Background photo taken in Michigan, Center insert photo in San Antonio, and the small insert taken in Malta! Merry Christmas to all my Blog followers, and visitors!! Hope it is a festive joyous occasion for you all. If not I pray, you will be surrounded by friends and/or family who can show you comfort, and compassion, with whatever you are going through!
Mountains
And Valleys
September 18, 1966 I met my dear wife, Alice in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley, at the beginning of our freshman year of college! Now married 50 years, we look back and see mountains and valleys which we crossed. What a wonderful journey!!!
The song which somewhat depicts our romantic beginnings!
To continue this journey we are leaving Friday morning for NYC, and then flying to Rome on Saturday evening for a 9 day cruise, visiting Italy, Greece and some Greek Islands. Thanks, Alice for letting me journey through life with you!!!!!
P.S. The above photos were taken on the Neiderhorn, in Switzerland in 2013.
Marty Robbins sings our story so well, with a few exceptions!
I Heard the Bluebirds Sing
I met a girl down in the hills that gave my lonely heart a thrill
Her beauty seemed just like a breath of spring
And when I looked into her eyes I thought it blue as a summer skies
When I held her hand in mine I heard the bluebirds singThey sang of wondering (wondering if he loves her)
Will she marry (marry if he asks her)
Will her heart be (heart be true for him for) then and evermore
And when she’s lonely (lonely is he near her)
When there’s sadness (sadness will her cheer her)
Will they always (always be together) until the day they partI courted her for months on end until she promised we would wed
We planned on being married in the spring
All through the long cold winter months it seemed that spring would never come
And every gloomy winterday I heard the bluebirds singThey sang of waiting (waiting for the flowers)
And of counting (counting every hour)
Till the bluebirds (bluebirds chirps his welcome) to the world each morn
And while we’re waiting (waiting for the sunshine)
We keep hating (hating every storm cloud)
That has gathered (gathered o’er the mountains) to keep us for apartAnd when at last spring touched the earth we were married in the church
Our wedding seems just like a dream come true
Though many years have come and gone our love is still as true and strong
As when I found her long ago and still the bluebirds singThey sang of loving (loving every hour)
That I’m married (married to my flower)
And we’re happy (happy ever after) as since the day we’ve met
And though we’re older (older love is sweeter)
We grow fonder (fonder of each other)
We’ll be sweethearts (sweethearts close together) until the end of time Songwriters: HOD PHARISI Heard the Bluebirds Sing lyrics © Peer International Corporation, Quality Music PUB.LTD.
I am sitting on the left, likely looking at a bird! Of course, we weren’t invited to be in this photo! Bengalis love to take photos of their family with foreigners!
After an hour of football this morning, then a one hour walk to the North End Coffee Roasters Shop in Dhanmondi with my wife, we were ready for lunch! White Mocha coffee, and roast beef and cheese sandwich. This is a must-do coffee shop if visiting Dhaka, Bangladesh!
September 18, 1966 was a day of transition, being the day, I met my wife! Actually, the Sunday “Gazette Mail” newspaper of Charleston, West Virginia had a headline- Transition. Trivia: If you work at $9.13/hr for a year, your salary would be $19,000!
We’ve lived in 22 different homes over the years, but maybe I am getting it mixed up with having been in 22 different countries!
Thanks, Darling for knocking me off of my feet (College Sweethearts)! You can tell numbers, so I was tickled to find out that we courted for exactly 1,000 days before marriage.
1966: The setting is in Harrisonburg, Va., situated in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley. Alice and I arrived at the same Professor’s home to get acquainted with other new college students the day before our Freshman classes began. After a nice afternoon, some games, and pizza, we ended up walking back to our respective dorms together. We decided to meet after the Sunday evening vespers and play ping ping. The Student Center wasn’t open yet, so we sat on the steps and chatted. That was the beginning, and the rest is history!
2018: Now after 49 plus years of marriage, the setting is Millersburg, Ohio. We woke, checked our devices, had devotions, and at sunrise headed for the local trail for an hour walk, plus some other exercises. Returned home, changed clothes, and stopped for the Bargain Hunter paper, and on to the Post Office to send off our application for our Passport renewals. Then we went to see my 95-yr-old Mother, and being hungry we headed for Nana’s Kitchen near Holmesville, and had a nice brunch. Then it was on to Buzzard’s Family Shoes in Loudonville for some insoles for my shoes. Returning home it was nap time for me, followed by a fun time having Alice read me all the texts from Alice’s grade schoolmates, as they reminisced their early school days at Sparta School in Spartansburg, Pa.! I decided to fill the hummingbird feeder, and also the dining room window bird feeder. Soon it was supper time, followed by preparing this blog post.
This is a memorable day indeed
The setting for the photo was in the Valley of the Five Lakes, in Jasper National Park in Alberta! July 2017
And 70th Birthday to myself!!! 🙂 Nice to have a birthday on this “Holiday!”
Happy “If you are truly successful in capturing the pulse of life, then you can speak of a good photograph.” Rene Burri
Looking into the future, now that we are “septuagenarians!”
With my oldest son!
With my youngest son!
My wife and I were walking at sunrise this morning, but it wasn’t raining! Will go out to eat this afternoon, and will likely order lobster, instead of biscuits and gravy! 🙂 Looking forward to another sweet year with my college sweetheart!!!
A very bad impersonation of the real deal by a well known painter from Iowa, which incidentally, is where I am from! Ignore the post on the railing that looks like a drumstick! 🙂
2,476 Posts with 851 followers, and the most visited post being the Bengali Village Girl . I appreciate all the support I have felt. I attempted to give you a window into my life through the photos! I think I achieved the goal I had for this blog. I haven’t posted something every day, as I did for he first years. I have learned a lot from many other bloggers. I appreciate all the comments many of you have made over the years. One thing I would like to improve on, would be the captions for the daily posts, and possibly adding a quote or poem to the photos. I have rarely, if ever had a post without a photo, and it will likely stay that way! Enjoy the next 10 years! 🙂
I thought this would be an appropriate photo, since my wife has faithfully walked by my side, supporting me as I take photos, and blog!! Including walking together on the Highline Trail, near Logan pass in Glacier National Park, Montana this past summer!!
