MONTH BREAK

CYBER RESPITE

I'll be back 3/6/13!

ARTWORK SAGA 14:

BUTTERFLIES
San Juan, Puerto Rico
1978

I was on vacation when I came across this place called "The Butterfly People." It was in an old house with a high courtyard filled with preserved butterflies. I was transfixed.

You could order a selection in any size and configuration. I called Ed and had him measure the space above the living room fireplace. While selecting the butterflies, I asked for an addition of a red one to the selection I had already picked out. "Oh, No," was the reaction. "That's a South American butterfly. You can't mix them with the African ones you've already picked!"

I got a wonderful, hermetically sealed 27" x 43" display.

FAVORITE DELAWARE COAST PLACES SAGA 6:

LEWES-CAPE MAY FERRY
Lewes, DE to Cape May, NJ

This ferry connecting the Delaware Peninsula with the NJ mainland is a marvel. It goes 17 miles in 85 minutes from coast to coast.

It takes foot traffic so it's also a great way to tour Cape May, a charming Victorian town.

While on board, there's excellent seating and a nice lunch area.

The terminal in Lewes also has a nice lunch spot—open air!

ARTWORK SAGA 13:

AN UNUSUAL POT
Washington, D.C.
1971

This ceramic I bought at the American Hand in Georgetown, D.C. I was (and still am) intrigued by its unusualness. The artist's signage is CT.

It's what's called slabwork.

FAVORITE DELAWARE COAST PLACES SAGA 5:

REHOBOTH BEACH

Delaware

Rehoboth Beach is one of the best beach towns in America—clean sand and water, small town, friendly, beautiful old houses, great restaurants.

It's a town of 1,000 people that swells to 100,000 on the Fourth of July!

One can always "get-away" to an uncrowded beach area.

As well as enjoy the crowds.

It's full of wonderful, old beach cottages from the 30s on.

Beautiful sunrises over the Atlantic.

ARTWORK SAGA 12:

SON OF THE SUN
Santa Fe, New Mexico
2009

Sheldon ? is a favorite artist of Steve and Ray's from New Mexico. He's Navaho. He's won best artist at the Indian Market in Santa Fe for both sculpture and painting—unheard of.

At the Indian Market I discovered this marvelous sculpture.

I had to have it. It depicts one of the ancient, fantasy ancestors of the Navaho.

FAVORITE DELAWARE COAST PLACES SAGA 4:

WORLD WAR TWO TOWERS
Lewes, DE

These towers were used for observation not armaments. Several towers would triangulate on say a German submarine and send instructions to fire upon to Fort Miles.

The Fort Miles Historical Association, which is located at the State Henlopen State Park in Lewes is taking responsibility for their maintenance.

I have to give you some info. on these towers so that next time you are driving with family and friends you can explain to them their significance.

Eight of the 11 towers built along the Delaware and New Jersey coastlines during WWII are here in our beaches; 3 are in N.J.  They were used as artillery spotting locations.  Our military was posted in each of the towers to coordinate artillery fire on enemy ships off our coast.  This fortification was from 1940 to 1942 during which these huge fortifications were erected at the mouth of the Delaware Bay to protect Philadelphia.

The towers have different heights and some of them have only two viewing slits, while others have four.  Apparently, the military could see about 14 1/2 miles into the Atlantic.

From the upper level the spotters could scan the Atlantic for enemy vessels; could direct the fire of the guns mounted along the coast.

It was believed that after Pearl Harbor, the Delaware Beaches were in danger.  In 1942 the German U-boats were skinking an average of a ship per week.  The Jacob Jones was one of those ships torpedoed off the Delaware coast and over 100 of its crew perished.