of computers. Another, Jim, was a very dedicated student teacher and eventually was hired by MTSD to replace me, but he was not well liked by the students. Only stayed two years. And lastly, there was Ruth. She was one of two student teachers I had that were female. One was a young girl and then there was Ruth. I had both of her sons in class before she decided she wanted to be an industrial arts instructor. She entered Millersville and eventually ended up in my classroom as my student teacher. Not your traditional student teacher by any means. And she wasn't suited to the course. Her knowledge level was non-existent, but she did end up teaching metal shop in an inner city school district. I will always remember her for her student profile she filled out before student teaching. It was given to me, her cooperating teacher, as she entered student teaching. As I read it I was amazed at what she found important to tell me. Under physical limitations, she wrote that she had ......... a hysterectomy!! It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The "Tryouts For The Team" Story

It was an ordinary day. Time again for baseball tryouts. For many years I had coached little league baseball as well as girl's softball. Usually in connection with my kids, but I did coach baseball for a few years when I graduated from college. Also played and coached men's league softball, from slow pitch to fast pitch. But, the tryouts are always the most interesting. I remember when I wanted to start coaching little league age kids and searched for a sponsor that would pay the fee for the team and pay for some equipment. Finally found Hamilton Watch Company. They had a team a few years before and had disbanded because they lacked a coach. We were in business again. Did have to use the old equipment, but that didn't matter. We were going to play baseball! My passion!! My cousin's husband, Lance, volunteered to help. I wanted the BEST team in Lancaster so I held tryouts in the south end of the city so the minority kids would have a chance to tryout. Had over 50 kids tryout for a team that I planned to keep at 15. More on that team in another story. Most of my fun memories of tryouts deal with the Manheim Township Youth League. I was asked to coach a travel team and my first tryout was in the SNOW. Freezing cold and the snow was heavy enough at times that I almost lost the little guys in the outfield. But, we survived and had a very successful season. The following season we had tryouts for the travel team and this young fellow showed up with his tennis racket. Richard F. thought his mom had signed him up for tennis. He agreed to try the baseball bat, but it was clear he was afraid to stand in the batter's box. So Wayne, my all the time assistant, got a bat and put it behind him and told him he couldn't step back or he would fall over the bat. Thought it would make him stand in the box. Maybe best if he had fallen over the bat, because with the next pitch I threw, I hit him in the helmet. Never showed up again! Then there are the kids whose parents call and say their son can't make it because....of this or that....and when is the next tryout. I usually reply, "Next year, same time." Then there was the guy in an older age bracket who was trying out and during bunting exercises, I hit in the.....groin area. Not intentionally! After he got over the pain, he walked back to the bench and when he returned he had stuffed a towel in his pants for protection. Had everyone laughing. He made the team right there! It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The "It Wasn't Your Textbook Proposal" Story

It was an ordinary day. My daughter is getting married. She met this guy in her Children's Literature class at Millersville University two years ago. Second semester they shared all their classes together. Just a scheduling quirk. But, Brynn and Dave seemed to really enjoy each others company. Before long Brynn was bringing Dave for supper at our house. Naturally Carol and I needed to quiz Dave to see if he was worthy of our daughter. Made a written test that he had to take. Questions such as: Who is the most important woman in your life? and, What has to be served with every meal? were two of the many questions on the quiz. He passed it with flying colors. Whew! A little over a year later Dave talked to me about his plans for a proposal. At the time they both were living with us since they both had jobs in this area and Dave is from Maryland. He was teaching at Quarryville Elementary School in southern Lancaster county and he told Brynn to stop and they would have dinner. Seems the dinner party was coordinated by his 5th grade class who turned the gym into a restaurant, with pizza, salad, fruit cups and cheesecake for dessert. It was on that evening, April 11th, that Dave proposed to his sweetheart, my daughter. A little over a year later on May 9th they got married. Leading up to the wedding was the planning. Invitations were picked and were neat with a small bow on each one. Not wanting them damaged in the mail, I personally took them to the post office and talked to the postmaster and he assured me they would be hand canceled. NOT!! We found a few were totally smashed while others had track marks on them as if run over by a tractor, so I headed to the PO. "And, how did this happen?" I asked postmaster Dave. "I ran out of time and just ran them through the meter," he told me. A nice letter to the US Postal Service with a complaint lead to a very unhappy employee. Won't speak to me anymore when I go in to mail a letter. Brynn and Dave met with Rev. Peter E. from our church, St. James Episcopal, to plan the wedding and the music. Brynn and Dave had a huge wedding party so they decided to rent an RV to transport everyone. I picked it up a day before the wedding and brought it to our house. Wedding Day arrived!! After getting her hair done, Brynn and a few of the girls got dressed at our house and the rest of the girls arrived shortly after noon. Dave S., one of Dave's friends drove the RV to the church at 1:00 PM for the 2:00 PM service. They stayed at the Chapel which is connected to the church and had a few pre-wedding photos taken. The guys also had arrived at the church and were having photos taken. Showtime!! The bridesmaids walked slowly down the aisle to soft music as Brynn and I waited in the bell tower. She had picked out the traditional "Here Comes the Bride" to enter the church. The organist, John, wasn't in favor because he said everyone will say - here comes the bride, big, fat and wide. Right, John! What a yo-yo. He eventually agreed to Brynn's request. But then, after all the girls had entered, the music was to get louder and head into the "Here ..... the bride." Didn't. The music got louder, but stayed the same piece. Well, I looked at Brynn and shrugged my shoulders, we started down the isle. At least people weren't thinking she was big, fat and wide. We weren't going to let the organist ruin the day. Really beautiful wedding and now our daughter is a Mrs. After photos, the wedding party hopped into the RV and off they went.......to Brewer's Outlet. All were so thirsty they needed a few cases of beer before the reception. Must have been a sight when they arrived at the outlet. Reception was held at Olde Hickory Inn in the Grand Ballroom. One side of the room was a huge wooden bar. About 200 guests packed the place and we celebrated, and celebrated, and... Marie, one of Brynn's friends caught the bouquet and Nate, one of Dave's friends caught the garter. Naturally, Nate had to put the garter on Marie and what a production he made of it. So much that the DJ company that did the wedding, hired Nate to work for them. About the only thing that didn't go well was ..... everyone wanted to dance so bad that they started immediately after the meal and didn't take time to eat the huge wedding cake when it was served. Most was thrown out. Well, it's been almost 12 years now, two granddaughters later, and lots of visits to Maryland. Brynn is teaching as is Dave and he is also coach of the QO football team. About the only thing that didn't survive the wedding was the Olde Hickory Inn.It was recently demolished to make way for a convenience store. Couldn't have been something we did, you think? It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. PS - Pixs from top are: wedding proposal story as it appeared on the front page of the newspaper, the Bride in our living room before the wedding, Brynn and Dave at St. James Church, Wedding party and the Bride and Groom with their parents Carol and Larry and Joe and Linda. And ....... most important women was "his mother", while "applesauce" must be served with every meal.