Collage of Memories

One more mix of memories from vacation before we return to our regularly scheduled programming.

CRChair's Squirrel Pics

CRChair got some nice Squirrel pics as well. Click on the image below to see them all.

Missed us by THIS much

Never assume a sick day means it is going to be an uneventful day. Construction next door and rain had undermined a large old pine tree - the wind today brought it down about lunch time. The good news is it missed the house - just appears to have taken out some railings on the fire stairs. Made for an interesting early afternoon. Very thankful to God that no one was hurt. Click on the photo for a full set of pictures.

Buck at the Birdfeeder

Hat-tip to frequent commenter Shadowmom for this photo of a deer feeding at her bird-feeder the other week. Interesting to see these beautiful animals invading suburbia... even if they are eating all the flowers.

Biking Update - August 8, 2009

This post is a bit late, because I was out of the habit of the weekly biking updates. Last week was vacation, and I chose to include the weekly update in my "things to skip while away". But the accountability of this is very important to my weight-loss and fitness plan. It is easy to lie to yourself. It is hard to lie to a blog audience to whom you have to show your weight-loss graph every week.

It was a great week for biking, while down in New Jersey. I biked every day that we were not traveling (traveling days generally were impractical for biking, because of early wake-ups and early check-outs or late check-ins). I racked up 107.55 miles on the bicycle while we were away! (Plus, 43 miles on the boardwalk walked in Wildwood.) That was between 10 and 18 miles a day, every day. And it was worth it on multiple levels. First, the exploration was great - I saw a lot of wildlife (rabbits, terns, geese, herons, etc.), learned new things about places we had been visiting for years (Wildwood Crest has a wildlife preserve!), and felt the freedom of the road every day (stress melted away). Second, because I was burning so many extra calories while away, I saw very little jump in my weight, despite having pretty much whatever I wanted to eat. I started the vacation at 208 lbs, and ended it at 209.8 lbs. After french fries, motz sticks, and cheese steaks all week! I never did indulge in sugar, though, as it appears my body doesn't crave it the way it used to. I was going to have ice cream while on the boardwalk, but was never in the mood.

Of course, there were costs of going from 20 miles biked per week to 150 miles biked and walked. My knee has been very sore since I got back, and I have small blisters in a number of places on my feet. So, I have been taking it fairly easy on the exercise this week to let the body heal and my diet return to "normal." Because of that, I saw a slight bump up in weight over the course of this week, but it all came back down to lighter than when I left on Friday (207.2 lbs). I am still chasing the elusive 205 lbs, and we'll see how that works out in the coming months.

This next week should be interesting as I get back into the swing of exercising every day. Hoping to have a bike ride today with CRChair, and then ride to church tomorrow on my own. And who knows what the upcoming evenings will offer in terms of weather and conditions. But it was a wonderful vacation, and I feel truly ready to return to "normality", refreshed and raring to go. (Actually, went back to work last week to an incredibly tense week, but still feel refreshed even today.)

The Nomad's Wanderings

The Nomad has been wandering in southern New Jersey for the last week, but returns to his home tent today. If you'd like to browse some of the photos from his travels, click on the image below.

Gone Fishin'?

From yesterday's ride along the Stratford, CT shoreline. Some days I wish I still owned a fishing pole. Other days, I realize I have forgotten almost all of the skills necessary for fishing, except sitting still.

Nomad Sans Facial Hair

I don't post pictures of myself here very often, other than on the biking updates. But yesterday was a somewhat momentous day. After about 15 years of having a beard - and losing 70 lbs - I have decided to see what I look like clean shaven. I know many Mod-Bloggers have never seen me bare-faced. So it only seemed fair to post some pictures here. I have not decided if I will stay like this or grow it back. I'll give it at least a week before making that decision. In the meantime... MY CHIN IS COLD!

BEFORE


AFTER

The Airline Trail

Enough for the doom and gloom of economy and history for one day. Yesterday, we had a wonderful bike ride alone the Airline Trail which goes from East Hampton, CT (about an hour drive north from us) thru Colchester, Lebanon, and Hebron. The trail itself is 22.4 miles, according to the handbooks, although then it links up with the "Airline Trail North" that goes all the way up into Massachusettes (originally this was a railroad line that went from New Haven to Boston). We could only manage to go about 11 miles up the trail before having to turn around and ride back (warning, the way back is more uphill than the way out!) but it still made for our longest single-day ride so far of 22.5 miles total.

I thought my Mod-Blog friends might enjoy sharing the ride by seeing the photos we took along the way. If you are ever in CT with your two-wheeled friend, it is definitely worth a ride.

Sunset over Long Island Sound

CRChair and I had another sunset ride along the beach in Stratford last night in weather which could only be described as "perfect". Here is one shot from the ride to give you a taste for the beauty of the shoreline skyline. May its peaceful vibe help wash away some of the stress of the work week.

Photo from Yesterday's Ride

I really like how this turned out, the richness of color, interesting composition, and the detail. And this was on my little waterproof digicam. Just had to share.

Revelation Generation Photos

Yesterday, CRChair and I went down to Frenchtown, NJ for the Revelation Generation (Rev Gen) concert. I thought our Mod-Blog readers might enjoy seeing some photos I got of the event. And who knows? Maybe next year a few of you might come along if you are in the area.

Interesting tidbit for photographers among you. SLRs were banned from the event, so this was taken with the waterproof minicam that I use when biking.

How Do You Back Up Your Photos?

I've gotten to a point where I've almost run out of room on my hard drive again. One of the culprits is my pictures folder. Some of the pictures, such as wedding pictures, I obviously want to make sure I never lose. How do Mod-Bloggers back up their critical photos? Right now, the solution I'm looking at is Flickr Pro plus 2 backup CDs / DVDs. One to be kept here and one to be kept in another location.

On another note, I was happy to find out that if you let your Flickr Pro account lapse, they still keep all of your photos, they just don't show them to you until you renew. My heart stopped and then raced for a few minutes while I worried about that. Glad to have the account renewed with all of the pictures and a free 3 months for renewing to boot.

Walking with Dinosaurs: The Live Experience

The Walking with Dinosaurs show was amazing! It is hard to overstate the spectacle or the attention to detail. To see a whole set of my photos, click the image below. CRChair will also have his up shortly.

Snow day!

Defeating Giants

I thought our Mod-Blog readers might enjoy seeing some photos from an event last Friday produced by frequent Mod-Blog commenter "Nick". It was a time of storytelling, mime, and interpretive dance which was really fascinating. Click on the image below for the whole set.

Rock the Sound Photos

This past weekend, we attended Rock the Sound, a Christian concert featuring many great Christian rock bands. We don't usually get many concerts of this quality in CT (nearby NYC gets most of them), so we really enjoyed the chance to rock out in our own back yard. I thought Mod-Bloggers might enjoy seeing the pictures I got at the event. Click on the pic below for the whole set.

And here is a taste of it in video form...

What the aftermath of a REAL winter storm looks like

I truly love winter. I love snow, I enjoy the ice, and I love the cold. Yeah, I know. What a weirdo. But still, I am amazed by the raw beauty of winter and ice. Check out these photos of an ice storm from Switzerland. If you like the icy images from DR. ZHIVAGO, or the deep-freeze from DAY AFTER TOMORROW, you owe it to yourself to click on over.

Since no one else posted today

CRCHAIR's Wildwood Photos

Here are the photos that I took on our Wildwood vacation. Not the same quantity as Nomad, but hopefully as good quality.