June is wedding season

Happy anniversary, Mom & Dad! The reception following the ceremony at St. Patricks Church in South Hadley, Mass, 1963.

Reader responds: thanks for the look back, to a very happy fun filled day.

Random Dads

My Dad has three sons. Author in the middle. My brother Mike, right, has twin girls.

Brother Jay has a daughter, Audrey.

Dziadzu had two daughters. One of his daughters has three sons.

Dad was always home. Except for Friday nights.

The last thing on Poppy's mind as a boy, standing far right, is being a dad. But he had 2 boys and a girl, eventually. And they have various children. And now those children are parents.

A Day on the Town!

Here's today's quiz:

Everyone knows that's Aunti Anne, Poppy, Grandma and Uncle Paul. Name the man and boy in the middle!

Update: Reader writes:

the picture was taken in nyc. uncle sonny, eleanor's husband. eleanor was poppy's sister, and next to sonny is gene bouchard. gene died at 60 and sonny, his father is also gone.
dad was in the navy. at first i thought it was a picture of dad, but, after i enlarged, it was uncle paul.

Holyoke Savings Bank 1963

Judy, far left, and crew at the H.S.B. It's almost quarter to six and the manager's carnation still looks fresh. I figure the doors were locked at 4pm. I guess there was lots of money to count!

Good to be home II

Finding a way to keep cool is essential in the hot summer sun, 1944. The sailor, stays in uniform.

Who is the woman with John and Cas?

Update: Reader writes, "the old woman wtih cas and john is their grandmother on my father's side. her last name was Gripp. she and her husband had many acres of land on new ludow road.

Keeping Cool at Misquamicut State Beach

Blanket to Blanket Fun!

Author, pre-summer buzz, ready to soak up some rays, 1978.

Jim and the Toyota Cressida, 1989, getting a prime spot in the lot.

River Dog Paddleabout

An afternoon on the Connecticut River

We often launch our canoe from this spot.

We paddle into the sandy river's edge. We walk up the bank and into a sunny, green area. There are no footprints. As we walk through the bushes we get stung by the prickers. Ouch! We stay here for awhile and keep a lookout. 

Mt. Tom. The communication towers blink at us. I always get a good signal from here.  We paddle on. 

We see a shape in the distance. 

Branches break from trees along the banks and drift till they get caught close to shore. We like how they create shapes and personalities. This one will probably stay all summer. We'll call him Leopold!