How to fill time in retirement

 When I was a kid there was a bar in my hometown of Middlebury called the Alibi. I heard a lot of stories but I always wondered "What Goes On" in that place. It was a cross between a bar, a social club and a bowling alley. I do not ever remember going in there myself because by the time I turned 18, old enough to legally drink, the place had become a den of scary events, and the Rosebud was just up the Frog Hollow. So, jump ahead 50 years and what opens in Cocoa Beach, a place named the Alibi. I have been wanted to visit it for  a while, but during the week it does not open until 4PM. I like to visit places at lunch time when they are less crowded. I had just celebrated my 67th Birthday on Friday, and decided to go to the Port for a beer and to take some photos. I share a few of those below. But after two Orange Blossom Pilsners at the Rising Tide in Port Canaveral, I decided I give the Alibi a try. I entered from the back and found a large open-air patio with a DJ playing mu...

 I use to be a Tiger and now I am the Walrus . Just recently I found out that my friend Randy Quesnel had passed away. Although it happened back in March, I just found out on Facebook. I had not kept in touch with Randy but I did have some fond memories of him. One connection we had was playing football together at MUHS. My Senior year, Randy was a Junior. I knew I had a photo of him but all I could find was this scan from the Addison Independent. Tigers of the Week ! This was 1974, 50 years ago. That is Randy on the left, and my classmate Bob Shaw on the right. Randy played fullback but he also spent time as defensive end. I was the defensive halfback on the same side of the field and Coach Wagner had a verbal call for me to let the DE know I was rushing and the DE had to contain. Whenever I made the call, Randy would give me a look, he liked to rush the backfield and I was messing him up. Of course, he knows the call was from either Hubie or Coach Chuck Martin or Coach K. But he ...

 I just celebrated a Birthday and it was a time for me to reflect. When I first heard this song "When I'm Sixty-Four" back in 1967, I thought "that is so far into the future." And now that I am 67, I am wishing I could go back to being 64. It is what it is. I think overall I am happy with my life so far, but there are still a few things I want to do. I just don't have the stamina I use to have. I was always an organizer, both at work and at home. Between coaching ball teams, running the March Madness lottery, planning Halloween parties, going to sporting events, plays, concerts and participating in pub crawls, to name a few, most of the time I was leading and not following. But now I can feel great satisfaction in doing yardwork or sitting down to read a novel. Travel has become harder to do; I find I do not have the patience for stupid people anymore, and there seems to be a lot more of them out there. I drove to Vermont last summer and found myself very te...

Weddings! All you need is Love !  The other night I had a weird dream about attending a wedding. When I woke, I started thinking about the weddings I have attended in my life. I was not sure if I could remember them all. I know the list is long and I decided to al least get a record of the ones I have pictures from. Sometimes I was just an onlooker, and there were times I was lucky to be part of the wedding party. In actuality, I always participate in the wedding party! Here are some wedding photos from my archive. Family I did not attend this wedding. It was November 24 in 1946, my mom Stella united with my dad Harold at Saint Mary's Catholic Church in Middlebury Vermont. Although I was not there in body, you could say my whole future depended upon this moment. My oldest sister Patsy got married out West and none of the family attended. Pat and Brent ended up moving to Hawaii where my niece Lori was born. Tom married Robin, but it was a very small gathering. Just after I graduated...