He's Alive! (general post-session update - recent goings-on and upcoming plans)

Last long night of session
(pics by me, unless indicated otherwise)

Pic from CTMirror

After more late nights than I care to remember or recount (except to say, that's 10:45Pm on the clock above - and we got out about 2am the next morning), the 2023 legislative session is finally done as of midnight June 7th and I can turn my focus to fun things. MUCH MORE fun things...

Though this isn't one of them . . .

Got this the last Friday of session - 12 yards of mulch, delivered. That's the recommended amount for the square footage we wanted to do. It ended up being about 7 yards too much(!) If you need some mulch, let me know and I'll hook you up. I moved it all to the backyard for storage...

THIS is more what I had in mind . . .

On recommendation of my good buddy JimD, and totally sight-unseen, I ordered all 3 volumes of "Iron Roads of the Monadnock Region" which arrived just in time for end-of-session. Not only will they be a fine and welcome addition to my collection of New England railroad books, but the set was a wonderful gift to myself to celebrate getting through another tough year at work.

But the BIGGEST celebration is hinted at by the book I took off the shelf to read over this past weekend...

Pic from Amazon

Deb and I made plans early on to take advantage of the fact that our anniversary this year fell on the Saturday after session and we got ourselves over to Cape Cod for a long weekend of R&R and celebrating 28(?!) years married (It'll be 32 yrs together this October. Where does the time fly off to??)

And one of the MANY MANY reasons it's been such a long, wonderful time is that I can do this while away on an anniversary trip...Here are some scenes from Hyannis yard the morning of June 9...

Every successful marriage has its level of compromise - and I'll admit to the fact that all those photos took me less than 20-30 minutes to take ;^)

But wait! There's more . . . Here are some pics of the railroad station in Chatham, MA - along with a NYC caboose. The Chatham Branch of the New Haven RR lasted only 50 years (1887-1937), but the beautiful, and distinctive, station remains and hosts a really nice museum of railroading in the area. Unfortunately, it doesn't open until tomorrow(!)

Now that we're back from the Cape, I can focus on the upcoming New England/Northeast Railroad Prototype Modeler's Meet being held this coming weekend!! Ugh! It really snuck up on me this year, but I'm so glad that the new schedule that Dave Owens and his awesome team have worked out allow me to attend even in "long-session" years (we don't get out until early June in the odd-numbered years). I just hope with the upcoming change of venue that he's able to keep the same schedule!

And - BONUS! - this year I'll be able to give my presentation on "Modeling the Valley Local." Though I'm sure many of you have already seen it at some point, I haven't given this clinic at the NERPM since 2016. So there are a LOT of updates and new photos to share! Even those that saw it when I gave it at the NER convention last fall will find a few new things added.

But, honestly, if you'd rather attend Bill Badger's clinic on converting a BLI light 2-8-2 into a Rutland mikado, I wouldn't blame you. Frankly, I'm bummed my clinic is the same time as his (9am Saturday) since I was looking forward to seeing it.

No worries though - as always Dave & Co. have come up with a HUGE list of wonderful clinics and presentations for the weekend. Click here for the full list.

Besides all this wonderfulness, RPMs are really, first and foremost, about sharing our modeling efforts - no matter what level of skill or finish. I'm debating whether to bring my old warhorses along yet another year (some NH freight cars and a few Alcos), but I'll definitely be bringing the 1109 to show - if only to prove it's real!

And as if that all isn't enough to look forward to, the Valley Line will be part of the Sunday layout tours this year. While a full list and details won't be available except to attendees this weekend, I don't mind jumping on some coattails to let you know that I'm only 20 minutes south of Bill Schneider's NYO&W layout #justsayin :^)

So an awful lot of goodness coming up! I can't believe it's only been since Wednesday that I finished my busy time at work - but I've got to get a move on if I'm going to be ready for all that's next! Which reminds me - I have a powerpoint to review . . .

In the meantime, here's hoping I see you sometime this weekend. Please be sure to say "Howdy!" if our paths cross. And here's to a New Day (of hobby time) Dawning!

Chatham Sunrise, June 11, 2023