The Weekend Roundup - 'I'

It's time for Tom's fun meme The Weekend Roundup. Today the third vowel is featured and it has its challenges...but persist I did!

Ice skating begins with 'I'. This is Dad and my big sister Michele on a neighborhood Ice Rink in St. Paul Minnesota, January 1959

Irish Dancers also starts with 'I'. This is the fantastic dancers from the Mulkerin School of Irish Dance in West Haven, CT. They dane in Ansonia for the raising of the Irish flag in March and other events during the year. Wearin' O' the green!

This is at New York City's Idlewild Airport (now JFK International). The year was 1962 and here is my Dad (in beret) at customs at the old and long gone International Arrivals building. Dad was a travel writer for UPI in the early '60s and traveled a lot. He liked the travel part but a he was low paid reporter in a very expensive city. The kids would travel to Idlewild to pick him after a trip and you could see the (lack of) action from upstairs...

Back to Icy we go. I'd be happy to keep the warmth of now; however, realizing the beauty of Winter we look at an Icy pond at Witek Park in neighboring Derby. Have a great week all!

The Weekend Roundup - 'G'

A missed week of Tom's meme The Weekend Roundup is not what I prefer. However, I am back for today's prompts, which means the seventh letter of the alphabet.

Graduate starts with 'G', and I have a few memories here. Top, dad graduated from Ohio's Bowling Green State University. As a bonus, he is with Grandma & Grandpa too!

I am a Graduate of Franciscan University in Steubenville, Ohio. Aside me is my Dad, 27 years later...

I like the rainbow that showed up for daughter Allegra's Graduation from Ansonia HS, 2006. I imagine she's had lots of Good Luck since then!

Our son Graduated from the University of Hartford in 2012. Allegra also graduated from the U of H (2010).

The George Washington Bridge is another. Known locally as the GWB, it appears to the right. I love looking at that 1931 beauty (but not necessarily being involved in its traffic :) Photo is from 2000 from the Henry Hudson Parkway.

Green is best represented (IMO) by this immaculate 1960 Plymouth Valiant. It is a lovely teal-green paint. Not pretty to be sure, but my favorite choice on the ballot at that show. It must have been the color...Have a great week all!

The Weekend Roundup - 'D'

It's fun to be back for Tom's great meme, the Weekend Roundup.

My first 'D' is The First State, Delaware. This photo was taken by our 8 year old son along I-95 on a family vacation in 2000. 

Here is my Delicious Dinner at Copper City Restaurant recently. Underneath the crisp fried onions is a braised short rib (fork tender), perfectly sautéed green beans and garlic mashed potatoes. 'Tasty' describes it well!

Dusk. We left Copper City as dusk settles in over Downtown Ansonia.

Dodge. I like old Dodges like my Grandpa's 1955 Dodge Custom Royal Lancer (3 tone: white, plum and black) with my big sister Michele posing. At our home in St. Paul Minnesota,1959.

And finally, one more old Dodge, a 1936. I like this photo as I took the hubcap and whitewall from wheelchair height - look closely and you will see the photographer. Have a great week all!

The Weekend Roundup - 'C'

The heat and humidity of July has made it to Southern New England, but being this day it is time for Tom's fun meme The Weekend Roundup. Here is my eclectic mix for the week.

Given the 50th anniversary of the first moon landing, I offer a look at the last person to walk on the moon in 1972 - astronaut Gene Cernan in 1966. When Dad worked at then United Aircraft, they built rocket engines (note the Pratt & Whitney Eagle logo on the motor). The boy is not me in this publicity photo:) The days of pioneers made of the right stuff seem to be fading 40+ years later...

Another view from 1966 is Grandpa at the impressive Garden of the Gods outside Colorado Springs, Colorado. I visited this park a couple of decades later and the balancing rock there is amazing! 

How about Contrails? Our patio in Ansonia sits under the flight path from JFK Airport in New York City. The large number of originating flights to Europe each evening fly overhead when the winds are favorable. Given its location, this big twin (777, A330 or 787) took off from Runway 4 Left at JFK. Despite the orientation of the pic, it is actually going up, not down (yes, I am being true to my Airhead self :)

The Weekend Roundup - 'A'

The alphabet begins anew on Tom's fun meme, The Weekend Roundup. This vowel is easy to capture based often on my domicile and heritage, So let's begin...

I live in Ansonia Connecticut, so that's where I am first. Here is Ansonia City Hall. This Main Street beauty was opened in 1904, with two additions in the 1920s and in 1998.

As for Heritage, so many memorable family vacations were on the New Jersey shore were in Atlantic City including the iconic (that is, pre-casino) Boardwalk. This is early morning bicycle ride was in 1965.

Another Ansonia landmark is the Ansonia Public Library. Completed in 1892, its Architecture is Romanesque. The Architect is George Keller, famous for such monuments as the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch in Hartford and the Soldiers' National Monument in Gettysburg, PA.

Week's Favorite. Daughter Allegra vacationed at another town on the fabulous NJ shore, Seaside Heights. She captured this gull who is dutifully keeping off the dunes. Have a great week all!

The Weekend Roundup 'X'

Tom's fun meme The Weekend Roundup has as it's prompt this week that unusual letter 'X' which offers challenges but I managed to find an excellent 'X' and I'm stretching the letter to use for another...

Here is a pair of the 24th letter of the alphabet. A commuter train passes Division St. in Derby, CT. If the gate doesn't get your attention, the Railroad Crossing 'X' signs should also help...

Now here are other uses of today's letter...Linus is X-tra tired and Rosa Mina in Ansonia serves up X-tra tasty food (with X-tra garlic too :)

Week's Favorite. We are at the confluence of the Housatonic and Naugatuck Rivers in Derby under the Route 8 Commodore Hull Bridge as the sunset blazes above. Have a great weekend and Father's Day!

Shadow Shot Sunday - The Majestic Huckleberry

Shadow Shot Sunday 2 takes us back a few days - or centuries if one prefers. Taken at recent Memorial Day Parades in Ansonia and Derby (CT). It is a recreation of Col. David Humphreys, from Derby (local history can be amazing :) an aide de camp of General Washington from 1780 to 1783 in the American Revolution - and his horse Huckleberry. Yes, it is a modern portrayal of the officer by David Loda and his steed also named Huckleberry. I've see this gentle giant up close and he is a beauty indeed. His shadows are equally impressive!

The Weekend Roundup 'V'

It is Friday on the last day of May, thus time again for Tom's fun meme, The Weekend Roundup. We're nearing the end of the alphabet and I found a few...

Starting with 'V' is this Plymouth Valiant V-200.  The styling is odd, but this is a perfect specimen of an old Mopar in a stunning teal and white two-tone paint scheme. Taken three years ago,  it was my favorite at a car show (and I wrote about it for our newsletter back then, see it HERE, Page 2)

Here is a Veterans memorial in West Haven Connecticut. This monument notes those who served in Vietnam...

'V' also stands for Volleyball, this faded print taken at the Olympics in Los Angeles in 1984.

A Favorite. In Ansonia's Memorial Day parade, the featured honoree, Jay Murphy. The 99 year old veteran marched in kilt for many years, but now lives with his family in the Twin Cities. Our small city of Ansonia paid to fly him east to march in the parade. A gentleman who fought in WWII, he inspires all of us - at any age. Have a great week all!

Shadow Shot Sunday - Concrete Carpet

It has been a rainy and cool Spring so far in Southern New England. Thus, any sun we get we gladly bask in its appearance. So for Shadow Shot Sunday, this week's sparse sun exposed for us a shadowy 'carpet' on the patio as the iron table leaves a wonderful pattern. Akin to an area rug, this pattern satisfies!

The Weekend Roundup - 'Q'

Friday is here so it is now time for Tom's always fun meme, The Weekend Roundup. 'Q' is altough letter, so I may be taking a few liberties here :)

'Q' stands for the New York City borough of Queens. The following two photos are from Easter Sunday 1961, in front of our apartment building at 204-03 42nd Avenue in Bayside Queens. On top, Grandpa, Aunt Terry, Michele, Sharon, Claudia and Vicki - when there were only 5 Villers kids. Grandpa (Ralph I), Dad (Ralph II) and myself are in the faded bottom photo.

Here is a 2017 photo from Bayside Queens. I was driving under the 42nd Avenue footbridge, the apartment was only 3 blocks to the right...

Here is a Quartet of chicken legs being basted while charring over charcoal...

Here is a Quintet of vegetables also being grilled over charcoal. I counted five different veggies - I hope that's correct :)

A Favorite. How about chocolate dipped strawberries from Tidmarsh's baked goods in Ansonia. The berries were ripe, the chocolate coating divine. It was a tasty treat and thus my fave for the week. Have a great week all!

The Weekend Roundup 'K'

It is a blustery Saturday in March, so inside I stay, the better to participate in Tom's fun meme, The Weekend Roundup. Today I offer another eclectic mix of the featured letter...

Starts with 'K'. Like Tom, I feature Kodak, but with a twist. Grandpa took this at the Kodak exhibit at the 1939 New York World's Fair. Grandpa always took lots of photos so I guess that's why he took this. In the photo below, that's my dad at 11 years old by the GM exhibit. 

Family vacations past took us to Cape Cod, and this is Kalmus Beach in Hyannis. It's nice to look at the fancy sailboats anchored in the harbor...

Kids also begin with 'K' and we  have two (now grown, las). Here is Cameron's graduation from the University of Hartford in 2012. Next to him is Allegra, herself a 2010 grad from the U of H.

Every year, there is a 5K that traverses our Ansonia neighborhood. Last year Allegra participated... 

A Favorite. This is from a recent show that covered the patio. I'm not a fan of snow, but relaxing on the patio in warmer seasons is something to look forward to. Have a great week!

Shadow Shot Sunday 2 - Cold Backyard

Winter is not my favorite season in feel at least - but as shadowy artistry, a northern winter certainly is! Looking over our back yard after a snowy day before, it makes for a fine subject for Shadow Shot Sunday 2. It's warmer tho in the Sonoran desert, which would at least make me feel better...