4 June 2010: If I Had A Million Dollars...

...I'd buy me a house...on the ocean...that looks like this!

28 April 2010: Blustery Bristol

I was back in Bristol for a meeting and captured some pictures with storm clouds in the distance.

31 March 2010: A River Ran Through It

The flood gates were opened and RI was hit hard. Several days of heavy rains caused rivers to overflow their banks and cause some devastating damage all over New England. Unfortunately this one hit close to home...literally. My sister's house (which is also my childhood home) was flooded when the Pawcatuck River rose to record heights. She had 2 FEET of water in her living room. The first pictures I took in Manchester, NH and the last picture was sent to me by my sister. It is actually a block farther from the river than the family home. My thoughts and prayers are with my sister and everyone else affected by this disaster.

22 February 2010: Spring Tease

It was 45 degrees today in Tiverton, RI when I drove through...it felt like Spring, smelled like summer at the water and I was dreaming of kayaking. It was just a tease - a Nor'easter is coming up the coast!

22 December 2009 Photo(s): The Spirit(s) Of Christmas

I finally have caught the Christmas "spirit"! It only happened a day or so ago but was kicked into high gear when I arrived in RI to see my family today. This is the one (usually) guaranteed time of the year when all of my siblings are together, along with spouses, children and assorted extended family. With six of us spread from GA to NY to MA to RI that is never an easy feat. As you can see in the photos above my sister, Anne Marie, is the Gaming Queen!

It has been quite a year for us - my brother was in the hospital during Christmas last year, my sister had kidney cancer in the spring, my nephew broke his arm, I broke my ankle and assorted other aches and pains as we get older. Luckily this Christmas season we are all relatively healthy (or at least healthier) and will be gathered in a few days to celebrate the season.

As we enter into this year's Christmas festivities, I am happy to have my family around me and remember those that are not here. Today would have been my mother's birthday and while she is not here with us physically, I know she is here in my "spirit" of Christmas!

2 December 2009 Photo(s): The Biggest Little State In The Union

I think this will be one of my favorite posts. As a true Rhod'islandah, I love the Big Blue Bug. If you have driven on 95 through Providence and missed Nibbles Woodaway - go back NOW!!! He is perched on top of New England Pest Control for all to see.

Currently Nibbles is dressed up for the holidays sporting a red nose, antlers and 5000 lights! But his outfits don't stop there - he is decked out for several holidays including Halloween, 4th of July, Opening Day of the Pawtucket Red Sox, and drinking one of my other RI favorites - Del's Lemonade. You can learn a lot more about Nibbles and see pictures in the gallery here: http://bluebug.com/

And if you still have not had enough of the weirdness that is RI, check out some other favorites here: http://www.bluebug.com/news/markpatinkin_no_lack_of_weird.html

26 November 2009 Photo(s): Gobble Gobble

Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Birthday to my sister Anne Marie.

Bill and I don't always come to RI for Thanksgiving but decided to make the trek this year. I am glad we did. It was a fabulous day and the only thing missing was the birthday girl. My family is crazy and loud but I wouldn't trade them for anything. Here is the yearly picture of the "dead end kids" minus one. My oldest nephew left and was supposed to come by but he never did so I will have to photoshop him in at some point.

Before dinner, Bill and I took Angelee down to the beach..here is one of Angelee and Uncle Butterscotch, which is what she affectionately calls him.

29 September 2009 Photo: Invisibility Cloak At Brown

Hermione Granger is behind that tree. Can you see her? No? Well that is because I am CERTAIN she is wearing Harry Potter's invisibility cloak. I was at Brown today and was hoping to have an Emma Watson sighting since she is now a student at this RI campus but if she was there, she did not come to the study abroad fair. Either way, it was a beautiful day on campus and this is of my favorite campuses in my favorite state! Next time, Emma, let's have tea and talk about your desire to study abroad in Greece or South Africa.

10 September 2009 Photo: Beach Treasures

One thing that has not disappeared as I have gotten older is looking for treasures on the beach. Sea glass and shells and cool rocks always catch my eye as I walk on the beach.

9 September 2009 Photo(s): 09/09/09

Today is 09/09/09 and at 09:09:09 AM I was hanging out with my best friend in Newport, RI. What better way to spend the morning of this special day. Here are a couple pictures from later in the day when the sun decided to show itself to help celebrate.

8 September 2009 Photo: So Long Summer

I took a walk on the beach after dinner. It is always makes me happy when Labor Day comes and the beach tourists leave. Growing up in a beach town, it was always bitter sweet. This early September holiday means the warm beach days are coming to a close but also meant we got our town back...no more tourists or traffic! Even though I don't live there any more, I still have that feeling the day after Labor Day.

7 June 2009 Photo: Disappointing Del's

We were driving by Tim Horton's and I saw a sign and almost drove off of the road. "Del's Sold Here!" What?!?! Could it be? Did someone FINALLY bring one of my favorite summertime treats to NY .

If you are from RI, you certainly know what Del's is and understand the tasty memory that made my drool in my car. If you aren't from RI, here is a bit of history of Del's http://www.dels.com/ As a kid/teenager, it was great to find the Del's truck or go to the Del's storefront to get this frozen lemony treat complete with little bits of lemon rind to cool you down in the heat of the summer.

To my dismay, this "Del's" did not live up to the name. Del's sells a packet now that you can make your own from and it is not the same as Great grandfather DeLucia used to make back in the day. It was very disappointing...the taste was all wrong, no lemon rind and no smell of the salt water of the Atlantic. I need to write to Tim Horton's about this false advertising! Oh well, I guess I will have to wait until I get back to RI this summer to get the real deal.

1 June 2009 Photo: I Love To Swim...LA LA LA LA LA LA

Yesterday I was traveling with one of our staff from Australia. While we were on campus at Roger Williams University, we took her to the wet lab in the Marine Sciences department. It is my favorite place at RWU because of the seahorses. Unforturnately the seahorse pics did not come out very well but I did like this picture of the clown fish.

If you have seen Finding Nemo, you know them well. Just keep swimming...just keep swimming...what do we do we swim...we love to swim...

27 April 2009 Photo: Bridging The World

I was doing my final school visit at Roger Williams University. I worked here about 5 years ago for less than a year and it is always nice to go back because it is one of the most beautiful campuses I visit. It is right on the water. As they say in real estate...it's all about location location location!

The bridge above is the Mount Hope Bridge which spans over the Mount Hope Bay. Rhode Island truly is a beautiful state...I'm not biased.

11 February 2009 Photo: Another Puppy Blog?!?!

I was able to stop by and see some of my family yesterday between school visits.  It was great to see everyone and wonderful to see my nephew's puppy, Holly, that he got for Christmas.  She is very cute but hyper and growing like a weed!  They have a lot of training to do with her but for now she is just adorable.

10 February 2009 Photo: Federal Hill

This photo was taken in the Federal Hill area of Providence, RI.  Federal Hill was historically the "Little Italy" of Providence, although today it is much more diverse. The first time I remember going to Federal Hill was with my high school Italian class.  We were brought here for one of the Italian festivals where they closed down the street and painted the stripe in the road red, green and white.  I have very fond memories of that day.

Since then I have been here many times as an adult.  There are amazing restaurants in this short 1/4 mile so if you are ever in the Providence, this is definitely a place to get some good eats! Tonight I met my friend Scott to grab a drink and catch up on life and his hotel was the inspiration for this photo.  This area is quintessential RI and makes me miss the Ocean State. 

27 January 2009 Photo(s): Serenity By The Sea

The ocean...the sea...crashing waves...sunrises...sunsets...sand beneath my feet..warm sun on my face...HOME!

Anytime I am near the ocean, I feel at home. Whether it is in Westerly, RI or on the other side of the globe, just seeing the water makes me feel at ease. Undoubtedly, if I could live anywhere, it would be on the ocean. Not near the ocean but on it. Hear the waves crash in the morning is musical and powerful. I live near a small lake now but it is not the same. No waves...no smell of stinky seaweed...no salt in the air.

I put up two photos today taken in Newcastle, NH. The one below I played with in terms of the focus but the one above is pretty much how I saw it this morning.

25 January 2009 Photo: Betting On The Ponies

As a child, my number one favorite thing to do was to go on the carousel. Growing up in RI and being at the beach everyday in the summer, I frequently went on the merry-go-round in Misquamicut. I had my favorite pony and had been known to wait (somewhat impatiently) if another child was on my horse.

The best treat was when I got to go down to the Flying Horses Carousel in Watch Hill. The Flying Horses Carousel only operates in the summer, is the oldest carousel of it's type in the U.S. and survived the 1938 hurricane which wiped out all the houses on Napatree Point, Watch Hill.

What makes this carousel unique is that it does not have a platform and the horses fly out at it goes round and round. Much to my dismay, only children are allowed to ride this carousel and during the ride they have the chance to grab for rings. If you get the brass ring, you get a free ride.

I brought my niece down there last summer for her first ride, I showed her my favorite horse and she wanted to ride that one too! No doubt there will be photos of the Watch Hill Carousel when the summer comes around and I am in RI visiting my family.

This photo is of the merry-go-round at the Carousel Mall in Syracuse, NY - not quite as spectacular as the carousels of my childhood memories, but I have ridden on this one too!