Hello 2017

Happy New Year!

I think I might have been awake (or half asleep) when the ball dropped in NYC's Time Square. In any case, I was in bed, with the light out trying trying to sleep. I do recall noticing the lack of noise outside as the clock slipped into the new year. The reporters on the radio were talking about Times Square so I knew the new year was here.

I went to church this morning since it was Sunday. We met at the town Senior Center since our usual university location was closed for the holidays. Service started at 9:30 am. Many of the regulars were missing due to holiday visiting travel but there was still a good turn out.

Our new pastor's sermon was appropriate and inspiring for the start of a new year: "The Sharp-Dressed Christian" based on Colossians 3:12-14:

"Put on... compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony."

A take on the old adage, "clothes make the man" (person). Good advice (encouragement) for anyone including skeptics like me.

Later, during a sunny afternoon, I went for a two-hour walk. The sun was very bright and the air was crisp since the temperature was near 40F but seemed lower due to a brisk breeze from the north (which stretched out any flags flying). The sunlight was so perfect that I had to stop and try to capture the beauty with my cell phone camera (haha-I'm such an ignorant optimist).

An ornamental tree.

The weather was very similar to that of New Year's Day 2015. The sunlight on the bare tree branches fascinates me. The starkness of the branches reaching into the deep blue sky amazes me for some reason. Perhaps it's the contrast between the bare limbs and the vividly alive blue sky, both tree and sky representing different facets of seemingly endless time.

Tree-mendous.

The long walk allowed me to explore some streets that I rarely encounter. I enjoy admiring the different architecture of the houses (both large and small) as well as the care that some homeowners have dedicated to their abode.

During my walk, I was listening to  Dr. W. Robert Godrey's "Survey of Church History" by Ligonier Ministries. I listened to several about the Puritans in England during the 17th Century including the English Civil War (starring Oliver Cromwell). Some very interesting stuff (politics and religion). Makes one better appreciate the actual concept of the separation of church and state.

All-in-all, a nice day for a walk.

Trout Brook Creek (with ducks) - looking north.

I ended the day with a nice lengthy phone chat with my nephew Nick.

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Links:

http://www.biblestudytools.com/esv/colossians/passage/?q=colossians+3:12-14#

http://ricketwrite.blogspot.com/2015/01/another-holiday-hike.html

http://www.ligonier.org/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_Civil_War
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oliver_Cromwell
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Written Monday 2 January 2017

2016 Xmas Cards

My deceased grandmother used to hang up the Christmas cards she received. So I used to enjoy admiring them when I visited. Later, when I had my own apartment, I taped the cards I received on a door in the shape of a Christmas tree. Even when I visit others, especially family members, I enjoy browsing through their cards admiring the beautiful and clever ones.

In this day and age, so many no longer exchange cards nor visit during Christmas. So in an effort to somewhat continue the tradition of displaying Christmas cards, this post contains scans of the cards I received prior to Christmas.

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Written Friday 30 December 2016

Go Sound Tigers!

Once again, I drive (alone) to Bridgeport to attend the home opener of the Sound Tigers. One motivating factor is that this is only opportunity to obtain the seasonal magnetic schedule.

As usual, I park on the street a block or two from the arena and purchase a ticket in my favorite cheap seat section at the net near the glass in Section 100. Actually, there are a few rows of expensive seats in front of me.

Much to my chagrin (to put it mildly) there has been a snafu and no schedule magnets are distributed tonight. Instead, they give out paper vouchers that enable you to pick up the magnet at a future game. What a racket! Twisting management incompetence into a marketing opportunity and fan ripoff. Ooooh, professional sports....

And so I settle in to watch warmups before the start of the game. This is how I started sitting in this section: sitting directly behind the net and watching the Tigers pound the puck at the net.

Watching warmups from my seat.

Zamboni machines clean the ice before the game (and between periods).

One of the advantages of sitting this close to the ice is the closeup view when the action is at this end of the ice.

The guy at bottom left (w/glasses) is the official scorer for this side of the ice.

The downside of sitting at the end of the ice is that it is hard to see the action when the play is at the other side of the ice.

At the start of the 3rd period, I moved up to mid-ice at the top of the rink. These seats are considerably more expensive even though they are far from the ice. However, the view is more uniform (almost like watching on TV).

My seat at the start of the game would be to the right edge of this picture.

Although early in the 3rd period, the Tigers were ahead 2-0, it turned out to be a tense game. The Bruins scored with less than 2 minutes to go which made for a very exciting last minute. Fortunately, the Tigers prevailed and won 2-1.

Sound Tigers win 2016-17 Home Opener vs Providence Bruins: 2-1.

So, it turned out to be a happy game. I like this arena so much better than the one in Hartford. It just seems brighter. However, I don't know anyone here and I have to drive a while to get home while most of the fans here live a few minutes away. Still, I have many fond memories here...which is one reason why I keep returning periodically.

Postscript: I called the Sound Tigers later as per the voucher (see above) to request my schedule. A few days later, an envelope arrived in the mail with two (2!) magnet schedules-so I sent one to my son. Perhaps he'll put it on the fridge with the others and remember the good times.

2016--2016 Magnetic Schedule for Sound Tigers.

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Links:

http://www.soundtigers.com/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_resurfacer

https://lscluster.hockeytech.com/game_reports/official-game-report.php?client_code=ahl&game_id=1015917

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Written Sunday 1 January 2017