2006 New England Sand Sculpting Invitational on Revere Beach

 

2006 New England Sand Sculpting Invitational on Revere Beach

 

Revere Beach in Revere Massachusetts is America's first public beach.   At one time this beach was a carnival type atmosphere including all types of rides. There are many senior couples in the area that met their love at the Revere Beach dances.   Those are all gone, but there is a group still keeping her alive by scheduling a variety of beach activities, one being these wonderful sand sculptors competing each year for the $10,000 prize money.  These master sculptors come from all over the coutry and Canada.

 

This was a busy beach last week.  Besides the masters, there was a children and family competition plus one for  amateurs. 

 

The pictures above are not mine, but I thought you might like to see them anyway.

Photo Scavenger Hunt # 85

This week at Krissy's Sometimes I Think the Photo Scavenger Hunt # 85 subject is Glass.   I hunted down an old entry that featured glass.    Would you use this restroom?  

World's Bigest Bird Feeder

In 1892 the citizens of Mitchell built the first corn palace to show how good the crops were in Dakota.  From then on, each year the old decorations were taken down and new murals were created.  These murals are made of thousands of bushels of  corn, grain, grasses, wild oats, brome grass, blue grass, rye, straw, and wheat and they all tell stories about life in South Dakota.

Locals call the Corn Palace the world’s largest bird feeder since the cobs and kernels attract birds from all over. Hungry birds and Mitchell’s wild weather take their toll on the building and it’s a big job to keep it in tip top shape.  That's probably another reason why they redo it every year.

Some 350,000 ears of corn cover the Corn Palace. Each ear is sawed in half and nailed onto 13 exterior murals designed by a local artist. The Mitchell Chamber of Commerce has dubbed this “earchitecture” and the job of decorating the Palace has belonged to Dean Strand for 24 years. He’s also developed hybrid corn in a cornucopia of distinct colors that make up the murals.  I believe they said he also developed the corn-by-number style in photo number 4

See the Corn Palace for yourself on its live web cam at www.cornpalace.org Look for the small camera icon on the upper right side of the home page.

Baskets, baskets everywhere.

Baskets, baskets everywhere.    Central Ohio is basket country.  The Longaberger company, headquartered in Newark, Ohio, has a basket presence throughout Newark, Dresden and surrounding areas.  If your not a basket lover, it's just to bad, they are everywhere, every color and every size. 

 

This afternoon  we did the tourist thing and visited  the Longaberger Homestead.  Just as we arrived, along came the tour bus to take us to tour the factory.  We were able to see baskets being made from start to finish and had opportunities to talk with workers.  The employees are a contented bunch, the turnover rate is only 1%, no union needed says one women saying they give us everything we want.  How many people can  say that!     The company is being run by two sisters, daughters of  Dave Longaberger, now deceased.  We came away with the feeling that the employees took pride in their work.  It is my humble opinion that we don't always see that much anymore.

 

Along with the chance to make your own basket, there are many shops to visit, along with a tea house and restaurants.

 

The baskets were beautiful, but I have no room.  Boo hoo.

 

I consoul myself seeing the world's largest apple basket, boasting a bumper crop  of fourteen 4 foot apples.  It is over 29 feet tall and was woven from hardwood maple in 1999.

 

Another cool thing we saw was the Longaberger corporate offices, 17 miles down the road from homestead.  The building is a picnic basket, only 160 times larger.   The seven-story building is an exact replica of a medium-sized Longaberger picnic basket. Synethetic plaster was used to create the curved basket weave exterior. The handles are heated to prevent ice from forming and falling onto the roof.   Two Longaberger tags are attached to the sides of the building. The gold leaf painted tags are 725 lbs each and measure 25' long x 7' tall x 3" thick.

 

Pretty neat!

My first Movie

 

 Last year Bob and I talked about things we should do or try that we have never been able to do.  Neither of us likes heights very much, so before we left AZ. We took a ride on an aerial sky ride.  I hated it and will not do it again. 

 

 Next, I  have always wondered how you got to be an extra in one of those movies. You know you see a scene where there is a couple just sitting there having coffee. Maybe a quick line: "Excuse me Miss, could I have the check".  It would be GREAT to be able to say "Oh that was the movie I was in with Robin Williams and Clint Eastwood." Well, I saw in the Zanesville, Ohio  paper that they were looking for extras that were willing to go naked. Now look, I'm 68 years old what have I got to lose, at least maybe it would be a comedy. They only pay the extras $56 a day and if you are here for more than three days they make you join the Actors Guild Union. Unfortunately it only lasted one day and I didn't get a speaking part. The good news is they didn't cut my big scene from the movie. They say it will be released in the fall, but they sent me what they called a "movie still." Now let's all be adults about this, I am having these printed up and will be autographing them.  Maybe I'll use it as our Christmas card this year.
  I want you to know that I will remember all you little people when I make it to Hollywood. Everyone told me I was going to have too much time on my hands when I retired.  Somehow there is always something to do.
 

Happy 4th

     "Happy  Fourth of July" 

                          

                     Friends

 

http://www.jacquielawson.com/viewcard.asp?code=NE45258244

Soothing sights and sounds

 

Again as we travel we are without a constant Wi-Fi signal.  It's great when it is working, but as we drive east it is not always available..  Such is life.  When making reservations for a stay, it has become one of the first questions," Do you have Wi-Fi?".

 

Last week we spent a few nights in Wisconsin.  The weather was perfect.  We were actually able to sleep without the air conditioner running and open the bedroom windows.  Being a Type A personality, laying in bed is a waste of time, so I usually put on a radio talk program plugged into my ear, as Bob like silence when he is going to sleep, and this helps me fall asleep.  Well anyway, the air was good, the crickets were cherping and the frosting on the cake was lightning bugs , twinkling out side my window.  As a bonus prize, I was able to see the little dipper high above this magical show.

 

This scene brought back sweet memories of when as children we would run around catching these fireflies and put then in a jar.  Simple amusement.  No radio was needed that night to sleep.  Instead I snuggled down and let the magic carry me to sleep.