Endeavour Lifts Off

Riding a brilliant tower of flame into the night sky, the space shuttle Endeavour left Earth on Friday, carrying seven astronauts on a 15-day mission to the international space station.

The space shuttle Endeavour launched on time at 7:55 p.m. ET on Friday from the Kennedy Space Center in eastern Florida, mission managers announced.

"Preparing our home in space for a larger international family," launch commentator Candrea Thomas said during liftoff.

The Basilica of St. Mary

Some time ago, I received an email from the Editor of a Minneapolis travel guide called Schmap. I was pleasantly surprised and a little pleased to learn that they had discovered one of my pictures of the Basilica of St. Mary, Minneapolis in pictures I had posted to Flicker. The purpose of the email was to inform me that my picture had been short listed for inclusion in the guide and to ask my permission to use the picture if they decided to publish it.

I was happy to give my permission, and I have just received another email to inform me that the picture has made the final selection and has been published in the current edition of the guide.

Perhaps it is no big deal because the guide apparantly publishes a lot of pictures from other sources as well. In fact, I think there may be about six pictures in there of the Basilica of St. Mary from other photographers. Still, even if I have to be numbered amongst others, it’s nice to get the recognition.

Please click here to follow the link to the pictures. When you enter the site you will see the Basilica of St. Mary at the top of a series pictures which are listed under Churches and Temples. Select the picture of the Basilica and cycle through the screen on the right using the right and left arrows until you find the picture credited to joemw39. That is mine.

Also If you use an iPhone or iPod touch, then this link will take you directly to the photo in the iPhone version of the guide. On a desktop computer, you can still see exactly how the photo is displayed and credited in the iPhone version of the guide.


This is the picture of the Basilica of St. Mary that has been featured in Schmap. I think it's not a bad picture considering I just pointed the camera and snapped it from the passenger seat of Judy's car as we drove by at nightfall.

Eureka Moment

Most of you will be aware by now of Judy’s new venture on cafepress.com. This is a great site where Judy has used her natural creative talents, combining her wealth of photographs, to create some great items that you can see for yourself if you get a chance to visit her site.

I wonder would you believe me if I said that this post is not about promoting my friend Judy’s site? Well, I suppose, I can be honest and say that it gives me the opportunity to kill two birds with the one stone, but in truth, my main purpose is to tell you that through Judy’s site I have managed to solve a problem that has been dogging me for some time.

Some of my new mugs from Judy's site

Displaying Minnehaha Creek and the American Flag

I guess to a normal person, what follows would not be a problem but, to a single person living alone with a fixation for acquiring things that helps to improve the decor of my surroundings and create a nice atmosphere for myself and any of my friends, that all-too-seldom-visit me, I found the ideal product on Judy’s site. And what is this thing that gave me this eureka moment the first time I visited the site? Mugs!!

New set of mugs on display

Yes mugs!! I am the proud owner of many mugs in all shapes and sizes and designs. Some I have been given as presents, others I have acquired in a haphazard fashion by seeing a particular mug that catches my fancy when I go shopping and it generally winds up in the shopping cart and thence to my already crowded mug rack in the kitchen. Also I’m a sucker for special offers from various tea and coffee companies, where, if you buy a packet of 100 tea bags or a large jar of coffee, there is a free mug attached. I get through the coffee quickly enough, but I now have enough tea bags to last me into the next millennium.


For some time now, I have been promising myself that I would kick this habit and buy myself a set of regular sized mugs that would, not only look better, but would also eliminate the problem of trying to decide what mug to use whenever I need a tea or coffee.

Well, at last, Judy’s site provided the perfect solution. Here, not only could I buy a set of very nice mugs displaying some of her pictures, but I discovered I could get a set of personalised mugs that would display some of my own favourite pictures from my visits to Minnesota.

I took the plunge and sent off some pictures to Judy that she displayed on a set of mugs for me. I was delighted with the result, and I ordered a set which quickly arrived and I couldn’t be more pleased. I now have a beautiful set of personalised mugs that proudly display my own pictures. They look great and add their own special personal touch to my kitchen.

The mugshot picture of myself was judy's idea

I think it is also an added bonus that, instead of leaving pictures of special events dormant on the computer or buying frames to display them in which are seldom noticed anyway by visitors to your home, you can now hold a favourite picture in your hand, while at the same time enjoy your mug of tea or coffee.

One of my favourite pictures - the Baptism of Jackson Toby

Back Home

I arrived home two weeks ago last Thursday from another great trip to Minnesota to visit my friends Tom and Judy and their family.

I find it very hard at times to get my head round the circumstances that culminated in those wonderful trips to Minnesota and how a chance meeting on the internet brought me into contact and integrated me into a family that has now become such an important and integral part of my life.

During one of my last telephone conversations with Tom and Judy’s son, Adam, before I would shortly leave for home, he asked what I thought the highlight of this present visit was. This is a hard question to answer because those visits contain so many highlights and this one, of course, had its own unique occasions that easily fit into the category of highlights.

There was the evening of Music in Plymouth that I attended with Tom and Judy, their daughter Kara and Kara’s daughter, Amelia – Tom and Judy’s one and only granddaughter. We were also joined by Steve and Kathy – friends of Tom and Judy and their daughter, Kate, and her boyfriend, Tom. What a marvellous event and what marvellous people to share it with. We had a picnic on the grounds of The Hilde Performance Centre where we enjoyed the free family musical event featuring the Minnesota Orchestra, fireworks and many other entertainments.

Tom and Steve relaxing at Music in Plymouth

Minnesota Orchestra

Amelia enjoying the evening at Music in Plymouth

Judy, Tom and Kate

The scene at Music in Plymouth

Kara at Music in Plymouth

Tom and me at Music in Plymouth

Part of the fireworks display

Lunch or breakfast with Judy’s dad, Al, at his favourite Perkins restaurant (and mine) is always a highlight and this time was no exception. Judy and I collected him at his home in Chaska on Friday June 11, two days after my arrival, and we proceeded to Perkins to enjoy his favourite meal of pancakes. Unfortunately on this occasion, due to some dental work he had done the previous day, we had to forego a very important part of the menu, which is the side order of bacon strips that he always enjoys with his pancakes. Still, the important thing is meeting Al and enjoying his company and, on this occasion, any shortfall with the meal certainly did not detract from that.

I wanted to meet Al early in the visit this time rather during the last days because I hoped that this arrangement would give me the opportunity to meet him again before the trip ended. That opportunity was soon to come at an event that will live with me for the rest of my life.

A trip to visit Sarah and the boys is always a highlight. This time we had many opportunities to enjoy those visits. It always affords an opportunity to wind back the years, forget that we are no longer as young as we used to be, and partake in the fun and games that Davey and Derek expect us to be ready for at a moment’s notice. Davey and Derek don't take age into account and who cares about the aches and pains that are destined to follow? We can nurse those when we are back in the sanctuary of Tom and Judy’s basement. We compare notes and ask each other – I wonder what kind of truck was that that went over us last?

I sometimes wonder who enjoys Sarah's play system most - the children or the adults

I always enjoy playing with the boys, it brings me back to a time when my own grandchildren were small and when I enjoyed many happy hours with them.

Stars in the making - Davey hits a home run during one of our baseball games...

Derek keeps his eye on the ball

An outing to the Minnesota zoo, Minneapolis on a beautiful sunny day, with Judy was a most enjoyable affair. None of the animals are caged here. They all enjoy the freedom of the wide open spaces which in the main are designed to simulate their own natural environments. While you can take a monorail to travel round the parks and view the animals, the walk round the 500 or so acres of the complex affords the best opportunity to see everything that is to be seen and get up close and personal with the many strange and exotic inhabitants.

Two prairie dogs stand guard while their companions (out of picture) frolic and play and enjoy the attentions of the visitors to their large enclosure

Musk Ox Grazing peacefully

Bison relaxing by a lake with Canadian geese in the foreground

Takin

The Takin a native of the Eastern Himalayas and National Animal of Bhutan

One of the most unusual species of animal at the zoo is the Takin. The sign at their enclosure say that they are made up of so many species of animal that it would appear as if they were designed by a committee. However, if my information is correct, it was created by the great 15th century saint Lama Drukpa Kunley (called "the divine madman") who, after eating a cow and a goat for his lunch, stuck the head of the cow onto the skeleton of the goat, snapped his fingers and commanded the great beast to rise up and graze on the mountainside. To this day the animals can be seen grazing on the mountainsides of Bhutan. I think though, that I would favour going along with the more widely-held explanation that this animal is assembled from a variety of different animal species and nobody really seems to know why.

Click here to take your own tour of the zoo.

To be continued/….

Goodbye To A Good Friend

Saturday evening I had a telephone call from a friend of mine. It was one of those calls that as you answer something deep inside you instinctively tells you that something is wrong. My instincts were proved correct and my worst fears were confirmed when the caller asked me if I was sitting down.

The caller was Flan Larkin the brother of one of my closest friends, Bernie Larkin, and the news he was about to impart certainly required that I be so. Mercifully, he broke the news quickly. His brother and my good friend, Bernie, had passed away suddenly while attending the British Open Clay Pigeon Shooting Championship at Bishops Mountain Shooting Centre that morning.

I had known Bernie since I came to Nenagh over 40 years ago. At that time we were both truck drivers hauling livestock. My first encounter with him was not a pleasant one and very nearly ended a friendship before it had time to begin. It involved a slight difference of opinion as to which of us was next in line to pull into the loading gate at Nenagh cattle mart to get on our load.

Tempers flared and a strong exchange of words ensued. Who was right and who was wrong on that particular evening is lost in the mists of time. All I know is that after I had decided that discretion is the better part of valour and it was advisable not to mess with this guy – a wise decision that I would see many others make over the ensuing years - Bernie, naturally had his way. However, when we had our trucks loaded and tempers had subsided, we approached each other. A mumbled apology to each other and a hand shake was to be the beginning of a friendship that would endure over 40 years.

Clay pigeon shooting was Bernie’s chosen sport and although I previously had had a brief encounter with the sport, it was he who reintroduced me to it in 1979. On a Sunday late in that year I accompanied him to Ballinderry to see him compete in what was then known as a flapper shoot (These are unregistered shoots run by gun clubs mainly to raise funds for game restocking purposes.) From that day onwards as the shooting addiction took hold of me, we were travelling and shooting companions at home and abroad for many years.

Bernie (centre back row) and friends at a shooting competition in Wales sometime in the 1980's

Although Bernie was later to excel at the sport on the International scene where he represented Ireland several times, he always had a love for those unregistered shoots where he would meet the grass root shooters and the first-time entrants to the sport.

It is fair to say that the experienced and International shooters were not always very welcome at those events because their presence gave very little chance to the inexperienced competitors to win a prize. What set Bernie apart from the others though and always made him a welcome figure was that at the end of the day he would return the prizes he had won to be shared amongst the less experienced participants. It was through his generosity and sportsmanship that many a young beginner went home proudly displaying a prize.

A writer on the Irish Clay Pigeon Shooting web site in a tribute to Bernie described how he often saw him demonstrate his unique ability to shoot clay pigeons from the hip. Bernie shot from the hip ok in more ways than one. He never went behind the bushes to say anything like many others on the shooting scene. Anything he had to say was said to your face – you liked it or you didn’t. In later years, when I became involved at the administration level of the association, Bernie was never slow to offer his criticism, or indeed, his praise, if he thought you deserved it.

The last time I saw Bernie was about three months ago when he called to my house in Nenagh. We had tea and talked about trucks, our families and of course shooting. We sorted out many of the problems that beset the country and the world and after a couple of hours he departed leaving me all the more enriched from his visit and glad to have him as a friend.

The Golden Bear – as he was always referred to by one sports commentator – will be sadly missed. The shooting scene will be all the poorer by his absence.

I would like to extend my sincerest sympathy to his wife, Carmel, and family. Go ndéana trócaire ar a anam.

Bernie Larkin RIP

Day at Minnehaha Park

Judy is right; one of the things I always look forward to during my visits to Minnesota is going to Perkins along with Judy to have lunch or breakfast with her dad. It’s a tradition that is now well established and one that I hope will continue for many a long day to come. It was a little sad this time due to the fact that his recent dental work prevented him from having his usual full meal of pancakes and bacon. The man sure enjoys his pancakes and bacon and I know the meal just wasn’t the same to him this time. Still I was able to share my desert of strawberry sundae with him and I hope he enjoyed that and it compensated in some small way.

The strawberry sundae that I was looking forward to

Judy and her dad tucking into my strawberry sundae

Our visit to Minnehaha Park on Sunday 15 June was a most enjoyable event. The outdoor Service at Sarah’s and Dave’s church was very nice but I think as far as the children were concerned, the caterpidows stole the show.

St Mary's Basilica pictured on the way to Minnehaha Park

I think there is beauty in many things, including concrete and steel. Here, and in the picture above, the architecture of mortal man against the blue of the sky and the clouds - created by the divine architect illustrate what I mean.

Minnehaha Park is one of the many beautiful places we have visited around Minneapolis. It has pleasant walks along the Minnehaha creek and of course the famous Minnehaha waterfall is spectacular.

Derek gives me a caterpiddow

Two beautiful ladies, Sarah and her mom, Judy.

Minnehaha Creek

Davey and his little friend at play

Grandpa and Derek taking a stroll

Minnehaha Creek

Derek, Davey, Sarah, Dave and the knees

Arrival in Minnesota

I arrived in Minneapolis during a thunder storm at 10.34pm on Wednesday 11 June. Thankfully I was oblivious to the weather conditions, as I slept through it and wasn’t aware of the extent of the storm until I was met by a very worried Tom and Judy who had been following the weather reports and the effect the adverse conditions had been having on the air traffic.

Conditions in Minneapolis/St Paul that night were pretty bad, Tom and Judy told me of instances where planes had to stand off fifty miles from the airport before they could attempt to land while other planes had to divert to different airports.

The skies begin to clear after the thunder storm and the moon appears

On this occasion the trip from Ireland was long and arduous. Having arrived at Shannon at 7.30am to catch the first leg of the flight to JFK where I had a scheduled layover of more than seven hours before boarding the connection for Minneapolis/St Paul. This flight was further delayed due to the conditions in Minneapolis. When I eventually got into the air on my way to my final destination, I had been travelling almost 24 hours and so it was that soon into the flight, I fell asleep and didn’t waken until we were touching down at Minneapolis.

I think, even though I awoke to the sound of applause from my fellow passengers, which might indicate that the landing was a little rocky and everyone was relieved to be on Tierra firma, that our flight came in after the worst of the storm had passed. The principal thing is that all flights touched down safely that night and everyone reached their destinations safely.

My destination was, as usual, everything I knew it would be and a good night’s sleep in that beautiful room that I have now come to know so well and a shower to get rid of the trail dust had me fit and ready and looking forward to seeing Sarah and the boys, Davey and Derek, the next morning.

The boys, Davey and Derek, knowing grandma was on the way were well primed and ready for fun.

Judy has well documented the day on her blog and I have a couple of extra pictures that I hope you will enjoy.

Judy flying high

Derek on the slide