The Hard Season

The holidays are a hard time for many.

For many people Christmas is the loneliest time of the year. Many people face personal crisis. They might have a problem with their marriage, with their children, or with their job or lack of one. They may have an addiction to drugs or alcohol. They may be facing illness or the death of a loved one. And many, many people feel an emptiness inside, a knowledge that something is missing, but they don't know what it is.

The same is true of the least loved of all the aliens, the Orange Striped Barrels (OSBs). Some of them are lost, lonely, and feel quite off-orange this time of year.



Here we see an OSB dart out from of a long line of barrels and run in front of a car...



Badly dented, the OSB is left on the side of the road and is presumably dead.

Photos from roving Photojournalist LadyStyx

Seriously, this Christmas you can help those that need help cheering up.


Bake cookies or candy. Deliver them to friends and family.
Play board games or cards together.
Do a puzzle together.
Go Christmas Caroling. Be sure to visit the local nursing homes.
Visit friends. Tell them you enjoy having them in your life.
Have a family slumber party. Bunk out on the family room floor together
Build a snowman. Give him or her a name.
Have a movie marathon, both old and new movies.
Visit a shut in. They will enjoy the company.
Go ice skating.
Drive around and look at Christmas lights at night.
Make a video to send to far away friends and family.
Spend time together just talking.
Make apple cider or eggnog.
Take a senior citizen to lunch or invite them to your home for a meal.
Take in some free community events.
Adopt a needy family.
Make a list of New Years Resolutions as a family.
Play video games with your kids.
Tell your family how much they mean to you.
Make hot chocolate.
Take food to a local pantry or homeless shelter.
Watch a bowl game parade.
Donate old toys to a homeless shelter.
Make an old fashioned gingerbread house.
Have a snowball fight.
Have the children put on a puppet show.
Watch old home movies.
Reminisce about loved ones who are no longer with you.
Make homemade bird treats.

Source of the list of things to do

Happy 150th Birthday Barney!

Old Barney is really old! January 1, 2009 marks it's 150th birthday. It is the third or fourth tallest lighthouse in the United States depending on who you ask, and was built by George G. Meade, the Civil War General that "won" the battle of Gettysburg.

After considerable delay during construction due to shifting sands, Barnegat Light was commissioned on January 1, 1859. The tower light was 165 feet (50 m) above sea level. On January 1, 2009, the 150th anniversary of its opening, Barnegat Lighthouse will reactivate its beacon for the first time since 1948. Its not too late to get your party tickets!

OCHAs Heart VA too...

As you probably know, Virginia is for Lovers is the tourism and travel slogan of the state of Virginia and has been in use since 1969. However, I bet you didn't know that Maryland has parodied this phrase with their own "Maryland is for Crabs" slogan.



At any rate, many people love Virginia - it has a lot of history - Aside from the Roanoke Colony in North Carolina, which was founded 1586, and again in 1587 and then it mysteriously disappeared (I guess that's why its also called the Lost Colony) the Virginia Colony of Jamestown and the Popham Colony in Maine are the oldest settlements in the United States, dating back to 1609. The state of Virginia had a major role in the American colonial era, the American Revolution, the frontier and rural life, and of course, the American Civil War.

There are many things to do and see in Virginia and places to go to such as Williamsburg, Busch Gardens, Kings Dominion, Natural Bridge and its Zoo, Civil War battlefields; Virginia is even the home of the American Armoured Foundation's Tank Museum.

So naturally bus companies offer tours for young and old...



Here we see a line of OCHA senior citizens investigating their options during a day trip, after using the restrooms that is...This (soon to be) famous photograph, captured by roving photojournalist LadyStyx, will be the basis of a HUGE advertising campaign, starting with a big splash during Super Bowl XLIII game to be held February 1, 2009 in Tampa Bay.

And no, it's not an ad campaign for tourism by the state of Virginia...

Inside word has it, Kimberly-Clark, the makers of "Kleenex" facial tissue, "Kotex" feminine hygiene products, "Cottonelle" toilet paper, and "Huggies" disposable diapers, will be spending millions promoting a new line of "Depends"...Depends for OCHAs! The press release says, "Depend offers a full line of incontinence products designed to help you maintain a normal lifestyle. Our incontinence pants offer moderate to heavy protection, and Depend Guards for OCHAs are custom designed to fit the conehead anatomy."

Bet you can't wait to see the commercial! I know I can't!

Happy New Years! I hope the new year brings all of you many laughs, much happiness, and lots of beautiful memories.

Cassatt and Cassatt - Iron and Pastel

Alexander J. Cassatt (December 8, 1839 – December 28, 1906) was the president of the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) from June 9, 1899 to December 28, 1906. Frequently referred to as A.J. Cassatt, his best-remembered accomplishment the project to finally give the PRR a station in New York City, which became Pennsylvania Station. This massive project included building the North River and East River Tunnels along with the towering Hells Gate Bridge. Unfortunately, Cassatt died before his grand vision was complete. Some Interesting pictures of NYC's Penn Station can be seen here.

Today, the best known "Penn Station" lies underneath the Madison Square Garden building in New York City and is but a ruin of what it once was.

"Penn Station" does not refer to a station being in Pennsylvania, but rather a station for the Pennsylvania Railroad. There are "Penn Stations" in Newark, New Jersey and Baltimore, Maryland too.

Oddly enough, the name of the stations in Philadelphia, the headquarters of the Pennsylvania Railroad itself, have strange and confusing names. The station down in the heart of center city Philadelphia is called "Suburban Station" which is where the daily commuters came and went that lived in the suburbs! The main Philadelphia station was actually on the outskirts of the city (and in the suburbs) at one time and is called 30th Street Station - which is where you go to catch the Amtrak trains to Washington DC, NYC, and Boston and other points.

A.J. lived on a horse farm called Chesterbrook which lies on the southeastern edge of Valley Forge National Historic Park - and which is now a housing development. He raised thoroughbred horses and had a number of Belmont Stake winners.



A.J.'s sister, Mary Stevenson Cassatt (May 22, 1844 – June 14, 1926) was a very talented American painter and printmaker. She lived much of her adult life in France, where she first befriended Edgar Degas and later exhibited among the Impressionists including Renoir, Sisley, Manet, Cézanne, Monet and Pissarro as well as with the group's other female member, artist Berthe Morisot, who became Cassatt’s friend and colleague.



This is one of my Mom's favorite paintings.