The Muck Chicks

John and Yuzenia's girls-- three sweethearts!

 

Harvested hay field on a beautiful autumn day

 

Not from outer space!

It's an "acreage rake" which is used to gather cut hay into rows that can then be baled. (The baler is in the background to the right of the rake.) We saw it being used last weekend. Very interesting.

Orange Umbrella, Blue Sky

 

The Kids of Summer (c.1972)

A Summer story.

Oh what a place. Shady Shores was everything a kid could want in a summer vacation. I won't go into all the details, but I will tell you that the morning softball games were something we ALL looked forward to.

I ran across this photo of part of our group from July of 1972 (I think) on the field after a game. With a little help from some of the others in the photo, I was able to name all but three of our group. But I wanted to figure out who those three were.

So, anyway, Terri and I were at Dewey Lake last week. Shady Shores is gone, but Lynette and Phil Nevins still rent out some spaces on the old property which they now call "Nevins Landing". The places have been improved-- really nice, with AC and even TV! I met up with three of the people in this picture: Roy Murphy (white shirt, center), Lynette Nevins (front row, third from left), and Phil Nevins (back row, second from right). (By the way, I'm the guy on the left with the striped shirt.) We all talked about how we were doing, and of course about the old days. I brought this photo up on my phone and asked if anyone could ID those I couldn't. I didn't know who was standing next to me and who the two on the right of the front row. No one had a definite answer.

A few days later, Terri and I were walking along Garett Road in front of what used to be Shady Shores cottages and a guy who looked a bit like me (shaved head and white goatee) rolled up on his orange golf cart. We talked a bit and I mentioned that my family had been coming here since the mid-60s. He said his family started coming in (I think) 1972. Then he asked, "What's your last name?" I said, "Muckian," and he asked, "Mike?" I said yes and asked what his last name was. He said, "Litoborski." I asked, "Al?" Yes, it was Al. Small world.

We chatted a bit more and I thought about the picture. As I was pulling it up on my phone, I said I had an old photo of a group of softball players from years ago and was trying to find out the names of the only three I was not able to recall. When I showed it to him he told me the boy on the right in the front row was his cousin, Wayne Jablonski. When I asked who was standing next to me, he said, "That's me!" Really small world. 

We enjoyed a nice time by the fire later that night and all was once again right with the world. Shady Shores will always be recalled fondly in my heart as "the place that time forgot".

Back row: Michael Muckian, Al Litoborski, Tim Dunne, Hobie Murnane, Roy Murphy, Kevin Gleason, Mike (or Bobby?) Fazzari, Jimmy Austin, Phil Nevins, Billy Dunne.

Front row: Keith Boyd, Jimmy Murray, Lynette Nevins, Mary Liz Dunne, Connie Conroy, Wayne Jablonski.

8/25 edit. Thanks to Jeanine Gleason Ranzen for identifying Connie Conroy in the front row and verifying that it is Kevin Gleason, not Marty.

Moonlit Hip

 

Late Lament

Bright moonlit nights make everything appear as if there are no colors-- only shades of black and white. This often reminds me of the last verse of the Moody Blues song...

Cold-hearted orb that rules the night

Removes the colours from our sight

Red is grey and yellow white

But we decide which is right

And which is an illusion

From the song Late Lament by The Moody Blues, written by Graeme Edge and John Lodge

Calm after the storm