Fall Colors

Lightnin and I took a little trip up to Michigan this past weekend, to visit some good friends of ours. As luck would have it the beautiful fall colors were out and I was able to at least get one keeper out of the several photos that I snapped.

It was a cool, slightly overcast day, but I think the photo above is a good representation of what Lightnin, along with most others, would consider to be fall colors. I have to admit that this is one of the pleasures that we have up here in the north, and it seems that we have been lucky to have a truly beautiful display of nature's colors this particular year.
For most folks it is an enjoyable time of the year, when the nights turn cool, the insects reduce in number, and of course the breathtaking views. For me it is merely a warning of the upcoming winter, my least favorite time of the year. Thank goodness for fireplaces!

As I stated above the upper photo represents what Lightnin considers to be beautiful fall colors, however the phot below depicts fall colors through "Thunder Vision". OK a fire in the fireplace alone doesn't get me through the winter, but when combined with my version of fall coloration I can survive.

(Pictured left to right: Canadian Lager, Pale Ale, Red Ale, and Porter)

The beautiful glasssware used in the display, along with luxury B&B accommodations, were provided by our good friends Scott and Tami. Their sons also provided some nice entertainment in the way of Ice Hockey league games (Ice Hockey, by the way, is one of the other pleasures of living up north).

Weird Weather in Ohio

Ok just to make it clear, I'm not whining (at least not in this post), but merely pointing out how weird the weather in Ohio can be. We are centered between Canada and the Gulf of Mexico, so we get storm systems that are influenced by both.

Now to top that off Cincinnati is actually located in the Ohio River basin and nestled in between 7 hills. The locals here refer to them as mountains (Mt. Adams, Mt. Auburn, Mt. Lookout, Mt. Whatever...), but if you've been to the Smokies, the Rockies or even the Sierra Madre then you would refer to these as hills, but I digress.
Anyway, I'll start off with this past winter. The day before Christmas Eve we got hit with a storm that dumped our normal year's worth of snow on us in one day. We actually received 24 inches in 24 hours. It was beautiful (notice the photo above), except that my folks were flying in to spend the holiday with us. Yep, they were delayed. It seems that we don't quite have the snow moving equipment to handle storms that are normal in places like Buffalo, NY, who would laugh at this tiny snowfall. It was actully fun because I had just purchased and SUV the year before and I finally had a chance to really test out the 4-wheel-drive capability. I figured that the perfect time to do this was while all of the streets were officially closed by the authorities (naughty?, yes; fun?, Oh yeah!). Well, that's what happens when Canadian air meets Gulf breezes in the winter.

But wait, here comes the weird part. I never would have thought that I'd need to worry about a hurrican in Ohio, but this past summer made me a believer. The photo below is the leading edge of Hurricane Dennis as he entered Ohio. Now by no means am I saying that this storm caused us the distress that it did our southern friends, but it was pretty odd for us. Dennis sat on us for 10 days straight. He gave us 10 days of rain, without even a hint of sunshine. For Ohio this is not even close to normal for July weather. This is what happens when a Gulf storm meets up with Canadian air in the summer time!

I already mentioned our spring and fall (almost summer and almost winter) in a previous post so I won't spend anymore time on them except to add that those are tornado seasons for us.

It's always fun to listen to the weather report to hear the "normals" for each day because the "normal" never seems to happen. It is merely the average of the extremes that we have in this part of the country. So if you're thinking of moving to Ohio because the yearly average temperature is around 73F, just remember that it is the average of the number of days at 20 below zero (F) plus the number of days above 90F and that we rarely if ever actully see 73F for single day's temperature!

GrandParenting (the greatest gig ever!)

Becoming a father was a great experience, but it has its drawbacks. Don’t get me wrong I love it, and wouldn’t trade it for anything, but it’s the worrying about your children. Those of you who are parents know what I’m talking about. You worry if you’re doing a good job as a parent. You worry about how well they’ll do in school. You worry if they’ll grow up to be productive citizens. Even when they’re grown and out of the house you still worry. You worry if they’ll have a decent career. You worry if they’ll meet that special someone, as you have which led to being a parent in the first place. Then you worry if they’ll have children of their own. Well for us at least that last worry is over with for one of our boys.

As I stated earlier, I wouldn’t trade being a parent for anything, but being a Granddad is awesome! We don’t get to go visit the little guy as often as we’d like, but every time we do it’s great! There’s nothing like seeing the eyes of your grandchild light up when he sees you coming. Then there’s the total attention that you get when you talk to him, and of course the giggle-laugh when he gets tickled by something that you say or do. Yep, you just can’t beat that feeling of having someone so special treat you as if you’re the most incredible person on earth. That’s what a Granddad is! Ok lightning, Grandma is a pretty awesome job too!

That reminds me, when we heard that our son (well his wife actually) was expecting my wife asked me if I was going to be a “Good Grandpa”. I replied “well yes, what else could I be?”. To which she replied (without a smile on her face) “You know what I mean are you going to be a Good Grandpa like my Grandpa was to me and like your Dad has been!?”. I replied “Yes of course I will, but I’m going to have fun with them you know mess with their minds a little!” Then I got the look! “Ok, ok I’ll be a good Granddad!”

I do look forward to going fishing, hiking, and sitting around a camp fire (or even the fireplace) and just simply being Granddad. Then when Grandma goes to sleep, and it’s just my little buddy and me sitting by the fire, I’ll tell him about how I invented TV, or the time that I drove my motorcycle across the surface of the moon, or that time that I received a US patent for discovering how to make a non-aqueous liquid laundry detergent with non-chlorinated fabric safe bleach, and then there was that time when……..

Fall in Ohio

Aaah fall in Ohio! Well that's what's happening this weekend. Yep, I said this weekend. Fall is the time of year when we go from airconditioning on Friday to furnace on Sunday! Friday it was sunny and 75F, today it is sunny and 65F, tomorrow is supposed to be partly sunny and 50F for the high. The low tomorrow morning is supposed to be 38F.

We've found that Cincinnati does have four seasons, it's just that if you blink you miss two of them, Spring and Fall. We have Summer, Almost Winter, Winter, and Almost Summer. Summer can last as long as 4 months, or as short as two. Winter usually lasts at least 6 months but has gone 8 before. Almost Summer and Almost Winter usually last less than a month each, and like this year have been known to last a mere weekend. My one, or I guess I should say two saving graces are my fireplaces (one traditional and the other a deck-top or patio fireplace). If not for that I don't think I could make it through the winter.

Yes I'm whining a bit, but you see I lived in Florida for just long enough to get used to the wonderful weather (about 2 years). I definitely have sand in my shoes and will never get it out. My winter depression was so bad at one time that my wife wouldn't let me leave the house by myself with a full tank of gas because I'd be on I-75 headed south faster than you can say "Pina Colada". So now we have not one but two fireplaces. Yes, my wife obviuosly knows enough about psychology to substitute one instinct with another, the the need to migrate south with the basic male interest in fire.

Well, I've split the wood and we're going to sit out on the deck and enjoy a nice fire while welcoming the coming of Winter. It won't be long before we'll have to retreat to the livingroom and burn the fire in there!

Coming soon: Grandparenting, the best gig in the world!

Ok, one last Oktoberfest posting!

Ok I'sure you're getting tired of hearing about the Oktoberfest, but I had to share this one last photo. During the 3 day event we slow roasted 600 chickens and 18 pigs! Now that's a Bar-B-Que Pit!

Three Generations

This photo was actually taken at one of the other club's Oktoberfest's (Germania Verein). We were fortunate enough to have both our son and my parents visit for the weekend, so we took advantage of the event. Three generations of German-American heritage, with some Belgian influence provided by the distinguished looking gentleman on the right. Coming from that background is was only a matter of when, not if, I would start brewing beer.

I mentioned that our son was able to join us. He is actually stationed in Germany at this time, so through him we have come full circle from Germany to the US and back. Just in case you were wondering, yes he spent time in Iraq and made it back and we are very proud of him. It's brave young men like him that preserve our rights to freely celebrate our heritage at events such as these that I have shared with you!



This was a rare photo that I was able ot get of the official tapping of the keg to start the Oktoberfest. Rare, only because the crowd usually pushes up so close, to try to get the first official beer, that you can't get a clear shot of the tapping.

Lederhosen = Chick Magnet

I think the photos speak for themselves!

Donauschwaben Oktoberfest

Cincinnati has a strong German American heritage with at least 4 active organizations that are trying to preserve tradition of music, dancing, food, art, and my favorites: beer, wine, and spirits. We happen to belong to Verein der Donauschwaben. The Donauschwaben was formed by the Danube Schwabians over 50 years ago and is still going strong. Schwabia was a region of Germany near the Danube River prior to WWII. The region was taken by the Nazi’s and the people either fled to other countries, predominantly the US, or were sent to concentration camps. This past weekend we celebrated Oktoberfest, the coming of fall and the anticipation of the harvest. We are proud of the fact that we host the most authentic of the festivals in this area with most of the clubs members dressed in traditional clothing for the entire weekend. The event includes live bands from Germany and Austria, as well as local groups playing traditional German music. Dance groups of all ages also perform throughout the festival. There are different food, game, and merchandise booths and everyone has a good time. Ein Prosit der Gemütlichkeit!